Jeremiah 9:23

Authorized King James Version (1611)

¶ Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise [man] glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty [man] glory in his might, let not the rich [man] glory in his riches:

📖 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 ¶ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
• Job 31:24-25 : 24 ¶ If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence; 25 If I rejoiced because my wealth [was] great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
• 1 Cor 1:27-29 : 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
• 1 Cor 3:18-20 : 18 ¶ Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
• 1 Kgs 20:10-11 : 10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girdeth on [his harness] boast himself as he that putteth it off.
• Mark 10:24 : 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, ‹Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!›
• Rom 1:22 : 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
• Isa 5:21 : 21 Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
• Isa 10:8 : 8 For he saith, [Are] not my princes altogether kings?
• Isa 10:12-13 : 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done [it], and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant [man]:
• Isa 36:8-9 : 8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
• Ezek 7:19 : 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
• Ezek 28:2-9 : 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart [is] lifted up, and thou hast said, I [am] a God, I sit [in] the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou [art] a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou [art] wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom [and] by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of [them that are] slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I [am] God? but thou [shalt be] a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
• Ezek 29:9 : 9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I [am] the LORD: because he hath said, The river [is] mine, and I have made [it].
• Dan 3:15 : 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
• Dan 4:30-31 : 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word [was] in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
• Dan 4:37 : 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works [are] truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
• Dan 5:18-23 : 18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling [was] with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and [that] he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath [is], and whose [are] all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
• Ps 33:16-17 : 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength.
• Ps 49:6-9 : 6 ¶ They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7 None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8 (For the redemption of their soul [is] precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) 9 That he should still live for ever, [and] not see corruption. 10 For he seeth [that] wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inward thought [is, that] their houses [shall continue] for ever, [and] their dwelling places to all generations; they call [their] lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man [being] in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts [that] perish. 13 This their way [is] their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.
• Ps 49:16-18 : 16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. 18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and [men] will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
• Ps 52:6-7 : 6 ¶ The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: 7 Lo, [this is] the man [that] made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, [and] strengthened himself in his wickedness.
• Ps 62:10 : 10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart [upon them].
• Prov 11:4 : 4 ¶ Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
• Eccl 2:13-16 : 13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 14 The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity. 16 For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool.
• Eccl 2:19 : 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.
• 1 Cor 1:19-21 : 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
• Luke 12:19-20 : 19 ‹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink,› [and] ‹be merry.› 20 ‹But God said unto him,› [Thou] ‹fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?›
• Acts 12:22-23 : 22 And the people gave a shout, [saying, It is] the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
• Job 5:12-14 : 12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform [their] enterprise. 13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
• Deut 8:17 : 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of [mine] hand hath gotten me this wealth.
• 1 Sam 17:4-9 : 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height [was] six cubits and a span. 5 And [he had] an helmet of brass upon his head, and he [was] armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat [was] five thousand shekels of brass. 6 And [he had] greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set [your] battle in array? [am] not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
• 1 Sam 17:42 : 42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was [but] a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
• 1 Tim 6:10 : 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
• Jas 3:14-16 : 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but [is] earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work.
• Zeph 1:18 : 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
• Amos 2:14-16 : 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and [he that is] swift of foot shall not deliver [himself]: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. 16 And [he that is] courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.