What Does Jeremiah 21:7 Mean?
And afterward, says the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those left behind in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the hunger, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, into their enemies' hand, and into the hand of those who seek their living soul. He shall strike them with the mouth of the sword. He shall not spare them, nor pity them, nor have compassion.
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 afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.THE KEY
Here, “deliver” is the Hebrew “give”: the verse describes placing people into an enemy’s hand, where the sword follows.
THE MEANING
The verse names a terrifying transfer: the LORD gives Zedekiah, his servants, the people, and the survivors into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar and their enemies. The sword follows, and the sentence names the absence of sparing, pity, and compassion without softening it. The word translated “deliver” carries the concrete sense of giving or placing someone into another’s hand.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that “deliver” always means rescue from danger: here it describes being placed into the power of those who will strike without mercy.
THE ROOT
אֶתֵּן
ʾettēn
GROWS FROM
נ־ת־ן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place
The Hebrew verb is a form of נתן (natan), “give” or “place.” The same root can name a gift or people assigned to a role; here, what is given is a people placed under another’s power.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
This branch shows giving as placing something into someone’s possession; here, the verse describes people placed into an enemy’s hand.
netinim: Given ones; temple servants
נְתִינִים
The word preserves the root’s sense of people assigned or given into a role, echoing the verse’s transfer of people into another’s control.
יְרַחֵם
yəraḥēm
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ם
r-ḥ-m
Compassion and tender care
“nor have compassion” in this verse is yəraḥēm. The final refusal uses the ר־ח־ם family, which also names the womb and compassion. The verse sets its violence against the stark absence of the word-family associated with encompassing tenderness.
ALSO GROWS
rechem: Womb
רֶחֶם
Its shared root links compassion with womb-like shelter and care, making the refusal of mercy especially stark.
raḥamim: Compassion
רַחֲמִים
This noun shares the root of “have mercy”; the verse’s final denial closes off that tenderness.
THE PATTERN
The verb “give” paired with “into the hand” names a transfer of power, and the receiving hand determines what follows.
And the children of Israel did harm in the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.And while they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man is about to be handed over into human hands.THE THREAD
He gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.The verb “gave” comes from the same root, נתן (natan), and the hand-image recurs. This verse states the consequence plainly: those who receive power over the people rule over them.
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