What Does Jeremiah 10:16 Mean in the King James?
The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
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 maker of all things is no made thing: the LORD is Jacob’s portion, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
THE MEANING
What human hands make cannot be the same as the One who forms all things. The LORD is Jacob’s portion, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: he is their share, and they are his people. “The LORD of hosts” names his nature as ruler over the hosts, beyond the reach of any image.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that something made by human hands can be the source of all things or hold the place of the One who forms them.
THE ROOT
יֹצֵר
yōṣēr
GROWS FROM
יצר
yatsar
To form, fashion, or shape.
“former” in this verse is yōṣēr. The Hebrew names him as the one who forms, not as a thing formed. That makes the contrast with idols sharp: what human hands shape cannot rival the source of all formation.
ALSO GROWS
vayyitser: Formed or shaped.
וַיִּיצֶר
The same root describes the LORD forming the human from dust, placing human life among what is shaped by the maker.
yōṣēr: One who forms or shapes.
יוֹצֵר
Isaiah uses this word for the potter, making the maker-and-formed relationship tangible.
חֵלֶק
cheleq
GROWS FROM
חלק
chalaq
To divide or apportion; a share allotted to someone.
“portion” in this verse is cheleq. The word names a share received, not something the recipient produces. The LORD is Jacob’s share, while Israel belongs within the LORD’s inheritance: the belonging runs both ways.
ALSO GROWS
chalaq: To divide or distribute a share.
חָלַק
The root brings out the sense of an allotted portion: the LORD is Jacob’s share.
chelqah: A portion of land or an allotted parcel.
חֶלְקָה
This related word makes a share concrete as a place held in an inheritance.
שֵׁבֶט
shevet
GROWS FROM
שבט
shevet
Rod or staff; also used for a tribe or clan.
English “rod” can make the phrase sound like an object, but the Hebrew word also means “tribe.” The line can therefore name Israel as the people of the LORD’s inheritance while retaining the staff-image.
ALSO GROWS
shevet: A rod, staff, or scepter.
שֵׁבֶט
This is the concrete image carried by the KJV rendering “rod.”
shevet: A tribe or clan.
שֵׁבֶט
The same Hebrew word names Israel as a people belonging to the LORD’s inheritance.
THE PATTERN
What is fashioned cannot rival its maker; the maker is the source of all things, and his people belong to him.
Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.THE THREAD
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.The word behind “potter” is יוֹצֵר (yōṣēr, one who forms), from יצר (yatsar, to form), the same root rendered “former” here. Isaiah makes the relation tangible as clay and shaper; Jeremiah widens it to all things and names Israel as the LORD’s inheritance.
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