What Does Jeremiah 42:6 Mean?

Whether it be good or whether it be harm, we will hear and respond to the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you, that it may go well with us, when we hear and respond to the voice of the LORD our God.

Jeremiah 42:6 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

THE KEY

The vow holds even when the answer seems bad: in Hebrew, hearing the LORD’s voice already carries the sense of responding to it.

THE MEANING

The verse places you where a word may seem good or bad to you. It binds hearing to response either way, repeating that the voice belongs to the LORD your God. Its hope is that responding to that voice will make things well with you.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a word deserves a response only when its outcome feels good: the vow extends to what seems evil as well as good.

THE ROOT

נִשְׁמַע

nishmaʿ

GROWS FROM

שמע

Hear; when receiving a voice or command, hear and respond.

The verb translated “obey” is ⁨נִשְׁמַע⁩ (nishmaʿ, “we will hear and respond”), from ⁨שָׁמַע⁩ (shamaʿ, “hear”). Hebrew folds response into this hearing, so obeying the voice is not a separate act added after listening. The repeated ⁨קוֹל⁩ (qol, “voice, sound”) is the voice being received.

ALSO GROWS

shamaʿ: Hear; heed or respond.

שָׁמַע

The root verb shows why “obey” can also be heard as responsive listening: the voice is received in a way that answers it.

shemuʿah: Report, tidings; something heard.

שְׁמוּעָה

This branch names a message as what has been heard, connecting the received voice with the response it calls forth.

THE PATTERN

In scripture, hearing a word becomes real as a response that takes shape in action.

And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have heard and responded to my voice."

Genesis 22:18 · SDVThe verse names Abraham’s response as hearing the voice, using the same Hebrew root ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, “hear and respond”).

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.

Isaiah 55:3 · SDVHearing is joined to coming, showing the response already carried within ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, “hear”).

But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.

James 1:22 · SDVThe verse makes the same pattern explicit: hearing that stops short of response has not become living reception.

THE THREAD

But this word I commanded them, saying, Hear and respond to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in every way that I have commanded you, so that it may be good for you.

Jeremiah 7:23 · SDV

Jeremiah 7:23 pairs ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, “hear and respond”) with the words “that it may be well unto you.” Jeremiah 42:6 echoes that same movement in the people’s vow: they will respond to the voice whether its message seems good or bad, with well-being as their hope.

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