What Does Jeremiah 47:1 Mean in the King James?
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
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 word is described as already being with Jeremiah before the blow, so the message occupies the space before impact.
THE MEANING
The verse places you at the threshold: the word has come to Jeremiah while Pharaoh’s strike against Gaza is still ahead. Here, the blow is not the first thing in the scene; the coming force has already been named.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The blow is the first thing to reach me; no word can precede it.
THE ROOT
הָיָה
hāyâ
GROWS FROM
היה
To be, become, or happen.
“came” in this verse is hāyâ. The Hebrew phrase literally describes the word as something that “was” to Jeremiah, using a verb that can also mean “happen.” The word is presented as an occurrence before the strike, not merely as a report after it.
ALSO GROWS
wayhî: And it happened; and it came to pass.
וַיְהִי
This common narrative form from the same root makes an event’s happening explicit, echoing how the word itself occurs before the blow.
yihyeh: He, she, or it will be; will happen.
יִהְיֶה
This future form holds together being and what is yet to happen, fitting a word that comes before the event it announces.
דְּבַר
dĕvar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; a word or matter spoken of.
The Hebrew word for “word” belongs to a root that also names speaking, and the noun can refer to a matter or thing as well as an utterance. The message is not only language about the coming blow; it is a spoken matter already present in the scene.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
The verbal branch shows the utterance within the noun: the word that comes to Jeremiah is speech, not an abstract label.
devarim: Words; matters or things.
דְּבָרִים
This plural form carries the root’s range from spoken words to matters, widening what “the word” can hold here.
יַכֶּה
yakkēh
GROWS FROM
נכה
To strike or smite.
“smote” in this verse is yakkēh. The strike is expressed with a concrete blow-word. Set beside the word that comes first, the verse holds speech and impact in a sharp sequence without making the violence less real.
ALSO GROWS
makkâ: A blow, strike, or plague.
מַכָּה
This noun from the same root gives the physical force of the verb a name.
nākâ: To strike or smite.
נָכָה
The base verb exposes the bodily action carried by “smote”: Pharaoh’s action is a blow against Gaza.
THE PATTERN
A word can arrive before an event, making what is coming legible before it unfolds.
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.THE THREAD
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.Jeremiah places the word before Pharaoh’s blow; Amos describes revelation before action. The connection makes the sequence visible while leaving the announced violence intact.
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