What Does Jeremiah 35:14 Mean?
The words of Jonadab son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, have been made to stand; for until this day they have drunk none, and have kept their father's command. And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and you did not hear and respond to me.
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
The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.THE KEY
The English gives you two words, “obey” and “hearkened”, where the Hebrew repeats one: shama, hearing that becomes response.
THE MEANING
A word can be received so fully that it shapes what a household continues to do; it can also be spoken again and again without being received. This verse addresses you through that contrast: hearing is visible in the response a word takes in your life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the idea that hearing a word repeatedly is the same as receiving it.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְעוּ
shāmeʿū
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, heed; in this verse, hearing that results in obedience.
“hear and respond” in this verse is shāmeʿū. The word translated “obey” for the sons and “hearkened” for the people comes from the same root. The contrast is not between hearing and obeying, but between a word received into action and a word left unanswered.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear; listen and respond.
שְׁמַע
The familiar call “Hear, O Israel” uses this same root, joining hearing with a response to what is heard.
shemuʿah: Report, tidings; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names the message that reaches the ear; Jeremiah distinguishes the message being spoken from its being received.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats hearing as reception that becomes visible in response.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.But he said, Rather, flourishing are those who hear and respond to the word of God and guard it.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
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.The Hebrew root שמע (shamaʿ), behind “obey” in Jeremiah, also appears behind “obeying” and “to obey” here. Samuel ties hearing the voice of the LORD to the response it produces, opening Jeremiah’s contrast more sharply.
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