Jeremiah 20:14–18 and Job 3

Every witness, in order

1. late 7th–6th century BC (by section; debated)

   The words as first spoken or written

   – No copy survives

   No original survives, and Jeremiah circulated in at least two ancient Hebrew editions: a shorter one behind the Old Greek and the longer one preserved as the Masoretic Text. The oldest copies are six fragmentary Qumran manuscripts (2QJer, 4QJer-a to 4QJer-e), from about 200 BC to the 1st century AD.

2. c. 200 BC (palaeography; reported)

   4QJer-a (4Q70), Qumran Cave 4

   ◐ Contains part of itDescends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written

   How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XV not yet checked.

   Hebrew numbering: Jeremiah 20:14–18. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Preserves parts of vv. 13–18, the birth curse, in agreement with the Masoretic Text apart from spelling.

3. late 1st century BC (reported)

   4QJer-c (4Q72), Qumran Cave 4

   ◐ Contains part of itDescends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written

   How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XV not yet checked.

   Hebrew numbering: Jeremiah 20:14–18. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Preserves parts of vv. 13–15 in agreement with the Masoretic Text where letters survive.

4. Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592

   Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

   ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

   How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

   Maledicta dies in qua natus sum! dies in qua peperit me mater mea non sit benedicta! Maledictus vir qui annuntiavit patri meo, dicens: Natus est tibi puer masculus, et quasi gaudio lætificavit eum! Sit homo ille ut sunt civitates quæ subvertit Dominus, et non pœnituit eum: audiat clamorem mane, et ululatum in tempore meridiano, qui non me interfecit a vulva, ut fieret mihi mater mea sepulchrum, et vulva ejus conceptus æternus! Quare de vulva egressus sum, ut viderem laborem et dolorem, et consumerentur in confusione dies mei?

   Latin numbering: Jeremiah 20:14–18. Jerome translated Jeremiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).

5. AD 1008

   Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

   ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written

   How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

   אָר֣וּר הַיּ֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֻלַּ֖דְתִּי בּ֑וֹ י֛וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יְלָדַ֥תְנִי אִמִּ֖י אַל־יְהִ֥י בָרֽוּךְ׃ אָר֣וּר הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֨ר בִּשַּׂ֤ר אֶת־אָבִי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר יֻֽלַּד־לְךָ֖ בֵּ֣ן זָכָ֑ר שַׂמֵּ֖חַ שִׂמֳּחָֽהוּ׃ וְהָיָה֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַה֔וּא כֶּֽעָרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁר־הָפַ֥ךְ יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א נִחָ֑ם וְשָׁמַ֤ע זְעָקָה֙ בַּבֹּ֔קֶר וּתְרוּעָ֖ה בְּעֵ֥ת צָהֳרָֽיִם׃ אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־מוֹתְתַ֖נִי מֵרָ֑חֶם וַתְּהִי־לִ֤י אִמִּי֙ קִבְרִ֔י וְרַחְמָ֖הֿ הֲרַ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃ לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ מֵרֶ֣חֶם יָצָ֔אתִי לִרְא֥וֹת עָמָ֖ל וְיָג֑וֹן וַיִּכְל֥וּ בְּבֹ֖שֶׁת יָמָֽי׃

   Cursed be the day on which I was born; the day my mother bore me, let it not be blessed (v. 14)

   Hebrew numbering: Jeremiah 20:14–18.

6. AD 1008

   Job 3:3 (Masoretic Text)

   ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written

   How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

   יֹ֣אבַד י֭וֹם אִוָּ֣לֶד בּ֑וֹ וְהַלַּ֥יְלָה אָ֝מַ֗ר הֹ֣רָה גָֽבֶר׃

   Perish the day on which I was born, and the night that said, A man-child is conceived

   Job's birth-day curse.

7. 1611

   King James Bible

   ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

   How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

   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 the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

8. Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

   Greek Jeremiah (library: Giguet's French)

   ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Jeremiah (a shorter edition)

   How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

   Maudit soit le jour où j’ai été conçu; que le jour où ma mère m’a enfanté ne soit pas glorifié! Maudit soit l’homme qui est venu annoncer à mon père une bonne nouvelle, en disant: II t’est né un fils! Que cet homme se réjouisse comme les villes que le Seigneur, sans pitié, a renversées dans sa colère; qu’il entende des clameurs le matin, et des cris de guerre à midi; Parce qu’il ne m’a point tué dans le sein de ma Fallait-il que je sortisse de ses entrailles, pour ne voir que peines et douleurs, tandis que mes jours s’écoulent dans la honte?

   Greek (digital file) numbering: Jeremiah 20:14–18. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only), in the Greek book's own order and verse numbering; a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Jeremiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart. The Greek has "conceived" where the Hebrew has "born."