What Does Jeremiah 38:21 Mean in the King James?
But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:
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
Refusing the way out does not keep its consequence hidden; it is already being brought into view.
THE MEANING
The choice to go out or remain is real, and the word makes the consequence visible before the step is taken. Refusal does not erase what is already being shown.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that refusing a way out can make its consequences disappear.
THE ROOT
הֶרְאַנִי
her’ani
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look, or perceive.
“shewed” in this verse is her’ani. The verb means “caused me to see.” The word is presented as something made visible, so the consequence stands before the reader as more than an abstract warning.
ALSO GROWS
ro’eh: A seer; one who sees.
רֹאֶה
This branch keeps the connection between receiving a word and being given sight.
mar’eh: An appearance or sight.
מַרְאֶה
The same root can name what comes into view, echoing the verse’s word being shown.
הַדָּבָר
hadavar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; a word or matter.
Davar can mean both a spoken word and the matter at hand. The word shown to Jeremiah carries the concrete consequence it names.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֶּר
This verbal form shows the word as speech, not merely an idea.
devarim: Words or matters.
דְּבָרִים
The same root holds speech and the matter being spoken about together.
לָצֵאת
latset
GROWS FROM
יצא
To go out, come out, or emerge.
The choice is framed as crossing out of a place of confinement. The root makes “go forth” a concrete movement across a threshold, whose consequence is now being shown.
ALSO GROWS
yetsi’ah: An exit or going out.
יְצִיאָה
This noun names the movement the verse says may be refused.
yotse: Going out; one who goes out.
יוֹצֵא
This form keeps the root’s sense of emergence as an actual movement.
THE PATTERN
A refusal at a threshold is still a choice, and each path carries its consequence.
And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:THE THREAD
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.The same root יצא (yatsa), “to go out,” describes the word going forth from the LORD’s mouth. Jeremiah’s shown word makes refusal’s consequence visible; Isaiah describes that word going out and accomplishing its work.
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