What Does Jeremiah 50:34 Mean?
Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will contend their quarrel fully, that he may still the land and make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble.
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
Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.THE KEY
The Redeemer reclaims the captive by taking up their case and shaking the power that held them.
THE MEANING
The LORD is your strong Redeemer, and your cause receives an active hearing. He reclaims by taking up your case: the land is given rest while Babylon’s inhabitants are shaken. The force that has made itself secure over your captivity is itself unsettled.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that the power holding you is too strong to answer, or that your cause has no advocate.
THE ROOT
גֹּאֲלָם
gōʾălām
GROWS FROM
גאל
gāʾal
To reclaim or redeem, especially by a relative claiming back what belongs to the family.
This root holds more than rescue: it describes reclaiming what has been lost or alienated through a bond of kinship. “Redeemer” names one who claims the people and takes responsibility for their cause.
ALSO GROWS
gōʾēl: Redeemer; a relative who reclaims what was lost
גֹּאֵל
It shows the Redeemer acting as a claimant, not just a distant observer.
geʾullāh: Redemption; recovery through reclaiming
גְּאֻלָּה
It names the restoring act carried by the Redeemer’s claim.
יָרִיב
yārîv
GROWS FROM
ריב
rîv
To contend, dispute, or bring a case.
“contend their quarrel” in this verse is yārîv. The verse repeats this root in its verb and noun: he will surely contend their case. That repetition turns “plead” into active advocacy, the Redeemer enters the dispute on their behalf.
ALSO GROWS
rîv: A dispute, cause, or legal case
רִיב
This is the case the Redeemer takes up for the people.
merîvāh: Quarrel or strife
מְרִיבָה
It shows the root’s range from a formal claim to open conflict.
חָזָק
ḥāzāq
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥāzaq
To be strong, prevail, or make firm.
“strong” in this verse is ḥāzāq. The root carries the force of prevailing and making firm, so this strength is an ability to hold against opposition. Beside “Redeemer,” it describes a reclaiming power that can stand against the force holding the people.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: To be strong, prevail, or hold firm
חָזַק
It names the strength the verse places behind the Redeemer’s claim.
ḥizzēq: To strengthen or make firm
חִזֵּק
It shows the root’s active force: giving firmness, not merely possessing it.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s reclaiming breaks the grip of a stronger power and restores the ground beneath the captive.
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and bought him back from the hand of one stronger than he.Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he has redeemed from the hand of the one who presses.Let the LORD God of Israel be spoken well of, for he has looked upon and redeemed his people,THE THREAD
As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Set-Apart One of Israel.Isaiah names the Redeemer with nearly the same words: “the LORD of hosts is his name.” The shared גאל (gāʾal, “reclaim, redeem”) root makes the link concrete: the one who takes up the case is the one who claims the captive back.
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