Texts in Conversation
Jeremiah’s cry of regret at his birth closely mirrors Job’s lament, where Job wishes he had never been born. Both use the image of a cursed or regretted birth to express deep personal anguish. Jeremiah adapts this earlier lament tradition to describe the pain of his prophetic calling.
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Jeremiah 15:10
Hebrew Bible
9 The mother who had seven children will grow faint. All the breath will go out of her. Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life. It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. She will suffer shame and humiliation. I will cause any of them who are still left alive to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,” says the Lord. 10 I said, “Oh, mother, how I regret that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. I have not lent money to anyone, and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all these people are treating me with contempt.” 11 The Lord said, “Jerusalem, I will surely send you away for your own good. I will surely bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress. 12 Can you people who are like iron and bronze break that iron fist from the north?
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Job 3:3
Hebrew Bible
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job spoke up and said: 3 “Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A man has been conceived!’ 4 That day—let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it! 5 Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jeremiah’s Lament and God’s Response, 15:10-14 ... This segment is in prose (compare God’s response in 11:21-23). Jeremiah, in a unique address to his mother (links up with the mothers of verses 8-9; a few understand “mother” here to be a reference to Jerusalem), expresses regret that he was ever born (he does so more intensely in 20:14-18; see Job 3:3-4). Recall that Jeremiah was called to be a prophet in his mother’s womb (1:5), and hence this is a wish that he had not been born to carry out that role. This lament reveals a crisis of call for Jeremiah in view of his experience of exercising that call. He has acquired an unhappy reputation among the people as a contentious individual; he speaks sharply critical words of the populace and stirs up strife wherever he goes. And though Jeremiah has been called to speak these words, he is dismayed that people are so critical of him. Everyone is out to get him! ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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