Jeremiah 20:18

18 Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

Jeremiah 20:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 20:18

Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and
sorrow
"Labour" in performing his work and office as a prophet; and "sorrow" in suffering reproach, contempt, and persecution for it; which to avoid, he wishes he had never been born: a sign of a very fretful and impatient spirit, and of a carnal frame. Jarchi thinks this refers to the destruction of the temple; that my days should be consumed with shame?
through the bad usage of him, the reproach that was cast upon him, and the contempt he was had in for prophesying in the name of the Lord. All this shows that there is sin in the best of men, and what they are when left to themselves; how weak, foolish, and sinful they appear. And Jeremiah recording these his sins and failings, is an argument of the uprightness and sincerity of the man, and of the truth of Scripture.

Jeremiah 20:18 In-Context

16 And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday,

17 because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great [with me]!

18 Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?