What Does Jeremiah 3:16 Mean in the King James?
And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
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 ark’s disappearance is not the disappearance of covenant presence; it is the end of treating one container as what the community must keep naming, remembering, and visiting.
THE MEANING
The verse places the ark beyond the community’s speech, thought, memory, and ritual attention. It speaks to you now of covenant presence no longer concentrated in a single object that must be preserved and approached. The repeated “no more” marks a release of the ark from its place at the center of communal attention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that God’s presence depends on keeping one sacred object at the center of communal attention.
THE ROOT
זָכַר
zakar
GROWS FROM
ז־כ־ר
z-k-r
Remember, call to mind, bring into remembrance.
“remember” in this verse is zakar. The verse layers speech, what rises upon the heart, remembrance, and attending to the ark, then closes with “no more.” The related word זִכָּרוֹן (zikaron), meaning memorial or remembrance, shows how remembering can become a lasting communal marker; here, even that role of the ark recedes.
ALSO GROWS
zikaron: Memorial; remembrance.
זִכָּרוֹן
A memorial gives remembrance a durable, shared form, illuminating how the ark can function as more than an object: it can anchor the community’s memory.
hizkir: Mention; bring to mind.
הִזְכִּיר
This branch joins remembering with speaking, echoing the verse’s movement from saying the ark’s name to no longer remembering it.
THE PATTERN
As covenant presence is understood beyond one sacred object, communal attention gathers around the LORD and the people who encounter him.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?THE THREAD
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.This next verse shows what the ark’s absence does not mean: the LORD is not absent, but Jerusalem is named as his throne and a place where nations gather. The center of communal attention shifts from the ark to the LORD’s presence among a gathered people.
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