What Does Jeremiah 32:16 Mean in the King James?
Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
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
A deed moves into another’s keeping, and the next movement is prayer: here, the spiritual does not wait outside the material.
THE MEANING
The deed enters the keeping of Baruch (בָּרוּךְ, Barukh, “blessed”), son of Neriah (נֵרִיָּה, Neriyah, “lamp of the LORD”), while the speaker turns to the LORD. In you, tangible commitments and direct address to God can occupy the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that prayer must wait until practical matters are finished dissolves here: prayer follows directly upon the deed’s handoff.
THE ROOT
וָאֶתְּנָה
va’ettenah
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, place.
“delivered” in this verse is va’ettenah. The Hebrew verb from נתן (natan, give, set, place) shows the document being set into Baruch’s keeping. The same root describes the city being given into the Chaldeans’ hands in Jeremiah 32:24, letting one word hold both an entrusted deed and a city surrendered.
ALSO GROWS
nitenah: Was given, was placed.
נִתְּנָה
The city in Jeremiah 32:24 is “given” with this root, echoing the deed’s handoff while revealing a much harsher kind of transfer.
mattanah: A gift, something given.
מַתָּנָה
This branch shows the root’s wider field of giving; here the transfer is a purchase deed placed in another’s care, not a gift.
וָאֶתְפַּלֵּל
va’etpallel
GROWS FROM
פלל
Intervene, arbitrate, intercede; pray.
“prayed” in this verse is va’etpallel. This form belongs to פלל (palal, intercede, arbitrate, pray), a root family that can carry the sense of bringing a matter before another. The concrete handoff is followed by direct appeal, holding transaction and prayer within one sequence.
ALSO GROWS
tefillah: Prayer.
תְּפִלָּה
This familiar noun shares the root, showing that prayer is part of a family of words for intervening or presenting a matter.
pelilim: Arbiters, judges.
פְּלִילִים
This related form appears in a legal setting, revealing the root’s wider association with bringing a matter forward for judgment.
הַמִּקְנָה
hammiqnah
GROWS FROM
קנה
Acquire, buy, possess.
The purchase is מִקְנָה (miqnah, acquisition) from קנה (qanah, acquire, buy, possess). The root names the movement into possession, so the record preserves more than a payment: it marks what has been acquired and held.
ALSO GROWS
qanah: To acquire, buy, possess.
קָנָה
The verb names the act behind the purchase record, making acquisition itself central to the wording.
miqneh: Property or livestock held as possessions.
מִקְנֶה
This related noun names what has been acquired and held, illuminating the deed as a record of possession.
THE PATTERN
Trust in a future that cannot yet be seen takes concrete form in the present.
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.THE THREAD
Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.The same root נתן (natan, give, set, place) describes the deed being given to Baruch and the city being given to the Chaldeans. One transfer entrusts a record of purchase; the other names the city’s violent surrender, and the shared word lets both realities stand together.
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