What Does Jeremiah 20:4 Mean in the King James?

For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

Jeremiah 20:4 · 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’s word for carrying Judah captive comes from a root that also means to uncover: exile is forced exposure, not merely movement from one place to another.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks to the reader about exposure: terror reaches the self and those close to you, while violence unfolds before eyes that cannot stop it. Judah is handed into Babylon’s authority, carried away, and killed with the sword; captivity and death remain visible in the text.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that seeing danger means you can stop it: your eyes may behold what your hand cannot protect.

THE ROOT

וְהִגְלָם

wehiglam

GROWS FROM

גלה

uncover, reveal; in the Hiphil stem, lead into exile

The verb ⁨וְהִגְלָם⁩ (wehiglam, carry them captive) comes from ⁨גלה⁩ (galah), a root that also means uncover or reveal. Exile becomes forced exposure: Judah is taken from its place and left vulnerable to the king’s power, intensifying rather than replacing the verse’s explicit account of captivity.

ALSO GROWS

galah: to uncover, reveal

גָּלָה

This Qal form carries the root’s uncovering sense, making exposure resonate beneath the verse’s language of exile.

higlah: he exiled, deported

הִגְלָה

This Hiphil form uses the same root to name the act of driving someone into exile, the direct sense in this verse.

מָגוֹר

magor

GROWS FROM

גור

to fear, dread

The noun ⁨מָגוֹר⁩ (magor, terror) comes from ⁨גּוּר⁩ (gur, to dread), and the preceding verse names Pashhur ⁨מָגוֹר מִסָּבִיב⁩ (magor missaviv, terror on every side). Here that naming expands into a field of fear enclosing the self, friends, and Judah.

ALSO GROWS

gur: to fear, dread

גּוּר

The verb shows the root as an inner response, before ⁨מָגוֹר⁩ names terror as a condition.

taguru: you shall fear

תָגוּרוּ

Deuteronomy 1:17 uses this form for fear before a person; here the same root reaches from individual dread to terror affecting friends and a people.

THE PATTERN

Scripture portrays terror as an enclosing force and names the danger within it without disguising its consequences.

Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.

Jeremiah 6:25 · KJVThe enemy’s sword and fear on every side make danger feel like an atmosphere closing around the threatened person.

For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

Psalm 31:13 · KJVFear on every side surrounds the speaker as others plot to take his life.

But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

1 Peter 3:14 · KJVThe verse names “their terror” directly, then distinguishes the threat’s presence from being troubled by it.

THE THREAD

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.

Jeremiah 20:3 · KJV

The name in the preceding verse contains ⁨מָגוֹר⁩ (magor, terror), the same word rendered “terror” here. Pashhur’s name, “Magormissabib”, terror on every side, is then unfolded as fear reaching Jeremiah, his friends, and Judah.

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