What Does Jeremiah 16:21 Mean in the King James?

Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
Jeremiah 16:21 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The name becomes recognizable when the LORD’s hand and might are made visible.

You meet the LORD’s nature through his hand and might, as ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name as nature) comes into view through action. The verse repeats “cause them to know” before “they shall know”: disclosure is enacted, then recognized. This knowing carries force; the might is part of what becomes known.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the idea that knowing the LORD’s name means only recognizing a title; here, the name becomes known through an encounter with his hand and might.

יָדַע

yada

GROWS FROM

ידע

y-d-ʿ

Know, perceive

The verse repeats causative forms of ⁨יָדַע⁩ (yada, know) and closes with ⁨וְיָדְעוּ⁩ (veyadʿu, and they shall know): disclosure is enacted, then recognized. Its first two consonants echo ⁨יָד⁩ (yad, hand), binding knowing to the hand by sound while the words remain distinct.

ALSO GROWS

daʿat: Knowledge, understanding

דַּעַת

This noun shows the same seed extending from the act of knowing into what is known.

hodiʿa: To make known

הוֹדִיעַ

This causative form illuminates “cause them to know”: knowing arrives through an act of disclosure.

גְּבוּרָתִי

gevurati

GROWS FROM

גבר

g-b-r

Be strong, prevail

⁨גְּבוּרָתִי⁩ (gevurati, my might) carries strength as capacity made manifest. Beside ⁨יָד⁩ (yad, hand), it presents what the LORD does as the means through which his nature becomes known.

ALSO GROWS

gibbor: Mighty one, warrior

גִּבּוֹר

The strength in “my might” shares its seed with the figure marked by might.

gevurah: Might, strength

גְּבוּרָה

This noun makes the shared root visible as power or capacity.

The LORD becomes known through encounters that reveal the character and force of his action.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Exodus 7:5 · KJVKnowing the LORD is joined to his hand being stretched forth and his action being seen.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 22:16 · KJVHere, knowing the LORD is recognized through what a person does for the poor and needy.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 17:3 · KJVKnowing God is placed at the heart of life, as relational recognition rather than familiarity with a title.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Exodus 7:5 · KJV

The same Hebrew root ⁨יָדַע⁩ (yada, know) appears beside ⁨יָד⁩ (yad, hand): the Egyptians know the LORD when his hand is stretched forth. Jeremiah’s “cause them to know mine hand” compresses that pattern, making the name YHWH recognizable through the hand’s action.

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Jeremiah 16:21 KJV Meaning