What Does Jeremiah 34:3 Mean?
And you shall not slip away from his hand, but you shall surely be taken and given into his hand, and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.
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 thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.THE KEY
Babylon is presented as an arrival, but the verbs before it reveal that this arrival is captivity carried through to its destination.
THE MEANING
When another power has you in its reach, this verse names the encounter without softening it: you are captured, given into the ruler’s hand, and brought face to face with him. His gaze meets yours; he speaks directly to you; Babylon is where you arrive. Capture, handover, and destination form one unbroken loss of agency.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the assumption that every threat leaves an exit: here, escape gives way to capture and forced arrival.
THE ROOT
לָכֹד
lāḵōḏ
GROWS FROM
לכד
The root לָכַד (lāḵaḏ) means to catch, capture, or take in a snare.
The verse says לָכֹד תִּלָּכֵד (lāḵōḏ tillāḵēḏ, “captured, you will be captured”), repeating the same root to make capture emphatic. Then it shows what that capture entails: you are handed over, brought face to face with the king, and taken to Babylon.
ALSO GROWS
nilkaḏ: caught, captured
נִלְכַּד
This form makes the person caught the direct object of the same action that governs the verse.
malkōḏeṯ: trap, snare
מַלְכֹּדֶת
The snare is the means of capture; it makes visible how little room for escape the verse leaves.
תִּנָּתֵן
tinnāṯēn
GROWS FROM
נתן
The root נָתַן (nātan) means to give, set, or place.
“given into his hand” in this verse is tinnāṯēn. The word carries the sense of being given into the king’s hand. The same root can speak of giving or placing; here it names a transfer of custody that leaves the ruler in control.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: to give, set, place
נָתַן
This is the root’s basic action: the captive is placed into another person’s hand.
mattānāh: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
The related noun comes from the same giving-root; here, what is given over is a person’s custody, not a gift.
תָּבוֹא
tāḇōʾ
GROWS FROM
בוא
The root בּוֹא (bōʾ) means to come, enter, or arrive.
“go” in this verse is tāḇōʾ. The verse ends with arrival in Babylon, after capture and handover have already removed choice from the journey. The destination is not separate from the captivity; it is where that captivity brings you.
ALSO GROWS
bōʾ: to come, enter, arrive
בּוֹא
This is the root action behind the verse’s final movement into Babylon.
māḇōʾ: entrance, approach
מָבוֹא
The related noun names a way in; the verse’s arrival is an entry reached under another power’s control.
THE PATTERN
Captivity becomes concrete as a person is seized, handed over, or carried under another’s power.
And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and blinded Zedekiah, and bound him with bronze chains, and carried him to Babylon.Our living soul slips free like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we slip free.And Jesus said to him, Friend, what are you here for? Then they came near, threw their hands upon Jesus, and seized him.THE THREAD
Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in bronze, to lead him to Babylon.In Jeremiah 34:3, תָּבוֹא (tāḇōʾ, “you come, arrive”) uses בוא (bōʾ, “come, arrive”); Jeremiah 39:7 uses לְהָבִיאוֹ (lehāḇîʾô, “to bring him”) from the same root, rendered “to carry him” in the KJV. The second verse reveals the force behind that arrival: the king’s eyes are put out, his body bound, and Babylon becomes a destination imposed on him.
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