YHWH Calls Jeremiah

Embodied Presence

PART FIVE

Jeremiah 1:4-9 ESV

4 Then the Word (H1696 - speaking) of the LORD (YHWH) came to me.

Language experts say this literally could be translated: “Then the speaking Yahweh came to me.” The prepositional phrase of the is added by translators.

5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord (‘Adonay H136 my Lord —an emphatic form of H113 used as a proper name of God only) GOD (YHWH)! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 

7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”

9 Then the LORD (YHWH) put out His hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD (YHWH) said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”

Let’s examine this using the interlinear text and Strong’s Concordance.

(9) Then the LORD put out - This is the Hebrew word shalach H7971. It is in the Qal verb tense: it means to extend or to stretch out.

His hand - yad H3027 it means hand, hand of a man.

and touched - naga H5060 Hiphil verb tense: it means to touch and reach.

my mouth - peh H6310 it means mouth of man, mouth as the organ of speech. And the YHWH said to me…”

This is the language of embodied presence. The writer has chosen to use language that communicates a the concept of YHWH invisible in Heaven, and YHWH manifest on earth in a form of a man. Old Testament believers in YHWH were not troubled or conflicted by the thought of One Yahweh, Who is simultaneously omniscient and enthroned in Heaven and specifically located and revealed in the form of a man on earth.

When the New Testament writers think about Jesus as The Word made flesh, they embrace passages like this. This is the language and the background of John when he pens the opening chapter of his gospel.