Bible Strands
Jeremiah 1:4
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records a divine communication where Yahweh speaks directly to the prophet Jeremiah. This occurs at the opening of his ministry, situated within the chronological span of Judah’s final kings.
The words — The Hebrew דְבַר־יְהוָה (de.var-Yahweh) translates literally as "word of Yahweh," combined with וַיְהִי (va.yhi, "and it came") to mark the onset of the message. The clause ends with לְאָמֹר (le'omar, "saying"), which structurally introduces the subsequent divine speech.
The thread — This formula for divine initiation appears in Jeremiah 1:2 and recurs in Ezekiel 1:3 and Ezekiel 3:16. It functions as a standard literary marker for prophetic oracle transmission across these texts.
Why it lands — The text explicitly positions the ensuing message as a direct transmission from God to the prophet. This framing requires the reader to treat the following oracle as authoritative rather than humanly originated.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 1:3 the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.
- Jeremiah 1:2 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,