What Does Jeremiah 2:24 Mean in the King James?
A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
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 wild ass cannot be turned aside by pursuit, yet her appetite has a season in which she is found.
THE MEANING
Desire appears as a living appetite: she draws in wind at her own pleasure, and no one turns her aside. Those seeking her do not wear themselves out; they find her in her month, when her season arrives.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that another’s persistence governs desire: the encounter comes when the creature’s own season arrives.
THE ROOT
אַוַּת
avvat
GROWS FROM
אוה
ʾ-w-h
To desire, crave, or long for.
The Hebrew phrase rendered “at her pleasure” includes the desire of נַפְשׁוֹ (nafsho), the living soul. The root אוה (ʾ-w-h), to desire or crave, places the pull within the living creature: its appetite moves from inside.
ALSO GROWS
avvah: Desire, craving.
אַוָּה
This noun names the longing carried in the verse’s phrase about the creature’s pleasure.
hit'avvah: To long for, crave.
הִתְאַוָּה
This verbal form makes longing active, matching the creature’s self-directed pull.
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
r-w-ḥ
Wind or moving air; the same word also names breath and spirit.
רוּחַ (ruach) names both wind and breath, and here the animal draws it in. The image brings the moving air outside the body close to what a living body inhales, a unity English can obscure by distinguishing “wind” from “breath.”
ALSO GROWS
ruḥot: Winds; the plural form of רוּחַ (ruach), wind or breath.
רוּחוֹת
The plural keeps the wind sense visible while showing the word’s reach beyond a single gust.
ruḥi: My breath or spirit.
רוּחִי
This possessive form applies the same word to a living being’s inward breath, keeping the inhaled wind close to embodied life.
חֹדֶשׁ
chodesh
GROWS FROM
חדש
ḥ-d-sh
To be new or renew; the root behind the word for month and new moon.
“In her month” points to חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh), month or new moon, from חדש (ḥ-d-sh), to be new or renew. The timing carries an image of renewal: the creature’s appetite moves in a recurring cycle.
ALSO GROWS
chadash: New, renewed.
חָדָשׁ
This adjective makes the newness inside the word for month visible.
ḥiddesh: Renewed, made new.
חִדֵּשׁ
This verb form connects the month’s cycle with the recurring renewal of time.
THE PATTERN
Desire is an inward pull that moves a living creature toward what it seeks.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.THE THREAD
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.The KJV renders רוּחַ (ruach), wind or breath, as “wind” here and “breath” in Psalm 104:29. The shared word keeps the image close to embodied life: the wild ass draws in the wind, while living creatures depend on ruach as breath.
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