What Does Jeremiah 25:23 Mean in the King James?

Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,

Jeremiah 25:23 · 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.

THE KEY

What the KJV renders as the farthest corners also carries the image of people defined by a clipped edge.

THE MEANING

This verse reaches you now with a list that moves beyond familiar centers: Dedan, Tema, Buz, and those at the edge all remain in view. Its language gathers remoteness and a clipped boundary into one phrase, so no marked or distant people vanish from the reckoning.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that distance from the center makes a person invisible is undone here: the list names the edge with equal directness.

THE ROOT

מְקֻצְצֵי פֵּאָה

mequṣṣəṣê pe'ah

GROWS FROM

קצץ

Cut off, clip, or crop.

“utmost corners” in this verse is mequṣṣəṣê pe'ah. The phrase pairs ⁨מְקֻצְצֵי⁩ (mequṣṣəṣê, clipped ones) with ⁨פֵּאָה⁩ (pe’ah, edge or corner), so the edge is also presented as something clipped. That lets the phrase carry both a far boundary and the image of a clipped bodily edge.

ALSO GROWS

mequṣṣəṣê: Those clipped or cropped.

מְקֻצְצֵי

This participial form describes the people in the verse through the image of clipping.

weqatsota: You shall cut off.

וְקַצֹּתָה

The same root names a literal cutting off in Deuteronomy 25:12, making the clipped-edge force of the phrase concrete.

THE PATTERN

A boundary at the edge still lies within the reach of divine presence and action.

And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 49:32 · KJVThe same phrase places people at the utmost corners within the reach of judgment and scattering.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Psalm 139:7 · KJVThe question leaves no distant place outside the reach of the LORD’s presence.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:8 · KJVThe witness extends to the earth’s farthest edge, carrying divine action beyond familiar boundaries.

THE THREAD

Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

Deuteronomy 25:12 · KJV

The Hebrew verb ⁨וְקַצֹּתָה⁩ (weqatsota, you shall cut off) shares the root ⁨קצץ⁩ (qatsats, cut off or clip) with Jeremiah’s ⁨מְקֻצְצֵי⁩ (mequṣṣəṣê, clipped ones). The link makes the clipped-edge force of the phrase physical and unmistakable.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us