What Does Jeremiah 31:38 Mean in the King James?
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
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
Hebrew lets “built” echo “son”: the restored city is pictured as a household raised for the LORD, from tower to gate.
THE MEANING
The promise meets the reader as a concrete horizon: a city is built for the LORD, with its full span marked from tower to gate. Restoration here has a visible, communal shape, and its whole extent belongs within the LORD’s claim.
THE ROOT
וְנִבְנְתָה
venivnetah
GROWS FROM
בנה
To build or build up; here, the city will be built.
“shall be built” in this verse is venivnetah. The root family connects building with בֵּן (ben), “son,” traditionally understood as one who is built up. That echo lets the city’s rebuilding carry the sense of a household being raised for the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son; traditionally linked with the idea of one who is built up.
בֵּן
This branch gives the city’s rebuilding a household resonance: what is built is also a place where a people can belong.
binyan: Building or structure.
בִּנְיָן
This branch keeps the image concrete: the verse describes a city taking shape, with its extent marked by actual landmarks.
פִּנָּה
pinnah
GROWS FROM
פנה
To turn or face; a corner is a place where a line turns.
The city’s boundary ends at a turning point. The root’s sense of turning or facing gives the corner a directional quality: the rebuilt city has an orientation and a defined shape.
ALSO GROWS
panah: Turned, faced, or turned toward.
פָּנָה
The city’s corner marks where its course turns, making the boundary part of the verse’s image of a fully shaped city.
panim: Face or presence.
פָּנִים
This related word carries the sense of facing; together, the root family links the city’s turning edge with its orientation.
THE PATTERN
Restoration takes visible form as a community rebuilt and oriented toward the LORD’s presence.
Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:THE THREAD
Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.Both verses use בנה (banah), “to build.” Here the city is built for the LORD; in verse 4, Israel itself is rebuilt, joining the city’s restoration to the renewal of its people.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us