The Meaning of Jeremiah 29:6 Explained

Jeremiah 29:6

KJV: Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

YLT: Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take for your sons wives, and your daughters give to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and ye are not few;

Darby: Take wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and be not diminished.

ASV: Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply ye there, and be not diminished.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Take  ye wives,  and beget  sons  and daughters;  and take  wives  for your sons,  and give  your daughters  to husbands,  that they may bear  sons  and daughters;  that ye may be increased  there, and not diminished. 

What does Jeremiah 29:6 Mean?

Context Summary

Jeremiah 29:1-32 - Shepherds That Mislead God's Flock
It is God's purpose to care for His people through shepherds (pastors) who are responsible to Him. Jesus our Lord is the Branch into which we may be grafted. He is our King who saves us and clothes us with His own spotless righteousness. God finds us in Him, Philippians 3:9. Because He reigns, we are saved and dwell in safety. When we are brought into contact with false shepherds, whether the failure be in doctrine or example, let us ask for the broken heart of Jeremiah 23:9.
God is everywhere present; as the latter paragraph indicates, He is near at hand to overhear the blasphemy of those who deride religion, and to be a very present help in time of trouble. If He fills heaven and earth, can He not fill thy heart? If His Word is like fire, let it cleanse thee! If it is as a hammer, let it pulverize thy pride! Let those of us who essay to teach and preach, not steal our words from our neighbors, or utter our own, but receive them from the source of all truth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 29

1  Jeremiah sends a letter to the captives in Babylon to be quiet there,
8  and not to believe the dreams of their prophets;
10  and that they shall return with grace after seventy years
15  He foretells the destruction of the rest for their disobedience
20  He shows the fearful end of Ahab and Zedekiah, two false prophets
24  Shemaiah writes a letter against Jeremiah
30  Jeremiah foretells his doom

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 29:6 mean?

Take wives and beget sons and daughters and take for your sons wives and your daughters give to husbands so that they may bear and daughters that you may be increased there and not diminished
קְח֣וּ נָשִׁ֗ים וְהוֹלִידוּ֮ בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנוֹת֒ וּקְח֨וּ לִבְנֵיכֶ֜ם נָשִׁ֗ים וְאֶת־ בְּנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ תְּנ֣וּ לַֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְתֵלַ֖דְנָה וּבָנ֑וֹת וּרְבוּ־ שָׁ֖ם וְאַל־ תִּמְעָֽטוּ

קְח֣וּ  Take 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
נָשִׁ֗ים  wives 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
וְהוֹלִידוּ֮  and  beget 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
בָּנִ֣ים  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
וּבָנוֹת֒  and  daughters 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
וּקְח֨וּ  and  take 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
לִבְנֵיכֶ֜ם  for  your  sons 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
נָשִׁ֗ים  wives 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
בְּנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙  your  daughters 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
תְּנ֣וּ  give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לַֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים  to  husbands 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱנׄושׁ 
Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
וְתֵלַ֖דְנָה  so  that  they  may  bear 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
וּבָנ֑וֹת  and  daughters 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
וּרְבוּ־  that  you  may  be  increased 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
וְאַל־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַל  
Sense: not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference).
תִּמְעָֽטוּ  diminished 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: מָעַט  
Sense: to be or become small, be few, be diminished.