Formed in the womb, not made: God knows those who are his
Whether it is said to Jeremiah or to the Savior, 'Before I formed you in the womb I know you': if you read Genesis and watch what is said about the making of the world, you will find that the Scripture, with a very fine distinction, did not say, 'Before I made you in the womb I know you.' For when the one according to the image was being created, 'God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness.' He did not say, Let us form. But when he took 'dust from the earth,' he did not make the man; he 'formed the man,' and 'placed in the garden the man whom he had formed, to work it and to keep it.'
If you can, see the difference between making and forming. The Lord, whether to Jeremiah or to the Savior, did not say, 'Before I made you in the womb I know you.' For what is made does not come about in the womb; what is formed from the dust of the earth is created in the womb. 'Before I formed you in the womb I know you.' If the Lord knew all, he would not have said to Jeremiah as something set apart, 'I know you.' So God knows those who matter, God knows those worthy of his knowledge, and 'the Lord knew those who are his.' Those unworthy God does not know, as the Savior also does not: 'I never knew you.'
We, being men, as we advance, judge some things worthy of our knowing them. Some things we do not even want to hear, so that we may not know them. Some things we want to know. What of the God of all? Does he want to know Pharaoh? Does he want to know the Egyptians? They are not worthy of the knowledge of God. Moses is worthy, and each of the prophets of that rank. You must set many things right before God begins to know you. Jeremiah he knew before forming him in the womb. Another he begins to know at thirty years of age, another at forty. There are secret words here, not in question as regards the Savior, but as regards Jeremiah needing attention from those who have ears.
Greek
Εἴτε δὲ πρὸς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν εἴτε πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα λέγεται· «πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε«, ἀναγνοὺς τὴν Γένεσιν καὶ τηρήσας τὰ εἰρημένα περὶ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ κόσμου εὑρήσεις, ὅτι ἡ γραφὴ πάνυ διαλεκτικώτατα οὐκ εἶπεν ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ με ποιῆσαί σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε. ὅτε μὲν γάρ ὁ «καὶ εἰκόνα« ἐκτίζετο, «εἶπεν ό θεός· ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν«, οὐκ εἰπεν· πλάσωμεν.
ὅτε δὲ ἔλαβε «χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς«, οὐ πεποίηκε τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλ' «ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον« καὶ >ἔθετο ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὄν ἔπλασεν, ζεσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ φυλάσσειν καὶ πλάσεως , ὅτι ὁ κύριος εἴτε πρὸς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν εἴτε πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα οὐκ εἶπεν· >πρὸ τοῦ με ποιῆσαί σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ σε ἀπὸ τοῦ χοῦ τῆς γῆς τοῦτο ἐν κοιλίᾳ κτίζεται. «Πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί οε. εἰ πάντας ἠπίστατο ὁ κύριος [†πρὸς τὸ «οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι λαλεῖν« ἐπεὶ πάντας ὁ κύριος λεκτέον γάρ], οὐκ ἂν ὡς ἐξαίρετον ἔλεγε τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ τὸ καὶ ἐπίσταμαί οε. οὐκοῦν τοὺς διαφέροντας ἐπίσταται ό θεός, τοὺς ἀξίους τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ ἐπίσταται ό θεός, καὶ «ἔγνω κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ«, τοὺς δὲ ἀναξίους οὐκ ἐπίσταται ό θεὸς, ὡς οὐδὲ ό σωτὴρ γέγων· «οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς.
ἡμεῖς ἄνθρωποι ὄντες, ὅσον προκόπτομεν, κρίνομέν τινα ἄξια ὄντα τοῦ ἐπίστασθαι ἡμᾶς αὐτά· καί τινα οὐδὲ ἀκούειν θέλομεν, ἵνα μὴ αὐτὰ ἐπιστώμεθα μηδὲ εἰδῶμεν, τινὰ δὲ θέλομεν ἐπίστασθαι. τί δὲ ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεός; θέλει ἐπίστασθαι τὸν φαραώ, θέλει ἐπίστασθαι τοὺς Αἰrυπτίους, οὐκ εἰσὶ δὲ ἄξιοι τῆς ἐπιστήμης τοῦ θεοῦ· Μωσῆς δὲ ἄξιος, καὶ ἕκαστος τῶν προ- φητῶν τηλικοῦτος. πολλά σε δεῖ κατορθῶσαι, ἵνα ὁ θεὸς ἄρξηταί σε ἐπίστασθαι. τὸν μὲν γὰρ Ἱερεμίαν πρὸ τοῦ πλάσαι ἐν καοιλίᾳ< ἠπίστατο· ἄλλον δὲ ἄρχεται ἐπίστασθαι τριάκοντα ἔτη γεγονότα, ἄλλον τεσσάρακοντα ἔτη γεγονότα. Λόγοι εἰσὶν ἀπόρρητοι, περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ σωτῆρος οὐ ζητούμενοι, περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἱερεμίου τοῖς ὦτα ἔχουσιν ἐπιστάσεως δεόμενοι.