Jeremiah 1:5
Bible verses · Also called: Jer 1:5, Jer. 1:5, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, A prophet unto the nations, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
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Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
A call narrative in which God declares that He knew Jeremiah before forming him in the womb, sanctified him before he came forth, and ordained him a prophet to the nations. It is a key verse on vocation and divine foreknowledge and is also cited in discussions of predestination and bioethics.
Context
Chapter 1 of the Book of Jeremiah opens by introducing Jeremiah as one who received the word of the Lord in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah (1:1-3), and then recounts his call. In verse 5, God declares that He knew him before he was born, set him apart, and appointed him a prophet: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah draws back, saying, "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (v. 6), but God tells him not to be afraid, touches his mouth with His hand, and puts His words there (vv. 7-9). Verse 10 summarizes his mission as rooting out and pulling down, destroying and throwing down, building and planting.
Interpretation
- As a prophetic call: On this reading, the verse speaks primarily of Jeremiah's own particular calling. "Knew" (Hebrew yada) denotes not mere awareness but a knowing that involves choosing and entering into relationship. "Sanctified" means set apart for a holy task.
- As the calling of every believer: Paul likewise speaks of God, "who separated me from my mother's womb" (Galatians 1:15). On this basis, the verse is read as support for a general doctrine of vocation, which holds that God calls each person in his or her life.
- As divine foreknowledge: The verse is read as affirming God's omniscience and sovereignty, since God knows a person even before that person exists.
Debates and Issues
In discussions of predestination, the Reformed (Presbyterian) tradition cites this verse as one of the grounds for holding that God's election precedes a person's birth and deeds. The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions emphasize that the verse speaks not of predestination to salvation but of a call to the prophetic office. In bioethical discussions, it is cited together with Psalm 139 as evidence that God already regards human beings as persons before birth; others maintain that conclusions about the status of the unborn cannot easily be drawn directly from a call narrative.
In the Korean Church
The verse is frequently read at pastoral ordination services, missionary commissioning services, and seminary opening services, and it is also cited in prayers for children and prayers of blessing for the unborn.
Related Passages
- Jeremiah 1:6-10
- Galatians 1:15-16
- Psalm 139:13-16
- Isaiah 49:1
See also 5
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