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New Living Translation

Jeremiah 20:17

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!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jeremiah;   Life;   Murmuring;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Suffering;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Abortion;   Prayer;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jeremiah;   Prayer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jeremiah;   Job;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Jeremiah (2);  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
because he didn’t kill me in the wombso that my mother might have been my grave,her womb eternally pregnant.
Hebrew Names Version
because he didn't kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
King James Version
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.
English Standard Version
because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
New American Standard Bible
Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb forever pregnant.
New Century Version
because he did not kill me before I was born. Then my mother would have been my grave; she would have stayed pregnant forever.
Amplified Bible
Because he did not kill me before my birth, So that my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always pregnant.
World English Bible
because he didn't kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Because he hath not slaine me, euen from the wombe, or that my mother might haue bene my graue, or her wobe a perpetual conception.
Legacy Standard Bible
Because he did not put me to death from the womb,So that my mother would have been my grave,And her womb ever pregnant.
Berean Standard Bible
because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.
Contemporary English Version
He deserves to die for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's body would have been my grave.
Complete Jewish Bible
because God did not put me to death in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb forever filled with me.
Darby Translation
because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great [with me]!
Easy-to-Read Version
because he did not kill me while I was in my mother's womb. If he had killed me then, my mother would have been my grave, and I would not have been born.
George Lamsa Translation
Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and my conception would have remained in the womb for ever.
Good News Translation
for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's womb would have been my grave.
Lexham English Bible
Because he did not kill me in the womb, so that my mother would have been for me my grave, and her womb would be pregnant forever.
Literal Translation
because he did not kill me from the womb; and that my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great with me .
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
because he slewe me not, as soone as I came out off my mothers wombe, and because my mother was not my graue hirselff, that the byrth might not haue come out, but remayned still in her.
American Standard Version
because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Bible in Basic English
Because he did not put me to death before my birth took place: so my mother's body would have been my last resting-place, and she would have been with child for ever.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Because He slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
King James Version (1611)
Because he slew me not from the wombe: or that my mother might haue beene my graue, and her wombe to be alwaies great with me.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Why sluest thou not me assoone as I came out of my mothers wombe? or that my mother had ben my graue her selfe, that the byrth might not haue come out, but remayned still in her?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
because he slew me not in the womb, and my mother became not my tomb, and her womb always great with me.
English Revised Version
because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother should have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
he that killide not me fro the wombe, here cry eerli, and yellynge in the tyme of myddai; that my modir were a sepulcre to me, and hir wombe were euerlastinge conseyuyng.
Update Bible Version
because he didn't slay me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always pregnant.
Webster's Bible Translation
Because he slew me not at my birth; or that my mother might have been my grave, and she had not been delivered.
New English Translation
For he did not kill me before I came from the womb, making my pregnant mother's womb my grave forever.
New King James Version
Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me.
New Life Bible
For he did not kill me before I was born, so that my mother's body would have been my grave.
New Revised Standard
because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Because I was not slain from the womb, - Nor did my mother become my grave, Nor was her womb great for ever!
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who slew me not from the womb, that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb an everlasting conception.
Revised Standard Version
because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb for ever great.
Young's Literal Translation
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.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant.

Contextual Overview

14 Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth. 15 I curse the messenger who told my father, "Good news—you have a son!" 16 Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the Lord overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts, 17 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! 18 Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he slew: Job 3:10, Job 3:11, Job 3:16, Job 10:18, Job 10:19, Ecclesiastes 6:3

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 4:3 - better

Cross-References

Genesis 20:7
Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will die."
Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called for Abraham. "What have you done to us?" he demanded. "What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done!
Genesis 20:10
Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?"
Genesis 20:11
Abraham replied, "I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.'
Genesis 20:12
And she really is my sister, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her.
Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.
Ezra 6:10
Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the welfare of the king and his sons.
Proverbs 15:8
The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.
Isaiah 45:11
This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: "Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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" m; 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.

m ורחמה הרת עולם "et ejus uterus, conceptus perpetuus", Munster; "et vulva ejus, conceptio perpetua", Pagninus, "et vulva ejus praegnans perpetuo", Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing.

It is important to notice that with this outpouring of sorrow Jeremiah’s ministry virtually closed. Though he appeared again at Jerusalem toward the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, yet it was no longer to say that by repentance the national ruin might be averted. During the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the die was cast, and all the prophet henceforward could do, was to alleviate a punishment that was inevitable.

Jeremiah 20:7

Thou hast deceived me ... - What Jeremiah refers to is the joy with which he had accepted the prophetic office Jeremiah 15:16, occasioned perhaps by taking the promises in Jeremiah 1:18 too literally as a pledge that he would succeed.

Thou art stronger than I - Rather, “Thou hast taken hold of me.” God had taken Jeremiah in so firm a grasp that he could not escape from the necessity of prophesying. He would have resisted, but the hand of God prevailed.

I am in derision daily - literally, “I am become a laughing-stock all the day, i. e., peripetually.

Jeremiah 20:8

Translate,” For as often as I speak, I must complain; I call out, Violence and spoil.”

From the time Jeremiah began to prophesy, he had had reason for nothing but lamentation. Daily with louder voice and more desperate energy he must call out “violence and spoil;” as a perpetual protest against the manner in which the laws of justice were violated by powerful men among the people.

Jeremiah 20:9

Seeing that his mission was useless, Jeremiah determined to withdraw from it.

I could not stay - Rather, “I prevailed not,” did not succeed. See Jeremiah 20:7.

Jeremiah 20:10

The defaming - Rather, “the talking.” The word refers to people whispering in twos and threes apart; in this case plotting against Jeremiah. Compare Mark 14:58.

Report ... - Rather, “Do you report, and we will report him: i. e., they encourage one another to give information against Jeremiah.

My familiars - literally, “the men of my peace” Psalms 41:9. In the East the usual salutation is “Peace be to thee:” and the answer, “And to thee peace.” Thus, the phrase rather means acquaintances, than familiar friends.

Enticed - literally, “persuaded, misled,” the same word as “deceived Jeremiah 20:7.” Compare Mark 12:13-17.

Jeremiah 20:11

A mighty terrible one - Rather, “a terrible warrior.” The mighty One Isaiah 9:6 who is on his side is a terror to them. This change of feeling was the effect of faith, enabling him to be content with calmly doing his duty, and leaving the result to God.

For ... - Rather, “because they have not acted wisely (Jeremiah 10:21 note), with an everlasting disgrace that shall never be forgotten.”

Jeremiah 20:12

This verse is repeated almost verbatim from Jeremiah 11:20.

Jeremiah 20:13

Sing - Jeremiah’s outward circumstances remained the same, but he found peace in leaving his cause in faith to God.

Jeremiah 20:14

This sudden outbreak of impatience after the happy faith of Jeremiah 20:13 has led to much discussion. Possibly there was more of sorrow in the words than of impatience; sorrow that the earnest labor of a life had been in vain. Yet the form of the expression is fierce and indignant; and the impatience of Jeremiah is that part of his character which is most open to blame. He does not reach that elevation which is set before us by Him who is the perfect pattern of all righteousness. Our Lord was a prophet whose mission to the men of His generation equally failed, and His sorrow was even more deep; but it never broke forth in imprecations. See Luke 19:41-42.

Jeremiah 20:16

The cry - is the sound of the lamentation Jeremiah 20:8; “the shouting” is the alarm of war.


 
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