Jeremiah 20:17

17 because God did not put me to death in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb forever filled with me.

Jeremiah 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 20:17

Because he slew me not from the womb
As soon as he came out of it; that is, as soon as he was born; either because God slew him not so soon, as Kimchi; or the angel of death, as Jarchi: or rather the man that carried the tidings of his birth to his father, who is all along spoken of in the two former verses; he curses him for not doing that, which, had he done, would have been exceeding criminal in him indeed; for not committing murder, even for not murdering an innocent babe; or that my mother might have been my grave;
he wishes he had died in her womb, and had never been brought forth; and so that had been his grave, where he should have been at ease and safety: and her womb [to be] always great [with me];
or, "her womb an everlasting conception" F13; his wish was, that she had been always conceiving, or ever big with child of him, but never bring forth; which was a more cruel and unnatural wish than the former concerning the man, the carrier of the tidings of his birth; since this was wishing a perpetual, painful, and intolerable evil to his own mother.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Mlwe trh hmxrw) "et ejus uterus, conceptus perpetuus", Munster; "et vulva ejus, conceptio perpetua", Pagninus, "et vulva ejus praegnans perpetuo", Vatablus.

Jeremiah 20:17 In-Context

15 A curse on the man who brought the news to my father, "A son has been born to you!" - thus making him very happy.
16 Let that man be like the cities ADONAI overthrew without mercy! Let him hear cries of alarm in the morning and the sound of battle at noon,
17 because God did not put me to death in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb forever filled with me.
18 Why did I have to emerge from the womb, just to see toil and sorrow, and end my days in shame?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.