Jeremiah 34:20

KJV1611 – Modern English

I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and to the beasts of the earth.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְנָתַתִּ֤י אוֹתָם֙ בְּיַ֣ד אֹֽיְבֵיהֶ֔ם וּבְיַ֖ד מְבַקְשֵׁ֣י נַפְשָׁ֑ם וְהָיְתָ֤ה נִבְלָתָם֙ לְמַֽאֲכָ֔ל לְע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Transliteration

And I nātattî them into yad ʾōyəbêhem and into yad məbaqšê their napšām, and hāyətāh their niblātām for maʾăkāl for ʿôp the šāmayim and for behemat the ʾāreṣ

Grammar Details

• *nātattî*: verb, qal perfect, 1st common singular - I will give
• *yad*: noun, feminine, singular, construct - hand of
• *ʾōyəbêhem*: noun, masculine, plural with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their enemies
• *məbaqšê*: verb, piel participle, masculine plural, construct - seekers of
• *napšām*: noun, feminine, singular with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their life
• *hāyətāh*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd feminine singular - she will be
• *niblātām*: noun, feminine, singular with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their corpse
• *maʾăkāl*: noun, masculine, singular - food
• *ʿôp*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - birds of
• *šāmayim*: noun, masculine, plural, definite - the heavens
• *behemat*: noun, feminine, singular, construct - beasts of
• *ʾāreṣ*: noun, feminine, singular, definite - the earth/land

Word Meanings

• *nātattî*: I will give/I will deliver/I will hand over
• *ʾōyəbêhem*: their enemies/their foes
• *məbaqšê*: seekers of/those who seek
• *napšām*: their life/their soul/their breath
• *hāyətāh*: she will be/it will become
• *niblātām*: their corpse/their dead body
• *maʾăkāl*: food/sustenance/prey

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Those men wil I geue in to the power of their enemies, and in to the hondes of them that folowe vpon their lyues. And their deed bodies shall be meate for the foules of the ayre, and beestes of the felde.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  I wil euen giue them into the hand of their enemies, and into the handes of them that seeke their life: and their dead bodies shalbe for meate vnto the foules of the heauen, and to the beastes of the earth.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Those men will I geue into the power of their enemies, and into the handes of them that folowe vpon their liues: and their dead bodies shalbe meate for the foules of the ayre and beastes of the fielde.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  yea, I have given them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and their carcase hath been for food to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  Even these I will give up into the hands of their haters and into the hands of those who have designs against their lives: and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth.

• World English Bible (2000)

  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.

Referenced Verses

• Jer 7:33 : 33 And the carcasses of this people will be meat for the birds of the sky, and for the beasts of the earth; and none will fray them away.
• Jer 11:21 : 21 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that you die not by our hand:
• Jer 16:4 : 4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be mourned, nor shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth.
• Jer 19:7 : 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives: and their corpses will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
• Jer 21:7 : 7 And afterward, says the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their lives, and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, nor have pity, nor have mercy.
• Jer 22:25 : 25 And I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of whom you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
• 1 Sam 17:44 : 44 The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the field.
• 1 Sam 17:46 : 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. I will give the bodies of the Philistine army this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
• 1 Kgs 14:11 : 11 Anyone of Jeroboam who dies in the city shall the dogs eat; and anyone who dies in the field shall the birds of the air eat: for the LORD has spoken it.
• 1 Kgs 16:4 : 4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the fields the birds of the air shall eat.
• 1 Kgs 21:23-24 : 23 And of Jezebel also spoke the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 24 The one who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and the one who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.
• 2 Kgs 9:34-37 : 34 And when he had come in, he ate and drank, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. 35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the plot of Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel: 37 And the body of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the plot of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
• Jer 4:30 : 30 And when you are ruined, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you paint your face, in vain shall you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life.
• Deut 28:26 : 26 And your carcass shall be food unto all fowl of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall frighten them away.
• Jer 38:16 : 16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.
• Jer 44:30 : 30 Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.
• Jer 49:37 : 37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life: and I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.
• Ezek 29:5 : 5 And I will leave you thrown into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers: you shall fall upon the open fields; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given you as food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the sky.
• Ezek 32:4 : 4 Then will I leave you upon the land, I will cast you out upon the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to remain upon you, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you.
• Ezek 39:17-20 : 17 And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from all sides to my sacrificial feast that I prepare for you, even a great sacrificial feast upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And you shall eat fat till you are full, and drink blood till you are drunk, at my sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you. 20 Thus you shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord GOD.
• Rev 19:17-21 : 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather together for the supper of the great God; 18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked miracles before him, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with sulfur. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him who sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.