What Does Jeremiah 9:5 Mean?
Each one will deceive his neighbor, and will speak no truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and wear themselves out bending into crookedness.
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 they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.THE KEY
Falsehood here is not a slip; it is a tongue deliberately schooled against what is firm.
THE MEANING
This verse reveals how practiced speech can erode trust between neighbors: the tongue is taught to lie, and the speaker wears themselves down in wrongdoing. Deception takes effort because it works against the firmness of truth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that harmful lying is merely a careless slip: here it is taught, practiced, and costly.
THE ROOT
לִמְּדוּ
limmedu
GROWS FROM
למד
Learn or become trained; in the intensive form, teach or instruct.
“taught” in this verse is limmedu. The root is about learning and instruction, so the tongue is presented as a pupil trained to produce lies. Deception is practiced speech, not just an accidental failure to find the right words.
ALSO GROWS
lamad: Learn or become instructed.
לָמַד
The basic sense of the root makes the tongue’s training visible.
limmed: Teach or instruct.
לִמֵּד
This teaching form shows that the false speech has been cultivated.
talmid: Learner or student.
תַּלְמִיד
The related word for a learner reinforces the image of a tongue being schooled.
אֱמֶת
emet
GROWS FROM
אמן
Be firm, steady, or reliable.
The word for truth carries the sense of firmness and reliability. The verse sets speech that can be leaned on against words deliberately trained to deceive.
ALSO GROWS
amen: Firmly; truly; so be it.
אָמֵן
Amen affirms what is reliable and can be trusted.
emunah: Steadiness or trust.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch links truth’s firmness with trust that can bear weight.
ne'eman: Reliable or steady.
נֶאֱמָן
A person described this way is dependable, carrying the root’s sense of firmness.
שֶׁקֶר
sheqer
GROWS FROM
שקר
Deal falsely or deceive.
“lies” in this verse is sheqer. The word names falsehood as the tongue’s learned content. Paired with the root of teaching, it shows deception as an enacted practice rather than a stray sentence.
ALSO GROWS
shaqar: Lie or deal falsely.
שָׁקַר
The verb form makes the falsehood an action carried out through speech.
shoquer: One who lies or deals falsely.
שֹׁקֵר
This form describes a person by the practiced deception named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Speech trained away from truth turns relationships into places of deception, while truthful speech recognizes the bond between neighbors.
They speak emptiness, each one with his neighbor; with smooth lips, with two hearts, they speak.The lip of truth stands firm for the ages, but a lying tongue lasts only for a blink.Therefore, taking off lying, speak truth, each one with his neighbor, for we are limbs of one another.THE THREAD
He who walks whole, works alignment, and speaks truth in his heart.Both verses use אֱמֶת (emet, truth), the word rooted in firmness and reliability. Jeremiah shows the tongue being trained away from that firmness; this verse locates the same truth in the heart before it is spoken.
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