What Does Jeremiah 21:5 Mean in the King James?
And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
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 outstretched arm that brings people out elsewhere is aimed against “you” here.
THE MEANING
You encounter force that is not withdrawn: the hand reaches out, the arm is strong, and the verse names anger as heat, fury, and great wrath. Here, that force is aimed against you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that an outstretched divine hand always means rescue: here it is directed against you.
THE ROOT
נִלְחַמְתִּי
nilḥamti
GROWS FROM
לחם
l-ḥ-m
to fight or wage war
“fight” in this verse is nilḥamti. The root makes the action explicit: this is active opposition. Its related noun for battle shows the combat built into the verse’s wording.
ALSO GROWS
laḥam: Fight or wage war.
לָחַם
This verb shares the root and names the active force directed against “you.”
milḥamah: Battle or warfare.
מִלְחָמָה
The related noun makes clear that “fight” belongs to the language of combat, not merely distance or withdrawal.
נְטוּיָה
netuyah
GROWS FROM
נטה
natah
to stretch out, extend, or turn aside
“outstretched” in this verse is netuyah. This word carries both extension and direction: the hand reaches out toward someone. In this verse it is extended against you, while the same root appears in deliverance language elsewhere.
ALSO GROWS
natah: Stretch out, extend, or incline/turn.
נָטָה
The verb reveals that the hand’s extension is an action with a direction.
matteh: A staff or rod; also a tribe.
מַטֶּה
The related staff is an extended rod, showing how the root’s sense of reaching or extending branches into a concrete object.
חֵמָה
ḥemah
GROWS FROM
חמה
ḥ-m-h
to be hot; heat or burning anger
The word rendered “fury” carries the sense of heat, so anger here is not an abstract mood. It is named alongside anger and great wrath as part of the force aimed at you.
ALSO GROWS
ḥam: Hot or warm.
חַם
This adjective preserves the root’s basic sense of heat beneath the word for fury.
ḥamah: To burn with anger or be hot.
חָמָה
The verb shows the heat at the root of the fury named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
The image of God’s extended hand carries its direction in context: it brings people out in one verse and strikes them in another.
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.THE THREAD
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:Both verses use the extended arm as God’s active power, and both draw on the root נטה (natah, “to stretch out”). Exodus directs that power to bring people out of bondage; Jeremiah directs it against “you.”
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us