The Meaning of Jeremiah 33:3 Explained

Jeremiah 33:3

KJV: Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

YLT: Call unto Me, and I do answer thee, yea, I declare to thee great and fenced things -- thou hast not known them.

Darby: Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and I will shew thee great and hidden things, which thou knowest not.

ASV: Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great things, and difficult, which thou knowest not.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Call  unto me, and I will answer  thee, and shew  thee great  and mighty things,  which thou knowest  not. 

What does Jeremiah 33:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

He commanded Jeremiah , and perhaps the people, to pray to Him with the promise that He would hear him and tell him inaccessible (Heb. besuroth) things that the prophet did not know (cf. Psalm 91:15). The Hebrew word besuroth describes something made inaccessible by fortifying or enclosing it, such as a city (cf. Numbers 13:28; Deuteronomy 3:5; Deuteronomy 28:52; Ezekiel 21:20). The Lord"s plans for Israel were inaccessible to most people, but He would unlock some of these secrets and share them with Jeremiah in answer to the prophet"s prayer. We must ask the Lord for some things before He will give them to us (cf. Matthew 7:7; James 4:2).
"While God is always ready to answer the cry of the human heart, man must first request assistance." [1]
"In other words, although God can make himself heard, and has already done so in saying this, nevertheless to reveal all that he wants to say, he desires a hearer who is already reaching out to him. This is why prayer is never superfluous to the study of Scripture or the quest for guidance. God is then speaking to an upturned face, not a preoccupied back." [2]
We may assume that Jeremiah , and perhaps the faithful remnant, prayed this prayer. What follows are incredible promises concerning the restoration of the nation, its rulers, and its worship leaders.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 33

1  God promises to the captivity a gracious return;
9  a joyful state;
12  a settled government;
15  Christ the branch of righteousness;
17  a continuance of kingdom and priesthood;
19  and a stability of a blessed seed

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 33:3 mean?

Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and incomprehensible things not which you do know -
קְרָ֥א אֵלַ֖י וְאֶעֱנֶ֑ךָּ וְאַגִּ֧ידָה לְּךָ֛ גְּדֹל֥וֹת וּבְצֻר֖וֹת לֹ֥א יְדַעְתָּֽם ס

קְרָ֥א  Call 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
אֵלַ֖י  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
וְאֶעֱנֶ֑ךָּ  and  I  will  answer  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
וְאַגִּ֧ידָה  and  show 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: נָגַד  
Sense: to be conspicuous, tell, make known.
גְּדֹל֥וֹת  great 
Parse: Adjective, feminine plural
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וּבְצֻר֖וֹת  and  incomprehensible  things 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, feminine plural
Root: בָּצַר 
Sense: to gather, restrain, fence, fortify, make inaccessible, enclose.
יְדַעְתָּֽם  which  you  do  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation