What Does Jeremiah 26:21 Mean?
And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Urijah heard it, he feared and fled, and went into Egypt.
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 when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;THE KEY
The repeated act of hearing divides the scene into two responses: the king turns the word toward death, while the threatened speaker’s flight leads into a place named by constriction.
THE MEANING
The king hears a prophetic word and turns toward killing; Urijah hears of the danger, feels fear, and flees into Egypt. The verse holds fear and flight alongside the threat without calling fear a failure or promising that escape is safe.
THE ROOT
כִּשְׁמֹעַ
kishmoaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, heed.
“heard” in this verse is kishmoaʿ. The same root describes the king hearing Urijah’s words and Urijah hearing the threat; the verse sets their responses side by side. Here, hearing does not remain bare sound: each listener’s response becomes action.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; listen with attention.
שְׁמַע
It shares the passage’s hearing-root and carries the sense of attentive listening.
shemuʿah: A report; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
Urijah receives the report of the king’s intent, and that hearing sets his flight in motion.
מִצְרַיִם
Mitzrayim
GROWS FROM
צ־ר־ר
tsarar
Bind, press in, constrict.
“Egypt” in this verse is Mitzrayim. The place-name carries the image of narrowness and compression: Urijah’s flight from the king leads into a place named by constriction. The next verse shows the danger following him there.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: Narrow, tight; distressing.
צַר
It gives the constricting sense carried in the place-name.
metzar: A narrow place or strait.
מֵצַר
It names the kind of narrowed space that echoes in Urijah’s destination.
אוּרִיָּהוּ
Uriyahu
GROWS FROM
אוֹר
ʾor
Light, illumination; the name means “the LORD is my light.”
Urijah’s name carries light into a scene where a ruler tries to silence the word he has heard. The verse also keeps the human cost in view: the threatened speaker feels fear and flees.
ALSO GROWS
ʾor: Light.
אוֹר
This is the seed of the light-language in Urijah’s name.
heʾir: Shine; illuminate.
הֵאִיר
It extends the same root’s image of illumination alongside the prophetic word.
THE PATTERN
A word’s effect becomes visible in the response its hearer gives.
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.When they heard these things, they were sawn through in their hearts, and ground their teeth at him.My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.THE THREAD
They brought out Urijah from Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who struck him with the sword, and threw his corpse into the graves of the common people.The place-name Egypt returns, and Urijah is brought back from there. The continuation shows the violence reaching him even after his flight.
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