Jeremiah 20:15 kjv
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
Jeremiah 20:15 nkjv
Let the man be cursed Who brought news to my father, saying, "A male child has been born to you!" Making him very glad.
Jeremiah 20:15 niv
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, "A child is born to you?a son!"
Jeremiah 20:15 esv
Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, "A son is born to you," making him very glad.
Jeremiah 20:15 nlt
I curse the messenger who told my father,
"Good news ? you have a son!"
Jeremiah 20 15 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 3:3-4 | "Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A male is conceived!’... | Job curses day of his birth due to suffering. |
| Jer 15:10 | "Woe to me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land!" | Jeremiah's lament of his birth due to conflict. |
| Ecc 4:3 | "But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun." | Non-existence is better than seeing evil. |
| Ecc 6:3 | "...yet if he has no burial and though he has lived twice two thousand years but has not enjoyed good..." | Stillborn child is better than an unfulfilled life. |
| Psa 88:15-16 | "Afflicted and close to death from my youth up... Your burning wrath has swept over me..." | Deep, sustained lament and suffering. |
| Lam 3:1-20 | "I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath... Remember my affliction and my wanderings..." | Extensive lament and personal suffering. |
| Psa 22:1 | "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?" | Cry of dereliction in extreme distress. |
| Isa 49:1 | "The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name." | God's sovereign calling from birth. |
| Psa 139:13 | "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb." | God's intentional design in creating life. |
| Gal 1:15 | "But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace..." | Paul's divine calling predetermined before birth. |
| Jer 1:5 | "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet..." | Jeremiah's calling was divine and pre-ordained. |
| Jer 20:7-13 | "O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived... For as often as I speak, I cry aloud... But the Lord is with me..." | The broader context of Jeremiah's emotional fluctuation between lament and trust. |
| Jer 12:6 | "For even your brothers and your father’s house, they also have dealt treacherously with you..." | Jeremiah's personal suffering and rejection by family. |
| Mat 10:22 | "And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." | Followers of Christ face persecution. |
| 1 Pet 4:12-13 | "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you... rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings..." | Expectation of suffering for faith. |
| Act 7:52 | "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" | Historical pattern of persecuting prophets. |
| Luk 6:22 | "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil..." | Blessings for enduring rejection for Christ's sake. |
| Rom 12:14 | "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." | New Testament ethic of blessing, in contrast to Jeremiah's lament. |
| Jer 20:4-6 | "For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends...'" | Pashhur's prophecy of terror precedes this lament, showing cause. |
| 1 Ki 19:4 | "But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die..." | Elijah's despair and wish for death after trials. |
| Ezek 3:14 | "The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me." | Ezekiel's personal anguish in his prophetic calling. |
Jeremiah 20 verses
Jeremiah 20 15 Meaning
Jeremiah 20:15 encapsulates the prophet's profound and personal despair, expressing a wish that the messenger who announced his birth, and thereby initiated his existence, be cursed. This intensely dark lament follows Jeremiah's physical abuse and public humiliation, revealing an overwhelming weariness and anguish over his life and prophetic calling. He retroactively perceives his birth, which brought immense joy to his father, as the foundation for his current, unbearable suffering, illustrating the immense personal cost of his faithful but largely rejected ministry.
Jeremiah 20 15 Context
Jeremiah chapter 20 opens with the prophet's most severe personal crisis yet, following his prophecy in the Temple (Jer 19) where he warns of God's impending judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem. This leads to his arrest, beating, and confinement in the stocks by Pashhur, a chief priest and overseer in the Temple. Such public humiliation for a prophet, whose authority derived from God, was deeply traumatic. Preceding verse 15, Jeremiah oscillates between a passionate complaint against God for forcing him into this agonizing ministry, accusing God of deception and violence (Jer 20:7-9), to an outburst of confident praise for God's deliverance from his persecutors (Jer 20:10-13). Verse 15 marks a sudden, profound plunge back into existential despair, cursing the joy that accompanied his birth. Historically, Jeremiah ministered during the tumultuous final decades of the Kingdom of Judah (627-586 BC), when unfaithful kings led the nation toward Babylonian captivity. His message of repentance was largely rejected, leading to consistent opposition, mockery, and physical abuse from both the populace and the authorities. In ancient Israelite culture, the birth of a son was considered a monumental blessing, a sign of divine favor and assurance of the family line, making Jeremiah’s curse of that joy an intensely shocking and powerful expression of utter anguish.
Jeremiah 20 15 Word analysis
- אָרוּר (Arur): Transliteration: arur. Meaning: "cursed." This is a passive participle from the root arar, meaning "to curse." It signifies a state of being subjected to divine imprecation or dire misfortune, not merely a casual expletive. It implies a wish for deep, enduring calamity, often a separation from God's blessing, carrying significant weight in the ancient Near East and biblical context (e.g., cursed ground, cursed person, as in Gen 3:17; 4:11).
- הָאִישׁ (Ha'ish): Transliteration: ha'ish. Meaning: "the man." The definite article "ha-" particularizes "ish" (man), referring to a specific individual, the one who bore the news. This is not just a man, but the man whose action led to Jeremiah's existence and thus, his current suffering.
- אֲשֶׁר (Asher): Transliteration: asher. Meaning: "who," "that." A relative pronoun connecting "the man" to his specific action.
- בִּשְּׂרָנוֹ (Bisserano): Transliteration: bisranô. Meaning: "who brought news to him." From the root basar, a Piel form which often means "to bring good tidings," or "to announce good news" (e.g., Isa 52:7). This usage in Jeremiah 20:15 is deeply ironic; Jeremiah curses the messenger who performed a conventionally positive act.
- אֶת־אָבִי (Et-avi): Transliteration: et-avi. Meaning: "to my father." "Et" is a direct object marker; "avi" means "my father." The phrase clarifies to whom the news was brought, making the curse deeply personal, targeting the source of joy for his immediate family at his birth.
- לֵאמֹר (Lemor): Transliteration: le'mor. Meaning: "saying." Introduces the direct quote of the news delivered by the messenger. It is a common linguistic marker in Hebrew for reported speech.
- יֻלַּד־לְךָ בֵּן (Yullad-lekha ben): Transliteration: yullad-lekha ben. Meaning: "A son is born to you." Yullad is a Hophal imperfect form of yalad ("to be born"), denoting a completed action (was born); "lekha" means "to you" (dative); "ben" means "son." This phrase announces the birth of a male child, the epitome of good news and blessing in ancient Hebrew society, symbolizing continuity, strength, and joy.
- מְשַׂמֵּחַ שַׂמְּחוֹ (Mesammēach sammēchō): Transliteration: mesammēach sammēchō. Meaning: "making him very glad." Mesammēach is a Piel participle from sameach ("to rejoice" or "to be glad"), meaning "making glad" or "causing joy." Sammēchō (Qal perfect verb followed by pronominal suffix) reinforces this, effectively meaning "he certainly rejoiced him" or "he made his joy intense." The doubling of the root samach amplifies the father’s profound gladness, starkly contrasting it with Jeremiah’s current sorrow. It’s an idiom for extreme joy, further heightening the prophet’s anguish at the memory.
Words-group analysis:
- "Cursed be the man who brought news...": This forceful imprecation goes beyond a mere wish for ill-fortune. It is a severe divine pronouncement invoked by Jeremiah, revealing the depth of his broken spirit. The target isn't simply a person, but the act of initiating what has become a life of relentless suffering for the prophet.
- "...to my father, 'A son is born to you!'": This phrase underlines the social and personal tragedy. The news of a male heir was cause for jubilant celebration in ancient Israelite culture. Jeremiah's curse retroactively darkens this foundational moment of familial joy, twisting a blessing into the genesis of his prolonged torment. The personalization "my father" emphasizes the impact on his closest relations.
- "...making him very glad": This climactic phrase highlights the radical emotional reversal in Jeremiah. The intensity of his father's past joy ("very glad") stands in sharp, painful contrast to Jeremiah's present suffering, emphasizing the cruel irony of his life's beginning compared to his lived experience as a prophet. It deepens the pathos, making the original joy the unwitting harbinger of an unbearable destiny.
Jeremiah 20 15 Bonus section
This lament in Jeremiah 20:15 is considered a 'confession' by some scholars, indicating deeply personal, honest revelations of the prophet’s soul to God, often laced with complaint and questioning. While culturally shocking due to its reversal of the blessed concept of childbirth, it is recorded in Scripture to validate genuine human emotion, even intense despair, in the face of immense suffering. It teaches us that faith does not negate pain but often brings it into sharper focus as one confronts the world's darkness with God's light. Such radical statements by a prophet can paradoxically strengthen the faith of believers, showing that even great figures wrestled profoundly with their callings and existence, giving permission for others to voice their own honest struggles before God. It emphasizes that while Jeremiah could articulate despair, his ultimate message remained consistent with God's truth, showing how deeply God meets his servants in their most human moments.
Jeremiah 20 15 Commentary
Jeremiah 20:15 offers a stark window into the extreme psychological and spiritual toll of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry. It is a moment of raw, unvarnished human anguish, where the prophet expresses regret for his very existence, casting a curse on the initial moment of joy that heralded his birth. This lament follows profound public humiliation and oscillating spiritual states, suggesting an internal crisis reaching existential depths. What should have been a source of blessed memory – a father’s joy at the birth of a son – becomes, in Jeremiah's distorted perception born of immense suffering, a cursed origin. This radical reinterpretation of joy into lament highlights the devastating impact of unrelenting rejection, persecution, and the overwhelming burden of being God's voice to an unhearing nation. It demonstrates that faithfulness to God does not preclude experiencing deep personal suffering or the consequent human emotions of despair, even for God's chosen vessels, underscoring the authenticity and complexity of faith in a fallen world.