What Does Jeremiah 36:3 Mean?
It may be that the house of Judah will hear and respond to all the evil that I purpose to do to them, that they may turn back, each from his evil way, and that I may release their crookedness and their falling short.
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
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.THE KEY
The announced harm becomes an opening: hearing it can turn a person from the path and toward release.
THE MEANING
The possibility is still open to you: when the consequence of a harmful way comes into hearing, you can turn from it. The release named here reaches both crookedness and missing; the verse holds them together without making them the whole of who you are.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that once your way has gone wrong, only judgment remains; this verse holds the naming of harm together with the possibility of turning and release.
THE ROOT
יָשׁוּבוּ
yashuvu
GROWS FROM
שוב
Turn back, return, restore.
“turn back” in this verse is yashuvu. The verse’s “return” is a change of direction, not merely regret about the past. Its related words can describe either turning back or turning away, so the path’s direction matters.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: Return, turning back.
תְּשׁוּבָה
It names the same movement the verse holds open for each person.
meshuvah: Turning away, backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
This branch shows how a turn can lead away from the way back.
וְסָלַחְתִּי
vesalaḥti
GROWS FROM
סלח
Pardon, release from a charge.
The verse joins turning with pardon: release meets the person whose direction changes. The KJV’s “forgive” carries the further sense of letting the charge go.
ALSO GROWS
selichah: Pardon, forgiveness.
סְלִיחָה
This noun gives the same releasing action a name.
nislaḥ: Forgiven, pardoned.
נִסְלַח
This form shows the person receiving the release promised in the verse.
וּלְחַטָּאתָם
uleḥaṭṭā’tām
GROWS FROM
חטא
Miss, fail to reach.
“falling short” in this verse is uleḥaṭṭā’tām. The paired terms are עָוֹן (avon, crookedness) and חַטָּאת (chatta’t, missing): one names a bent condition, the other a miss. Both are included in the release, while remaining distinct.
ALSO GROWS
chet: Missing, fault.
חֵטְא
It preserves the concrete sense beneath the English “sin.”
ḥāṭāʾ: To miss, to fail, to sin.
חָטָא
The verb frames the word as an action or departure, not a name for the whole person.
THE PATTERN
The consequence of a destructive way is brought into hearing so a person can turn toward release.
Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his ways, says the Lord LORD. Turn, and turn yourselves from all your rebellions; so crookedness shall not be your stumbling block.Let the wicked leave his way, and the man of crookedness his plans. Let him turn back to the LORD, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly release.And he rose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and his inward parts were moved, and he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him.THE THREAD
Let the wicked leave his way, and the man of crookedness his plans. Let him turn back to the LORD, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly release.It shares both pivotal roots: שׁוּב (shuv, turn or return) and סָלַח (salach, pardon or release). Isaiah states the movement directly, return and pardon, while Jeremiah shows the consequence being heard as the opening for that movement.
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