The Meaning of Jeremiah 18:23 Explained

Jeremiah 18:23

KJV: Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

YLT: And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known, All their counsel against me is for death, Thou dost not cover over their iniquity, Nor their sin from before Thee blottest out, And they are made to stumble before Thee, In the time of Thine anger work against them!

Darby: And thou, Jehovah, knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee: deal with them in the time of thine anger.

ASV: Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Yet, LORD,  thou knowest  all their counsel  against me to slay  [me]: forgive  not their iniquity,  neither blot out  their sin  from thy sight,  but let them be overthrown  before  thee; deal  [thus] with them in the time  of thine anger. 

What does Jeremiah 18:23 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord knew all that they were planning. Jeremiah believed that God should not forgive them, but allow them to experience His vengeful wrath in the coming invasion.
What Scripture commands us elsewhere regarding loving and blessing our neighbors rather than cursing them does not contradict Jeremiah"s practice here (cf. Proverbs 25:21-22; Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:20). While his motivation may have been wrong-we cannot evaluate that-what he said was appropriate. He was really asking God to fulfill His promise to curse those who departed from His covenant in the ways the Lord had said He would.
"If Jeremiah seems too angry to us, perhaps some of us today aren"t angry enough at the evil in this world. Thanks to the media, we"re exposed to so much violence and sin that we tend to accept it as a normal part of life and want to do nothing about it. Crusading has given way to compromising, and it isn"t "politically correct" to be dogmatic or critical of ideas that are definitely unbiblical." [1]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 18

1  Under the type of a potter is shown God's absolute power in disposing of nations
11  Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt
18  Jeremiah prays against his conspirators

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 18:23 mean?

And yet You Yahweh know - all their counsel which is against me to slay [me] no Provide atonement for their iniquity and their sin from Your sight nor blot out - but let them be overthrown before You in the time of Your anger Deal [thus] with them -
וְאַתָּ֣ה יְ֠הוָה יָדַ֜עְתָּ אֶֽת־ כָּל־ עֲצָתָ֤ם עָלַי֙ לַמָּ֔וֶת אַל־ תְּכַפֵּר֙ עַל־ עֲוֺנָ֔ם וְחַטָּאתָ֖ם מִלְּפָנֶ֣יךָ אַל־ תֶּ֑מְחִי [והיו] (וְיִהְי֤וּ) מֻכְשָׁלִים֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ בְּעֵ֥ת אַפְּךָ֖ עֲשֵׂ֥ה בָהֶֽם ס

וְאַתָּ֣ה  And  yet  You 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, second person masculine singular
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
יְ֠הוָה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יָדַ֜עְתָּ  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
אֶֽת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
עֲצָתָ֤ם  their  counsel 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֵצָה 
Sense: counsel, advice, purpose.
עָלַי֙  which  is  against  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
לַמָּ֔וֶת  to  slay  [me] 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָוֶת  
Sense: death, dying, Death (personified), realm of the dead.
אַל־  no 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַל  
Sense: not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference).
תְּכַפֵּר֙  Provide  atonement 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: כָּפַר 
Sense: to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch.
עֲוֺנָ֔ם  their  iniquity 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עָוֹן  
Sense: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.
וְחַטָּאתָ֖ם  and  their  sin 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: חַטָּאָה 
Sense: sin, sinful.
מִלְּפָנֶ֣יךָ  from  Your  sight 
Parse: Preposition-m, Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אַל־  nor 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַל  
Sense: not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference).
תֶּ֑מְחִי  blot  out 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: מָחָא 
Sense: to wipe, wipe out.
[והיו]  - 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
(וְיִהְי֤וּ)  but  let  them  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
מֻכְשָׁלִים֙  overthrown 
Parse: Verb, Hofal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: כָּשַׁל  
Sense: to stumble, stagger, totter.
לְפָנֶ֔יךָ  before  You 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בְּעֵ֥ת  in  the  time 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, common singular construct
Root: עֵת  
Sense: time.
אַפְּךָ֖  of  Your  anger 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אַף 
Sense: nostril, nose, face.
עֲשֵׂ֥ה  Deal  [thus] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
בָהֶֽם  with  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation