What Does Jeremiah 28:14 Mean in the King James?
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
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 same Hebrew verb says the LORD places the iron yoke on the nations and gives the beasts to the king, joining forced service and transferred possession in one act.
THE MEANING
The LORD states that he has set iron on the nations’ necks and assigned their service to Nebuchadnezzar; the pressure is coercive. In the same decree, he gives the beasts of the field to the king, extending the transfer to living creatures. The verse speaks now wherever power determines who bears the burden and who receives the service.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that service is always freely chosen: here an iron yoke is set on necks, and service is assigned under force.
THE ROOT
נָתַתִּי
natatti
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
“I have put / I have given” in this verse is natatti. The KJV renders one repeated Hebrew verb first as “put” and then as “given.” Both forms come from נָתַן (natan, give, set, place): the same stated act lays the iron yoke on the nations and assigns the beasts to the king.
ALSO GROWS
natan: give, set, place
נָתַן
This is the root verb behind both the yoke set upon the nations and the beasts given to the king.
mattanah: gift, that which is given
מַתָּנָה
This noun makes the root’s act of giving concrete as a transfer to a recipient, echoing the beasts given to Nebuchadnezzar.
לַעֲבֹד
laʿavod
GROWS FROM
עבד
work, serve
The verse first assigns the nations לַעֲבֹד (laʿavod, to work or serve), then says וַעֲבָדֻהוּ (vaʿavaduhu, they shall serve him), repeating the עבד root. Its family holds service together with labor and the servant’s status, making the iron yoke a picture of the rule it enforces.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: servant
עֶבֶד
The person called a servant carries the same root as the act of serving in this verse.
ʿavodah: work, service
עֲבוֹדָה
This branch keeps service connected to labor, illuminating the work imposed under the yoke.
THE PATTERN
A yoke makes authority visible by assigning who carries the weight, who serves, and whether the bands hold or break.
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.THE THREAD
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.Deuteronomy repeats עֹל (ʿol, yoke) and the עבד root (ʿābad, work, serve) in the same pairing of iron burden and compelled service. That shared wording makes the yoke a concrete image of the labor and subjection it enforces.
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