Jeremiah 17:6

KJV1611 – Modern English

For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in 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

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  They will be like a shrub in the desert, dwelling in a parched place in the wilderness, in a land of salt where no one lives, and will not see when prosperity comes.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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, in a salt land and not inhabited.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  For he shall be like the heath{H6199} in the desert,{H6160} and shall not see{H7200} when good{H2896} cometh,{H935} but shall inhabit{H7931} the parched places{H2788} in the wilderness,{H4057} a salt{H4420} land{H776} and not inhabited.{H3427}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  For he shall be like the heath{H6199} in the desert{H6160}, and shall not see{H7200}{(H8799)} when good{H2896} cometh{H935}{(H8799)}; but shall inhabit{H7931}{(H8804)} the parched places{H2788} in the wilderness{H4057}, in a salt{H4420} land{H776} and not inhabited{H3427}{(H8799)}.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  He shall be like the heeth, that groweth in the wildernes. As for the good thinge that is for to come, he shall not se it: but dwell in a drie place off the wildernes, in a salt and vnoccupied londe.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  For he shall be like the heath in the wildernesse, and shall not see when any good commeth, but shall inhabite the parched places in the wildernesse, in a salt land, and not inhabited.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  He shalbe like the heath that groweth in wildernesse: As for the good thyng that is for to come, he shall not see it, but dwell in a drye place of the wildernesse, in a salt and vnoccupied lande.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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, [in] a salt land and not inhabited.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

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

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And he hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  For he will be like the brushwood in the upland, and will not see when good comes; but his living-place will be in the dry places in the waste land, in a salt and unpeopled land.

• World English Bible (2000)

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

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  They will be like a shrub in the arid rift valley. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the stony wastes in the wilderness, in a salt land where no one can live.

Referenced Verses

• Deut 29:23 : 23 And that the whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD 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 see the rivers, the streams, the brooks of honey and butter.
• Job 39:6 : 6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwelling.
• Ps 1:4 : 4 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
• Ps 92:7 : 7 When the wicked spring up like the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is so they may be destroyed forever.
• Ps 129:6-8 : 6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up: 7 With which the mower does not fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves his bosom. 8 Neither do those who go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.
• Isa 1:30 : 30 For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.
• Judg 9:45 : 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, killed the people who were in it, and tore down the city, and sowed it with salt.
• 2 Kgs 7:2 : 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat thereof.
• 2 Kgs 7:19-20 : 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat thereof. 20 And so it happened to him: for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
• Job 8:11-13 : 11 Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the reed grow without water? 12 While it is still green and not cut down, it withers before any other herb. 13 So are the paths of all that forget God; the hypocrite's hope 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 his mouth he shall go away. 31 Let not him who is deceived trust in vanity, for emptiness 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 cast off his flower as the olive. 34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
• Ezek 47:11 : 11 But the miry places and the marshes shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
• Zeph 2:9 : 9 Therefore as I live, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even a breeding of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation: the remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.