What Does Jeremiah 49:38 Mean?
I will set my seat in Elam, and from there I will make the king and the princes perish, declares the LORD.
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
And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.THE KEY
The LORD sets his throne in the very territory where its king and princes are destroyed: Elam’s ruler is not the highest power in Elam.
THE MEANING
The LORD sets his throne in Elam and destroys its king and princes there. The verse speaks now: political rank offers no immunity where the LORD’s authority is present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A ruler’s title and position make him untouchable.
THE ROOT
וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי
veha’avadti
GROWS FROM
אבד
אָבַד (ʾābad) means to perish or be lost; in this causative form, it means to bring to ruin.
“make perish” in this verse is veha’avadti. The root holds both the perishing and the act that brings it about: here the LORD brings the king and princes to ruin. It gives “destroy” the concrete force of being made to perish.
ALSO GROWS
ʾābad: Perish, be lost
אָבַד
This is the root’s basic sense; the verse uses its causative form to say that the LORD brings the rulers to that end.
ʾăḇaddôn: Destruction, ruin
אֲבַדּוֹן
This noun from the same root names the ruin toward which the verb points.
וְשַׂמְתִּי
vesamti
GROWS FROM
שים
שׂים (śîm) means to put, place, or set.
“set” in this verse is vesamti. The LORD does not merely claim a throne associated with Elam; the verb says he places it there. The place where power sits is itself brought under his rule.
ALSO GROWS
śûm: To put, place, or set
שׂוּם
This is the root’s basic action, the same act of placing expressed when the LORD sets his throne in Elam.
lāśûm lēv: To set the heart; to attend or pay heed
לָשׂוּם לֵב
The same root can describe directing attention: in this verse, it directs the throne itself to a specific place.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s rule reaches the seats of power: rulers are set up, brought down, and kingdoms pass under his reign.
For God is the judge. This one he brings low, and this one he lifts.And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who know understanding.And the seventh messenger blows the trumpet, and great voices sound in heaven, saying, The governance of the world becomes the governance of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he reigns into the ages of the ages.THE THREAD
For the LORD perceives the way of the aligned, but the way of the wicked loses its way.Jeremiah uses the causative form of אָבַד (ʾābad), “perish” or “be lost”: the LORD brings Elam’s rulers to ruin. Psalm 1:6 uses the same root when the ungodly way itself “shall perish,” showing that this word-family reaches from a path’s end to the fall of rulers.
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