What Does Jeremiah 42:3 Mean?
That the LORD your God may declare to us the way we walk in, and the word we are to make.
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
That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.THE KEY
The request joins direction to action: the “thing” to be done is also a word or matter, and the “way” is something the feet take.
THE MEANING
You are asking for guidance that meets both the route ahead and the matter before you: a way to walk and a word or matter to carry out. The verse holds direction and action together in the shared movement of “we may walk” and “we may do.”
THE ROOT
הַדָּבָר
hadavar
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, or thing.
“the word” in this verse is hadavar. Here the text calls the thing to be done דָּבָר (davar, word or matter). English “thing” can sound formless; Hebrew keeps the request tied to a word or matter that can be acted on.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The same noun names both what is spoken and what is to be done.
dibber: Spoke or speaks
דִּבֵּר
The verb shares the root with “thing,” linking the matter to speech.
הַדֶּרֶךְ
haderekh
GROWS FROM
דרך
d-r-k
To tread or step.
דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, way or road) grows from the language of treading: a way is a course made by steps. Guidance here is more than information about a destination; it gives the feet a course to take.
ALSO GROWS
darak: To tread, step, or march
דָּרַךְ
The action of stepping is present inside the word for a way.
derekh: Way, road, or course
דֶּרֶךְ
The route is understood through the steps taken along it.
נֵלֵךְ
nelekh
GROWS FROM
הלך
h-l-k
To walk or go.
“the way we walk in” in this verse is nelekh. The verb says “we may walk,” making the movement shared. הָלַךְ (halakh, walk or go) names movement itself, while the surrounding phrase gives that movement a way to follow.
ALSO GROWS
halakh: To walk or go
הָלַךְ
This is the root verb behind the passage’s “walk.”
holekh: Walking or going; one who walks or goes
הֹלֵךְ
The same root can describe a person in motion along the way.
halikhah: Walking or going
הֲלִיכָה
This form keeps the root’s focus on movement along a course.
THE PATTERN
Guidance takes shape as a path to walk and a word carried into action.
Show me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths.Your ears will hear and respond to a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whether you turn to the right hand or to the left.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Your ears will hear and respond to a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whether you turn to the right hand or to the left.Isaiah brings the same Hebrew cluster together: דָּבָר (davar, word or matter) points to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, way), then comes הָלַךְ (halakh, walk or go). The shared words make guidance a word that names a way and a way that is walked.
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