What Does Jeremiah 6:16 Mean in the King James?
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
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
Rest is the fruit of walking a way already traced through the ages, and the verse ends by naming the freedom to refuse it.
THE MEANING
You stand at a crossroads where seeing and asking open onto a good way already present. Walking it leads your living self into rest; the closing refusal shows that this way can still be turned down.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that refusing the way can itself lead to rest: the verse places rest at the end of the very path they reject.
THE ROOT
נֶפֶשׁ
nefesh
GROWS FROM
נ־פ־ש
n-p-sh
the living self, person, or being
“souls” in this verse is nefesh. Nefesh means the living person, not a separable inner part. Its verbal branch naphash means to be refreshed or take respite, so the promised rest reaches the whole living self.
ALSO GROWS
nefesh: a living being, person, or self
נֶפֶשׁ
It shows that the rest is for the living person, not just an inward or abstract part.
naphash: to be refreshed or take respite
נָפַשׁ
This branch links the living self with renewal and repose.
דֶּרֶךְ
derek
GROWS FROM
ד־ר־ך
d-r-k
to tread, step, or make a way by walking
The Hebrew for “way” carries the sense of a track made by treading. The verse pairs that word with walking, joining the path and the act of taking it.
ALSO GROWS
darakh: to tread or step
דָּרַךְ
It makes the good way something walked on, rather than only an idea to consider.
midrakh: a place for treading; a footpath
מִדְרָךְ
It echoes the verse’s image of a route that can be entered and followed.
מַרְגּוֹעַ
margoa
GROWS FROM
ר־ג־ע
r-g-ʿ
to settle, become quiet, or be at rest
This word for rest carries the sense of settled quiet. The verse holds walking and repose together: the good way is where the living self comes to rest.
ALSO GROWS
raga: to become quiet or calm
רָגַע
It reveals the settled quality within the promised rest.
ragua: calm or settled
רָגוּעַ
It echoes the repose the living self finds along the good way.
THE PATTERN
The way that leads the living self into wholeness is walked, and its fruit is rest.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.THE THREAD
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Both verses place the living soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) at the end of a path: Jeremiah says the good way leads to its rest, while the psalm says it is restored as it is led. The shared word makes the promise concrete: the path’s fruit reaches the whole living person.
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