What Does Jeremiah 2:10 Mean?
Cross over to the coastlands of Kittim and look; send to Kedar and watch closely, and see whether anything like this has been.
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
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.THE KEY
The verse turns a claim into a wide test: cross from the isles of Chittim to Kedar, send inquiry out, and look again for any parallel.
THE MEANING
The verse places the reader in a search that crosses from the isles of Chittim to Kedar and asks whether any parallel exists. Its double call to see, surrounding a summons to discern carefully, makes the claim answerable to wide examination. The next verse names the matter under scrutiny: a people exchanging their God for what is no god.
THE ROOT
עִבְרוּ
ʿivrû
GROWS FROM
עבר
Cross over, pass through.
“cross over” in this verse is ʿivrû. עִבְרוּ (ʿivrû, pass over) comes from עָבַר (ʿāvar, cross or pass through). The search begins by crossing beyond a familiar frame, spanning places outside one community’s horizon.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēver: Beyond; the far side.
עֵבֶר
The search moves beyond its starting place.
maʿavār: Passage; crossing.
מַעֲבָר
This branch carries the root’s crossing into a noun.
שִׁלְחוּ
shilḥû
GROWS FROM
שלח
Send forth, send away, release.
שִׁלְחוּ (shilḥû, send) comes from שָׁלַח (shalach, send forth or release), so the inquiry itself is sent outward. שִׁלֹחַ (Shiloaḥ, Shiloah/Siloam, the sent waters) and שֻׁלְחָן (shulḥan, table, the provision extended) carry that outward motion into other branches.
ALSO GROWS
Shiloaḥ: Shiloah or Siloam; the sent waters.
שִׁלֹחַ
It echoes inquiry sent out to reach what lies beyond the observer.
shulḥan: Table; provision laid out or extended.
שֻׁלְחָן
The extended table makes the root’s outward movement tangible.
הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ
hitbonenu
GROWS FROM
בין
Discern, understand.
“watch closely” in this verse is hitbonenu. הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ (hitbonenu, consider carefully) comes from בין (bin, discern or understand). This is close comparison, not a casual glance: the search must distinguish whether a genuine parallel exists.
ALSO GROWS
binah: Understanding; discernment.
בִּינָה
It names the clarity the careful examination seeks.
navon: Discerning; perceptive.
נָבוֹן
It describes the capacity this searching requires.
THE PATTERN
A sweeping claim is tested by searching widely and examining whether the evidence confirms it.
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day God created humankind upon the earth, and ask from one edge of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing, or has been heard of like it?But ask now the beasts, and they point you the way; the birds of the heavens, and they tell you.These were of nobler birth than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all eagerness of heart, and sifted the writings daily, whether these things held so.THE THREAD
And he sent a dove from him, to see whether the waters had grown light from upon the face of the ground.Both passages join שָׁלַח (shalach, send forth) with רָאָה (raʾah, see or perceive): a sending becomes a way to learn what is true. Genesis gives that search a visible form, as the dove is sent out to discover whether the waters have receded.
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