TRV
Study This Verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Jeremiah 20:14–18. His two-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
What is the meaning of this? Does there proceed out of the same mouth blessing and cursing? Could he that said so cheerfully (Jer 20:13), Sing unto the Lord, praise you the Lord, say so passionately (Jer 20:14), Cursed be the day wherein I was born? How shall we reconcile these? What we have in these verses the prophet records, I suppose, to his own shame, as he had recorded that in the foregoing verses to God's glory. It seems to be a relation of the ferment he had been in while he was in the stocks, out of which by faith and hope he had recovered himself, rather than a new temptation which he afterwards fell into, and it should come in like that of David (Psa 31:22), I said in my haste, I am cut off; this is also implied, Psa 77:7. When grace has got the victory it is good to remember the struggles of corruption, that we may be ashamed of ourselves and our own folly, may admire the goodness of God in not taking us at our word, and may be warned by it to double our guard upon our spirits another time. See here how strong the temptation was which the prophet, by divine assistance, got the victory over, and how far he yielded to it, that we may not despair if we through the weakness of the flesh be at any time thus tempted. Let us see here,
I.What the prophet's language was in this temptation.
1.He fastened a brand of infamy upon his birthday, as Job did in a heat (Job 3:1): "Cursed be the day wherein I was born. It was an ill day to me (Jer 20:14), because it was the beginning of sorrows, and an inlet to all this misery." It is a wish that he had never been born. Judas in hell has reason to wish so (Mat 26:24), but no man on earth has reason to wish so, because he knows not but he may yet become a vessel of mercy, much less has any good man reason to wish so. Whereas some keep their birthday, at the return of the year with gladness, he will look upon his birthday as a melancholy day, and will solemnize it with sorrow, and will have it looked upon as an ominous day.
2.He wished ill to the messenger that brought his father the news of his birth, Jer 20:15. It made his father very glad to hear that he had a child born (perhaps it was his first-born), especially that it was a man-child, for then, being of the family of the priests, he might live to have the honour of serving God's altar; and yet he is ready to curse the man that brought him the tidings, when perhaps the father to whom they were brought gave him a gratuity for it. Here Mr. Gataker well observes, "That parents are often much rejoiced at the birth of their children when, if they did but foresee what misery they are born to, they would rather lament over them than rejoice in them." He is very free and very fierce in the curses he pronounces upon the messenger of his birth (Jer 20:16): "Let him be at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which the Lord utterly overthrew, and repented not, did not in the least mitigate of alleviate their misery. Let him hear the cry of the invading besieging enemy in the morning, as soon as he is stirring; then let him take the alarm, and by noon let him hear their shouting for victory. And thus let him live in constant terror." 3. He is angry that the fate of the Hebrews' children in Egypt was not his, that he was not slain from the womb, that his first breath was not his last, and that he was not strangled as soon as he came into the world, Jer 20:17. He wishes the messenger of his birth had been better employed and had been his murderer; nay, that his mother of whom he was born had been, to her great misery, always with child of him, and so the womb in which he was conceived would have served, without more ado, as a grave for him to be buried in. Job intimates a near alliance and resemblance between the womb and the grave, Job 1:21. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. 4. He thinks his present calamities sufficient to justify these passionate wishes (Jer 20:18): "Wherefore came I forth out of the womb, where I lay hid, was not seen, was not hated, where I lay safely and knew no evil, to see all this labour and sorrow, nay to have my days consumed with shame, to be continually vexed and abused, to have my life not only spent in trouble, but wasted and worn away by trouble?"
II.What use we may make of this.
It is not recorded for our imitation, and yet we may learn good lessons from it.
1.See the vanity of human life and the vexation of spirit that attends it. If there were not another life after this, we should be tempted many a time to wish that we have never known this; for our few days here are full of trouble.
2.See the folly and absurdity of sinful passion, how unreasonably it talks when it is suffered to ramble. What nonsense is it to curse a day - to curse a messenger for the sake of his message! What a brutish barbarous thing for a child to wish his own mother had never been delivered of him! See Isa 45:10. We can easily see the folly of it in others, and should take warning thence to suppress all such intemperate heats and passions in ourselves, to stifle them at first and not to suffer these evil spirits to speak. When the heart is hot, let the tongue be bridled, Psa 39:1, Psa 39:2.
3.See the weakness even of good men, who are but men at the best. See how much those who think they stand are concerned to take heed lest they fall, and to pray daily, Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation!
Historical interpretation
Historical Reception
2 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
How much dissatisfaction do we see that even the brief stages of our lives bring on us! The boy longs to be a young man. The young man counts the years when he will be older. The mature man, ungrateful for the blessing of being in the prime of life, eagerly desires the honor associated with old age. Thus, to all there comes naturally a desire for change, simply because we become dissatisfied with what we are now. Therefore, even the very things that we have wished for become wearisome to us on their enjoyment, and what we have desired to obtain we reject on its attainment. Consequently, holy people have not without reason lamented their prolonged sojourning here: David lamented it, Jeremiah lamented it, Elijah lamented it. If we can believe wise people, even those in whom the divine Spirit spoke were hastening to better things.
(Verse 14 and following) Cursed be the day in which I was born, the day in which my mother bore me, let it not be blessed. Cursed be the man (or person) who brought the news to my father, saying, 'A male child is born to you,' and made him rejoice as if with joy. Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without regret; let him hear the cry in the morning and the wailing at noonday, because he did not kill me from the womb to be my mother's grave, and her womb forever pregnant. Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, and that my days should be consumed in confusion? Those who consider that the souls were in heavenly things, and were precipitated from a better to a worse state, make use of this and similar testimonies, which indeed imply that it is better to dwell in heavenly things than in earthly things and to assume a body of humility: certain new things, or rather old, seeking arguments for their heresy. But we, on the other hand, reading that of the blessed Job: Cursed be the day wherein I was born; and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived (Job 3:3). And cursed is the man who announced to my father, saying, a boy is born to you, we fit this testimony, namely that it is better not to exist than to live in torments, according to what is written: Death is rest for a man, to whom God has closed his way (Sirach. XXII, 11). And again: Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are bitter of soul (Job. III, 20)? And in the Gospel we read a simple statement: It would have been better for him if he had not been born (Matthew XXVI, 24): not that there is anyone who has not been born; but that it is better not to exist than to be in a bad state. For it is one thing to not exist at all, another to exist but suffer without any respite, just as we prefer a peaceful death to a miserable life. Hence Amos refers to it as a day of darkness, a day of affliction (Amos, V). And Jacob, because he had lived in labor and distress, calls the days of his life few and evil (Gen. XLVII). And the Apostle Paul says: Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil world (Gal. I, 4). And again: Redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephes. V, 16). The Hebrews calculate the fifth month, when Jerusalem was captured and the Temple was destroyed, as the birth of Jeremiah, with certain and extraordinary arguments. But if they can prove this, I do not know how they can interpret the testimony of Job, unless perhaps they consider that day as a certain prefiguration and prophecy of the future destruction of the Temple. And I think that the similarity of the destroyed cities to Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned, and every time is in mourning, so that there is a cry and a wailing in the morning and at midday. But what he brings forward: 'Whoever does not kill me in the womb, they think signifies God.' So that, he says, there would be eternal conception for me, which are all said hyperbolically. Finally, he explains the reasons why he prefers death to life, and indeed that not existing at all is better than existing badly, adding: 'Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and that my days should be consumed in confusion?'
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Summary
Jeremiah 20:15 is a profoundly raw and agonizing lament from the prophet Jeremiah, in which he curses the anonymous messenger who first brought the joyous news of his birth to his father. This intense expression of despair reveals the overwhelming burden and suffering Jeremiah experienced in his prophetic ministry, pushing him to the emotional brink where he wished his very existence had never begun, a stark testament to the relentless opposition and profound personal cost of delivering God's challenging message to a rebellious people.
Context
Literary Context
This verse is a poignant component of Jeremiah's "confessions," a series of deeply personal laments (found primarily in Jeremiah 11-20) where the prophet pours out his heart to God concerning his profound suffering and the immense personal cost of his prophetic calling. Immediately preceding this lament, Jeremiah had endured public humiliation and physical abuse at the hands of Pashhur, a priest and chief officer of the temple, who had him beaten and placed in the stocks for prophesying doom upon Jerusalem and Judah (Jeremiah 20:1-3). This public disgrace and imprisonment served as the immediate catalyst for Jeremiah's desperate cry, leading him to curse the very day of his birth in the preceding verse (Jeremiah 20:14). In Jeremiah 20:15, he extends that curse to the messenger who brought the initial glad tidings of his arrival, intensifying the expression of his profound regret.
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah's prophetic ministry unfolded during a tumultuous and declining period in Judah's history, spanning the reigns of several kings leading up to the devastating Babylonian exile. His divine commission required him to deliver unpopular messages of impending judgment, calling for national repentance from widespread idolatry and social injustice, and warning of the inevitable destruction. This put him in direct conflict with the religious and political establishment, as well as the general populace, resulting in constant opposition, rejection, and severe persecution. Culturally, the birth of a male child in ancient Israel was an occasion for immense celebration, viewed as a divine blessing, a continuation of the family line, and a source of strength, honor, and security for the father. The messenger who delivered such joyous news would have been highly esteemed and rewarded. Jeremiah's shocking curse against this messenger, therefore, represents a radical inversion of deeply ingrained societal norms, powerfully underscoring the extraordinary depth of his anguish and despair.
Key Themes
Jeremiah 20:15 powerfully contributes to several overarching themes prevalent within the book of Jeremiah and the broader prophetic literature. Firstly, it vividly highlights the Profound Despair and Anguish experienced by God's faithful servant, demonstrating that even those most intimately connected to God can endure overwhelming sorrow and regret, thereby validating the raw reality of human suffering in the face of divine calling. Secondly, the verse underscores the immense Burden and Cost of Prophetic Ministry, revealing the profound personal sacrifice involved in being God's messenger to a resistant and rebellious people. This life was often marked by isolation, rejection, and persecution, making the divine calling feel like an unbearable curse rather than a blessing (compare Jeremiah's earlier complaint in Jeremiah 15:10). Furthermore, this verse presents a stark Irony of Birth, where the typical joy and celebration associated with the arrival of a male child are tragically inverted, transforming what was once a cause for profound happiness for his father into the very origin of Jeremiah's unbearable pain and suffering.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This primitive root (H779) signifies to execrate or bitterly curse. When Jeremiah employs this term, he is not merely expressing frustration but invoking a profound state of condemnation or separation from blessing upon the messenger. It conveys an intense, almost desperate, desire for the very opposite of what his birth brought him, reflecting a wish for non-existence or an undoing of that initial moment.
From the primitive root (H1319), this word primarily means "to announce good news" or "to preach." Its typical usage is associated with joy and positive announcements. The ironic deployment of this word in Jeremiah 20:15 powerfully highlights the prophet's deep anguish: what was once "good news" (the birth of a son) is now, from his perspective, the source of his profound misery, making the messenger of that good news an object of his bitter curse.
This primitive root (H8055) means to brighten up, to be blithe or gleesome, or to make joyful. The phrase "making him very glad" emphasizes the initial, expected joy that accompanied the announcement of Jeremiah's birth to his father. This strong expression of past happiness stands in stark and painful contrast to Jeremiah's present state of despair, intensifying the tragic irony and the profound depth of his lament.
Verse Breakdown
"Cursed [be] the man who brought tidings to my father, saying,"
Jeremiah's imprecation is directed not at his father, nor directly at God, but at the anonymous messenger. This highlights the prophet's deep-seated regret over his very existence, externalizing his pain onto the initial moment of his life's announcement. The use of "cursed" is a powerful expression of his wish that this joyous event had never occurred, reflecting an almost unbearable burden of life.
"A man child is born unto thee;"
This clause represents the content of the "glad tidings." The birth of a male child was a significant and highly celebrated event in ancient Israelite culture, ensuring the continuation of the family line, providing security in old age, and bringing honor and prestige to the father. This statement encapsulates the initial joy and hope associated with Jeremiah's arrival, a joy now tragically inverted in his mind.
"making him very glad."
This final clause emphasizes the father's joyful reaction to the news. The repetition of "glad" (from the root H8055, sâmach) underscores the profound happiness and elation that accompanied the birth. This past joy, once a source of celebration, is now bitterly contrasted with Jeremiah's present suffering, making the initial celebration a source of his current, profound lament and regret.
Literary Devices
Jeremiah 20:15 is profoundly rich in Irony, which stands as its central literary device. The very act of "bringing tidings" (בָּשַׂר, bâsar), which inherently signifies the announcement of good news, is here subjected to a curse. What was unequivocally a moment of profound joy for his father—the birth of a male heir—has become, for Jeremiah, the very wellspring of unbearable suffering, leading him to a desperate wish that it had never transpired. This radical inversion of expectation powerfully underscores the prophet's deep and consuming anguish. The verse also employs Hyperbole in the overwhelming intensity of Jeremiah's curse, expressing an extreme and all-encompassing despair that transcends conventional lament. While not intended to be taken literally, it vividly conveys the unquantifiable depth of his emotional pain. Furthermore, there is a subtle yet effective form of Metonymy, where the anonymous messenger stands in as a symbolic representation of the event of his birth itself, allowing Jeremiah to direct his profound sorrow and regret towards the very moment his life began.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Jeremiah's raw lament in this verse resonates deeply with the broader biblical understanding of human suffering and the often-unseen cost of faithfulness. It serves as a powerful theological statement that profound despair is a painful reality even for God's chosen and most devoted servants, challenging any simplistic or superficial view of faith as an automatic shield against all sorrow or anguish. The prophet's intense anguish echoes the honest laments found throughout the Psalms and particularly the book of Job, validating the raw, unvarnished expression of pain and even anger before a sovereign God. Theologically, it prompts profound reflection on the mystery of suffering, especially when it appears to arise directly from one's divine calling. It reminds us that God is intimately present even in the darkest valleys, and that His overarching plan often involves hardship, yet His faithfulness endures through it all.
Reflection and Application
Jeremiah's raw and unvarnished lament in this verse offers a profound validation of the human experience of despair, even for those who are deeply committed to God and His purposes. It serves as a powerful reminder that genuine faith does not exempt us from intense suffering, overwhelming sorrow, or even profound regret. Rather, the Bible, through passages like this, generously grants us permission to bring our most agonizing emotions—our anger, our pain, our profound weariness, and our deepest questions—honestly and vulnerably before God. For those called to difficult ministries, challenging vocations, or simply enduring prolonged periods of hardship and opposition, Jeremiah's experience offers a deep sense of solidarity, affirming that the burden can, at times, feel utterly overwhelming. It encourages us to acknowledge the immense personal cost that unwavering faithfulness to God's word can entail, and to find solace in the profound truth that our struggles are seen, understood, and deeply empathized with by a God who allowed His own Son to experience the very depths of human suffering. Ultimately, while this verse is a piercing cry of anguish, the broader narrative of Jeremiah's life, and indeed the entire biblical narrative, points unwaveringly to God's enduring faithfulness, His sustaining grace, and His ultimate redemption, even in the midst of profound suffering, inviting us to persist in prayer and trust, even when joy seems utterly impossible.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Is it sinful for a prophet like Jeremiah to express such despair and curse his birth?
Jeremiah's lament, while extreme in its expression, is presented in Scripture not as a sin to be condemned but as a raw, honest outpouring of a human heart under immense and unbearable pressure. The Bible often portrays the full, unvarnished spectrum of human emotion, including despair, anger, and profound grief, in its most faithful characters (e.g., Job, David in the Psalms). These "confessions" of Jeremiah validate the universal reality of human suffering and demonstrate that God graciously allows His servants to express their deepest pains and frustrations without condemnation. It serves as a powerful example of radical honesty and transparency before God, rather than a sinful act, though it undeniably reflects a moment of profound spiritual and emotional crisis for the prophet.
How does Jeremiah's curse of his birth relate to Job's similar lament in the book of Job?
Jeremiah's curse of the messenger who brought news of his birth in Jeremiah 20:15 is strikingly similar in its emotional intensity and thematic content to Job's lament in Job 3:3, where Job curses the very day he was born. Both passages express profound despair, a deep sense of regret, and a desperate desire for non-existence in the face of overwhelming and seemingly unbearable suffering. They serve as powerful biblical examples that even righteous and devoted individuals can experience such depths of anguish. While Job's suffering is intensely personal and seemingly inexplicable, Jeremiah's anguish is directly tied to the immense burden, constant rejection, and severe persecution he endured in his prophetic ministry. Both figures, however, demonstrate that honest lament, even to the point of cursing one's own existence, is a valid, albeit painful, part of the human experience of suffering before God.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Jeremiah's profound lament in Jeremiah 20:15, where he curses the "glad tidings" of his birth due to the immense suffering and rejection his life entailed, finds a powerful and paradoxical fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. While Jeremiah cursed the messenger of his birth because his life brought him immense sorrow and persecution, the true "glad tidings" (the Gospel) of Christ's birth, perfect life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection ultimately bring true and eternal joy to all who believe. Jesus, the ultimate Prophet and the perfect Son, also experienced profound suffering, rejection, and opposition, far surpassing anything Jeremiah endured. He was truly the "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), bearing the weight of humanity's sin. His birth, heralded by angels as "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10), paradoxically led Him to the cross, where He willingly bore the ultimate curse of sin and the Law (Galatians 3:13). Yet, through His willing suffering and sacrificial death, the curse of sin is definitively broken, and the "glad tidings" of His birth are transformed into the everlasting joy of salvation and eternal blessedness for all humanity. Thus, what Jeremiah experienced as an unbearable burden, Christ willingly embraced and transformed into the very means of ultimate redemption and eternal life, turning the curse into the greatest blessing.