What Does Jeremiah 16:8 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

Jeremiah 16:8 · 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.

THE KEY

The Hebrew word for sitting also carries the sense of dwelling, so a seat at the feast is a place of settled belonging.

THE MEANING

You are not to enter the house of feasting or sit among those who eat and drink together. The verse makes separation tangible through the ordinary acts of sharing a seat, food, and drink.

THE ROOT

לָשֶׁבֶת

lashevet

GROWS FROM

ישב

To sit, dwell, or remain in a place.

“sit” in this verse is lashevet. The Hebrew verb for sitting belongs to a root that also means dwelling and remaining. The verse’s seat is therefore more than a posture: it is a settled place among the people sharing the meal.

ALSO GROWS

yoshev: One who sits or dwells.

יֹשֵׁב

This form makes the root’s connection between taking a seat and inhabiting a place explicit.

yeshivah: Sitting, a session, or an assembly.

יְשִׁיבָה

The word extends sitting into a gathered company, echoing the shared place at the feast.

THE PATTERN

A shared meal makes relationship visible through presence at the table.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:5 · KJVThe prepared table and overflowing cup make welcome and provision visible in a shared meal.

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

Mark 2:16 · KJVEating and drinking together make the company visible, so the meal reveals who shares a table with whom.

THE THREAD

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psalm 1:1 · KJV

Jeremiah’s ⁨לָשֶׁבֶת⁩ (lashevet) and Psalm 1’s ⁨יָשָׁב⁩ (yashav), “sitteth,” share the Hebrew root ⁨ישב⁩. In both verses, sitting carries the sense of taking a settled place among a company.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us