Jeremiah 20:17

17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.

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 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A child is born to you, a son," making him very glad.
16 Let 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,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.