What Does Jeremiah 19:2 Mean?

And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the opening of the potsherd gate, and call out there the words that I speak with you.

Jeremiah 19:2 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,

THE KEY

The word is carried out and proclaimed at the very place that gives it force.

THE MEANING

The verse places the message in a valley beside a gate. The words leave the hidden place of reception and become audible at a threshold where people pass; their setting is part of what they say.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It unsettles the belief that a message can remain safely abstract: here, the word is carried to a specific place.

THE ROOT

הַדְּבָרִים

haddevarim

GROWS FROM

דבר

d-b-r

Speak, utter; the related noun can mean a word or a matter.

“speak with you” in this verse is haddevarim. English separates the spoken word from the matter being discussed, while Hebrew holds both in ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (dābār, word or matter). The message here is not empty sound: it carries the matter itself into the place where it is spoken.

ALSO GROWS

dābār: Word, matter, or affair.

דָּבָר

This branch holds speech and its subject together: the words being delivered carry a matter with them.

dibbēr: He spoke or declared.

דִּבֵּר

This verbal branch shows the root in action: the words become a spoken declaration.

וְקָרָאתָ

weqārāʾtā

GROWS FROM

קרא

q-r-ʾ

Call, summon, cry out; also read aloud or proclaim.

“call out” in this verse is weqārāʾtā. The English word “proclaim” can sound like a formal announcement, but ⁨קָרָא⁩ (qārāʾ, call or proclaim) also carries the sense of calling aloud. The command makes the message a voiced address that reaches people where they are.

ALSO GROWS

miqrāʾ: Convocation or assembly; also a reading.

מִקְרָא

The call can gather people, showing how proclamation carries public address rather than information alone.

qōrēʾ: One who calls or reads aloud.

קֹרֵא

This form makes the voiced act explicit: someone calls the words into hearing.

THE PATTERN

A received word is carried to a specific place and voiced where people can encounter it.

Rise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out to it the call I speak to you.

Jonah 3:2 · SDVThe message is carried into a particular city and spoken there as directed.

And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear and respond, or whether they hold back, for they are rebellion.

Ezekiel 2:7 · SDVThe words are spoken to the people directly, even when their response is uncertain.

Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

Acts 5:20 · SDVThe message is placed in a public setting and spoken where people gather.

THE THREAD

Then the LORD stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, Look, I have set my words in your mouth.

Jeremiah 1:9 · SDV

Jeremiah 1:9 places the words in the mouth; here they leave that mouth and reach the valley. Both use ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (dābār, word or matter): the received word becomes a matter spoken in a particular place.

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