The Meaning of Jeremiah 5:12 Explained

Jeremiah 5:12

KJV: They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

YLT: They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, 'It is not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.

Darby: They have denied Jehovah, and say, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine;

ASV: They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They have belied  the LORD,  and said,  [It is] not he; neither shall evil  come  upon us; neither shall we see  sword  nor famine: 

What does Jeremiah 5:12 Mean?

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 5

1  The judgments of God upon the people, for their perverseness;
7  for their adultery;
10  for their impiety;
15  for their worship of idols;
19  for their contempt of God;
25  and for their great corruption in the civil state;
30  and ecclesiastical

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 5:12 mean?

They have lied about Yahweh and said [it is] not He and neither will come upon us evil and sword nor famine or shall we see
כִּֽחֲשׁוּ֙ בַּיהוָ֔ה וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ לֹא־ ה֑וּא וְלֹא־ תָב֤וֹא עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙ רָעָ֔ה וְחֶ֥רֶב וְרָעָ֖ב ל֥וֹא נִרְאֶֽה

כִּֽחֲשׁוּ֙  They  have  lied 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: כָּחַשׁ  
Sense: to deceive, lie, fail, grow lean, be disappointing, be untrue, be insufficient, be found liars, belie, deny, dissemble, deal falsely.
בַּיהוָ֔ה  about  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לֹא־  [it  is]  not 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
וְלֹא־  and  neither 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תָב֤וֹא  will  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙  upon  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
רָעָ֔ה  evil 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
וְחֶ֥רֶב  and  sword 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
וְרָעָ֖ב  nor  famine 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
נִרְאֶֽה  shall  we  see 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.