What Does Jeremiah 42:8 Mean?

And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

Jeremiah 42:8 · 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

Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

THE KEY

The call crosses every rank, placing the captains and the least of the people inside one shared hearing.

THE MEANING

This is the moment before an answer is spoken: Johanan, the captains, and every person from least to greatest are called into the same encounter. The address reaches beyond rank; the whole people are within its hearing.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that consequential words belong only to people with authority: the least are summoned alongside the captains.

THE ROOT

וַיִּקְרָא

wayyiqrāʾ

GROWS FROM

קרא

q-r-ʾ

To call out, summon, or proclaim; elsewhere, the same root also means to read or name.

“called” in this verse is wayyiqrāʾ. Here ⁨קָרָא⁩ (qārāʾ, call or summon) is a summons, but its family also includes ⁨מִקְרָא⁩ (miqra, convocation or reading) and ⁨קְרִיאָה⁩ (qeri’ah, calling or reading aloud). The same root can describe calling people together and publicly voicing words, so this summons gathers the whole community around what is about to be said.

ALSO GROWS

miqra: Convocation or assembly; also a reading.

מִקְרָא

The shared root links a call that gathers people with the assembly in which a word is heard.

qeri'ah: Calling or reading aloud.

קְרִיאָה

This branch shows how the act of calling can also bring words into public hearing.

THE PATTERN

A word meant for a community is carried into one hearing by gathering people across rank and generation.

Assemble the people, the men, the women, and the little ones, and the sojourner within your gates, so that they may hear and respond, and so that they may learn, and be struck with awe of the LORD your God, and guard to do all the words of this instruction;

Deuteronomy 31:12 · SDVThe gathering spans adults, children, and the stranger so the whole community can hear.

Gather the people, set apart the assembly, gather the elders, gather the infants and those who suckle at the breast. Let the groom go out from his inner room, and the bride from her canopy.

Joel 2:16 · SDVThe call reaches elders, infants, and newlyweds, drawing every stage of life into the assembly.

Then the whole crowd kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul, telling what signs and wonders God had made among the nations by them.

Acts 15:12 · SDVThe whole multitude gives audience together, turning many listeners into one shared hearing.

THE THREAD

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.

Isaiah 43:1 · SDV

The same Hebrew root ⁨קרא⁩ (qārāʾ, call) appears in “I have called thee by thy name,” where the address is personal. Jeremiah’s summons widens that call to the captains and all the people, so the same verb reaches both the individual and the whole community.

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