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Jeremiah's Complaint
…13Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.14Cursed bethe dayI was born!May the daymy motherbore meneverbe blessed.15Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy.…

Treasury of Scripture

Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed.

Jeremiah 15:10
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.

Job 3:3-16
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the nightin which it was said, There is a man child conceived…

BareBirthBlessedBlessingBoreBornCurseCursedMotherWhereinBareBirthBlessedBlessingBoreBornCurseCursedMotherWherein1.Pashur, smiting Jeremiah, receives a new name, and a fearful doom.
7.Jeremiah complains of contempt;
10.of treachery;
14.and of his birth.

Cursed be the day I was born!
Jeremiah's lament reflects a deep personal anguish and despair, common in the prophetic literature where prophets often express their struggles with their divine calling. This phrase echoesJob 3:1-3, where Job curses the day of his birth amidst his suffering. The expression of cursing one's birth highlights the intense emotional and spiritual turmoil faced by those chosen to deliver God's messages, often met with rejection and persecution. Jeremiah's ministry was marked by opposition, and this lament reveals the human side of a prophet grappling with the weight of his mission.

May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
This continuation of the curse emphasizes the depth of Jeremiah's distress. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the birth of a child, especially a male, was typically a cause for celebration and blessing. By wishing that his birth never be blessed, Jeremiah is expressing a profound sense of regret and sorrow over his existence and the suffering it has brought him. This sentiment can be seen as a type of Christ, who also faced rejection and suffering despite being the bearer of God's message. The lamentation here is not just personal but reflects the broader rejection of God's word by the people of Judah, highlighting the prophet's role as a suffering servant.

1.Jeremiah
The prophet who is expressing deep anguish and despair in this verse. He is known for his prophecies of judgment and his personal struggles with the burden of his calling.

2.The Day of Birth
This is a metaphorical reference to the day Jeremiah was born, which he curses due to his overwhelming suffering and the rejection he faces as a prophet.

3.Jeremiah's Mother
While not directly involved in the events of this verse, she is mentioned as the one who bore Jeremiah, highlighting the personal nature of his lament.

4.Jeremiah's Prophetic Ministry
The broader context of Jeremiah's life, marked by conflict, persecution, and the heavy burden of delivering God's messages to a rebellious people.

5.The City of Jerusalem
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, Jerusalem is the primary setting of Jeremiah's ministry and the focus of many of his prophecies.The Reality of Despair
Even the most faithful servants of God can experience deep despair and anguish. This is a reminder that such feelings are part of the human experience and not necessarily a sign of weak faith.

The Burden of Prophetic Ministry
Jeremiah's lament underscores the heavy burden that comes with being a messenger of God, especially when the message is one of judgment and repentance.

The Importance of Lament
Lament is a biblical way to express grief and sorrow. It is a form of prayer that acknowledges pain while still turning to God.

Hope Beyond Despair
While Jeremiah curses the day of his birth, his life and writings also point to the hope and restoration that God promises. Believers are encouraged to look beyond their current suffering to the hope found in God.

Empathy and Support
Understanding Jeremiah's despair can help believers empathize with others who are suffering and offer support and encouragement.1.What is the meaning of Jeremiah 20:14?

2.How does Jeremiah 20:14 reflect the depth of Jeremiah's despair and struggle?

3.What can we learn from Jeremiah's honesty in expressing his emotions to God?

4.How does Jeremiah 20:14 connect to other biblical expressions of lament and sorrow?

5.How can believers today find hope when feeling overwhelmed like Jeremiah?

6.What role does prayer play in managing despair, as seen in Jeremiah 20:14?

7.Why does Jeremiah curse the day of his birth in Jeremiah 20:14?

8.How does Jeremiah 20:14 reflect the prophet's emotional state?

9.What historical context led to Jeremiah's lament in Jeremiah 20:14?

10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Jeremiah 20?

11.Does Jeremiah’s bitter lament in Jeremiah 20:14–18 contradict the portrayal of a steadfast prophet elsewhere in the book?

12.How should you handle anger towards God?

13.What challenges arise from choosing a difficult path?

14.In Job 17:1, how can Job claim his spirit is broken if he continues to speak and survive throughout the rest of the narrative?Cursed be the day I was born!

Jeremiah blurts out these stark words after decades of ridicule and rejection for faithfully proclaiming God’s warnings (Jeremiah 20:7-10). He is not rejecting God’s gift of life; rather, he is venting deep anguish over the painful circumstances that have marked his life from the start.

• Scripture often records God-honoring people pouring out honest lament. Job cried, “May the day I was born perish” (Job 3:3), and even Moses once asked God to take his life (Numbers 11:14-15). Their transparency shows that raw emotion can coexist with authentic faith.

• Jeremiah’s outburst also exposes the high cost of obedience. Earlier he confessed, “Your word has brought me reproach” (Jeremiah 15:15). His curse on his birthday is less about life itself and more about the suffering attached to his prophetic calling (compare1 Kings 19:4).

• Notice he addresses the day, not God. The prophet never denies the Lord’s goodness; he simply loathes the misery tied to his entrance into a hostile world—a world that refuses to heed God’s truth.

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May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.

Jeremiah intensifies his lament by wishing the date of his birth could be erased from the calendar of blessings. He longs for a reality where that day would draw no celebration because his painful ministry would never have been needed.

• This longing echoes other moments when people of God felt their burden too heavy. David wrote, “My guilt has overwhelmed me” (Psalm 38:4), and Elijah despaired, “I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4). Such parallels remind us that spiritual giants wrestle with discouragement.

• Jeremiah is not cursing his mother; instead, he wishes that the day of his birth had never occurred, sparing both of them grief. Contrast this with the biblical call to honor parents (Exodus 20:12); the prophet’s lament underscores his emotional turmoil, not a violation of God’s command.

• God does not rebuke Jeremiah here. The Lord understands human frailty (Psalm 103:13-14) and later renews the prophet’s strength, confirming that honest lament can lead to deeper reliance on God’s sustaining grace (Jeremiah 20:11-13).

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Summary

Jeremiah 20:14 captures the prophet’s raw lament after relentless persecution. By cursing the day of his birth, he voices profound sorrow over the suffering attached to his divine calling, much like Job, Moses, and Elijah did in their darkest hours. Yet even in this anguish, Jeremiah neither curses God nor abandons faith; instead, he models transparent dependence on the Lord who understands and ultimately comforts His servants.

(14)Cursed be the day wherein I was born . . .--The apparent strangeness of this relapse from the confidence of the two previous verses into a despair yet deeper than before is best explained by the supposition that it is in no sense part of the same poem or meditation, but a distinct fragment belonging to the same period, and placed in its present position by Jeremiah himself, or by the first editor of his prophecies. By some, indeed, it has been thought that we have here an accidental dislocation, and thatJeremiah 20:14-18 should stand beforeJeremiah 20:7. The prophet utters a cry of anguish yet keener than that which now precedes it, and borrows the language of that cry from the book of Job (Jeremiah 3:3). The prophet turned in the depth of his suffering to the words in which the great representative of sufferers had"cursed his day." The question whether we are to blame or to palliate such utterances, how far they harmonise with Christian feeling, is one on which we need not dwell long. It is enough to note (1) that, while we cannot make for them the half-evasive apology which sees in Jeremiah's prayers against his enemies, and in the imprecatory psalms, prophecies rather than prayers, they indicate the same temper as those psalms and prayers indicate when taken in their natural sense, and so help us to understand them; and (2) that in such cases, while we give thanks that we have the blessing of a higher law and the example of a higher life, we are not called upon to apportion praise or blame. It is enough to reverence, to sympathise, to be silent.

Verses 14-18. - Jeremiah curses the day of his birth. The passage is a further development of the complaint inJeremiah 15:10, and stands in no connection with the consolatory close of the preceding passage. There is a very striking parallel inJob 3:3-12, and the question cannot be evaded, Which is the original? It is difficult to believe that Jeremiah copied from an earlier poem. Deep emotion expresses itself in language suggested by the moment; and, even after retouching his discourses, Jeremiah would leave much of the original expression. But impressions of this sort cannot be unreservedly trusted. The argument from parallel passages is only a subsidiary one in the determination of the date of books.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Cursed be
אָר֣וּר(’ā·rūr)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 779:To execrate

the day
הַיּ֔וֹם(hay·yō·wm)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117:A day

I was born!
יֻלַּ֖דְתִּי(yul·laḏ·tî)
Verb - QalPass - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3205:To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

May the day
י֛וֹם(yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117:A day

my mother
אִמִּ֖י(’im·mî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 517:A mother, )

bore me
יְלָדַ֥תְנִי(yə·lā·ḏaṯ·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 3205:To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

never
אַל־(’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408:Not

be blessed.
בָרֽוּךְ׃(ḇā·rūḵ)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 1288:To kneel, to bless God, man, to curse


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 20:14 Cursed be the day in which (Jer.)