What Does Jeremiah 11:6 Mean?
And the LORD said to me, Call out all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear and respond to the words of this covenant, and do them.
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
Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.THE KEY
In Hebrew, hearing leans toward response, so doing gives the covenant’s hearing a visible form.
THE MEANING
The words reach you as a public summons: hear the covenant and enact it. The verse holds listening and action together, so the covenant takes form in your response.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing the covenant is complete once you understand or agree with its words.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעוּ
shimʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed.
“Hear and respond” in this verse is shimʿu. The form here is a plural command addressed to the people. Shamaʿ can mean hearing or heeding; with “and do them” immediately following, the verse lets response complete the listening.
ALSO GROWS
shemuʿah: Report, news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The shared root ties hearing to what is received and carried as a report, not just sound passing by.
shomeaʿ: One who hears or listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
This form describes the hearer, bringing the verse’s command into the identity of the one who receives the words.
וַעֲשִׂיתֶם
vaʿasitem
GROWS FROM
עשה
ʿ-s-h
Do, make.
“Do them” in this verse is vaʿasitem. This root names both action and the deeds that action produces, so the covenant is not left as abstract assent: it takes shape in practice. Paired with shamaʿ, it shows heard words becoming lived reality.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: Deed, work.
מַעֲשֶׂה
The same root names the tangible work that gives the command a visible form.
ʿoseh: One who does or makes.
עֹשֶׂה
This form turns the verb toward the person whose response makes the covenant present in action.
קְרָא
qeraʾ
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
Call, call out, proclaim.
“Call out” in this verse is qeraʾ. The command is to call the words aloud through the cities and streets. The root keeps proclamation connected to calling people into shared hearing, rather than keeping the words as private knowledge.
ALSO GROWS
qoreʾ: One who calls or reads aloud.
קוֹרֵא
The public proclamation comes through a voice that calls the words into the hearing of others.
miqraʾ: Reading or assembly; a called gathering.
מִקְרָא
This branch carries the root’s movement from calling words aloud to people gathered to receive them.
THE PATTERN
Covenant words take shape as they pass from hearing into responsive action.
Now therefore, if you will truly hear and respond to my voice, and guard my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.But he said, Rather, flourishing are those who hear and respond to the word of God and guard it.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.“Do it” shares the root עשה (ʿ-s-h), “do, make,” with Jeremiah’s “do them.” Deuteronomy places the word near, in mouth and heart, and this verse shows that nearness taking form in action.
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