Jeremiah 9:23

Bible in Basic English (1941)

This is the word of the Lord: Let not the wise man take pride in his wisdom, or the strong man in his strength, or the man of wealth in his wealth:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֣י אִם־בְּזֹ֞את יִתְהַלֵּ֣ל הַמִּתְהַלֵּ֗ל הַשְׂכֵּל֮ וְיָדֹ֣עַ אוֹתִי֒ כִּ֚י אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה עֹ֥שֶׂה חֶ֛סֶד מִשְׁפָּ֥ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה בָּאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־בְאֵ֥לֶּה חָפַ֖צְתִּי נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃

Transliteration

kî 'im-in-this yithallēl hammithallēl haśkēl wĕyādōa' 'ôtî kî 'ănî YHWH 'ōśeh ḥesed mišpāṭ ûṣĕdāqāh in-the-'āreṣ kî-in-these ḥāpaṣtî nĕ'um-YHWH

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for
• *'im*: conditional particle - if
• *yithallēl*: imperfect verb, 3rd person masculine singular, hitpael, jussive - let him boast
• *hammithallēl*: participle, masculine singular, hitpael with definite article - the one boasting
• *haśkēl*: infinitive absolute, hiphil - understanding
• *wĕyādōa'*: conjunction + infinitive absolute - and knowing
• *'ôtî*: direct object marker with 1st person singular suffix - me
• *'ănî*: 1st person singular pronoun - I
• *YHWH*: divine name
• *'ōśeh*: participle, masculine singular - doing/practicing
• *ḥesed*: masculine noun - lovingkindness
• *mišpāṭ*: masculine noun - justice
• *ûṣĕdāqāh*: conjunction + feminine noun - and righteousness
• *'āreṣ*: feminine noun with prefixed preposition - in the earth
• *ḥāpaṣtî*: perfect verb, 1st person singular - I delight
• *nĕ'um-YHWH*: construct phrase - declaration of YHWH

Word Meanings

• *kî 'im*: but rather/except in/only in
• *yithallēl*: let him boast/glory/praise himself
• *hammithallēl*: the one boasting/glorying/priding himself
• *haśkēl wĕyādōa'*: understanding and knowing (emphatic construction)
• *'ôtî*: me/myself
• *'ōśeh*: doing/practicing/performing
• *ḥesed*: lovingkindness/steadfast love/mercy
• *mišpāṭ*: justice/judgment/right
• *ûṣĕdāqāh*: and righteousness/equity/virtue
• *'āreṣ*: earth/land/world
• *ḥāpaṣtî*: I delight/take pleasure/desire
• *nĕ'um-YHWH*: declaration of YHWH/utterance of YHWH

Referenced Verses

• Eccl 9:11 : 11 And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.
• Job 31:24-25 : 24 If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you; 25 If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;
• 1 Cor 1:27-29 : 27 But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong; 28 And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are: 29 So that no flesh might have glory before God.
• 1 Cor 3:18-20 : 18 Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God. As it is said in the holy Writings, He who takes the wise in their secret designs: 20 And again, The Lord has knowledge of the reasonings of the wise, that they are nothing.
• 1 Kgs 20:10-11 : 10 Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my feet to take some in their hands. 11 And the king of Israel said in answer, Say to him, The time for loud talk is not when a man is putting on his arms, but when he is taking them off.
• Mark 10:24 : 24 And the disciples were full of wonder at his words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is for those who put faith in wealth to come into the kingdom of God!
• Rom 1:22 : 22 Seeming to be wise, they were in fact foolish,
• Isa 5:21 : 21 Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!
• Isa 10:8 : 8 For he says, Are not all my captains kings?
• Isa 10:12-13 : 12 For this cause it will be that, when the purpose of the Lord against Mount Zion and Jerusalem is complete, I will send punishment on the pride of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his uplifted eyes. 13 For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my knowledge, for I am wise: and I have taken away the limits of the peoples' lands, and the stores of their wealth have become mine; and I have made towns low in the dust, sending destruction on those living in them;
• Isa 36:8-9 : 8 And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. 9 How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:
• Ezek 7:19 : 19 They will put out their silver into the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they will not get their desire or have food for their need: because it has been the cause of their falling into sin.
• Ezek 28:2-9 : 2 Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Lord has said: Because your heart has been lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I am seated on the seat of God in the heart of the seas; but you are man and not God, though you have made your heart as the heart of God: 3 See, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret which is deeper than your knowledge: 4 By your wisdom and deep knowledge you have got power for yourself, and put silver and gold in your store-houses: 5 By your great wisdom and by your trade your power is increased, and your heart is lifted up because of your power: 6 For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have made your heart as the heart of God, 7 See, I am sending against you strange men, feared among the nations: they will let loose their swords against your bright wisdom, they will make your glory a common thing. 8 They will send you down to the underworld, and your death will be the death of those who are put to the sword in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you say, in the face of those who are taking your life, I am God? but you are man and not God in the hands of those who are wounding you.
• Ezek 29:9 : 9 And the land of Egypt will be an unpeopled waste; and they will be certain that I am the Lord: because he has said, The Nile is mine, and I made it.
• Dan 3:15 : 15 Now if you are ready, on hearing the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, to go down on your faces in worship before the image which I have made, it is well: but if you will not give worship, that same hour you will be put into a burning and flaming fire; and what god is there who will be able to take you out of my hands?
• Dan 4:30-31 : 30 The king made answer and said, Is this not great Babylon, which I have made for the living-place of kings, by the strength of my power and for the glory of my honour? 31 While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is said: The kingdom has gone from you:
• Dan 4:37 : 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give worship and praise and honour to the King of heaven; for all his works are true and his ways are right: and those who go in pride he is able to make low.
• Dan 5:18-23 : 18 As for you, O King, the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the kingdom and great power and glory and honour: 19 And because of the great power he gave him, all peoples and nations and languages were shaking in fear before him: some he put to death and others he kept living, at his pleasure, lifting up some and putting others down as it pleased him. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became hard with pride, he was put down from his place as king, and they took his glory from him: 21 And he was sent out from among the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts', and he was living with the asses of the fields; he had grass for his food like the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he was certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives power over it to anyone at his pleasure. 22 And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not kept your heart free from pride, though you had knowledge of all this; 23 But you have been lifting yourself up against the Lord of heaven, and they have put the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your women, have taken wine in them; and you have given praise to gods of silver and gold, of brass and iron and wood and stone, who are without the power of seeing or hearing, and without knowledge: and to the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not given glory;
• Ps 33:16-17 : 16 A king's salvation is not in the power of his army; a strong man does not get free by his great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope; his great power will not make any man free from danger.
• Ps 49:6-9 : 6 Even of those whose faith is in their wealth, and whose hearts are lifted up because of their stores. 7 Truly, no man may get back his soul for a price, or give to God the payment for himself; 8 (Because it takes a great price to keep his soul from death, and man is not able to give it.) 9 So that he might have eternal life, and never see the underworld. 10 For he sees that wise men come to their end, and foolish persons of low behaviour come to destruction together, letting their wealth go to others. 11 The place of the dead is their house for ever, and their resting-place through all generations; those who come after them give their names to their lands. 12 But man, like the animals, does not go on for ever; he comes to an end like the beasts. 13 This is the way of the foolish; their silver is for those who come after them, and their children get the pleasure of their gold. (Selah.)
• Ps 49:16-18 : 16 Have no fear when wealth comes to a man, and the glory of his house is increased; 17 For at his death, he will take nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. 18 Though he might have pride in his soul in his life-time, and men will give you praise if you do well for yourself,
• Ps 52:6-7 : 6 The upright will see it with fear, and will say, laughing at you: 7 See, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but had faith in his goods and his property, and made himself strong in his wealth.
• Ps 62:10 : 10 Have no faith in the rewards of evil-doing, or in profits wrongly made: if your wealth is increased, do not put your hopes on it.
• Prov 11:4 : 4 Wealth is of no profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness keeps a man safe from death.
• Eccl 2:13-16 : 13 Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark. 14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose. 16 Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!
• Eccl 2:19 : 19 And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.
• 1 Cor 1:19-21 : 19 As it says in the holy Writings, I will put an end to the wisdom of the wise, and will put on one side the designs of those who have knowledge. 20 Where is the wise? where is he who has knowledge of the law? where is the man of this world who has a love of discussion? has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him.
• Luke 12:19-20 : 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. 20 But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?
• Acts 12:22-23 : 22 And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man. 23 And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.
• Job 5:12-14 : 12 Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes. 13 He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly. 14 In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.
• Deut 8:17 : 17 Say not then, in your hearts, My power and the strength of my hands have got me this wealth.
• 1 Sam 17:4-9 : 4 And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall. 5 And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass. 6 His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass. 7 The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover. 8 He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us. 10 And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together.
• 1 Sam 17:42 : 42 And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking.
• 1 Tim 6:10 : 10 For the love of money is a root of all evil: and some whose hearts were fixed on it have been turned away from the faith, and been wounded with unnumbered sorrows.
• Jas 3:14-16 : 14 But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true. 15 This wisdom is not from heaven, but is of the earth and the flesh and the Evil One. 16 For where envy is, and the desire to get the better of others, there is no order, but every sort of evil-doing.
• Zeph 1:18 : 18 Even their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the day of the Lord's wrath; but all the land will be burned up in the fire of his bitter wrath: for he will put an end, even suddenly, to all who are living in the land.
• Amos 2:14-16 : 14 And flight will be impossible for the quick-footed, and the force of the strong will become feeble, and the man of war will not get away safely: 15 And the bowman will not keep his place; he who is quick-footed will not get away safely: and the horseman will not keep his life. 16 And he who is without fear among the fighting men will go in flight without his clothing in that day, says the Lord.