Homilies on Jeremiah, Homilies 1–2 · §1.11

Sanctified before coming out of the womb

How does he say, 'Before I formed you in the womb I know you, and before you came out of the womb I have sanctified you'? God sanctifies some for himself. He did not wait for this one to come into birth in order to sanctify him; he had already sanctified him before he came out of the womb. If you refer it to the Savior, it is not hard to say that he has been sanctified before coming out of the womb. If you refer it to the Savior, he has been sanctified not only before coming out, but still earlier. This Jeremiah was sanctified before coming out of the womb.

Greek

πῶς λέγει· «πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡλιακά δε«; ὁ θεὸς ἐαυτῷ ἁγιάζει τινάς. τοῦτον οὐ περιέμεινεν, ἵνα ἐλθόντα εἰς γένεσιν ἁγιάσῃ, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἤδη ἡγίασεν. ἐὰν ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα ἀναφέρῃς, οὐ χαλεπὸν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι πρὶν ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίασται. ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα ἐὰν ἀναφέρῃς, οὐ ·μόνον πρὶν ἐξελθεῖν ἡγίασται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔτι πρότερον ἡγίασται. οὑτος δὲ ὁ Ἱερεμίας πρὶν ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίασται.