What Does Jeremiah 26:20 Mean?
And there was also a man who prophesied in the nature of the LORD, Urijah son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
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 there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:THE KEY
The warning is not Jeremiah’s alone: another prophet, whose name means “YHWH is my light,” carries the same word against the city and land.
THE MEANING
A second prophet speaks against the city and land in the LORD’s name, with words that match Jeremiah’s. His name, Urijah, carries the meaning “YHWH is my light,” placing another light-bearing voice beside Jeremiah’s warning.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that the warning is only Jeremiah’s private alarm: another voice speaks it in the LORD’s name and repeats his words.
THE ROOT
אוּרִיָּהוּ
Uriyahu
GROWS FROM
אור
To be light or shine.
Urijah joins Uri, “my light,” to Yahu, a form of the divine name: “YHWH is my light.” His name places light within the identity of another messenger carrying the same warning.
ALSO GROWS
or: Light.
אוֹר
This is the light named within Urijah’s name, giving the warning another light-bearing voice.
ma’or: Luminary; a bearer of light.
מָאוֹר
The branch echoes the image carried by Urijah’s name as he speaks alongside Jeremiah.
דִּבְרֵי
divrei
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; word, matter, or affair.
The Hebrew family joins the spoken word to the matter being spoken: Jeremiah’s words are the very message Urijah carries. “According to all” makes the correspondence explicit.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The phrase “words of Jeremiah” uses this word family, holding the message and its subject together.
dibber: Spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This related verb links the words Urijah carries to the act of speaking them.
מִתְנַבֵּא
mitnabbe
GROWS FROM
נבא
To prophesy; speak as a prophet.
The act “prophesied,” the noun navi (“prophet”), and nevu’ah (“prophecy”) belong to one Hebrew word family. The verse shows that prophetic speech can pass through another voice while carrying the same message.
ALSO GROWS
navi: Prophet.
נָבִיא
This names the kind of messenger Urijah is as he carries Jeremiah’s words.
nevu’ah: Prophecy.
נְבוּאָה
This names the message carried by the act of prophesying.
THE PATTERN
A warning against a city can be carried by several messengers while remaining the same word.
Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city, all the words that you have heard."Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts. Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the heights of a forest."And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by the hand of his messengers, rising early and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.THE THREAD
Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts. Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the heights of a forest."The same Hebrew root for “prophesied” appears in both verses. Micah’s words name the same exposed city, showing the warning carried through another voice.
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