The Meaning of Jeremiah 6:29 Explained

Jeremiah 6:29

KJV: The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

YLT: The bellows have been burnt, By fire hath the lead been consumed, In vain hath a refiner refined, And the wicked have not been drawn away.

Darby: The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed by the fire; they have melted, and melted in vain; and the bad are not plucked away.

ASV: The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The bellows  are burned,  the lead  is consumed  of the fire;  the founder  melteth  in vain:  for the wicked  are not plucked away. 

What does Jeremiah 6:29 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord had applied the fires of testing to His people, but still they remained impure.
"When lead was placed in a crucible with silver ore and heated, the lead became oxidized and served as a flux to collect impurities." [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 6:29 mean?

Blow fiercely the bellows - by the fire is consumed the lead in vain refines the smelter for the wicked not are drawn off
נָחַ֣ר מַפֻּ֔חַ [מאשתם] (מֵאֵ֖שׁ) (תַּ֣ם) עֹפָ֑רֶת לַשָּׁוְא֙ צָרַ֣ף צָר֔וֹף וְרָעִ֖ים לֹ֥א נִתָּֽקוּ

נָחַ֣ר  Blow  fiercely 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָוַר 
Sense: to burn, be hot, be scorched, be charred.
מַפֻּ֔חַ  the  bellows 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַפֻּחַ  
Sense: bellows.
[מאשתם]  - 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
(מֵאֵ֖שׁ)  by  the  fire 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, common singular
(תַּ֣ם)  is  consumed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
עֹפָ֑רֶת  the  lead 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֹפֶרֶת  
Sense: lead.
לַשָּׁוְא֙  in  vain 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁוְא  
Sense: emptiness, vanity, falsehood.
צָרַ֣ף  refines 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צָרַף  
Sense: to smelt, refine, test.
צָר֔וֹף  the  smelter 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: צָרַף  
Sense: to smelt, refine, test.
וְרָעִ֖ים  for  the  wicked 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
נִתָּֽקוּ  are  drawn  off 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָתַק  
Sense: to pull or tear or draw off or away or apart, draw out, pluck up, break, li ft, root out.