What Does Jeremiah 18:9 Mean in the King James?
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
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
A spoken word over a people can both give them structure and set them down like something living that can grow.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a people as both something built into form and something planted to take root. A word concerning a community can name its growth and establishment as live possibilities.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A people’s future is not only a verdict of collapse; building and planting remain possible.
THE ROOT
אֲדַבֵּר
adabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
Speak; the related noun davar means word, matter, or affair.
“speak” in this verse is adabber. English separates speaking from the word or matter being spoken, while Hebrew uses the same root for both. The declaration here concerns a people’s formation, so speech carries the substance of what is named.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter or affair.
דָּבָר
The same root links the act of speaking with the matter named.
dibber: He spoke; declared.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form makes the shared root with the noun for word visible.
לִבְנוֹת
livnot
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
Build; establish.
“build” in this verse is livnot. The root includes forms meaning “be built up,” not only the act of constructing. In Genesis 16:2, Sarah uses such a form while speaking of receiving children, giving the image of building a household and its continuity.
ALSO GROWS
boneh: Builder; one who builds.
בֹּנֶה
The builder gives form to what is being established.
ibaneh: I may be built up.
אִבָּנֶה
In Genesis 16:2, Sarah uses this form while speaking of children, connecting building with the continuance of a household.
לִנְטוֹעַ
linṭoaʿ
GROWS FROM
נטע
n-ṭ-ʿ
Plant; set something living into the soil.
“plant” in this verse is linṭoaʿ. This root describes placing living growth where it can take root. Beside building, it keeps the image of a people from being only architectural: they are also planted for continued growth.
ALSO GROWS
neti'ah: Planting; a planted growth.
נְטִיעָה
The noun keeps the act of planting visible as a way of establishing life.
natu'a: Planted.
נָטוּעַ
This form emphasizes being placed and rooted, rather than merely passing through a place.
THE PATTERN
Renewal holds together what is built into form and what is planted to grow.
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.THE THREAD
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.This verse repeats both roots, then sets each beside its opposite: build and pull down, plant and pluck up. It opens Jeremiah 18:9’s paired images further by showing building and planting as a people’s enduring rootedness.
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