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

And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

Jeremiah 25:25 · 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

The repeated “all the kings” turns a list of distant realms into a claim that no seat of rule is beyond the reach of this reckoning.

THE MEANING

The verse places every named throne inside one field of exposure: no crown gives its holder a separate measure. Its repeated “all” leaves rank and distance unable to serve as shelter.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A ruler’s title or territory can make its holder untouchable.

THE ROOT

מֶלֶךְ

melekh king

GROWS FROM

מלך

To rule or reign.

The Hebrew word for “kings” grows from the root for ruling, so the verse reaches beyond a list of people to the seats of authority they hold. Repeating “all” places every such seat within the same reckoning.

ALSO GROWS

mālaḵ: to reign

מָלַךְ

The verb makes clear that the shared root names the act of ruling as well as the ruler named here.

mamlākhāh: kingdom, realm

מַמְלָכָה

This branch connects the kings to the realms they govern, widening the verse’s reach from rulers to their domains.

THE PATTERN

No ruler stands outside the reach of the authority that raises, removes, and judges kings.

And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

Jeremiah 25:26 · KJVThe list widens to the kingdoms of the world and places their kings within the same reckoning.

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Daniel 2:21 · KJVKings rise and fall within an authority beyond their own rule.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Revelation 6:15 · KJVKings appear among every rank of person exposed to the same upheaval.

THE THREAD

To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

Jeremiah 25:18 · KJV

Both verses use the ⁨מלך⁩ (melekh, king) word family as the cup’s reach expands. Jerusalem and Judah appear first; here, the same reckoning extends across Zimri, Elam, and the Medes.

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