What Does Jeremiah 49:38 Mean in the King James?
And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
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 LORD sets his throne in the very territory where its king and princes are destroyed: Elam’s ruler is not the highest power in Elam.
THE MEANING
The LORD sets his throne in Elam and destroys its king and princes there. The verse speaks now: political rank offers no immunity where the LORD’s authority is present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A ruler’s title and position make him untouchable.
THE ROOT
וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי
veha’avadti
GROWS FROM
אבד
אָבַד (ʾābad) means to perish or be lost; in this causative form, it means to bring to ruin.
The root holds both the perishing and the act that brings it about: here the LORD brings the king and princes to ruin. It gives “destroy” the concrete force of being made to perish.
ALSO GROWS
ʾābad: Perish, be lost
אָבַד
This is the root’s basic sense; the verse uses its causative form to say that the LORD brings the rulers to that end.
ʾăḇaddôn: Destruction, ruin
אֲבַדּוֹן
This noun from the same root names the ruin toward which the verb points.
וְשַׂמְתִּי
vesamti
GROWS FROM
שים
שׂים (śîm) means to put, place, or set.
“set” in this verse is vesamti. The LORD does not merely claim a throne associated with Elam; the verb says he places it there. The place where power sits is itself brought under his rule.
ALSO GROWS
śûm: To put, place, or set
שׂוּם
This is the root’s basic action, the same act of placing expressed when the LORD sets his throne in Elam.
lāśûm lēv: To set the heart; to attend or pay heed
לָשׂוּם לֵב
The same root can describe directing attention: in this verse, it directs the throne itself to a specific place.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s rule reaches the seats of power: rulers are set up, brought down, and kingdoms pass under his reign.
But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.THE THREAD
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.Jeremiah uses the causative form of אָבַד (ʾābad), “perish” or “be lost”: the LORD brings Elam’s rulers to ruin. Psalm 1:6 uses the same root when the ungodly way itself “shall perish,” showing that this word-family reaches from a path’s end to the fall of rulers.
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