Jeremiah 11:20

Authorized King James Version (1611)

But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַֽיהוָ֤ה צְבָאוֹת֙ שֹׁפֵ֣ט צֶ֔דֶק בֹּחֵ֥ן כְּלָי֖וֹת וָלֵ֑ב אֶרְאֶ֤ה נִקְמָֽתְךָ֙ מֵהֶ֔ם כִּ֥י אֵלֶ֖יךָ גִּלִּ֥יתִי אֶת־רִיבִֽי׃

Transliteration

And-yhwh ṣĕbāʾôt šōpēṭ ṣedeq, bōḥēn kĕlāyôt and-lēb; ʾerʾeh niqmātĕkā from-them, for to-you gillîtî ʾet-rîbî.

Grammar Details

• *yhwh*: proper noun - YHWH/LORD
• *ṣĕbāʾôt*: noun, feminine plural - hosts/armies
• *šōpēṭ*: Qal participle, masculine singular - judging
• *ṣedeq*: noun, masculine singular - righteousness
• *bōḥēn*: Qal participle, masculine singular - testing/examining
• *kĕlāyôt*: noun, feminine plural - kidneys/inward parts
• *lēb*: noun, masculine singular - heart
• *ʾerʾeh*: Qal imperfect, 1st person singular - I will see
• *niqmātĕkā*: noun, feminine singular with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your vengeance
• *gillîtî*: Piel perfect, 1st person singular - I have revealed
• *rîbî*: noun, masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix - my case/cause

Word Meanings

• *šōpēṭ ṣedeq*: judging righteously/righteous judge/who judges with justice
• *bōḥēn kĕlāyôt wālēb*: tester of kidneys and heart/examiner of the innermost being and mind/who tests the thoughts and emotions
• *ʾerʾeh niqmātĕkā*: I will see your vengeance/let me witness your retribution
• *gillîtî ʾet-rîbî*: I have revealed my case/I have committed my cause/I have disclosed my complaint

Referenced Verses

• Ps 7:9 : 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
• Jer 20:12 : 12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, [and] seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
• Jer 17:10 : 10 I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings.
• 1 Sam 16:7 : 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
• 1 Chr 29:17 : 17 I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
• Ps 10:14-15 : 14 Thou hast seen [it]; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite [it] with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil [man]: seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none.
• Jer 17:18 : 18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
• Gen 18:25 : 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
• Jer 15:15 : 15 ¶ O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
• Rev 2:23 : 23 ‹And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.›
• Rev 6:9-9 : 9 ¶ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
• Rev 18:20 : 20 Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
• Jer 18:20-23 : 20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their [blood] by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and [be] widows; and let their men be put to death; [let] their young men [be] slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay [me]: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger.
• Acts 17:31 : 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by [that] man whom he hath ordained; [whereof] he hath given assurance unto all [men], in that he hath raised him from the dead.
• Phil 4:6 : 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
• 2 Tim 4:14 : 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
• 1 Pet 2:23 : 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:
• Ps 35:2 : 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
• Ps 43:1 : 1 ¶ Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
• Ps 57:1 : 1 ¶ To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities be overpast.
• Ps 98:9 : 9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
• Jer 12:1 : 1 ¶ Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of [thy] judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
• Job 5:8 : 8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
• 1 Sam 24:15 : 15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
• 1 Chr 28:9 : 9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.