What Does Jeremiah 17:20 Mean?
And say to them, Hear and respond to the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all who settle in Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.
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 say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:THE KEY
At Jerusalem’s gates, the LORD’s word brings rulers and everyone who enters into the same hearing.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word addresses those who hold authority and the whole community together; no rank stands outside its hearing. To hear here is to receive and respond, not merely let sound pass. The gates mark the point where this shared word meets the life people enter each day.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that the LORD’s word is only for rulers or only for those they rule: it addresses both together.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעוּ
shimʿu
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
š-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed; here, hear and respond.
“Hear and respond” in this verse is shimʿu. The command is plural: this is not private listening but a call to the whole civic body. The root carries hearing toward response, so the word is received as something that meets the hearer’s life.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Listen, hear, heed.
שְׁמַע
The singular form makes clear that hearing is attentive reception, not sound passing by.
shemuʿah: Report, tidings; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The same root can name what is heard, linking the act of listening with the message received.
דְּבַר־יְהוָה
devar-YHWH
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
Speak, utter; the noun also refers to a matter or thing.
Davar can mean both a spoken word and a matter or thing. The LORD’s word is therefore not detached from life: it is the matter placed before rulers and the people together.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, affair, or thing.
דָּבָר
This branch holds speech and lived reality together in the phrase “the word of the LORD.”
dibber: He spoke, declared.
דִּבֵּר
The verb shows the word as speech addressed to hearers, joining the LORD’s speaking to the people’s call to hear.
מַלְכֵי
malkhei
GROWS FROM
מלך
m-l-k
Reign, rule; king as the one who reigns.
“kings” in this verse is malkhei. The address begins with those who rule, then names all Judah and Jerusalem’s entrants. The shared root links the king to reigning and kingship, while the verse places ruler and community within the same call to hear.
ALSO GROWS
malakh: To reign, rule.
מָלַךְ
The king’s title is tied to the act of governing, which the LORD’s word addresses directly.
malkhut: Kingship, reign, kingdom.
מַלְכוּת
This branch extends the word from an individual ruler to the realm shaped by rule, bringing the whole community into view.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s word reaches a gathered people through hearing, and true hearing opens into response.
Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD, and call out there this word, and say, Hear and respond to the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter these gates to bow down to the LORD.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.THE THREAD
And say, Hear and respond to the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit upon the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter by these gates.The same pairing returns: “hear” (שׁמע, shama, hear and respond) and “word” (דָּבָר, davar, word or matter). The king, servants, and people entering by the gates all stand within that shared call to hear.
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