Bible Strands
Jeremiah 22:16
He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to King Jehoiakim, contrasting him with his father Josiah, who administered justice and righteousness.
The words — דָּ֛ן (dan, H1777) literally means "he judged/defended" a cause; it shares the root with דִּין (din), "cause" or "legal claim," making the verse about active legal advocacy for the vulnerable.
The thread — Jeremiah 9:24 defines knowing the LORD as understanding His ways of justice and righteousness; Isaiah 1:17 commands defending the fatherless and pleading the widow's case as the core of right conduct.
Why it lands — The verse makes defending the poor the operational definition of knowing God, not a supplement to it. A reader is left with no room to separate moral action from relationship.
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
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
- 1 John 2:3 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
- Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Psalms 72:1 Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
- Psalms 72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- John 17:3 Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- Psalms 9:10 Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
- Psalms 109:31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
- Proverbs 24:11 Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.