Jeremiah 20:14

20:14 Cursed be the day I was born!

May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me. ¹ 

Jeremiah 20:17

20:17 For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,

making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever. ² 

Jeremiah 50:12

50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.

The land where you were born ³  will be disgraced.

Indeed, ⁴  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.

It will become a dry and barren desert.

[20:14]  ¹ sn From the heights of exaltation, Jeremiah returns to the depths of despair. For similar mood swings in the psalms of lament compare Ps 102. Verses 14-18 are similar in tone and mood to Job 3:1-10. They are very forceful rhetorical ways of Job and Jeremiah expressing the wish that they had never been born.

[20:17]  ² tn Heb “because he did not kill me from the womb so my mother might be to me for my grave and her womb eternally pregnant.” The sentence structure has been modified and the word “womb” moved from the last line to the next to the last line for English stylistic purposes and greater clarity.

[50:12]  ³ tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.

[50:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.