What Does Jeremiah 31:14 Mean in the King James?
And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
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
Priests and people are joined by one Hebrew root of fullness: the same satisfaction reaches both through the images of fatness and goodness.
THE MEANING
This living word meets you with a picture of fullness: the LORD’s goodness reaches the living soul until it is satisfied. The nourishment named for the priests also belongs to “my people,” placing the reader within the verse’s shared abundance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that the LORD’s abundance is reserved for religious servants: the verse names the whole people as recipients of satisfaction too.
THE ROOT
שָׂבַע
savaʿ
GROWS FROM
שׂבע
To be full, sated, or satisfied.
“satiate / satisfied” in this verse is savaʿ. The first and final clauses use this one root for the LORD’s action toward the priests and the people’s satisfaction with goodness. English separates them as “satiate” and “satisfied”; Hebrew lets the same seed hold both the filling and its felt result.
ALSO GROWS
sovaʿ: Fullness or satiety.
שֹׂבַע
This noun names the fullness carried by both verbs in the verse.
saveaʿ: Satisfied or full.
שָׂבֵעַ
This form describes the state of fullness toward which the LORD’s giving brings the people.
דָּשֶׁן
deshen
GROWS FROM
דשן
To be rich or fat; to grow luxuriant.
“fatness” in this verse is deshen. The image is of rich, nourishing abundance, giving the first root’s fullness a texture. The priests’ nourishment is pictured as richness rather than bare survival.
ALSO GROWS
deshen: Fatness, richness, or abundance.
דֶּשֶׁן
This noun supplies the image for how the priests are satiated.
dishshen: To make fat or enrich.
דִּשֵּׁן
The verb form shows the root’s movement from richness as a quality to enriching as an action.
נֶפֶשׁ
nefesh
GROWS FROM
נפש
The living being, life, or self.
The “soul” here is the living person, not a detached inner part: the verse speaks of a life that can hunger and be filled. A related verb describes recovering or refreshing oneself, linking this living soul with restoration.
ALSO GROWS
nefesh: Living soul or person.
נֶפֶשׁ
This is the living being whose satisfaction the verse describes.
nafash: To refresh oneself or take rest.
נָפַשׁ
The related verb brings out the restorative side of a living soul being filled.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s goodness reaches hungry human life as fullness that satisfies.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.THE THREAD
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:Psalm 63:5 uses the same Hebrew root שׂבע (savaʿ, to be sated) for the soul’s satisfaction and pairs it with marrow and fatness. Jeremiah extends that fullness across priests and people, showing the same root at both scales.
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