Jer 1:5 is a common “proof-text” used by Latter-day Saints to support
universal personal pre-existence (we do not believe in the personal
pre-existence of Jesus merely). While
I am not a fan of the “proof-text” method for this doctrine (instead, I think
it should be argued from Christology; on this see The
Christological Necessity of Universal Pre-Existence). Notwithstanding, a
fair, balanced treatment of this text by a Latter-day Saint can be found at pp.
16-17 of Kevin L. Barney's article, On
Preexistence in the Bible.
Jerome (345-420), the great biblical scholar and translator of the
Vulgate, offered the common “ideal, not personal, pre-existence” understanding
of the text. As it is a common response to the LDS interpretation, I am sure
some readers will appreciate it being reproduced here:
1:4–5: Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I
consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
This is not (as heresy supposes) because Jeremiah
existed before his conception, but because the Lord, to whom things not yet
made are already made, foreknew that he was going to exist, as the apostle
says: “he who calls things that are not as though they were.” (Rom 4:17) That
he was sanctified in the womb we can also understand according to this
statement of the apostle: “He who set me apart from the womb of my mother and
called me through his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me, in order that
I might preach him among the Gentiles.” (Gal 1:15-16) John the
Baptist was also sanctified in the womb. He received the Holy Spirit, stirred
in the womb and spoke through the mouth of his mother. (Lk 1:41-42)
Furthermore, when he says, “I appointed you a
prophet to the nations,” he wishes this to be understood: later on in this very
prophet, we are going to read that he prophesied not only to Jerusalem but also
to many of the surrounding nations. Certain people understand this passage to
be about the Savior, who was in the strictest sense a prophet to the nations
and who called all nations through the apostles. For that one, before being
formed in the virgin’s womb and coming forth from his mother’s body, was truly
sanctified in the womb and known to the Father—indeed, he was always in the
Father, and the Father was always in him. (Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah [ed. Christopher
A. Hall, Thomas C. Oden, and Gerald L. Bray; trans. Michael Graves; Ancient
Christian Texts; Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity
Press, 2011], 3)