What Does Jeremiah 49:39 Mean in the King James?
But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, 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 promise does not erase captivity; it reverses its direction, as the LORD causes what was carried away to return.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two realities together: Elam’s captivity is real, and the LORD declares a future return for what has been carried away. It gives captivity no claim to be the final chapter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie it undoes is that once a people are carried away, restoration is impossible: the LORD names a return for Elam.
THE ROOT
אָשִׁיב
ashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
“bring again” in this verse is ashiv. אָשִׁיב is a causative form of שׁוּב: the LORD says, “I will cause to return.” The same root gives תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, return) and מְשׁוּבָה (meshuvah, turning away), so the turn itself becomes the hinge: captivity’s direction can change.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch names return as a movement, echoing the LORD’s act of bringing Elam back.
meshuvah: turning away, backsliding
מְשׁוּבָה
The same root can name a turn away; here its causative form carries the movement toward return.
THE PATTERN
God’s restoring work answers confinement with movement toward return, release, and belonging.
For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,THE THREAD
And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.Job 42:10 uses the same Hebrew turn-and-captivity pairing: שׁוּב (shuv, return) with שְׁבוּת (shevut, captivity). Hearing the phrase for one person as well as for Elam makes restoration audible as a reversal of captivity’s direction.
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