What Does Jeremiah 49:2 Mean in the King James?

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 49:2 · 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

Hebrew repeats the root behind “inherit” and “heirs” to make the reversal audible: Israel inherits the ones who had inherited from it.

THE MEANING

The verse makes a brutal reversal present: war is heard in Rabbah, the city and her daughters are burned into ruin, and Israel becomes heir to those who had been its heirs. Inheritance here carries destruction in its wake; the verse holds restored possession and burning together.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that present possession secures a permanent claim is undone: the inheritors themselves become inheritable.

THE ROOT

וְיָרַשׁ

ve-yāraš

GROWS FROM

י־ר־שׁ

y-r-sh

to take possession, inherit, or dispossess

“be heir / heirs” in this verse is ve-yāraš. English makes “be heir” and “his heirs” look like opposite roles, but both carry the root y-r-sh. Israel yārash (possesses or inherits) its yōrəšāw (inheritors or possessors). The repeated seed turns inheritance into a reversal of control.

ALSO GROWS

yōrēš: inheritor, possessor

יוֹרֵשׁ

The verse uses the plural possessive form yōrəšāw for those who inherit or possess; they become the object of Israel’s own yārash.

yerushah: inheritance, possession

יְרֻשָּׁה

This noun makes explicit that inheritance is a claim to possession, the claim the verse shows changing hands.

תְּרוּעַת

teruʿat

GROWS FROM

ר־ו־ע

r-w-ʿ

to shout or raise a cry

The war alarm belongs to a word family for a raised public cry. The same noun appears in Psalm 47:5 for a shout accompanying ascent, so the word itself carries the cry while the scene gives it the force of alarm or acclaim.

ALSO GROWS

rûaʿ: to shout, cry aloud

רוּעַ

The verb makes the alarm audible: war is announced through a raised cry.

teruʿah: a shout or blast; an alarm or acclamation

תְּרוּעָה

This noun appears as “a shout” in Psalm 47:5, where the surrounding scene gives the cry a different force.

THE PATTERN

Inheritance is not fixed by present possession: a holder can lose the claim, while another is named heir.

And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Deuteronomy 30:5 · KJVA people brought back into land they once possessed become possessors again.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Psalm 37:11 · KJVThose without present power are named as inheritors of the earth.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5 · KJVThe promise again places inheritance with the meek rather than with whoever currently holds power.

THE THREAD

God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

Psalm 47:5 · KJV

Jeremiah’s ⁨תְּרוּעַת⁩ (teruʿat, alarm or shout) and Psalm’s ⁨תְּרוּעָה⁩ (teruʿah, shout) share the same noun and root ⁨רוע⁩ (r-w-ʿ). Here the cry announces war; in the psalm it accompanies ascent, revealing that the word carries the cry while the scene supplies its force.

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