What Does Jeremiah 23:14 Mean in the King James?
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
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 prophets’ lies are exposed by their effect: they strengthen wrongdoing and make turning back harder.
THE MEANING
This verse exposes a present danger: speech that makes harm feel secure can keep a person from turning back. When those entrusted with truth walk in deception and reinforce wrongdoing, the damage spreads beyond their own acts; the verse places them under its stark comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that authoritative or reassuring speech is harmless when it leaves wrongdoing intact: words that strengthen a wrongdoer’s hands can obstruct a return.
THE ROOT
וְחִזְּקוּ
vechizzequ
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
To be strong or firm; to make strong.
“strengthen” in this verse is vechizzequ. The verb makes the evildoers’ hands firm: the prophets are not merely failing to correct harm, but reinforcing the people doing it. The verse links that added strength to the blocking of return.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: To become or be strong
חָזַק
The root can describe strength as a state; here the prophets actively make wrongdoing more secure.
chizzeq: To strengthen or reinforce
חִזֵּק
This intensive form shows their influence adding support to the evildoers’ actions.
שָׁבוּ
shavu
GROWS FROM
שׁוב
shuv
To turn back, return, or bring back.
“return” in this verse is shavu. The blocked outcome is a turning: the verse does not describe wrongdoing as fixed, but says the prophets’ influence keeps people from returning. Hebrew’s root holds turning back and turning away within the same family of words.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: To turn back or return
שׁוּב
This is the action the prophets’ strengthening prevents.
meshuvah: Turning away, backsliding
מְשׁוּבָה
This branch names the opposite direction of the same root’s movement: turning away instead of returning.
בַּשֶּׁקֶר
basheqer
GROWS FROM
שקר
sh-q-r
To deal falsely or deceive; falsehood.
“lies” in this verse is basheqer. The prophets do not merely speak isolated falsehoods; they walk in them. The phrase gives deception the shape of a path they inhabit, joined to the support they give wrongdoing.
ALSO GROWS
sheqer: Lie, falsehood
שֶׁקֶר
This noun names the falsehood in which the prophets walk.
shaqar: To lie or deal falsely
שָׁקַר
The related verb makes deception an action, not only a mistaken idea.
THE PATTERN
Deceptive guidance strengthens wrongdoing when it removes the pressure to turn back.
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;THE THREAD
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:Ezekiel repeats the same Hebrew chain: lies, strengthening the wicked’s hands, and preventing return. The shared roots make Jeremiah’s line read like a causal diagnosis: deceptive speech lends strength to wrongdoing until turning is obstructed.
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