Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 20:14-18

"Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime; because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" — Jeremiah 20:14-18 (ASV)

1. Here, he laments the origin of his birth.

But one may object to this, for it is the duty of the saints to glory in tribulations, as it is said in Romans 5. Therefore, it seems that Jeremiah should not have erupted in cursing because of his tribulations.

Furthermore, the day is a creature of God, and to curse a creature of God is a sin.

Furthermore, a day is a transitory thing, and it is foolish to apply the punishment of a curse to it.

Furthermore, no one should curse the innocent. But the man who announced Jeremiah's birth was innocent, in that he did not kill him, and therefore Jeremiah sinned in cursing him.

To the first objection, the response is that tribulations, considered in themselves, are an evil to the extent that they are contrary to the nature of the good, as Augustine says.Augustine, De natura boni 20 (CSEL 41). Thus, to abhor them with a natural hatred is not a sin. If, however, they were used to argue against one's own righteousness, this would be a sin.

Considered, however, in terms of how they move one toward the good, the saints glory in them, as a sick man might glory in the amputation that heals him.

To the second and third objections, it should be said that he does not curse the day in its essential nature, because this would be foolish and sinful. Rather, he curses it because it was evil in that something bad happened on it. This is similar to how a festival day is celebrated because of something good that happened on that day, and this is what the curse signifies. Gregory, however, considering the nature of the day itself, says that the curse cannot be understood literally.

A similar response must be given to the last objection, because he does not curse those men except in relation to their action. From this, speaking hyperbolically, he makes us understand his own sense of horror and his weariness with life because of the difficulties he was suffering.

Therefore, concerning this, he makes two points.

1. First, he mentions the curse against the time of his birth: cursed is the day. May the day perish on which it was said: a man is conceived (Job 3:3). Against the messenger of his birth: cursed is the man who announced it to my father, saying, a man-child is born to you, and made him rejoice greatly. God has made joy for me, and whoever shall hear of it shall laugh with me (Genesis 21:6). He explains the manner of the curse: let that man be as the cities which the Lord has overthrown. You have made the city a heap, the strong city a ruin (Isaiah 25:2). And against the life of the servant who saved him: let him hear a cry of death, so that the grave might become my mother, as if he had never been counted among men; an everlasting conception, which never came to term. Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not immediately die when I came out of the belly (Job 3:11).
2. Second, the reason for the curse is given: why did I come forth from the womb? This echoes the earlier passage: woe to me, O my mother! Why did you give birth to me, a man of contention, a man of discord in the whole land? (Jeremiah 15:10). See also: Woe to me that I was born to see the destruction of my people, and the destruction of the holy city, and to dwell there when it is given into the hands of the enemy .

Collations

A note concerning the verse: O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived, you were stronger than I, and you prevailed (Jeremiah 20:7). The Lord "seduces" by drawing one along with persuasion: since I was clever, I caught you by guile (2 Corinthians 12:16); by alluring one with consolations: when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter (Revelation 10:10); and by comforting one with promises, as seen above: why have you deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace’? And behold the sword has come even unto the soul (Jeremiah 4:10).

But the Lord "prevails" by correcting: he taught me with his mighty hand, that I should not go in the way of this people (Isaiah 8:11); by drawing one back from what is harmful: I shall hedge your way with thorns, and I will stop it with a wall (Hosea 2:6); and by holding one fast with love: I shall draw them with the cords of a man, with the bonds of love (Hosea 11:4).