The Meaning of Jeremiah 20:18 Explained

Jeremiah 20:18

KJV: Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

YLT: Why is this? from the womb I have come out, To see labour and sorrow, Yea, consumed in shame are my days!

Darby: Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

ASV: Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore came I forth  out of the womb  to see  labour  and sorrow,  that my days  should be consumed  with shame? 

What does Jeremiah 20:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah bewailed the fact that he ever came out of his mother"s womb, since his life had been so full of trouble, sorrow, and shame. Jeremiah 20:17-18 are another indication that human life exists in a mother"s womb before birth. Jeremiah existed as a person in his mother"s womb.
"What these curses convey ... is a state of mind, not a prosaic plea. The heightened language is not there to be analysed [1]: it is there to bowl us over. Together with other tortured cries from him and his fellow sufferers, these raw wounds in Scripture remain lest we forget the sharpness of the age-long struggle, or the frailty of the finest overcomers." [2]
"Jeremiah was discouraged because he was a man standing against a flood. And I want to say to you that nobody who is fighting the battle in our own generation can float on a Beauty Rest mattress. If you love God and love men and have compassion for them, you will pay a real price psychologically....
"But what does God expect of Jeremiah? What does God expect of every man who preaches into a lost age like ours? I"ll tell you what God expects. He simply expects a man to go right on. He doesn"t scold a man for being tired, but neither does He expect him to stop his message because people are against him." [3]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 20:1-18 - The Folly Of Idolatry
Jeremiah 10:1-10
We are here introduced into an idol-factory. Contrasted with the manufactured idols is the majesty of our God. There is none like Him. His name is great in might; He is the King of the nations, the true and living God, and the everlasting King! Christian, fear not or be dismayed when enemies plot against you. It is a vain device that they frame. To hide in God is a sure defence from all that man can do for our hurt. O thou true and living Savior, in thy wounds harried and faithful souls become strong and brave again.
Jeremiah 10:19-25
The prophet now bids the people prepare for their captivity. Their city would be as when a shepherd removed his slight and insubstantial tent, leaving no trace. But Jeremiah's soul is lacerated and torn with the message he must needs announce. Are we called to be shepherds? Let us see to it that we seek the Lord; so only shall our flocks not be scattered, Jeremiah 10:21. Are we in perplexity as to our path in life? It is not for us to direct ourselves, but to look up for God's sure guidance, which will be given to the soul that waits for it, Jeremiah 10:23. Are we being corrected? Let us be patient; it is only when we endure without complaining that our trial works out the highest good, and God will not give us more than we can bear, Jeremiah 10:24. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 20

1  Pashur, smiting Jeremiah, receives a new name, and a fearful doom
7  Jeremiah complains of contempt;
10  of treachery;
14  and of his birth

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 20:18 mean?

Why [is] this [that] from the womb I came forth to see labor and sorrow that should be consumed with shame my days -
לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ מֵרֶ֣חֶם יָצָ֔אתִי לִרְא֥וֹת עָמָ֖ל וְיָג֑וֹן וַיִּכְל֥וּ ؟ בְּבֹ֖שֶׁת יָמָֽי פ

לָ֤מָּה  Why 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
זֶּה֙  [is]  this  [that] 
Parse: Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
מֵרֶ֣חֶם  from  the  womb 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רֶחֶם  
Sense: womb.
יָצָ֔אתִי  I  came  forth 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
לִרְא֥וֹת  to  see 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
עָמָ֖ל  labor 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָמָל  
Sense: .
וְיָג֑וֹן  and  sorrow 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָגֹון  
Sense: grief, sorrow, anguish.
וַיִּכְל֥וּ  that  should  be  consumed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
؟ בְּבֹ֖שֶׁת  with  shame 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בֹּשֶׁת  
Sense: shame.
יָמָֽי  my  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation