Bible Strands
Jeremiah 20:18
Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks these words immediately after wishing he had died in the womb, addressing God directly at the climax of his prophetic distress. He voices the conclusion of a life marked by relentless opposition and personal ruin.
The words — The Hebrew mah (why) introduces a rhetorical challenge, while rechem (womb) grounds the complaint in his physical origin. ʿamal (trouble) and yagon (sorrow) are paired to describe the unending nature of his experience.
The thread — The text runs parallel to Job 3:20 and Job 14:1, which question why life is given to those experiencing misery and short, troubled days. It also mirrors the personal affliction cataloged in Lamentations 3:1.
Why it lands — The text states that faithful proclamation can result in prolonged suffering and public disgrace rather than immediate vindication. It asks the reader to accept that divine calling does not exempt the messenger from the reality of human anguish.
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
Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
Cross-references
- Job 3:20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- Job 14:1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Lamentations 3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.
- 1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
- Psalms 69:19 You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace. All my adversaries are before You.
- Psalms 90:9 For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.
- 1 Corinthians 4:9 For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men.
- Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
- Job 14:13 If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.