What Does Jeremiah 40:16 Mean?
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Careah, Do not do this thing, for you speak lies about Ishmael.
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
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.THE KEY
דָּבָר (dābār, “word/matter”) names the “thing” Gedaliah forbids, while “speakest” comes from the same root.
THE MEANING
The passage catches the moment when a warning becomes a proposed course of action. Gedaliah names the report about Ishmael as false speech; for you now, it shows how an accusation can carry consequences before its truth is established.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A warning about someone is automatically true because it sounds protective or urgent.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
dābār
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; the related noun means word, matter, or thing.
The Hebrew uses the same root for the “thing” Gedaliah forbids and the act of “speaking” he rejects. English separates them, while the Hebrew joins the matter and the telling of it.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: spoke, said
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb behind “speakest,” so the accusation and the “thing” share the same root.
dābār: word, matter, thing
דָּבָר
This is the noun translated “thing” in the verse, showing how one Hebrew root holds speech and matter together.
שֶׁקֶר
sheqer
GROWS FROM
שקר
sh-q-r
To act falsely or deceptively; falsehood.
“speak lies” in this verse is sheqer. The verse describes the speech as sheqer, falsehood. Beside dābār, it shows that speech is not weightless: a false account can become the matter at hand.
ALSO GROWS
shāqar: to deal falsely or deceive
שָׁקַר
The verb shows falsehood as an act, not merely a mistaken detail.
sheqer: falsehood, deception
שֶׁקֶר
This is the word used in the verse for what Gedaliah says Johanan is speaking.
יִשְׁמָעֵאל
Yishmaʿel
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear or listen; with אֵל (ʾel, “God”), the name means “God hears.”
The accusation concerns Ishmael, whose name carries the sense “God hears.” That meaning does not settle whether the report is true; it adds a quiet counterpoint to a verse about what is heard and said about someone.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: to hear or listen
שָׁמַע
This is the root within Ishmael’s name.
shemuʿah: a report or message heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch echoes the report about Ishmael that the verse calls false.
THE PATTERN
Speech is treated as a matter with consequences, so truth or falsehood enters the shared world through what is said.
By the word of the LORD the heavens are made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.These are the things you shall do. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor, and judge the judgment of truth and wholeness in your gates.Therefore, taking off lying, speak truth, each one with his neighbor, for we are limbs of one another.THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD the heavens are made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.Jeremiah uses דָּבָר (dābār, “word/matter”) for both the “thing” and the root behind “speakest”; Psalm 33:6 uses the same word for “word.” The shared root lets speech appear as something that takes form in the world, whether the matter is creation or an accusation.
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