What Does Jeremiah 15:9 Mean in the King James?
She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
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
Her death is pictured as a double departure: she blows out her living soul as her sun enters its decline while daylight remains.
THE MEANING
A woman who has borne seven withers, and her living soul is blown out before her day is done. Shame remains, and the people left behind are given to the sword before their enemies. Grief reaches beyond her death into the fate of the survivors.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a full household guarantees safety dissolves here: even the mother who has borne seven withers, and those left behind face the sword.
THE ROOT
נָפְחָה נַפְשָׁהּ
naphchah nafshah
GROWS FROM
נפח
n-p-ḥ
to blow, puff, or fan
“given up the ghost” in this verse is naphchah nafshah. The Hebrew says she blew out her נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, living soul), setting a word for blowing beside the word for the living person. The same root describes the life-giving act at creation, so here that motion turns outward.
ALSO GROWS
mappuach: bellows
מַפּוּחַ
A bellows fans air outward, making concrete the forceful motion held in the root.
vayyippach: and he blew
וַיִּפַּח
This is the same verb used when the LORD gives life to the human in Genesis 2:7; here the motion is reversed.
אֶתֵּן
etten
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
to give, set, or place
“deliver” in this verse is etten. The Hebrew verb is first-person: “I will give” or “I will place.” The survivors are actively given to the sword, making the line’s violence stark and direct.
ALSO GROWS
nathan: to give, set, or place
נָתַן
This verb names the act by which the survivors are placed in the sword’s reach.
mattanah: gift or present
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the root’s language of giving; here the same root places the remnant in danger.
בָּאָה שִׁמְשָׁהּ
ba'ah shimshah
GROWS FROM
בוא
b-w-ʾ
to come or enter
“is gone down” in this verse is ba'ah shimshah. The verb for the sun’s setting is literally a form of “come” or “enter.” Her sun enters its decline while the day is still present, making the ending arrive early.
ALSO GROWS
bo: to come or enter
בּוֹא
This root gives the verse’s setting sun its image of entering the horizon before day is over.
mavo: entrance or entry
מָבוֹא
This noun carries the same root’s sense of coming in, echoing the sun’s early arrival at its setting.
THE PATTERN
Life can be cut short before daylight’s natural close, and visible fullness cannot secure it.
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?THE THREAD
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Genesis uses the same root נפח (naphach, blow or puff) for the act that gives life to the human. Jeremiah turns that motion outward: the woman blows out her נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, living soul), making her death an undoing of that first imparting of life.
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