What Does Jeremiah 34:2 Mean in the King James?

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

Jeremiah 34:2 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The word translated “give” also means “set” or “place”: the city is placed into a hand whose next act is fire.

THE MEANING

When something you hold passes into another power’s keeping, this verse names the danger without softening it: the city is burned. The verb “give” carries the force of placing the city into the king’s hand, where destruction follows. Zedekiah’s name says “Yah is alignment,” yet the name does not make the fire unreal or promise that loss cannot happen.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that every act of divine giving must mean benefit, protection, or escape from loss.

THE ROOT

נֹתֵן

nōtēn from natan

GROWS FROM

נתן

To give, set, or place.

“give” in this verse is nōtēn from natan. The verb here is nōtēn, “giving,” from ⁨נתן⁩ (natan), which also means to set or place. The city is described as placed into a hand: the transfer itself puts it within another power’s reach, and the fire shows what that hand does.

ALSO GROWS

mattanah: Gift; something given.

מַתָּנָה

This branch shows the root’s sense of transfer; what is given may be a gift, but the root itself does not guarantee a good outcome.

natun: Given, set, or placed.

נָתוּן

This form makes the act of placement explicit: the city is set into the king’s hand.

צִדְקִיָּהוּ

Tsidqiyyahu

GROWS FROM

צדק

To be just or aligned.

“Zedekiah” in this verse is Tsidqiyyahu. The name joins the root of alignment with the divine name Yah: “Yah is alignment.” The verse holds that name beside the announced burning, so the name does not erase the devastation or make the loss painless.

ALSO GROWS

tzedek: Justice; alignment.

צֶדֶק

This is the root carried in Zedekiah’s name, bringing the idea of alignment into the verse’s stark announcement.

tzaddiq: A just or aligned person.

צַדִּיק

This branch shows the root describing a person in relation to what is right or aligned.

tzedakah: Justice; aligned action.

צְדָקָה

This branch carries the same root into action, linking the name’s claim of alignment to what is done.

THE PATTERN

A hand is a place of custody and power: what is placed in it is exposed to what that hand will do.

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

Genesis 39:4 · KJVWhat is put into Joseph’s hand becomes his responsibility and authority to manage.

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Psalm 31:5 · KJVThe speaker places his breath in God’s keeping, showing that a hand can hold and redeem what is entrusted to it.

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

John 10:28 · KJVHere the hand holds and protects, revealing the contrast between a hand that preserves and the hand that burns the city.

THE THREAD

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Genesis 1:17 · KJV

The same Hebrew root ⁨נתן⁩ (natan) appears here as “set” and in Jeremiah as “give.” That shared seed makes the transfer concrete: the city is set into the king’s hand, where his power acts upon it.

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