What Does Jeremiah 10:1 Mean?
Hear and respond to the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:THE KEY
The Hebrew call to “hear” already leans toward response; it asks for more than receiving sound.
THE MEANING
The LORD is speaking to you, and your hearing is a living response rather than passive listening. You are addressed as part of a people receiving the word in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that hearing God’s word means merely noticing what was said; here the call carries hearing toward response.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעוּ
shimʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, heed, and respond.
“Hear and respond” in this verse is shimʿu. The imperative calls the whole house to hear, and the Hebrew verb can hold the response within the hearing. English can make “hear” sound like passive reception; this word opens toward answering what is heard.
ALSO GROWS
shemuʿah: Report, news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows that hearing brings a message into the listener’s awareness, where it can be received and answered.
shomeaʿ: One who hears or listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
The word names a listener, making hearing a stance a person takes toward the speech addressed to them.
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; speech, word, or matter.
“Word / speaketh” in this verse is dāḇār. The “word” and the LORD who “speaketh” share the root דבר. Hebrew binds the message to the act of speaking: what reaches you as a word is the LORD addressing you.
ALSO GROWS
devarim: Words, matters, or things.
דְּבָרִים
This plural of davar shows how the same word can name both speech and the matters being spoken about.
medabber: Speaking; one who speaks.
מְדַבֵּר
This form from the same root draws attention to the speaker behind the word heard in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Hearing divine speech carries a response; it is not passive reception.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.Hear and respond, for I speak what is set forth, and the opening of my lips is for what is straight.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.“Hear” in both verses comes from the Hebrew root שמע (shamaʿ), meaning to hear, listen, and respond. Deuteronomy’s call shows the same hearing gathered around Israel’s declaration of the LORD’s oneness.
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