What Does Jeremiah 48:23 Mean in the King James?
And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
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 repeated “upon” names its reach down to a city and two houses, one even called the house of recompense.
THE MEANING
The line places Kiriathaim (קִרְיָתַיִם, qiryātayim, “two towns”), Beth-gamul (בֵּית גָּמוּל, Bēt-Gāmûl, “house of recompense”), and Beth-meon (בֵּית מָעוֹן, Bēt-Māʿōn, “house of dwelling”) under the same repeated “upon.” The naming makes the reach concrete: a city and two houses stand inside the sentence, rather than an unnamed landscape. This line gives no charge; its force is the places’ direct inclusion.
THE ROOT
גָּמוּל
gāmûl
GROWS FROM
גמל
g-m-l
To deal fully with or requite; in other forms, to wean.
“Gamul” in this verse is gāmûl. The name בֵּית גָּמוּל (Bēt-Gāmûl, “house of recompense”) embeds the idea of requital in the place-name itself. The shared seed carries both what is dealt back and the act of bringing something through to completion.
ALSO GROWS
gemul: Recompense or reward; treatment returned.
גְּמוּל
This branch makes the “recompense” in Beth-gamul a root-level connection, not just an English gloss.
gāmal: To deal with someone fully or requite; in another use, to wean a child.
גָּמַל
The same root joins requital with bringing a child through to a new stage, giving the name a range beyond simple repayment.
בֵּית
bēt
GROWS FROM
בית
b-y-t
House, home, or household.
“Beth” in this verse is bēt. Both place-names begin with בֵּית (bēt, “house of”), the construct form of בַּיִת (bayit, “house”). The verse twice names a house, while one is marked by גָּמוּל (gāmûl, “recompense”) and the other by מָעוֹן (māʿōn, “dwelling place”).
ALSO GROWS
bayit: A house, home, or household.
בַּיִת
The shared “Beth” in the verse carries this house-word into both named places.
Bēt-ʾEl: A place-name formed with the same “house of” word.
בֵּית־אֵל
Like the two Beth-names here, the compound keeps “house” audible as part of a place’s name.
THE PATTERN
Prophetic judgment becomes concrete by naming the places it reaches and then widening from named sites to whole cities.
And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.THE THREAD
A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.Beth-meon contains מָעוֹן (māʿōn, “dwelling place”), the same Hebrew word rendered “dwelling place” here. The shared word links a named dwelling included under “upon” with the image of a dwelling place held across generations.
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