Jeremiah 17:7–8
Whoever trusts in YHWH keeps bearing fruit even in a year of drought
Study it word by word7Blessed is the man who trusts in YHWH, and YHWH is his trust.
8And he will be like a tree planted by the waters, and by the stream it sends out its roots; and it will not see when heat comes, and its leaf will be flourishing; and in the year of drought it will not be anxious, nor cease from bearing fruit.
In its context
5Thus says YHWH: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from YHWH.
6And he will be like a shrub in the steppe, and he will not see when good comes; and he will dwell in parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and uninhabited.
…
9Deceitful is the heart above all things, and beyond remedy it is; who can know it?
10I, YHWH, search the heart, I test the kidneys, to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
Its words in the original
- בָּרוּךְbaruch· bless, kneel
Bless. When God blesses, he gives good: life, children, fruit, prosperity. When a person "blesses God", he gives him nothing: he praises and thanks him. Between people, it is wishing the other the good that comes from God; also greet. The root also means kneel.
- גֶּבֶרgever· man
Man, a grown man in his strength.
- יִבְטַחyivtach· trust
Trust: lean on someone or something and feel secure.
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- הָיָהhaya· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- מִבְטַחmivtach· confidence, trust
Security, what someone trusts in; a refuge.
- עֵץets· tree, wood
Tree; also wood and what is made of it (a stick, a pole).
- שָׁתוּלshatul· plant, transplant
To plant, to transplant: to set a tree in a good place so that it grows.
- מַיִםmayim· water
Water. In Hebrew it is always plural ("waters").
- יוּבַלyuval· stream
Stream, watercourse.
- יְשַׁלַּחyeshalach· send, stretch out
Send; stretch out (the hand); let go, send away, set free.
- שָׁרָשָׁיsharashay· root
Root of a plant; also the origin of something.
- יִרְאֶהyire· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- יָבֹאyavo· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- חֹםchom· heat
Heat.
- עָלֵale· leaf
Leaf; foliage.
- רַעֲנָןraanan· green, leafy
Green, leafy: full of leaves; also fresh, flourishing.
- שְׁנַתshenat· year
Year.
- בַּצֹּרֶתbatsoret· drought
Drought, lack of rain.
- יִדְאָגyidag· be anxious
Be anxious, worry about someone or something.
- יָמִישׁyamish· depart, remove
Depart, withdraw; also remove, take away.
- עֲשׂוֹתasot· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- פֶּרִיperi· fruit
Fruit: what a tree or a plant bears. Figuratively, the result of something, or children ("fruit of the womb").