What Does Jeremiah 9:26 Mean in the King James?
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
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 same word that marks the nations’ flesh also names Israel’s heart, turning an outward boundary into an inward mirror.
THE MEANING
The verse places two kinds of uncircumcision side by side: the nations bear it in the flesh, and the whole house of Israel bears it in the heart. The same word reaches from an outward mark to the inner person, where it suggests a covering that keeps what is within from opening. Every identity named here stands under that inward measure now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an outward sign or inherited identity guarantees an open heart; the verse names Israel’s heart with the same word it uses for the nations’ flesh.
THE ROOT
עֲרֵלִים
ʿarēlîm
GROWS FROM
ערל
To be uncircumcised; in figurative uses, closed or unresponsive.
The same root describes the nations as uncircumcised and Israel as uncircumcised in the heart. Its other uses extend the image to hearing and speech, revealing an inward closure that an outward distinction cannot resolve.
ALSO GROWS
Uncircumcised ear: Jeremiah calls the ear uncircumcised, describing it as closed to hearing.
עֲרֵלָה
The same root moves from Israel’s heart to the ear, showing how it names blocked reception.
Uncircumcised lips: Moses describes his lips as uncircumcised, an image of impeded speech.
עֲרַל
The root also reaches expression: what is closed can hinder both receiving and speaking.
THE PATTERN
The outward sign of circumcision is tested by the inward condition of the heart.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.THE THREAD
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.Jeremiah applies the same root to an ear and immediately says it cannot hear. The heart in 9:26 is another site of blocked reception: “uncircumcised” names the closure wherever it appears.
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