Jeremiah 20 17

Jeremiah 20:17 kjv

Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

Jeremiah 20:17 nkjv

Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me.

Jeremiah 20:17 niv

For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.

Jeremiah 20:17 esv

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 nlt

because he did not kill me at birth.
Oh, that I had died in my mother's womb,
that her body had been my grave!

Jeremiah 20 verses

Jeremiah 20 17 Meaning

This verse vividly expresses Jeremiah's profound despair and overwhelming regret at having been born. He laments that if he had been killed in his mother's womb, the womb itself would have become his permanent grave, perpetually containing him and sparing him from the immense suffering, ridicule, and rejection he endures as God's prophet. It's a powerful and deeply personal wish for non-existence to escape an unbearable life.

Jeremiah 20 17 Context

Jeremiah chapter 20 records a critical turning point in Jeremiah's prophetic ministry, known as one of his "Confessions" or laments. Immediately preceding this verse, Jeremiah has been beaten and put in stocks by Pashhur, a chief priest and temple official, for boldly prophesying divine judgment and exile upon Jerusalem and Judah. After his release, Jeremiah pronounces further dire prophecies against Pashhur, identifying him as "Terror on Every Side" (Pashhur's new name from God) and predicting his and his family's captivity and death in Babylon. Overwhelmed by the constant persecution, mockery, and the inner turmoil of carrying God's burdensome word—a word he felt compelled to speak despite the pain it brought—Jeremiah curses the day of his birth in Jer 20:14-16. Verse 17 escalates this curse, extending the regret to the moment of conception, wishing that his life had been prevented entirely. His lament serves as a raw expression of human vulnerability under divine pressure, contrasting sharply with the societal value placed on fertility and birth in ancient Israel. The original audience would have understood this as an extreme cry of distress, almost unthinkable in their cultural context, emphasizing the depth of the prophet's suffering. There's no direct polemic, but it profoundly subverts the traditional view of birth as an unquestionable blessing.

Jeremiah 20 17 Word analysis

• because he did not kill me: Hebrew: כִּלָּֽנִי (kiláni). From the root kālāh, meaning 'to bring to an end,' 'destroy,' or 'finish.' Here, it directly signifies the termination of life. Jeremiah is attributing the failure of this termination to an unstated agent (often understood as God's allowing him to be born), thereby implicating it as the root cause of his suffering. This speaks to a crisis of theodicy in his mind.

• in the womb: Hebrew: בָּרֶחֶם (ba'reḥem). Reḥem (womb) is a potent symbol of life, origin, and divine design in Hebrew thought (e.g., Pss 139:13, Job 10:18). By wishing for death here, Jeremiah tragically repurposes the very crucible of life into the desired site of its premature termination, before he could ever experience its sorrow. The prefix ba- means "in" or "within."

• so my mother would have been my grave: Hebrew: וַתְּהִי־לִי אִמִּי קִבְרִי (va-tehí-li immí qivrí). This is a stark, shocking metaphor. Immi (my mother) is transformed into qivrí (my grave/tomb). It twists the biological function of the womb from a life-giving source to a permanent enclosure for the dead, an ultimate act of undoing existence and all the pain that came with it. It reflects a complete inversion of natural expectations.

• and her womb forever great: Hebrew: וְרַחְמָהּ הָרַת עוֹלָם (ve-raḥmáh hárat 'ôlám).

  • Raḥmáh: "her womb."
  • Hārat: can mean 'pregnant,' 'to be with child,' or 'to be heavy/swollen.' In this context, it is best understood as "pregnant with" or "containing" eternally.
  • ʿÔlám: "forever," "everlasting," "eternity."This phrase suggests that the mother's womb, instead of bringing forth life, would have become his eternal "pregnant" container, a perpetual, unchanging tomb. It conveys the wish for a permanent, uninterrupted state of non-existence or suspended life within the very place he began, shielded from the external world's torments forever.

• "because he did not kill me in the womb": This initial clause lays bare the deep regret over his very inception and subsequent life. It implies a 'what if' scenario where intervention before birth could have spared him from all present and future pain. It's an agonizing rhetorical question directed at the cosmic order, lamenting his very creation.

• "so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great": This phrase constructs an almost gruesome, yet deeply poetic, image of profound desire for nullification. The nurturing womb becomes a personal, permanent sepulchre. "Forever great" in this context refers to its permanent function as a tomb, "great" in the sense of continuously containing or retaining his un-born existence, never delivering him to a life of sorrow. This extreme imagery underscores the absolute depth of Jeremiah's anguish, equating the pain of his existence to a fate worse than eternal prenatal containment.

Jeremiah 20 17 Bonus section

• The Hebrew concept of raḥamim (mercy/compassion) is etymologically linked to reḥem (womb), symbolizing the deep, nurturing, life-giving love a mother has for her child. Jeremiah's twisting of reḥem into qivrí (grave) and a permanent container subverts this deeply rooted cultural understanding, emphasizing the tragic irony and extremity of his emotional state.
• This lament forms part of a series known as Jeremiah's "Confessions" (chapters 11, 15, 17, 18, 20). These sections provide unparalleled insight into the inner life and personal struggles of a biblical prophet, showcasing moments of despair, doubt, and accusation against God, alongside moments of renewed trust.
• The raw honesty of Jeremiah's words, similar to those found in Job and Ecclesiastes, often resonates with modern readers facing profound grief or mental health struggles. It shows that expressing despair to God, even with seemingly blasphemous thoughts, is not excluded from genuine faith.

Jeremiah 20 17 Commentary

Jeremiah 20:17 is a raw, agonizing cry from the depths of a prophet's soul, showcasing the profound human cost of faithful obedience to God, especially when that obedience involves proclaiming unpopular truths leading to suffering. Far from being a theological statement about pre-destination or birth, it's a gut-wrenching emotional outburst born from extreme duress. Jeremiah, God's chosen prophet, here articulates a wish for non-existence so intense that he desires the very source of his life—his mother's womb—to have become his perpetual grave. This illustrates that faith does not exempt one from the full spectrum of human pain, but often intensifies it for those who walk closest with God. The contrast with Jeremiah's calling in Jer 1:5, where God declares intimate knowledge and consecration from the womb, makes this lament even more poignant, revealing the wrestling match between divine purpose and human agony. It serves as a reminder that honesty in lament, even radical wishing for non-existence, can be part of an ongoing, albeit struggling, relationship with God, allowing us to bring our deepest pain to Him without pretense. For the suffering believer, this passage offers a validating portrayal of raw anguish that even great figures of faith experienced.