What Does Jeremiah 43:6 Mean?
Men, and women, and little ones, and the king's daughters, and every living soul that Nebuzaradan, chief of the slaughterers, had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
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
Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.THE KEY
The list’s “every person” is kol-nephesh, every living self, so age, rank, and displacement do not erase the person inside the count.
THE MEANING
This verse keeps a whole human field in view: men, women, children, royal daughters, Jeremiah, and Baruch all stand within “every person.” That phrase is every living soul, so a people under another’s authority still appear as distinct living selves, not a faceless remainder.
THE ROOT
כָּל־הַנֶּפֶשׁ
kol-hannephesh
GROWS FROM
נפש
n-p-sh
Living self; a person as a living being.
“every living soul” in this verse is kol-hannephesh. The phrase “every person” is kol-nephesh, the same word Genesis uses for a “living soul.” The list holds each person as a living self, not merely a unit in a group.
ALSO GROWS
nephesh: Living soul; living self.
נֶפֶשׁ
This is the word used in “every person,” gathering the whole group as living selves.
naphash: To be refreshed or recover strength.
נָפַשׁ
The related verb shows the root also describes a self being restored, beyond a person simply being counted.
הִנִּיחַ
hinnîaḥ
GROWS FROM
נוח
n-w-ḥ
To rest, settle, or set down.
The verb translated “left” can also carry the sense of setting or letting someone rest in a place. The people are described as left with Gedaliah, while “every nephesh” keeps each person’s living reality in view.
ALSO GROWS
nûaḥ: To rest or settle.
נוּחַ
This verb shares the root’s sense of being placed into a settled position.
menûḥâ: Rest or a resting place.
מְנוּחָה
The noun makes the root’s idea of rest into a place, echoing the people left in Gedaliah’s care.
THE PATTERN
Scripture names each person as a living self and keeps the whole present within the count.
And the LORD God shaped the ground-being, Adam, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, my living soul, and all my inward parts, bless his set-apart name.And awe came upon every living soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the sent ones.THE THREAD
And the LORD God shaped the ground-being, Adam, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.Jeremiah’s “every person” and Genesis’s “living soul” share the root nephesh. Genesis opens the list further: each person counted here is a whole living self.
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