What Does Jeremiah 41:6 Mean?
And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along the way as he went. And as he met them, he said to them, "Go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam."
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
And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.THE KEY
The tears make Ishmael’s invitation sound safe, yet the next verse reveals how little tears alone disclose about the danger approaching.
THE MEANING
Tears accompany Ishmael as he approaches and invites the travelers to Gedaliah. Their presence is plain, but they do not reveal the intent behind the invitation; the next verse makes its deadly purpose clear. The scene speaks now: a tender display can accompany an unsafe welcome.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief that visible grief proves an invitation is safe.
THE ROOT
בֹּכֶה
bokheh
GROWS FROM
בכה
to weep
The Hebrew repeats “going, going” before saying Ishmael is weeping, making the tears accompany his every step toward them. The root names the weeping, but does not tell us whether the invitation that comes with it is safe.
ALSO GROWS
bekhi: weeping or crying
בְּכִי
The noun preserves weeping as an audible, visible expression without itself explaining the person’s intent.
bokhim: those who weep; also the name “Bochim,” associated with weeping
בֹּכִים
This form shows the same root can name people by their weeping, while leaving the cause of their tears to the surrounding scene.
יִשְׁמָעֵאל
Yishma'el
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, listen, or heed; the name means “God hears”
“Ishmael” in this verse is Yishma'el. The name joins the idea of hearing with El, “God.” Beside the repeated weeping, it draws attention to a voice being heard, but neither a name nor tears by themselves disclose what lies behind this invitation.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: to hear, listen, or heed
שָׁמַע
The root behind Ishmael’s name brings hearing into a verse where grief is made visible.
shemuʿah: a report or something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch connects hearing with a message received, while the verse leaves the truth of Ishmael’s spoken invitation concealed.
לִקְרָאתָם
liqra'tam
GROWS FROM
קרא
to call, summon, proclaim, or name; in this form, to go toward someone for an encounter
The word translated “meet” comes from a root whose uses also include calling and summoning. Here the encounter moves straight into an invitation, “Come”, so the approach and the welcome are bound together.
ALSO GROWS
qaraʾ: to call, proclaim, or summon
קָרָא
The same root’s calling sense echoes the invitation Ishmael gives when he reaches them.
miqraʾ: a gathering or convocation; also a reading
מִקְרָא
This branch links the root with people gathered around a call, sharpening the contrast between an inviting encounter and its concealed purpose.
THE PATTERN
An inviting gesture or tender display can conceal an intent that the surface does not disclose.
And when Abner had turned back to Hebron, Joab bent him aside in the gate, to speak with him in wholeness, and struck him there under the fifth rib, and he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.When he speaks with favor, do not lean your weight on him, for there are seven revulsions in his heart.But Jesus said unto him, Judas, are you handing over the Son of Man with a kiss?THE THREAD
Turn aside from me, all you workers of crookedness; for the LORD hears the voice of my weeping.Psalm 6:8 uses the same root, בכה (bakah, to weep), and calls weeping a voice that the LORD hears. Here that root describes tears accompanying an invitation whose intent they do not reveal; the shared word makes clear that weeping can be heard without explaining what is behind it.
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