The Meaning of Jeremiah 10:21 Explained

Jeremiah 10:21

KJV: For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

YLT: For the shepherds have become brutish, And Jehovah they have not sought, Therefore they have not acted wisely, And all their flock is scattered.

Darby: For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered.

ASV: For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For the pastors  are become brutish,  and have not sought  the LORD:  therefore they shall not prosper,  and all their flocks  shall be scattered. 

What does Jeremiah 10:21 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Israel"s leaders, political and spiritual, had foolishly forsaken the Lord and His covenant, so they became failures, and their people scattered like sheep (cf. Ezekiel 34).

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 10

1  The unequal comparison of God and idols
17  The prophet exhorts to flee from the calamity to come
19  He laments the spoil of the tabernacle by foolish pastors
23  He makes an humble supplication

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 10:21 mean?

For have become dull-hearted the shepherds and Yahweh not have sought upon thus they shall prosper and all their flocks shall be scattered -
כִּ֤י נִבְעֲרוּ֙ הָֽרֹעִ֔ים וְאֶת־ יְהוָ֖ה לֹ֣א דָרָ֑שׁוּ עַל־ כֵּן֙ הִשְׂכִּ֔ילוּ וְכָל־ מַרְעִיתָ֖ם נָפֽוֹצָה ס

נִבְעֲרוּ֙  have  become  dull-hearted 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: בָּעַר 
Sense: to burn, consume, kindle, be kindled.
הָֽרֹעִ֔ים  the  shepherds 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: רָעָה 
Sense: to pasture, tend, graze, feed.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
דָרָ֑שׁוּ  have  sought 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דַּרְיׄושׁ 
Sense: to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.
עַל־  upon 
Parse: Preposition
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.
כֵּן֙  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
הִשְׂכִּ֔ילוּ  they  shall  prosper 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׂכַל 
Sense: to be prudent, be circumspect, wisely understand, prosper.
וְכָל־  and  all 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מַרְעִיתָ֖ם  their  flocks 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַרְעִית  
Sense: pasturing, pasturage, shepherding.
נָפֽוֹצָה  shall  be  scattered 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: פּוּץ 
Sense: to scatter, be dispersed, be scattered.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation