What Does Jeremiah 22:22 Mean in the King James?

The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Jeremiah 22:22 · 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 verb translated “eat up” shares its root with “pastors,” so the wind turns the shepherds into the ones being grazed.

THE MEANING

The people you rely on are swept away, and those you love are carried into captivity. Your wrongdoing leaves you exposed to shame and confusion as its consequences arrive.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that the people you rely on can shield you from the consequences of your own wrongdoing dissolves here: they too are swept into captivity, and shame remains.

THE ROOT

תִּרְעֶה

tir'eh

GROWS FROM

רעה

ra'ah

To tend, pasture, or graze.

“eat up” in this verse is tir'eh. The verb ⁨תִּרְעֶה⁩ (tir’eh, graze or tend) comes from the same root as ⁨רֹעַיִךְ⁩ (ro’ayikh, your shepherds): the wind becomes the one feeding on the shepherds. Its subject is ⁨רוּחַ⁩ (ruach, wind and breath), keeping both meanings within the Hebrew word.

ALSO GROWS

ro'eh: Shepherd; one who tends.

רֹעֶה

This is the person named by the same root as the verb translated “eat up.”

mir'eh: Pasture; grazing place.

מִרְעֶה

The root also names the pasture, completing the image of shepherding and grazing in the verse.

שֶּׁבִי

shevi

GROWS FROM

שבה

shavah

To seize or take captive.

“captivity” in this verse is shevi. This word centers on capture: the ones you love are moved into the condition of captives. Their closeness does not keep them outside the force of the verse.

ALSO GROWS

shavah: To take captive.

שָׁבָה

This is the action behind the captivity named in the verse.

shavuy: A captive; one who has been taken.

שָׁבוּי

The same root names the person who ends up in captivity.

THE PATTERN

A shepherd’s charge is measured by the flock’s condition: those who scatter or consume it face exposure, while feeding it is the work entrusted to them.

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:1 · KJVThe shepherds’ destructive work is named alongside the scattering of the flock, making their role accountable to those in their care.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

Ezekiel 34:10 · KJVThe shepherds are held to account and removed from power when they consume the flock entrusted to them.

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

1 Peter 5:2 · KJVThe same charge appears as care that feeds the flock willingly rather than using it for self-interest.

THE THREAD

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:1 · KJV

The word “pastors” comes from ⁨רעה⁩ (ra’ah, tend or graze), the same root as the verb translated “eat up” here. Jeremiah 23:1 names the shepherds’ destructive work; this verse completes the reversal by showing the shepherds themselves swept away.

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