What Does Jeremiah 51:15 Mean in the King James?
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
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
Creation is force taking shape through wisdom and discernment, not raw power alone.
THE MEANING
You live in a world made by power, given stability through wisdom, and stretched wide through understanding. The verse places discernment alongside force: the earth and heavens bear the shape of more than strength alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The world is not held together by force alone; this verse joins power with wisdom and understanding.
THE ROOT
תְּבוּנָתוֹ
tevunato
GROWS FROM
בין
b-y-n
To discern, understand, or distinguish.
The word for understanding grows from a root associated with discerning distinctions. The related form בֵּין (bein, “between”) echoes how understanding perceives what lies between and how things relate.
ALSO GROWS
binah: Understanding, insight
בִּינָה
This noun from the same root makes the link between discernment and understanding explicit.
bein: Between, among
בֵּין
Its shared root letters echo the act of discerning distinctions and relations.
נָטָה
natah
GROWS FROM
נטה
n-ṭ-h
To stretch out, extend, or incline.
“stretched out” in this verse is natah. The verb carries the sense of extending or inclining, so the heavens are pictured as drawn outward. Isaiah uses this same verb for the heavens spread like a curtain, giving the image a tangible sense of extension.
ALSO GROWS
noteh: Stretching out
נֹטֶה
This participle from the same root describes the one extending the heavens.
hat: Incline
הַט
This form of the root can describe an ear being inclined, showing the same movement of extension in another direction.
THE PATTERN
Creation is presented as the expression of divine wisdom and intention.
The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:THE THREAD
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:Isaiah uses the same Hebrew verb, נָטָה (natah, “stretch out”), for the heavens. The image of a curtain spread like a tent makes Jeremiah’s brief phrase feel like an active drawing-out of the sky.
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