The Meaning of Jeremiah 1:4 Explained

Jeremiah 1:4

KJV: Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

YLT: And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

Darby: And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

ASV: Now the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then the word  of the LORD  came unto me, saying, 

What does Jeremiah 1:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf. Jeremiah 1:11; Jeremiah 1:13; Jeremiah 2:1; Jeremiah 2:4; Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:11; Jeremiah 4:3; Jeremiah 4:27; et al.). These references are not the only indicators of a new section of text, but they usually indicate the beginning or ending of a section when they appear.

Context Summary

Jeremiah 1:1-19 - Courage Promised To A Fearful Messenger
God has a distinct purpose for each life, and our one aim should be to discover and work out His plan. See Psalms 139:16; Galatians 1:15. The sanctification here referred to applies to office rather than to character, and means set apart. See John 17:19. Jeremiah was very young, and shrank from the responsibility of the great mission entrusted to him. Thus it has been with the noblest, Exodus 4:10. But that is godly fear indeed which casts us back on God. He never gives a commission without assuming the responsibility of its execution in, and with, or through, us. Powers of utterance are specially His gift, Isaiah 6:7; Acts 6:10; 1 Corinthians 1:5. The almond tree in Hebrew is the wakeful tree. It awakes from the winter sleep earlier than others, flowering in January and fruiting in March. It indicated the swiftness of God's movement. The boiling pot is the symbol of war. The promises of Jeremiah 1:18-19 are very precious to all who are called to stand in the breach and charge men with their sins. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 1

1  The time
4  And the calling of Jeremiah
11  His prophetical visions of an almond rod and a seething pot
15  His heavy message against Judah
17  God encourages him with his promise of assistance

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 1:4 mean?

And came the word of Yahweh to me saying
וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־ יְהוָ֖ה אֵלַ֥י לֵאמֹֽר

וַיְהִ֥י  And  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
דְבַר־  the  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
יְהוָ֖ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֵלַ֥י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
לֵאמֹֽר  saying 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.

What are the major concepts related to Jeremiah 1:4?

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