The Meaning of Jeremiah 15:10 Explained

Jeremiah 15:10

KJV: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

YLT: Woe to me, my mother, For thou hast borne me a man of strife, And a man of contention to all the land, I have not lent on usury, Nor have they lent on usury to me -- All of them are reviling me.

Darby: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent on usury, nor have they lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

ASV: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them doth curse me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Woe  is me, my mother,  that thou hast borne  me a man  of strife  and a man  of contention  to the whole earth!  I have neither lent on usury,  nor men have lent to me on usury;  [yet] every one of them doth curse  me. 

What does Jeremiah 15:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In this Lamentations , Jeremiah first addressed his mother and mourned that she had borne him (cf. Jeremiah 20:14-18; Job 3:3-10). It is normal for a single man like Jeremiah to think of his mother when he gets lonely and discouraged. Since the Lord"s call of him antedated his birth ( Jeremiah 1:5), cursing his birth was tantamount to rejecting God"s call on his life. His ministry had produced much strife and contention, both for him and his people (cf. Jeremiah 11:18-20). He sounds like a lawyer who was tired of bringing accusations against his countrymen. He felt that everyone cursed him. Their disagreements with him did not spring from borrowing and lending, a common cause of animosity, but from his preaching. Today we would say that Jeremiah felt burned out.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 15

1  The utter rejection and manifold judgments of the people
10  Jeremiah, complaining of their spite, receives a promise for himself;
12  and a threatening for them
15  He prays;
19  and receives a gracious promise

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 15:10 mean?

Woe is me my mother that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth neither I have lent for interest nor have men lent for interest to me every one of them curses me -
אֽוֹי־ לִ֣י אִמִּ֔י כִּ֣י יְלִדְתִּ֗נִי אִ֥ישׁ רִ֛יב וְאִ֥ישׁ מָד֖וֹן לְכָל־ ! הָאָ֑רֶץ לֹֽא־ נָשִׁ֥יתִי וְלֹא־ נָֽשׁוּ־ בִ֖י כֻּלֹּ֥ה מְקַלְלַֽונִי ס

אֽוֹי־  Woe  is 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֹוי  
Sense: woe! alas! oh!.
לִ֣י  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
אִמִּ֔י  my  mother 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
כִּ֣י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
יְלִדְתִּ֗נִי  you  have  borne  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
אִ֥ישׁ  a  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
רִ֛יב  of  strife 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רִיב 
Sense: strife, controversy, dispute.
וְאִ֥ישׁ  and  a  man 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
מָד֖וֹן  of  contention 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָדֹון  
Sense: strife, contention.
לְכָל־  to  all 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
! הָאָ֑רֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
לֹֽא־  neither 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
נָשִׁ֥יתִי  I  have  lent  for  interest 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: נָשָׁא  
Sense: to lend, be a creditor.
וְלֹא־  nor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
נָֽשׁוּ־  have  men  lent  for  interest 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָשָׁא  
Sense: to lend, be a creditor.
בִ֖י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
כֻּלֹּ֥ה  every  one  of  them 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מְקַלְלַֽונִי  curses  me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: קָלַל  
Sense: to be slight, be swift, be trifling, be of little account, be light.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation