What Does Jeremiah 35:17 Mean?
Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. Behold, I bring upon Judah and upon all who settle in Jerusalem all the evil which I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not heard and responded; I have called to them, and they have not answered.
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
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.THE KEY
The verse frames calamity as what follows when a spoken warning and a repeated summons meet no answer.
THE MEANING
You encounter a severe sequence: God speaks and calls, no hearing or answer comes, and calamity falls upon Judah and Jerusalem. The harm remains concrete; the verse names it as the consequence of repeated nonresponse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that silence is consequence-free: here, the ignored voice is followed by real calamity.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְעוּ
sham'u
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, listen, and give heed
“heard and responded” in this verse is sham'u. Here, “not heard” carries the force of withheld heed: the adjacent “not answered” makes the broken response visible. The verse describes a refused message, not merely sound that fails to reach the ear.
ALSO GROWS
shomeaʿ: one who hears or listens
שֹׁמֵעַ
The word names the listener as someone receiving the call, underscoring the response that is absent here.
shemuʿah: a report or tidings, something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows the same root moving from the act of hearing to the message received.
וָאֶקְרָא
vaʾeqra
GROWS FROM
קרא
to call out, summon, proclaim, or read aloud
“called” in this verse is vaʾeqra. The repeated calling is a summons with an answer expected; the paired silence gives the verse its relational shape before it names calamity. The call-and-answer language makes the judgment part of an interrupted exchange.
ALSO GROWS
qeriʾah: a calling or reading aloud
קְרִיאָה
It keeps the spoken call audible as an act directed toward someone who can respond.
miqraʾ: a convocation or gathering called together
מִקְרָא
This branch carries the root from calling out to gathering those addressed by the call.
הָרָעָה
hāraʿāh
GROWS FROM
רעע
to be bad or cause harm; the word family can name evil and calamity
The Hebrew word can name harm or calamity as well as evil, giving this phrase its concrete force: damage arrives upon people and place. Its word family links badness with the harm it brings, so the stated consequence remains material and severe.
ALSO GROWS
raʿ: bad, evil, harmful
רַע
This adjective shows the root’s broad sense of what is bad or damaging.
raʿaʿ: to be bad or do harm
רָעַע
This verbal branch gives the harm in the verse an active, consequential edge.
THE PATTERN
A repeated call left unanswered is followed by consequences the text names plainly.
And I will count you to the sword, and all of you will kneel to the slaughter, for I called, and you did not answer; I spoke, and you did not hear and respond; you did evil in my eyes, and you chose what I did not delight in.Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.THE THREAD
And now, because you have done all these works, says the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking, but you did not hear and respond; and I called you, but you did not answer.This verse repeats the same Hebrew roots for speaking, hearing, calling, and answering. It makes the present passage’s pattern unmistakable: the call has already come, and the silence is named before calamity follows.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us