Jeremiah 23:24

“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Judah, specifically against the false prophets who claim secret dreams as divine authority (v.25). This is the pivot point of a larger oracle: God asserts omniscience before condemning those who pretend to operate outside His sight.

The words — מסְתָּרִים (mis.ta.Rim, H4565) "hiding places" is the same root as the verb יִסָּתֵר "will he hide himself"; the noun makes the abstraction concrete, as though a man could crouch in a physical nook and expect to be missed.

The thread — Proverbs 15:3 states the same principle as a standing fact ("the eyes of the LORD are in every place"); Psalms 139:7 turns it into a personal question ("Where can I flee from Your presence?"); Psalms 90:8 applies it to sin specifically ("our secret sins in the light of Your presence").

Why it lands — The verse forecloses the move of treating God as a local deity who can be outmaneuvered by distance or discretion. It asks the reader to stop assuming there is a version of their life that is invisible to Him.

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

אִם־'im-or?יִסָּתֵ֨רyi.sa.Terwill he hide himself אִ֧ישׁ'ishanyone בַּמִּסְתָּרִ֛יםba./mis.ta.Rimin <the>/ hiding places וַאֲנִ֥יva./'a.Niand/ I לֹֽא־lo'-not אֶרְאֶ֖נּוּ'er.'E./nuI will see/ him נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahweh הֲל֨וֹאha./Lo'¿/ not אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַשָּׁמַ֧יִםha./sha.Ma.yimthe/ heavens וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הָאָ֛רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ earth אֲנִ֥י'a.Ni[am] I מָלֵ֖אma.Le'filling נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָֽה׃Yah.wehYahweh

King James Version

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

Cross-references

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
Psalms 139:7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
Psalms 90:8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
Amos 9:2 Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
Psalms 139:11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
Job 22:13 Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.