What Does Jeremiah 31:1 Mean in the King James?

At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 31:1 · 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

One Hebrew verb holds both sides of the promise together: God will be their God, and they will be God’s people.

THE MEANING

The promise now places every family of Israel within one shared belonging: God is their God, and they are God’s people. Both clauses use forms of the same verb, so the relationship is voiced on both sides as a becoming.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that belonging is reserved for a single household or branch: the promise names all the families of Israel.

THE ROOT

אֶהְיֶה

ehyeh

GROWS FROM

היה

h-y-h

to be, become, come to pass

“will I be / they shall be” in this verse is ehyeh. English renders these as “will I be” and “they shall be,” but Hebrew repeats the same verb: ehyeh for God’s being, yihyu for the people’s. The shared root binds both identities in one promise, gathering many families as one people in relation to God.

ALSO GROWS

hayah: be, become, happen

הָיָה

This is the root form whose sense of being and becoming runs through both clauses.

ehyeh: I am / I will be

אֶהְיֶה

This first-person form voices God’s side of the promise.

yihyu: they will be

יִהְיוּ

This plural form voices the families’ shared identity as God’s people.

THE PATTERN

Scripture voices covenant as mutual belonging between God and a people.

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

Leviticus 26:12 · KJVGod’s presence among the people and their belonging to God appear together in one promise.

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2 Corinthians 6:16 · KJVThe promise holds God’s dwelling and the people’s belonging together.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Revelation 21:3 · KJVThe same mutual belonging is pictured with God dwelling among the people.

THE THREAD

And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:7 · KJV

“I will be to you a God” uses the same ⁨היה⁩ root as Jeremiah’s “will I be,” while the people’s identity is also expressed through that root. Together, the verses show covenant as a shared becoming: God is their God, and they are formed as God’s people.

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