What Does Jeremiah 22:29 Mean in the King James?
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
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 earth is no silent backdrop: it is named three times and commanded to hear the LORD’s word.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word calls the earth to hear, so the ground beneath you belongs within the address rather than outside it. The threefold call places your hearing inside a world that is itself summoned to attend.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Only people hear the LORD’s word; the earth is merely silent scenery.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעִי
shimi
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed, and respond.
English “hear” can sound like passively receiving a sound, while שָׁמַע (shama) can carry the sense of listening and responding. The feminine singular command שִׁמְעִי addresses the earth as a hearer, making creation part of the scene rather than its backdrop.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; listen and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root appears in the call to hear, showing that hearing can include a response to what is received.
shemuʿah: A report or news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
What is heard can become a report passed on, extending the word beyond the moment of listening.
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
Speak; a spoken word or matter.
דָּבָר (davar) can mean both a word and a matter or thing. The LORD’s word is thus more than sound: it is a spoken matter set before a hearer, here the earth itself.
ALSO GROWS
davar: A word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The verse’s “word” carries the sense of a matter given to be heard, not sound detached from substance.
dibber: He spoke or uttered.
דִּבֵּר
The spoken action and the word belong to the same family, joining the LORD’s speaking to the earth’s hearing.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s word reaches the whole created order, with the earth addressed as a hearer and moved by the divine voice.
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.THE THREAD
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.Both verses join the earth to hearing and use the same Hebrew roots for “hear” (שמע, shama) and “word” (דבר, davar). Deuteronomy widens the summons to include the heavens, revealing a broader call for creation to hear.
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