What Does Jeremiah 42:8 Mean in the King James?
Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
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 call crosses every rank, placing the captains and the least of the people inside one shared hearing.
THE MEANING
This is the moment before an answer is spoken: Johanan, the captains, and every person from least to greatest are called into the same encounter. The address reaches beyond rank; the whole people are within its hearing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that consequential words belong only to people with authority: the least are summoned alongside the captains.
THE ROOT
וַיִּקְרָא
wayyiqrāʾ
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call out, summon, or proclaim; elsewhere, the same root also means to read or name.
“called” in this verse is wayyiqrāʾ. Here קָרָא (qārāʾ, call or summon) is a summons, but its family also includes מִקְרָא (miqra, convocation or reading) and קְרִיאָה (qeri’ah, calling or reading aloud). The same root can describe calling people together and publicly voicing words, so this summons gathers the whole community around what is about to be said.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: Convocation or assembly; also a reading.
מִקְרָא
The shared root links a call that gathers people with the assembly in which a word is heard.
qeri'ah: Calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
This branch shows how the act of calling can also bring words into public hearing.
THE PATTERN
A word meant for a community is carried into one hearing by gathering people across rank and generation.
Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.THE THREAD
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.The same Hebrew root קרא (qārāʾ, call) appears in “I have called thee by thy name,” where the address is personal. Jeremiah’s summons widens that call to the captains and all the people, so the same verb reaches both the individual and the whole community.
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