What Does Jeremiah 47:4 Mean in the King James?
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
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 devastation reaches beyond its target to sever the network of help surrounding it.
THE MEANING
This verse shows devastation spreading through a support system: the Philistines are spoiled, and the surviving aid associated with Tyre and Sidon is cut off. A community is left exposed when the blow reaches both the people under attack and the help that might sustain them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that harm stops at its first target dissolves here: devastation can also sever the support around it.
THE ROOT
לְהַכְרִית
lehakhrit
GROWS FROM
כרת
k-r-t
to cut, sever, or cut down
“cut off” in this verse is lehakhrit. The root also appears in the phrase כָּרַת בְּרִית (kārat berit, cut a covenant), where cutting names the making of a binding relation. Here the same root turns toward severance: the blow reaches the ties of aid that might have sustained the Philistines.
ALSO GROWS
kārat: to cut, cut down, or cut off
כָּרַת
This is the basic verb behind the verse’s decisive severing.
likhrot berit: to cut a covenant
לִכְרֹת בְּרִית
The same root can describe a binding between parties, making its use here resonate with the ties that are being cut away.
nikhrat: to be cut off
נִכְרַת
This form shows the same root from the side of what is removed or brought to an end.
עֵזֶר
ʿēzer
GROWS FROM
עזר
ʿ-z-r
to help, support, or come to someone’s aid
“helper” in this verse is ʿēzer. עֵזֶר (ʿēzer, aid or help) can name decisive support, not merely a subordinate assistant; the same word is also used for help attributed to God. The loss named here is the removal of a sustaining resource, not just the disappearance of an extra hand.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāzar: to help, support, or come to someone’s aid
עָזַר
The verb makes clear that this root describes the act of providing support.
ʿezrāh: help or aid
עֶזְרָה
This related noun appears in descriptions of present help, showing how substantial the support named by this word family can be.
THE PATTERN
A people’s stability turns on the source of the help they depend on and whether it remains available.
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.THE THREAD
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.Jeremiah uses עֵזֶר (ʿēzer, aid or help) for the support being cut off; Psalm 121 uses the same word for help coming from the LORD. The shared word holds both the vulnerability of political support and the psalm’s claim that help can come from beyond it.
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