What Does Jeremiah 38:15 Mean?
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I counsel you, will you 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
Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?THE KEY
Zedekiah’s name means “Yah is alignment,” and Jeremiah’s question places that nature beside the choice to receive or refuse counsel.
THE MEANING
Truth meets danger when it is declared, and it can still go unanswered when offered as counsel. Hearing means more than sound reaching the ear: the word is received when its direction is answered. Zedekiah’s name carries “Yah is alignment,” giving that possible refusal a sharp resonance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that asking for truth means being ready to receive it: the speaker can be endangered for declaring it while the counsel remains unanswered.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁמַע
tishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, heed, and respond
“hear and respond” in this verse is tishmaʿ. The root holds hearing and response together, so Jeremiah asks more than whether the king will receive sound. His question is whether the counsel will be received as a direction to answer.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond
שְׁמַע
The familiar call to hear carries response within it, illuminating what Jeremiah means by being hearkened to.
shemuʿah: Report, news
שְׁמוּעָה
A report shares the same root of hearing; Jeremiah’s declared words become news that still awaits a response.
אַגִּיד
aggid
GROWS FROM
נגד
to be in front or set forth; hence, to declare or make known
“declare” in this verse is aggid. The root connects declaring with setting something before another person. Jeremiah’s words place the truth directly in front of the king, where it can be faced or opposed.
ALSO GROWS
neged: In front of, opposite
נֶגֶד
The shared root makes declaration an act of placing the matter before the hearer.
nagid: Leader, prince
נָגִיד
The word for a leader shares this root of what stands in front, sharpening the tension of speaking plainly to someone with power over the speaker.
אִיעָצְךָ
iʿatskha
GROWS FROM
יעץ
to advise, counsel, or devise a course
The word for counsel belongs to the language of shaping a course, not merely saying words. Jeremiah asks whether the direction he offers will be received.
ALSO GROWS
ʿetsah: Counsel, plan
עֵצָה
The shared root shows that counsel carries a proposed course within it.
yoʿets: Counselor, adviser
יוֹעֵץ
The adviser gives counsel whose value depends on whether the hearer receives its direction.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats hearing as complete when the word is received in response.
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.Jeremiah’s “hearken” and Isaiah’s “hear” share the Hebrew root שָׁמַע (shamaʿ), hear and respond. Jeremiah asks whether counsel will be received; Isaiah shows hearing opening toward life.
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