What Does Jeremiah 2:10 Mean in the King James?

For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

Jeremiah 2:10 · 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 verse turns a claim into a wide test: cross from the isles of Chittim to Kedar, send inquiry out, and look again for any parallel.

THE MEANING

The verse places the reader in a search that crosses from the isles of Chittim to Kedar and asks whether any parallel exists. Its double call to see, surrounding a summons to discern carefully, makes the claim answerable to wide examination. The next verse names the matter under scrutiny: a people exchanging their God for what is no god.

THE ROOT

עִבְרוּ

ʿivrû

GROWS FROM

עבר

Cross over, pass through.

⁨עִבְרוּ⁩ (ʿivrû, pass over) comes from ⁨עָבַר⁩ (ʿāvar, cross or pass through). The search begins by crossing beyond a familiar frame, spanning places outside one community’s horizon.

ALSO GROWS

ʿēver: Beyond; the far side.

עֵבֶר

The search moves beyond its starting place.

maʿavār: Passage; crossing.

מַעֲבָר

This branch carries the root’s crossing into a noun.

שִׁלְחוּ

shilḥû

GROWS FROM

שלח

Send forth, send away, release.

⁨שִׁלְחוּ⁩ (shilḥû, send) comes from ⁨שָׁלַח⁩ (shalach, send forth or release), so the inquiry itself is sent outward. ⁨שִׁלֹחַ⁩ (Shiloaḥ, Shiloah/Siloam, the sent waters) and ⁨שֻׁלְחָן⁩ (shulḥan, table, the provision extended) carry that outward motion into other branches.

ALSO GROWS

Shiloaḥ: Shiloah or Siloam; the sent waters.

שִׁלֹחַ

It echoes inquiry sent out to reach what lies beyond the observer.

shulḥan: Table; provision laid out or extended.

שֻׁלְחָן

The extended table makes the root’s outward movement tangible.

הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ

hitbonenu

GROWS FROM

בין

Discern, understand.

“consider diligently” in this verse is hitbonenu. ⁨הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ⁩ (hitbonenu, consider carefully) comes from ⁨בין⁩ (bin, discern or understand). This is close comparison, not a casual glance: the search must distinguish whether a genuine parallel exists.

ALSO GROWS

binah: Understanding; discernment.

בִּינָה

It names the clarity the careful examination seeks.

navon: Discerning; perceptive.

נָבוֹן

It describes the capacity this searching requires.

THE PATTERN

A sweeping claim is tested by searching widely and examining whether the evidence confirms it.

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

Deuteronomy 4:32 · KJVLike Jeremiah’s search from Chittim to Kedar, this verse surveys the full span of the world and asks whether anything comparable can be found.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

Job 12:7 · KJVThe search for understanding extends beyond human assumptions to evidence visible in the living world.

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Acts 17:11 · KJVThe claim is examined against a source of evidence, day after day, to discern whether it holds.

THE THREAD

Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

Genesis 8:8 · KJV

Both passages join ⁨שָׁלַח⁩ (shalach, send forth) with ⁨רָאָה⁩ (raʾah, see or perceive): a sending becomes a way to learn what is true. Genesis gives that search a visible form, as the dove is sent out to discover whether the waters have receded.

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