Jeremiah 20:17

17 Because he hath not put me to death from the womb, And my mother is to me -- my grave, And her womb a pregnancy age-during.

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.

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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 [is] the man who bore tidings [to] my father, saying, `Born to thee hath been a child -- a male,' Making him very glad!

16 Then hath that man been as the cities, That Jehovah overthrew, and repented not, And he hath heard a cry at morning, And a shout at time of noon.

17 Because he hath not put me to death from the womb, And my mother is to me -- my grave, And her womb a pregnancy age-during.

18 Why [is] this? from the womb I have come out, To see labour and sorrow, Yea, consumed in shame are my days!