Bible Strands
Jeremiah 1:9
Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to Jeremiah at the moment of his commissioning, between the assurance that he need not fear (v. 8) and the assignment over nations and kingdoms (v. 10).
The words — נָגַע (nāgaʿ) means "touched," a verb of direct physical contact, and פִּי (pî) means "mouth," the organ of speech. Together they make the commissioning a bodily act, not merely a verbal one.
The thread — The pattern recurs in Exodus 4:11, where God asks "Who gave man his mouth?" and in Luke 12:12 / 21:15, where the Spirit supplies the words at the moment of need.
Why it lands — The words in Jeremiah's mouth are Yahweh's, not his own; the verse removes any presumption that prophetic speech is the prophet's invention. It asks the reader to weigh what it means when a human mouth is the instrument of another's word.
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 Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Cross-references
- Luke 21:15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- Exodus 4:11 And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
- Luke 12:12 For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”
- Isaiah 51:16 I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Isaiah 50:4 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
- Matthew 10:19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.
- Jeremiah 5:14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
- Ezekiel 3:10 “Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart.
- Exodus 4:15 You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
- Isaiah 49:2 He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.