What Does Jeremiah 42:9 Mean in the King James?
And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
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
Hebrew pictures a plea as sent forth and made to fall before God, making prayer an act of carrying and laying down.
THE MEANING
Your plea is carried into God’s presence as a request for favor. It is sent forward and placed before him, while the LORD speaks to the one who carries it. The verse presents asking as an encounter with the One addressed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that your plea vanishes unheard: it is brought before the LORD, who speaks in response.
THE ROOT
תְּחִנַּתְכֶם
teḥinnatkem
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
To show favor; to be gracious.
Your supplication is named by the root for showing favor: the plea is framed as an appeal for favor. The same seed appears in words for favor and graciousness, making that relational quality audible in the Hebrew.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: Favor.
חֵן
It shares the root’s language of favor, clarifying what the supplication seeks.
ḥannun: Gracious.
חַנּוּן
It describes the one who shows favor, bringing the request and the response into the same root-family.
שְׁלַחְתֶּם
shelachtem
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send, send forth, or release.
The request travels by a person whom the people send. The root holds sending together with release: the plea is sent forward into God’s presence.
ALSO GROWS
Shiloach: Sent forth; the name of a water channel.
שִׁלֹחַ
The name shows the root can describe what is sent forth.
shilluach: Sending away; dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch makes the root’s sense of release explicit alongside sending.
לְהַפִּיל
lehappil
GROWS FROM
נפל
n-p-l
To fall.
The Hebrew form means ‘to make your supplication fall before him.’ The root adds a physical image to ‘present’: a plea is lowered into someone’s presence.
ALSO GROWS
nōphel: Falling; one who falls.
נֹפֵל
It keeps the root’s concrete downward motion visible.
mappāl: A fall or downfall.
מַפָּל
It shows the same root describing a downward movement; here the image belongs to a plea brought before God.
THE PATTERN
A sent one carries purpose across the distance between a sender and those who need to receive it.
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.THE THREAD
It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.Jeremiah 36:7 repeats the same phrase with נָפַל (nāphal, “fall”) and תְּחִנָּה (teḥinnah, “supplication”). That echo places the plea beside a turn in direction, opening this verse’s image of prayer as something laid before God while a response takes shape.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us