What Does Jeremiah 48:14 Mean in the King James?
How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
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 for “mighty” is rooted in prevailing, so the verse asks whether claimed strength can actually win.
THE MEANING
Your claim to strength does not guarantee that you can prevail; power meets its measure in what it can withstand. The question exposes the gap between calling yourself battle-ready and being able to endure the battle.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that naming yourself strong or gathering force guarantees the outcome.
THE ROOT
גִּבּוֹרִים
gibborim
GROWS FROM
גבר
To be strong or prevail, to prove stronger.
“Mighty” carries more than a description of strength: its root speaks of prevailing. The verse turns a declaration of power into a question about whether that power can actually overcome.
ALSO GROWS
gābar: To prevail, be strong, or prove stronger.
גָּבַר
The verb makes the claim active: the question is whether strength can prevail when it is tested.
gevurah: Might or strength.
גְּבוּרָה
This related noun names the power behind the claim, while the verse asks what that power can accomplish.
gibbôr: A mighty one or warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
This is the singular form behind “mighty men,” tying the identity of the warrior to the capacity to prevail.
אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל
anshei ḥayil
GROWS FROM
חיל
Force, capacity, and strength; in use, also valor, army, or wealth.
“strong men” in this verse is anshei ḥayil. The phrase calls them men of ḥayil: people marked by force or capability. The same word can describe a “woman of valor,” showing that this capacity is not confined to warriors or to battle.
ALSO GROWS
ḥayil: Force, valor, capacity, army, or wealth.
חַיִל
Here it names the military capacity the speakers claim for themselves.
ʾēšet ḥayil: A woman of valor or capability (Proverbs 31:10).
אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל
The same word can describe a person’s capability beyond the battlefield, broadening what this claimed strength can mean.
THE PATTERN
A claim of human might cannot guarantee that its bearer will prevail or be delivered.
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;THE THREAD
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?“Mighty” in Jeremiah and “prevail” in this psalm share the Hebrew root גבר (g-b-r), strength expressed as overcoming. One boast declares strength for battle; the other declares that speech itself will prevail.
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