What Does Jeremiah 48:35 Mean?
And I will stop in Moab, says the LORD, the one who climbs to the high place, and the one who sends up smoke to his gods.
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
Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.THE KEY
The LORD’s verb for ending Moab’s worship shares its root with Sabbath: the same Hebrew root names cessation, here in the hard form of judgment.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s judgment reaches the worshiper: the one offering at high places and burning incense to his gods is made to cease. The judgment reaches the person, not only the custom; its force is an ending, with no promise of correction or restoration in the verse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Religious devotion does not make a person or practice immune from judgment; here the LORD’s judgment reaches both the worshiper and the rite.
THE ROOT
וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי
we-hishbatti
GROWS FROM
שבת
sh-b-t
to cease, stop, or bring activity to an end
“stop” in this verse is we-hishbatti. The verb means the LORD causes the worshiper to cease; it is not just a ritual that quietly fades. The same root forms Shabbat, so the root names cessation while the verse’s scene gives that cessation its severe force as judgment.
ALSO GROWS
shabbat: Sabbath; cessation from work
שַׁבָּת
The shared root links this judgment’s ending with the cessation named by Sabbath.
shavat: to cease or stop
שָׁבַת
This verb form makes the root’s basic sense plain: activity comes to an end.
מַעֲלֶה
maʿaleh
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
to rise, go up, or bring upward
“climbs” in this verse is maʿaleh. The word for offering carries the movement of bringing something up. Beside the high places, the Hebrew gives the rite a repeated upward motion that the English phrase leaves less visible.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: to rise or go up
עָלָה
This verb supplies the upward movement inside the word translated “offereth.”
ʿolah: burnt offering; literally, that which goes up
עֹלָה
The offering itself bears the same ascent-root, showing how sacrifice and rising are joined in Hebrew.
מַקְטִיר
maqtir
GROWS FROM
קטר
q-ṭ-r
to make smoke or burn incense
“sends up smoke” in this verse is maqtir. The Hebrew verb gathers burning and smoke-making into one word. Its branches name both the incense and the act that sends its smoke upward, so the verse describes a visible rite that the LORD brings to an end.
ALSO GROWS
qetoret: incense
קְטֹרֶת
The incense is named from the same root as the verb for burning it.
qitter: to burn incense
קִטֵּר
This related verb shows the shared root in the act itself, linking the smoke-producing ritual to the incense.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s judgment can end rival worship in its rites, its practitioners, and its public presence.
And I will stop all her leaping, her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed times.I will stretch out my hand upon Judah and upon all who settle in Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, and the name of the darkened ones with the priests.And the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you; for your traders were the great ones of the earth; for by your potions all nations were made to wander.THE THREAD
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made, and he stopped on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.The Hebrew verb translated “rested” comes from שבת (sh-b-t), the same root behind “cause to cease” in Jeremiah. The root itself names cessation; the surrounding verse shows whether that cessation is rest from work or judgment upon worshipers.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us