Yirmeyah 20:17

17 Because he slaughtered me not from the womb; or that immi might have been my kever, and olam (forever) her womb enlarged.

Yirmeyah 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.

Yirmeyah 20:17 In-Context

15 Arur (cursed) be the ish who brought news to avi, saying, A ben zachar (male child) is born unto thee; making him very glad.
16 And let that ish be as the towns which Hashem overthrew, and relented not; and let him hear the wailing in the boker, and the teru’ah (battle cry) at noontide;
17 Because he slaughtered me not from the womb; or that immi might have been my kever, and olam (forever) her womb enlarged.
18 Why came I forth out of the womb to see amal (trouble, toil) and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.