Job and Jeremiah share a unique death-wish motif, the wish to have died before they were born. This death wish is related to the death wish in despair, because despair is clearly part of the motivation here, but it is still a distinct category, reflected in the content of the wish. This category appears only outside of the biblical narratives, in poetic texts. As part of their laments, Jeremiah and Job ask “Why did I come forth from the womb? (Jer 20:18) and “Why was I not hidden like a miscarriage?” (Job 3:16).