Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Jeremiah 15:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The prophetic or communal lament states or reports “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” at Jeremiah 15:16 as a specific part of “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 15:15–18
Read Jeremiah 15:16 inside Jeremiah 15:15–18. The prophetic or communal lament states or reports “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” at Jeremiah 15:16 as a specific part of “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint.” The complete unit establishes: Jeremiah asks for remembrance, recalls the joy of received words and costly separation, then accuses God through the image of a deceptive stream.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The prophetic or communal lament states or reports “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” at Jeremiah 15:16 as a specific part of “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint.” This contribution moves Jeremiah 15:15–18 toward its summary: Jeremiah asks for remembrance, recalls the joy of received words and costly separation, then accuses God through the image of a deceptive stream.
Follow the Context
- The unit begins at 15:15 with the speech, scene, image, or date named in its title.
- Jeremiah asks for remembrance, recalls the joy of received words and costly separation, then accuses God through the image of a deceptive stream.
- At 15:18 the movement reaches its response or transition before the next unit.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Eating words is metaphorical reception, not a ritual command or proof that severe speech is divine.
What Remains True
Jeremiah remembers joy in the message even within a vocation he experiences as isolating.
How It Can Shape Life
- Role in Jeremiah 15:16: The prophetic or communal lament states or reports “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” at Jeremiah 15:16 as a specific part of “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint.” Contextual meaning in Jeremiah 15:15–18: Jeremiah asks for remembrance, recalls the joy of received words and costly separation, then accuses God through the image of a deceptive stream. Its interpretive limit is: The confession permits protest but does not make every divine claim true, excuse revenge, or stigmatize spiritual anguish. Proportionate enduring truth: Jeremiah remembers joy in the message even within a vocation he experiences as isolating. Application: Study deeply while testing interpretation and protecting relational health.
Teach It Back
Explain Jeremiah 15:16's precise role in Jeremiah 15:15–18: The prophetic or communal lament states or reports “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” at Jeremiah 15:16 as a specific part of “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint.” State how “Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters Complaint” controls the line, keep this uncertainty visible—The confession permits protest but does not make every divine claim true, excuse revenge, or stigmatize spiritual anguish.—trace role to contextual meaning to enduring truth to application, and reject one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 15:15–18 — Eaten Words and an Unreliable-Waters ComplaintSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
The confession permits protest but does not make every divine claim true, excuse revenge, or stigmatize spiritual anguish.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 15:15–18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 15:15–18
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 15:15–18
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline, Themes, and passage studies: covenant, confessions, signs, and prophetic suffering; applied to Jeremiah 15:15–18
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 1 study guide, pp. 1-6: composition, Josianic setting, temple sermon, and imperial context; applied to Jeremiah 15:15–18
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed lament and trauma article
Lamenting Back to Life
Kathleen M. O'Connor
Interpretation 62.1, 2008
Supports: Abstract-level control for reading Jeremiah's confessions as protest and communication amid loss; no inaccessible page detail is claimed.
Exact location: O'Connor, 'Lamenting Back to Life,' Interpretation 62.1 (2008), abstract and bibliographic pages 34-47; applied only at inspected abstract level to Jeremiah 15:15–18
Open the publisher record for O'Connor on lament ↗