What Does Jeremiah 32:23 Mean?
And they came in and possessed it, but they did not hear and respond to your voice, and did not walk in your instruction. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them.
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 they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:THE KEY
Hebrew repeats בוא (boʾ, “come/enter”) for their entry into the land and for God bringing evil upon them, binding possession and consequence in one root.
THE MEANING
You can possess what is given and still leave its voice unanswered: the instruction goes unheard, the path unwalked, and the commands undone. The verse names the evil that comes upon you as brought by God in response to that refusal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that receiving what is promised automatically proves that you have heard and responded to its source.
THE ROOT
וַיָּבֹאוּ
vayyāvoʾu
GROWS FROM
בוא
Come, enter; in a causative form, bring or cause to come.
“came in / caused … to come” in this verse is vayyāvoʾu. English renders these forms as “came in” and “caused … to come,” while Hebrew repeats the root בוא (boʾ, come/enter). They enter the land, then evil is brought upon them; the root links possession and consequence.
ALSO GROWS
bāʾū: They came or entered.
בָּאוּ
This is the form behind their entry into the land.
hēvīʾ: To bring or cause to come.
הֵבִיא
This causative form shows the same root at work in God bringing evil upon them.
שָׁמְעוּ
shāmeʿū
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, heed; hear and respond.
“hear and respond” in this verse is shāmeʿū. The verse’s “obeyed not” is literally a failure to hear the voice in the sense of hearing and responding. The missing response is carried inside the Hebrew word itself.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: Hear, listen, or heed.
שָׁמַע
This verb carries the response that the verse says is absent.
shemuʿah: A report or tidings; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The related noun keeps the root’s connection to receiving what is heard.
הָלְכוּ
hālekhū
GROWS FROM
הלך
Walk or go; proceed along a way.
“walk” in this verse is hālekhū. The instruction is pictured as a way in motion. The verse measures the response not only by what is heard, but by whether that way is walked.
ALSO GROWS
holēkh: One who walks or goes.
הֹלֵךְ
This form keeps the root’s concrete movement visible.
halikhah: Walking, a course, or a way of going.
הֲלִיכָה
The related noun shows how walking can describe a continuing course of life.
THE PATTERN
Hearing the voice is expressed in a path walked and a word acted upon.
You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and so that it may go well with you, and so that you may lengthen your days in the land you shall take hold of.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.But this word I commanded them, saying, Hear and respond to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in every way that I have commanded you, so that it may be good for you.THE THREAD
But this word I commanded them, saying, Hear and respond to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in every way that I have commanded you, so that it may be good for you.Jeremiah 7:23 joins שמע (shamaʿ, hear and respond) with הלך (halakh, walk or go), the same roots behind the unanswered voice and unwalked instruction here. It makes explicit the movement this verse describes through their absence.
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