English Standard Version
Jeremiah 20:17
17because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
Jeremiah 20:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
- New International Version (NIV)For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me.
- New Living Translation (NLT)because he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave!
Context of Jeremiah 20:17
15Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, "A son is born to you," making him very glad. 16Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon, because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great. 18Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
Read all of Jeremiah 20Jeremiah 20:17 word by word
אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־מוֹתְתַ֖נִי מֵרָ֑חֶם וַתְּהִי־לִ֤י אִמִּי֙ קִבְרִ֔י וְרַחְמָ֖הֿ הֲרַ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 20:17
- Job 3:10because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
- Job 10:18"Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
- Ecclesiastes 6:3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 20:17
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-18Verses 7-18 In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 14-18 When grace has the victory, it is good to be ashamed of our folly, to admire the goodness of God, and be warned to guard our spirits another time. See how strong the temptation was, over which the prophet got the victory by Divine assistance! He is angry that his first breath was not his last. While we remember that these wishes are not recorded for us to utter the like, we may learn good lessons from them. See how much those who think they…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Jeremiah felt his life had no purpose.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1814-18. The contrast between the spirit of this passage and the preceding thanksgiving is to be explained thus: to show how great was the deliverance (Jr 20:13), he subjoins a picture of what his wounded spirit had been previous to his deliverance; I had said in the time of my imprisonment, "Cursed be the day"; my feeling was that of Job (Job 3:3, 10, 11, whose words Jeremiah therefore copies). Though Jeremiah's zeal had been stirred up, not so much for…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 20:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries