What Does Ezekiel 14:11 Mean in the King James?
That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse’s deepest destination is mutual belonging: the wanderers become God’s people, and God becomes theirs.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to the reader in estrangement and rebellion: those do not have the last word over belonging. It names a restored bond in which they are God’s people and God is their God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that repeated rebellion permanently places a person outside God’s belonging.
THE ROOT
יִתְעוּ
yit'u
GROWS FROM
תעה
to wander, err, or lose one’s way
“go astray” in this verse is yit'u. The root carries the sense of wandering; the phrase “from me” makes the distance relational. At the verse’s close, that distance gives way to belonging: “my people” and “their God.”
ALSO GROWS
ta'ah: to wander or err
תָּעָה
This is the verb’s basic form, showing that “go astray” carries the image of losing one’s way.
to'eh: one who wanders
תֹּעֶה
The word for a wanderer makes the verse’s movement tangible: those who lose their way are named as a people who can belong again.
פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם
pish'eihem
GROWS FROM
פשע
to rebel, revolt, or break away
The Hebrew names these transgressions as rebellions or acts of breaking away. Set beside “go astray from me,” the word describes the rupture both as lost direction and as active rebellion.
ALSO GROWS
pesha: rebellion, a breach
פֶּשַׁע
This noun is the seed of “their transgressions,” making the break in relationship explicit.
pasha: to rebel or break away
פָּשַׁע
The verb shows the action carried by the noun: rebellion is a movement away from the bond named at the verse’s end.
THE PATTERN
Wandering is answered by being sought, returned, and gathered into belonging.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.THE THREAD
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.Ezekiel’s “go astray” and the Psalmist’s “I have gone astray” use the same Hebrew root, תעה (ta’ah, to wander). Ezekiel names the end of wandering as restored belonging; the Psalm gives the wandering person’s plea to be sought.
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