What Does Jeremiah 49:5 Mean in the King James?

Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

Jeremiah 49:5 · 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

Two near-sounding Hebrew roots distinguish the blow from its aftermath: one thrusts people out, the other names the fugitive no one gathers.

THE MEANING

Terror comes from every side; each person is driven straight ahead, and no one gathers the fugitive. The verse holds expulsion and its aftermath together: the person forced into flight remains alone in motion.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that someone forced out will necessarily be gathered by someone else; here, no one comes for the fugitive.

THE ROOT

וְנִדַּחְתֶּם

veniddachtem

GROWS FROM

נדח

to thrust away, drive out, banish

The KJV’s “driven out” and “wandereth” sound close, but Hebrew marks them with neighboring, distinct roots: ⁨נִדַּח⁩ (niddāḥ, “one thrust away”) and ⁨נֹדֵד⁩ (nōdēd, “one fleeing or wandering”). The echo binds imposed expulsion to its human aftermath without making them the same word.

ALSO GROWS

niddāḥ: one cast out, a driven-away person

נִדָּח

This branch names the person as the one thrust away, a meaning that echoes the verse’s expulsion.

hiddîaḥ: to drive away, turn aside, or entice away

הִדִּיחַ

This causative form makes the movement an action done to someone, not simply aimless wandering.

לַנֹּדֵד

lannōdēd

GROWS FROM

נדד

to flee, wander, move away from one’s place

This root gives “wandereth” the sense of flight or restless movement. Beside ⁨נדח⁩ (nadach, “to thrust away”), its similar sound carries a sequence: someone is forced out, then left a fugitive.

ALSO GROWS

nādad: to flee or wander

נָדַד

This is the movement behind the verse’s “wandereth”: flight away from one’s place.

nōdēd: one who wanders or flees; a fugitive

נֹדֵד

This form names the person by ongoing movement, with no settled place implied.

THE PATTERN

The scriptural counter-movement to scattering is a deliberate gathering of those driven away.

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

Deuteronomy 30:4 · KJVThe expelled person is gathered from the farthest reach, directly reversing the absence of a gatherer here.

The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

Psalm 147:2 · KJVThe LORD gathers Israel’s outcasts, making collection an active answer to being cast out.

And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

John 11:52 · KJVThe scattered children are gathered into one, answering dispersal with deliberate reunion.

THE THREAD

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

Deuteronomy 30:4 · KJV

Both verses use forms of ⁨נדח⁩ (nadach, “to thrust away”) for the person driven out. Jeremiah says no one gathers that person; Deuteronomy reaches to the far edge and says the LORD gathers and fetches them.

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