What Does Jeremiah 24:4 Mean?

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 24:4 · 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

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

THE KEY

Hebrew davar can mean both “word” and “matter,” holding the speaking and what is spoken about together.

THE MEANING

The LORD’s word meets you as more than information: davar can name both a spoken word and a matter or thing. Its arrival is personal, “unto me”, and it comes as speech that continues into what follows.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It dissolves the belief that a divine word is only distant information: davar also names a matter at issue in lived reality.

THE ROOT

דָּבָר

davar

GROWS FROM

דבר

To speak; a word, matter, or thing.

English “word” can sound like a unit of language, while davar can also mean a matter, thing, or affair. The Hebrew keeps the speaking and its subject within one word-family, so the address is not detached commentary.

ALSO GROWS

dibber: He spoke; he said.

דִּבֵּר

The verb makes the speech within “the word of the LORD” audible: davar belongs to the act of speaking as well as to its message.

devarim: Words; matters or affairs.

דְּבָרִים

This plural preserves both senses, showing how what is spoken can also be the matter under consideration.

THE PATTERN

A divine address reaches a person as speech that opens an encounter.

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great wages.

Genesis 15:1 · SDVThe word arrives to Abram as personal address and becomes a spoken encounter.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · SDVThe same arrival-and-saying form presents the word as speech meeting a person directly.

And a voice came to him, Rise, Peter; slaughter, and eat.

Acts 10:13 · SDVA voice reaches Peter directly, and its words begin the encounter unfolding around him.

THE THREAD

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · SDV

Jeremiah 1:4 uses the same Hebrew phrase, devar YHWH, and the same arrival-and-saying structure. The repeated davar shows this verse as a returning form of address: the word is both spoken message and the matter before you.

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