What Does Jeremiah 39:14 Mean in the King James?

Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.

Jeremiah 39:14 · 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 verb beneath “carry him home” is “bring him out,” making freedom a passage from guarded enclosure into a place among people.

THE MEANING

Confinement does not have to name the whole of your life. Release can carry you from a guarded place into a home and back among people. Here, freedom opens into belonging.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This verse undoes the belief that freedom means only getting out; release can also lead into a home and a place among people.

THE ROOT

לְהוֹצִיאֵהוּ הַבָּיְתָה

lehotzi'ehu habbaytah

GROWS FROM

י־צ־א

y-ṣ-ʾ

To go out or emerge; in this form, to bring someone out.

The Hebrew construction behind “carry him home” is “to bring him out toward the house.” The root connects going out with being brought forth, so release moves Jeremiah from a guarded enclosure toward a home and life among people.

ALSO GROWS

yatsa: To go out, come forth

יָצָא

The same root names the movement out of the prison courtyard that begins Jeremiah’s return to ordinary life.

yetzi'ah: An exit or going out

יְצִיאָה

This branch makes the verse’s movement visible: the way out is part of the release itself.

yetzi'at Mitzrayim: The going out from Egypt

יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם

The shared root links Jeremiah’s being brought out of confinement with scripture’s recurring movement out of constriction.

וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ

vayishleḥu

GROWS FROM

ש־ל־ח

sh-l-ḥ

To send forth, send away, release, or let go.

The verb is “they sent,” and this root also carries the sense of sending away or letting go. Here, the sending becomes part of Jeremiah’s release, giving the verse a movement outward from confinement.

ALSO GROWS

shilluaḥ: Sending away or dismissal

שִׁלּוּחַ

This branch shows how sending can carry the sense of release that the verse’s action opens.

Shiloaḥ: Shiloah, associated with the sent waters

שִׁלֹחַ

The related name preserves the root’s image of something sent forth, echoing the outward movement in Jeremiah’s release.

וַיֵּשֶׁב

vayyēshev

GROWS FROM

י־ש־ב

y-sh-b

To sit, stay, dwell, or settle.

“dwelt” in this verse is vayyēshev. The sentence does not end with Jeremiah being brought out; it ends with him dwelling among the people. This root holds staying and dwelling together, so freedom becomes settled presence rather than a momentary extraction.

ALSO GROWS

moshav: A dwelling place or settlement

מוֹשָׁב

This branch carries the sense of a place where someone can remain, matching the verse’s movement toward a home.

yeshivah: Sitting or a gathering

יְשִׁיבָה

The root’s connection to sitting gives “dwelt among the people” the feel of taking a place within a community.

THE PATTERN

Release carries a person from confinement toward open life among others.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

Psalm 142:7 · KJVThe plea joins being brought out of prison with being surrounded again by people.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isaiah 61:1 · KJVThe opening of the prison is named as part of liberty for those held captive.

And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Acts 16:34 · KJVAfter the prison doors open, release continues into a home, food, and shared joy.

THE THREAD

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

Exodus 5:1 · KJV

The Hebrew command translated “Let my people go” uses ⁨שַׁלַּח⁩ (shallach), the same root as “they sent” in Jeremiah 39:14. The shared root joins sending with letting go, opening the prison-to-home movement into scripture’s wider arc of release.

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