What Does Jeremiah 10:6 Mean?
None is like you, O LORD. You are great, and your name is great in strength.
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
Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.THE KEY
The LORD’s שֵׁם (shem, “name as nature”) is great in גְּבוּרָה (gevurah, “prevailing might”): his name is the nature his power makes known.
THE MEANING
There is none who matches the LORD. His שֵׁם (shem, name as nature) is not a title detached from him; its greatness is expressed in גְּבוּרָה (gevurah, prevailing might). His identity and effective strength belong together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the LORD’s name is only a label, separable from what he is and does.
THE ROOT
גְּבוּרָה
gevurah
GROWS FROM
גבר
To be strong, prevail, or have power.
The verse’s “might” comes from a root of prevailing strength. Its branches connect the LORD’s name with power that takes effect, not merely a reputation that is spoken.
ALSO GROWS
gavar: Be strong; prevail.
גָּבַר
The root verb gives the force behind the might named in the verse.
gibbor: Mighty one; warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
This branch describes one who embodies the prevailing strength expressed by gevurah.
גָּדוֹל
gadol
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow, become great, or increase.
The same root can describe becoming great and the state of being great. Jeremiah repeats the word for the LORD and his name, joining who he is with the greatness expressed through his nature.
ALSO GROWS
gadal: Grow; become great.
גָּדַל
The verb shows the movement carried by the root beneath “great.”
gedullah: Greatness; majesty.
גְּדֻלָּה
This noun makes explicit the quality Jeremiah attributes to both the LORD and his name.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s unmatched nature is recognized through the greatness and power of his works.
Who is like you among the mighty ones, O LORD? Who is like you, majestic in being set apart, awe-inspiring in praises, doing wonders?There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, and nothing is like your works.And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; aligned and true are your ways, King of the nations.THE THREAD
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness cannot be searched out.Jeremiah’s word for “great” and Psalm 145’s “greatness” share the root גדל (g-d-l), joining the LORD’s greatness to the greatness of his name. Psalm 145 adds that this greatness cannot be searched out to its limit.
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