What Does Jeremiah 36:3 Mean in the King James?
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
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 announced harm becomes an opening: hearing it can turn a person from the path and toward release.
THE MEANING
The possibility is still open to you: when the consequence of a harmful way comes into hearing, you can turn from it. The release named here reaches both crookedness and missing; the verse holds them together without making them the whole of who you are.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that once your way has gone wrong, only judgment remains; this verse holds the naming of harm together with the possibility of turning and release.
THE ROOT
יָשׁוּבוּ
yashuvu
GROWS FROM
שוב
Turn back, return, restore.
The verse’s “return” is a change of direction, not merely regret about the past. Its related words can describe either turning back or turning away, so the path’s direction matters.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: Return, turning back.
תְּשׁוּבָה
It names the same movement the verse holds open for each person.
meshuvah: Turning away, backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
This branch shows how a turn can lead away from the way back.
וְסָלַחְתִּי
vesalaḥti
GROWS FROM
סלח
Pardon, release from a charge.
The verse joins turning with pardon: release meets the person whose direction changes. The KJV’s “forgive” carries the further sense of letting the charge go.
ALSO GROWS
selichah: Pardon, forgiveness.
סְלִיחָה
This noun gives the same releasing action a name.
nislaḥ: Forgiven, pardoned.
נִסְלַח
This form shows the person receiving the release promised in the verse.
וּלְחַטָּאתָם
uleḥaṭṭā’tām
GROWS FROM
חטא
Miss, fail to reach.
“sin” in this verse is uleḥaṭṭā’tām. The paired terms are עָוֹן (avon, crookedness) and חַטָּאת (chatta’t, missing): one names a bent condition, the other a miss. Both are included in the release, while remaining distinct.
ALSO GROWS
chet: Missing, fault.
חֵטְא
It preserves the concrete sense beneath the English “sin.”
ḥāṭāʾ: To miss, to fail, to sin.
חָטָא
The verb frames the word as an action or departure, not a name for the whole person.
THE PATTERN
The consequence of a destructive way is brought into hearing so a person can turn toward release.
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.THE THREAD
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.It shares both pivotal roots: שׁוּב (shuv, turn or return) and סָלַח (salach, pardon or release). Isaiah states the movement directly, return and pardon, while Jeremiah shows the consequence being heard as the opening for that movement.
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