What Does Jeremiah 39:12 Mean in the King James?
Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
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 command makes care more than restraint: the man under guard is kept from harm, held in view, and allowed to direct what happens next.
THE MEANING
When you are in someone else’s power, this verse says your personhood still matters: attention stays on you, harm is forbidden, and your words guide what is done. Protection includes having a say in what happens to you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being under another person’s authority means your wishes no longer matter.
THE ROOT
שִׂים
sim
GROWS FROM
שׂים
שׂים (sim): to set, place, put.
“look well to him” in this verse is sim. “Look well” can sound like inspection, but the Hebrew says to place your eyes upon him. Care means keeping him in view; the command then makes that attention protective by forbidding harm.
ALSO GROWS
sam: Sets or places.
שָׂם
The same root makes attention an act of placing something in view.
sim lev: To attend or pay attention.
שִׂים לֵב
The phrase extends the idea of setting something in place to focused regard, echoing the command to keep this person in view.
יְדַבֵּר
yedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
דבר (davar): to speak or declare; the related noun means “word” or “matter.”
“say” in this verse is yedabber. The instruction makes this man’s speech count in what happens next: his words guide the action. In this root, word and matter share a form, so what he says is treated as consequential, not incidental.
ALSO GROWS
davar: A word, thing, or matter.
דָּבָר
His speech is treated as the matter that should shape the response.
dibber: Spoke or uttered.
דִּבֵּר
This is the speaking action that the command places at the center of what is done.
THE PATTERN
Power is protective when it attends to the vulnerable, refuses harm, and gives the affected person’s voice real weight.
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;THE THREAD
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.The same “set my eyes upon them for good” wording appears here: attention is placed on people with their good in view. That shared image opens “look well to him” as sustained regard that protects.
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