What Does Jeremiah 32:38 Mean in the King James?

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

Jeremiah 32:38 · 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

The same Hebrew verb holds both sides of the promise: they shall be God’s people, and God will be theirs.

THE MEANING

This promise speaks to you now as a bond of belonging: you are God’s people, and God commits to be your God. Both halves use the same Hebrew verb, joining your belonging with God’s commitment.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that belonging is one-sided, that you are the only one reaching while God remains distant.

THE ROOT

וְהָיוּ

vehayu

GROWS FROM

היה

hayah

To be, become, or come to pass.

“shall be / will be” in this verse is vehayu. The same root appears as ⁨וְהָיוּ⁩ (vehayu, “they shall be”) and ⁨אֶהְיֶה⁩ (ehyeh, “I will be”), tying the people’s belonging to God’s own commitment. The first-person form also echoes God’s self-declaration in Exodus 3:14.

ALSO GROWS

ehyeh: I am / I will be

אֶהְיֶה

This first-person form is used both for God’s promise here and God’s self-declaration to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

yihyeh: He/it will be

יִהְיֶה

This future form shows the same root describing what is yet to be, as in the promise that God will be theirs.

THE PATTERN

Covenant belonging takes the form of mutual presence: the people are God’s, and God commits to be theirs.

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

Leviticus 26:12 · KJVGod’s promise to be their God is joined to walking among them.

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 same mutual belonging is described as God dwelling and walking among the people.

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 bond reaches its fullest expression as God dwells with the people and is their God.

THE THREAD

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 3:14 · KJV

The Hebrew form ⁨אֶהְיֶה⁩ (ehyeh, “I am / I will be”) behind “I will be” here is the same form spoken in God’s self-declaration to Moses. The promise that God will be theirs echoes the voice that says, “I will be.”

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