What Does Jeremiah 23:35 Mean in the King James?
Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
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
God’s word is not a private possession: this verse places the question of what the LORD has answered and spoken between neighbors.
THE MEANING
You ask another person, “What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?” The verse holds both the answer and the utterance in view, treating God’s speech as something to be recognized together. A claim does not become God’s word simply because someone says it is.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a private claim to divine speech authenticates itself is undone here: the question is spoken between neighbors.
THE ROOT
דִּבֶּר
dibbēr
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; to express a word or matter.
English “spoken” can sound like a passing event, but the same root names a word or matter. The question asks what God has put into speech, the substance people can ask about together.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: Word, matter, thing.
דָּבָר
The spoken word is also the matter at hand, so the question concerns the substance of what is said.
dibbēr: Spoke, declared.
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb used in the verse: the LORD’s speaking is named directly as the source being asked about.
עָנָה
ʿānâ
GROWS FROM
ענה
ʿ-n-h
To answer, respond.
The Hebrew asks what the LORD answered, keeping the response tied to a question or need. God’s speech is presented as engagement, not merely information.
ALSO GROWS
maʿăneh: Answer, response.
מַעֲנֶה
The noun carries the same root sense of a response, bringing the idea of answering into focus.
wayyaʿan: And he answered.
וַיַּעַן
This verbal form shows the root in action: an answer is a response given, not an isolated statement.
THE PATTERN
A claim to speak for God remains accountable to what God actually says.
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.Jeremiah’s “spoken” and Deuteronomy’s “words” share the root דָּבָר (dābār, “word” or “matter”), joining the act of speaking to the substance spoken. Deuteronomy shows why the question matters: the messenger speaks the words God gives.
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