What Does Jeremiah 13:6 Mean?
And it came to be after many days, that the LORD said to me, Rise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there.
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
And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.THE KEY
The command to hide the girdle already carries a future return to the place where it is hidden.
THE MEANING
What is hidden can remain unfinished: the passing of many days does not erase it from the LORD’s attention. The command turns back toward the concealed place and brings the object into view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what is out of sight is therefore forgotten or finished: the LORD names the hidden girdle again and sends the speaker back for it.
THE ROOT
לְטָמְנוֹ
ləṭāmənô
GROWS FROM
טמן
ṭ-m-n
Conceal, hide, store away.
The phrase means “to hide it,” from טמן (ṭ-m-n), “to conceal.” The same root forms מַטְמוֹנִים (maṭmônîm), “hidden treasures” (Proverbs 2:4): concealment can preserve something valuable, but the girdle’s return shows that what is hidden can also be spoiled.
ALSO GROWS
maṭmônîm: Hidden treasures.
מַטְמוֹנִים
This branch shows that concealment can hold something precious; the root itself does not say whether what is hidden will remain valuable.
hiṭṭāmēn: To hide oneself.
הִטָּמֵן
In Isaiah 2:10, a person hides in the dust; here, the hidden thing is a girdle that the speaker is later sent to retrieve.
THE PATTERN
Concealment can be temporary: what is hidden may be brought into view, where its condition is exposed.
The weight of God is to hide a matter; the weight of kings is to search out a matter.He uncovers the deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light rests with him.For nothing is hidden that will not be made visible, nor anything concealed that will not be known and come into the light.THE THREAD
Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the belt was ruined, and it was good for nothing.The girdle hidden in verse 6 is retrieved, and its ruined condition is exposed. The same root, טמן (ṭ-m-n), “to conceal,” links the hiding to the return: the object is not only recovered; what happened to it while hidden is revealed.
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