What Does Jeremiah 11:3 Mean in the King James?
And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
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 covenant’s hinge is hearing that answers: the Hebrew verb behind “obeyeth” carries the movement from hearing to response.
THE MEANING
This verse places you before a covenant claim: its words call for hearing that answers. It names the one who refuses that response as cursed, giving the bond real consequence. Its force lands in the present where these words meet your life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing the words is enough even when the hearer refuses their claim.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁמַע
yishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen; where obedience is implied, hear and respond.
“obeyeth” in this verse is yishmaʿ. English “obey” names the action at the far end, while Hebrew names hearing itself. In this covenant setting, hearing is a response-bearing act, so the verse locates refusal where the words are not received as a claim.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear; listen.
שְׁמַע
The same root opens Deuteronomy’s “Hear, O Israel,” linking covenant life to hearing that answers.
shemuʿah: A report; news, what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names what reaches the ear; Jeremiah’s verb presses hearing beyond reception into response.
דִּבְרֵי
divrei
GROWS FROM
דבר
Speak; utter.
The word translated “words” belongs to a Hebrew family that can name both speech and a matter or thing. Covenant speech arrives as a concrete claim touching life, rather than as language floating apart from action.
ALSO GROWS
davar: A word; a matter or thing.
דָּבָר
The covenant’s words are also a matter to be reckoned with, not merely sounds or text.
dibber: He spoke; uttered.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal branch keeps the covenant’s words connected to active speech that addresses the hearer.
THE PATTERN
Covenant words become binding in lived response: hearing them and answering them belong together.
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.THE THREAD
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy’s “Hear, O Israel” uses the same Hebrew root, שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, hear and respond), that Jeremiah renders “obeyeth.” The shared root links covenant hearing with response, while Jeremiah names the curse where that response is refused.
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