The Meaning of Jeremiah 6:10 Explained

Jeremiah 6:10

KJV: 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.

YLT: To whom do I speak, and testify, and they hear? Lo, their ear is uncircumcised, And they are not able to attend. Lo, a word of Jehovah hath been to them for a reproach, They delight not in it.

Darby: To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

ASV: To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Jeremiah 6:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah wondered to whom he could deliver this warning so they could benefit from it. The people he ministered to had closed their ears to his prophecies, and they were so steeped in sin that it was not even possible for them to hear. Messages from the Lord had become offensive to them, and they no longer welcomed them.
"This is the first of more than three dozen times in Jeremiah where the people did not listen to (i.e, they disobeyed) God"s Word." [1]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 6

1  The enemies sent against Judah,
4  encourage themselves
6  God sets them on work because of their sins
9  The prophet laments the judgments of God because of their sins
18  He proclaims God's wrath
26  He calls the people to mourn for the judgment on their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 6:10 mean?

To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear indeed uncircumcised their ear [is] and cannot they give heed Behold the word of Yahweh is to them a reproach no they have delight in it
עַל־ מִ֨י אֲדַבְּרָ֤ה וְאָעִ֙ידָה֙ ؟ וְיִשְׁמָ֔עוּ הִנֵּה֙ עֲרֵלָ֣ה אָזְנָ֔ם וְלֹ֥א יוּכְל֖וּ לְהַקְשִׁ֑יב הִנֵּ֣ה דְבַר־ יְהוָ֗ה הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֛ם לְחֶרְפָּ֖ה לֹ֥א יַחְפְּצוּ־ בֽוֹ

מִ֨י  whom 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
אֲדַבְּרָ֤ה  shall  I  speak 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
וְאָעִ֙ידָה֙  and  give  warning 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: עוּד 
Sense: to return, repeat, go about, do again.
؟ וְיִשְׁמָ֔עוּ  that  they  may  hear 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
הִנֵּה֙  indeed 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
עֲרֵלָ֣ה  uncircumcised 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: עָרֵל  
Sense: uncircumcised, having foreskin.
אָזְנָ֔ם  their  ear  [is] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
וְלֹ֥א  and  cannot 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
לְהַקְשִׁ֑יב  give  heed 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: קָשַׁב  
Sense: to hear, be attentive, heed, incline (of ears), attend (of ears), hearken, pay attention, listen.
הִנֵּ֣ה  Behold 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
דְבַר־  the  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
יְהוָ֗ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לָהֶ֛ם  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
לְחֶרְפָּ֖ה  a  reproach 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרְפָּה  
Sense: reproach, scorn.
לֹ֥א  no 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יַחְפְּצוּ־  they  have  delight 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: חָפֵץ 
Sense: to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with.
בֽוֹ  in  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular