What Does Jeremiah 48:16 Mean?
The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his harm runs swiftly.
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
The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.THE KEY
The word near carries motion: calamity is approaching even as the affliction itself gathers speed.
THE MEANING
Moab’s calamity is near, and its affliction is speeding toward arrival. The verse holds approach and acceleration together, bringing the coming trouble to the threshold.
THE ROOT
קָרוֹב
qarov
GROWS FROM
קרב
to approach, draw near
English can make near sound like a measurement of distance alone, but this root holds the motion of approaching inside it. The calamity is not only close; it is coming toward Moab.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: to approach, draw near
קָרַב
The verb gives motion to the adjective: what is near is in the act or state of approaching.
qorban: an offering; something brought near
קָרְבָּן
This branch also carries the root’s movement of bringing near, showing that the shared seed is approach.
מָהֲרָה
maharah
GROWS FROM
מהר
to hasten, be swift
“runs swiftly” in this verse is maharah. The Hebrew makes the affliction itself the one that hurries. Together with qarov, the wording gives trouble both a direction toward Moab and momentum.
ALSO GROWS
mahir: swift, quick
מָהִיר
This form describes swiftness as a quality; here the affliction carries that speed in its movement.
meherah: quickly, soon
מְהֵרָה
This form names the speed of an event, echoing how quickly the affliction advances.
THE PATTERN
A warning becomes urgent when its language closes the distance between what is coming and the present.
Drawing near is the great day of the LORD, near and hastening greatly. The sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, and the strong man shrieks there.Howl, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come as a ravaging from the Almighty.Do not groan against one another, brethren, lest you be judged. Look, the judge stands before the doors.THE THREAD
Drawing near is the great day of the LORD, near and hastening greatly. The sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, and the strong man shrieks there.Zephaniah repeats the same Hebrew roots: קרב (q-r-b) for near and מהר (m-h-r) for hastening. The pairing shows that nearness and acceleration are joined in the wording itself.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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