What Does Jeremiah 48:27 Mean in the King James?

For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.

Jeremiah 48:27 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Derision is delight in another’s humiliation, not proof that the person deserves it.

THE MEANING

The verse exposes contempt as pleasure in another’s humiliation: Israel is treated as a joke, and the question about thieves presses whether that ridicule has any just basis. The speaker’s skipped-for-joy response makes the pleasure plain; mockery is not a neutral report of guilt.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Being mocked proves a person deserves ridicule; the verse separates Israel’s derision from evidence that he was found among thieves.

THE ROOT

שְׂחוֹק

śĕḥôq

GROWS FROM

שׂחק

to laugh, play, or mock

English “derision” fixes the word as contempt; Hebrew ⁨שׂחק⁩ (ś-ḥ-q, to laugh, play, or mock) retains the wider family of laughter and play beneath it. Here, the speaker’s delight at Israel’s mention makes mockery into amusement at another person’s expense.

ALSO GROWS

śāḥaq: to laugh, play, or mock

שָׂחַק

This verbal form shares the same root and shows that the derision here belongs to a wider field of laughter and play.

miśḥāq: play, sport, amusement

מִשְׂחָק

This noun keeps the root’s playful shade visible: ridicule is laughter turned against a person.

THE PATTERN

When contempt takes the form of laughter, it reveals the speaker’s posture and can become part of the speaker’s own reckoning.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Psalm 2:4 · KJVLaughter appears again as a response to proud contempt, showing that the one who laughs is not always the one with the final judgment.

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

Proverbs 1:26 · KJVThe laughter directed at wisdom’s rejection returns when calamity arrives, making mockery part of the speaker’s reckoning.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Galatians 6:7 · KJVThe verse connects mockery with consequence: contempt does not exempt the one who expresses it from what follows.

THE THREAD

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Psalm 2:4 · KJV

The Hebrew word translated “laugh” in Psalm 2:4 comes from ⁨שׂחק⁩ (ś-ḥ-q, to laugh, play, or mock), the same root behind “derision” here. The shared root links these verses through a striking reversal: laughter can move from the person being targeted to the one who thought ridicule made them secure.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us