What Does Jeremiah 35:4 Mean in the King James?

And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

Jeremiah 35:4 · 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 verse makes the threshold part of the sacred order: a keeper stands where passage enters the house.

THE MEANING

You are shown the house of the LORD as a mapped place: named people, chambers, princes, and a keeper at the entrance. Its rooms have relationships and its threshold has someone assigned to watch it. Even this brief account makes the doorway part of what is seen.

THE ROOT

שֹׁמֵר הַסַּף

shomer hasaf

GROWS FROM

שׁמר

Keep, watch, guard.

“keeper of the door” in this verse is shomer hasaf. English can make “keeper” sound like a job label, but ⁨שׁמר⁩ (shamar, to keep or watch) names the ongoing act of guarding what is entrusted. Here, that watch has a place: the threshold where passage enters the house.

ALSO GROWS

shamar: To keep, watch, or guard.

שָׁמַר

The verb reveals the active care contained in the title “keeper.”

mishmeret: A watch, guard duty, or charge.

מִשְׁמֶרֶת

The same root names an entrusted watch, showing the keeper’s role as ongoing attention.

THE PATTERN

Sacred access is marked by watched gates and attendants who oversee passage.

So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the LORD, namely, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.

1 Chronicles 9:23 · KJVThe house of the LORD has gates whose passage is overseen by assigned keepers.

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psalm 84:10 · KJVThe doorkeeper’s place at the entrance is named as a place within God’s house.

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

John 10:3 · KJVA porter stands at the entrance and opens the way for passage.

THE THREAD

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

Psalm 121:7 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “preserve” comes from ⁨שׁמר⁩, the same root as Jeremiah’s “keeper.” The keeper at the threshold gives that guarding a place in the house; the psalm carries the same keeping over your living soul.

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