What Does Jeremiah 23:20 Mean?
The burning of the LORD's anger shall not turn back until he has done and made the purposes of his heart stand. In the latter days you shall surely discern it.
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
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.THE KEY
The anger’s delay is tied to a purpose being made to stand, and understanding arrives only after that purpose is complete.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s anger remains until the purpose held in his heart is carried out and established. In the latter days, you can discern what that completed work means. The verse holds the anger and its outcome together, then places understanding after them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that divine anger is only a passing flare, detached from any purpose or outcome.
THE ROOT
מְזִמּוֹת לִבּוֹ
mezimmot libbo
GROWS FROM
ז־מ־ם
z-m-m
to devise, plan, or plot
“the purposes of his heart” in this verse is mezimmot libbo. The Hebrew word מְזִמּוֹת (mezimmot, devised plans) can carry the sense of a design or scheme, beyond passing thoughts. Paired with the language of carrying out and establishing, it presents the heart’s purpose as something brought to completion.
ALSO GROWS
zamam: to devise or plan; sometimes to plot
זָמַם
This verb shares the seed of the noun here, tying the heart’s thoughts to deliberate design.
mezimmah: a plan, design, or scheme
מְזִמָּה
This related noun shows how the same root can name an intention with a formed shape and direction.
תִּתְבּוֹנְנוּ בָּהּ בִּינָה
titbonenu bah binah
GROWS FROM
ב־י־ן
b-y-n
to discern, distinguish, or understand
“surely discern it” in this verse is titbonenu bah binah. The Hebrew repeats the same root in the verb and noun: you will understand it with understanding. The root also appears in בֵּין (bein, between), giving discernment the shape of seeing distinctions that become clear when the outcome is complete.
ALSO GROWS
bin: to discern or understand
בִּין
This verb supplies the sense of the verse’s promise that the matter will become intelligible.
bein: between or among
בֵּין
The shared root links understanding with distinguishing one thing from another.
binah: understanding or discernment
בִּינָה
This noun appears in the verse itself, intensifying the promise of understanding.
הֲקִימוֹ
haqimo
GROWS FROM
קוּם
q-w-m
to rise, stand, or be established
“made the purposes of his heart stand” in this verse is haqimo. The Hebrew form behind “performed” comes from a verb meaning to make something stand or establish it. The purpose is not only acted upon; it is brought into established reality.
ALSO GROWS
qum: to rise or stand
קוּם
This basic form gives the verse’s idea of establishment its image of something standing in place.
heqim: to raise, set up, or establish
הֵקִים
This related form makes clear how a purpose can be made to stand through completion.
THE PATTERN
Divine judgment remains active until its purpose reaches completion, and its full shape becomes clear in the appointed time.
The burning of the LORD shall not turn back until he has done it, and until he has made the purposes of his heart stand. In the hindmost days you shall discern it.For yet a very little while, and the seething will run out, and the burning of my anger will be spent in their wearing out.But according to your stiffness and a heart that will not turn, you store up the burning of anger for yourself in the day of anger and the unveiling of the aligned judgment of God.THE THREAD
The burning of the LORD shall not turn back until he has done it, and until he has made the purposes of his heart stand. In the hindmost days you shall discern it.Jeremiah 30:24 repeats this line and renders מְזִמּוֹת (mezimmot, devised plans) as “intents,” bringing out the sense of a formed purpose beneath “thoughts.” The repeated wording ties the latter days to the point when that purpose has been carried through and can be understood.
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