Jeremiah 17:6

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְהָיָה֙ כְּעַרְעָ֣ר בָּֽעֲרָבָ֔ה וְלֹ֥א יִרְאֶ֖ה כִּי־יָ֣בוֹא ט֑וֹב וְשָׁכַ֤ן חֲרֵרִים֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֶ֥רֶץ מְלֵחָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א תֵשֵֽׁב׃

Transliteration

And-hāyâ like-ʿarʿār in-the-ʿărābâ and-not yirʾeh when-yābôʾ ṭôb and-šākan ḥărērîm in-the-midbār ʾereṣ mĕlēḥâ and-not tēšēb

Grammar Details

• *hāyâ*: qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular - he will be
• *ʿarʿār*: masculine singular noun - juniper/shrub/destitute one
• *ʿărābâ*: feminine singular noun with definite article - the desert plain
• *yirʾeh*: qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - he will see
• *yābôʾ*: qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - it comes
• *ṭôb*: masculine singular adjective/noun - good
• *šākan*: qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular - he will dwell
• *ḥărērîm*: masculine plural noun - parched places/heat
• *midbār*: masculine singular noun with definite article - the wilderness/desert
• *ʾereṣ*: construct state, feminine singular - land of
• *mĕlēḥâ*: feminine singular adjective - salt/barren
• *tēšēb*: qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular - it will be inhabited

Word Meanings

• *ʿarʿār*: juniper/shrub/destitute one/naked one
• *ʿărābâ*: desert plain/wilderness/Arabah
• *ḥărērîm*: parched places/heat/burnt areas
• *mĕlēḥâ*: salt/barren/sterile

Referenced Verses

• Deut 29:23 : 23 [ and that] the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, [and] a burning, [that] it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
• Jer 48:6 : 6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
• Job 20:17 : 17 He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.
• Job 39:6 : 6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
• Ps 1:4 : 4 The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
• Ps 92:7 : 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
• Ps 129:6-8 : 6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, Which withereth before it groweth up; 7 Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand, Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. 8 Neither do they that go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; We bless you in the name of Jehovah.
• Isa 1:30 : 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
• Judg 9:45 : 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
• 2 Kgs 7:2 : 2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
• 2 Kgs 7:19-20 : 19 and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Jehovah should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof: 20 it came to pass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.
• Job 8:11-13 : 11 Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? 12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, It withereth before any [other] herb. 13 So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish:
• Job 15:30-34 : 30 He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath of [God's] mouth shall he go away. 31 Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense. 32 It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green. 33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree. 34 For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
• Ezek 47:11 : 11 But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
• Zeph 2:9 : 9 Therefore as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall make a prey of them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them.