The Meaning of Jeremiah 50:5 Explained

Jeremiah 50:5

KJV: They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

YLT: To Zion they ask the way, Thitherward are their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during -- not forgotten.

Darby: They shall inquire concerning Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to Jehovah, in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.

ASV: They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward,'saying , Come ye, and join yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They shall ask  the way  to Zion  with their faces  thitherward,  [saying], Come,  and let us join  ourselves to the LORD  in a perpetual  covenant  [that] shall not be forgotten. 

What does Jeremiah 50:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Israelites would seek direction to return to Zion. They would go back there to make an everlasting covenant with Yahweh, one that they would not forget, as they had their former (Mosaic) covenant. This is a reference to the New Covenant ( Jeremiah 31:31-33; Jeremiah 32:40). Israel has not yet experienced the changes that the New Covenant promised (e.g, Jeremiah 32:40). She did not enter into this covenant with God after Babylon fell to the Persians.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 50

1  The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 50:5 mean?

To Zion they shall ask the way toward it with their faces [saying] come and let us join ourselves to Yahweh [In] a covenant perpetual not [That] will be forgotten -
צִיּ֣וֹן יִשְׁאָ֔לוּ דֶּ֖רֶךְ הֵ֣נָּה פְנֵיהֶ֑ם בֹּ֚אוּ וְנִלְו֣וּ אֶל־ יְהוָ֔ה בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָ֖ם לֹ֥א תִשָּׁכֵֽחַ ס

צִיּ֣וֹן  To  Zion 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: צִיּׄון  
Sense: another name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books.
יִשְׁאָ֔לוּ  they  shall  ask 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁאַל 
Sense: to ask, enquire, borrow, beg.
דֶּ֖רֶךְ  the  way 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
הֵ֣נָּה  toward  it 
Parse: Adverb
Root: הֵנָּה  
Sense: here, there, now, hither.
פְנֵיהֶ֑ם  with  their  faces 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בֹּ֚אוּ  [saying]  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
וְנִלְו֣וּ  and  let  us  join  ourselves 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: לָוָה 
Sense: to join, be joined.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בְּרִ֥ית  [In]  a  covenant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בְּרִית  
Sense: covenant, alliance, pledge.
עוֹלָ֖ם  perpetual 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
תִשָּׁכֵֽחַ  [That]  will  be  forgotten 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּשַׁח 
Sense: to forget, ignore, wither.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation