What Does Jeremiah 2:11 Mean in the King James?
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
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 deepest loss is the exchange itself: what carries weight is traded for something that gives nothing back.
THE MEANING
A nation holds to gods that are no gods, while God’s people exchange their glory for what gives no benefit. The verse exposes how what carries weight can be traded for an empty return.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that whatever replaces what is weighty must offer something in return; a substitute can yield nothing.
THE ROOT
הֵמִיר
hēmîr
GROWS FROM
מוּר
mûr
to exchange, alter, or barter
“changed” in this verse is hēmîr. The verse uses this exchange verb twice, making the trade itself the focus. What is surrendered is not simply replaced; it is bartered for what brings no benefit.
ALSO GROWS
temūrāh: exchange, substitution
תְּמוּרָה
This noun from the same root appears in Leviticus 27:10, where one thing is exchanged for another; here, the exchange leaves the people with no gain.
yāmîr: he exchanges
יָמִיר
This form of the same verb appears in Leviticus 27:10, echoing the verse’s central act of substitution.
כְּבוֹדוֹ
kevodo
GROWS FROM
כבד
to be heavy or weighty; by extension, to be honored
“glory” in this verse is kevodo. Kavod gathers weight, honor, and consequence into one word. Beside “does not profit,” it makes the trade stark: something of real substance is surrendered for an empty return.
ALSO GROWS
kāvēd: heavy, weighty
כָּבֵד
This adjective from the same root makes the sense of weight within “glory” tangible.
kibbēd: to honor, treat as weighty
כִּבֵּד
The verb links weight with honor, showing why exchanging kavod means giving up what carries worth.
THE PATTERN
A people can exchange weighty glory for an image or substitute that yields nothing.
Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.THE THREAD
Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.Both verses use the same Hebrew verb for “changed” and the same word for “glory.” Psalm 106:20 makes Jeremiah’s exchange concrete: weighty glory is traded for an image of an animal eating grass.
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