Bible Strands
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks directly to Jeremiah, framing his calling before he has even protested his youth (v.6). This is the opening of a prophetic commission.
The words — יָדַע (yada', H3045) "I knew" is not intellectual awareness but intimate, personal knowledge in Hebrew; הִקְדִּישׁ (hikdash, H6942) "I set apart" is the hiphil of qadash, the verb for consecration.
The thread — The same pre-birth knowing and calling appears in Psalms 139:16, Isaiah 49:1, and Galatians 1:15.
Why it lands — The verse removes self-qualification from the equation: Jeremiah's inadequacy (v.6) is irrelevant because the appointment precedes his capacity. It asks the reader to stop negotiating terms.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Cross-references
- Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
- Isaiah 49:1 Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.
- Galatians 1:15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
- Psalms 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth.
- Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Isaiah 49:5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—
- Isaiah 44:2 This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
- Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Luke 1:76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,