What Does Jeremiah 18:16 Mean in the King James?

To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

Jeremiah 18:16 · 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 KEY

The land’s desolation and the passerby’s astonishment grow from the same Hebrew root: the ruin outside becomes the shock within.

THE MEANING

This verse holds up devastation that remains visible through the ages: the land is desolate, and its condition becomes a hissing sign. Whoever passes is appalled and shakes their head; the ruin outside becomes a shock carried in the body.

THE ROOT

שַׁמָּה

shammah yishom

GROWS FROM

שמם

š-m-m

To become desolate or to be appalled.

“desolate; astonished” in this verse is shammah yishom. The same root describes what happens to the land (shammah, desolation) and what happens to the passerby (yishom, astonishment). English separates ruin from shock, while Hebrew binds them: the visible devastation becomes an inward response.

ALSO GROWS

shemamah: Desolation or ruin.

שְׁמָמָה

It names the condition of the land and shares the root that also describes the passerby’s response.

shamem: To be desolate, devastated, or appalled.

שָׁמֵם

This form holds both the ruined place and the astonished witness within one root-family.

THE PATTERN

When devastation remains visible, it becomes a public sign that arrests those who pass by.

Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

Deuteronomy 29:24 · KJVThe condition of the land draws the attention of those who encounter it and raises a question.

And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

1 Kings 9:8 · KJVThe ruined place arrests passersby, whose astonishment and hissing make its condition public.

And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Jeremiah 19:8 · KJVThe same sequence appears again: desolation becomes a visible sign that appalls those who pass.

THE THREAD

And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Jeremiah 19:8 · KJV

Jeremiah repeats the same chain: a place becomes desolate, then the passerby is appalled. The shared ⁨שמם⁩ root binds the land’s ruin to the observer’s response.

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