What Does Jeremiah 29:10 Mean?
For thus says the LORD, when seventy years are filled in Babylon, I will visit you and raise up my good word toward you, in bringing you back to this place.
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
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.THE KEY
The Hebrew joins “perform” and “place” through one root of standing: the promise is established toward the place of return.
THE MEANING
A long interval does not, by itself, mean you are forgotten. God’s attention can be active while the return has not yet appeared; the word names both the delay and the direction home. The promise holds a real destination open within the waiting.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A long delay means you are forgotten, and a promise that has not yet arrived is only speech.
THE ROOT
וַהֲקִמֹתִי
va-haqimoti
GROWS FROM
קוּם
To rise or stand; in this form, to cause to stand, establish.
“raise up” in this verse is va-haqimoti. English separates “perform” from “place,” but the Hebrew forms share the root קוּם (qum, “rise or stand”): וַהֲקִמֹתִי (va-haqimoti, “I will establish”) and הַמָּקוֹם (ha-maqom, “the place”). The established word and the place of return are joined by the same seed.
ALSO GROWS
qam: Stood; rose.
קָם
This basic form gives “establish” its sense of making something stand.
maqom: Place; location.
מָקוֹם
This verse’s destination grows from the same root as “I will establish,” linking the promise to the place of return.
לְהָשִׁיב
lehashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
To turn back; return.
The Hebrew form means “to bring back,” making the return something actively brought about. The same root can describe turning away or turning back; here its direction is homeward.
ALSO GROWS
shav: Returned; turned back.
שָׁב
The basic verb names the turning that the verse says will be brought about.
meshubah: Turning away; backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
This branch shows that the root’s turning can face away; in this verse, the promised turn faces toward home.
דְּבָרִי
devari
GROWS FROM
דָּבָר
Word, speech, matter, or thing.
The Hebrew דָּבָר (davar, “word”) can also mean a matter or thing, so the promise is not only speech about a future return. Beside קוּם (qum, “stand or establish”), the verse presents the word as something given standing and substance.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: Spoke; said.
דִּבֵּר
The spoken word grows from the same root as the “matter” or “thing” promised.
devarim: Words; matters; things.
דְּבָרִים
This plural keeps speech and concrete matters within the same Hebrew word-family.
THE PATTERN
A promise of restoration moves from a word spoken to a return or completion brought about.
So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I delight in, and shall break through in the thing to which I sent it.A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the return of Zion, we were like dreamers.Being confident of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus the Anointed One.THE THREAD
So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I delight in, and shall break through in the thing to which I sent it.Isaiah uses דָּבָר (davar, “word”) for the word that goes forth, and שׁוּב (shuv, “turn or return”) for its return. Jeremiah joins those same roots: the established word and the bringing back belong to one movement.
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