FROM THE HEBREW · JEREMIAH 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11 in Hebrew: the promise inside a 70-year wait
“For I know the plans I have for you” is printed on mugs and graduation cards. In Hebrew, the verse is part of a letter to exiles, and every key word is bigger than its English translation.
Key Hebrew words
Who the verse was written to
Jeremiah 29 is a letter. The prophet sends it from Jerusalem to the Judeans already taken captive to Babylon. False prophets were promising a quick return. Jeremiah tells the exiles the opposite: build houses, plant gardens, marry, seek the welfare of the city you are in. Then, in verse 10: only “after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon” will God bring them back.
Verse 11 comes right after that sentence. The “you” is plural in Hebrew (עֲלֵיכֶם, לָכֶם): a whole people is addressed, and the promise sits on the far side of a long wait.
Machashavot: plans that are already thought through
The 1917 JPS translation keeps the Hebrew repetition: “the thoughts that I think toward you… thoughts of peace.” The noun machashavah comes from חשב, a verb used for reckoning and designing; in Exodus the same root describes skilled craftsmen who devise works of art. These are not vague good wishes. They are worked-out intentions.
Shalom: bigger than “prosper”
Some modern English Bibles translate machshevot shalom as “plans to prosper you.” The Hebrew word is shalom, from a root meaning whole or complete. It covers safety, health, peace and well-being, with nothing missing. Prosperity can be part of shalom, but the word is not about money.
Acharit ve-tikvah: an end, and a hope
Acharit means the end or outcome of something; the medieval glossary Metzudat Zion defines it in one word, סוֹף, “end.” Tikvah, hope, shares its root with kavah, to wait. In Joshua 2:18 the same noun is the scarlet cord Rahab ties in her window. Hope in Hebrew is something you hold on to while you wait.
What the classical commentators say
Radak explains the last phrase briefly: “a good end, as you hope for.”
Metzudat David connects verse 11 to the seventy years: the long stay in exile is itself for your good, because it will humble the hardened heart, and that will be the cause of “a good end and a good hope” after you return.
Malbim (19th c.) notices the strange double phrase “thoughts of peace, and not of evil.” Sometimes, he says, plans meant for peace still end badly. But for this group of exiles God thinks thoughts of peace that will not turn to harm, and that is why He stretches the time to seventy years: to give them an outcome in which they will last in the land, and until then, hope.
So what does it mean today?
Read in Hebrew, Jeremiah 29:11 is not a promise that tomorrow will go well. It is a promise made to people who were told to unpack their bags. The plan includes the waiting. The outcome is shalom, wholeness, and the hope is a cord to hold until it arrives. Many readers find it more comforting this way, not less.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Jeremiah 29:11 written to?
To the Judean exiles in Babylon, in a letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:1). The “you” in Hebrew is plural, addressed to the whole community.
What is the Hebrew word for “prosper” in Jeremiah 29:11?
The Hebrew word is shalom (שָׁלוֹם), meaning peace, wholeness and welfare. The 1917 JPS translation says “thoughts of peace”; “prosper” is an interpretive translation.
What does tikvah mean?
Tikvah (תִּקְוָה) means hope or expectation. It comes from the root ק־ו־ה, to wait or hope, and in Joshua 2:18 it also means a cord.
Does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to individuals?
Its first audience was a whole people in exile. Many readers apply its principle personally, but in context it promises a good outcome after a long wait, not immediate personal success.
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Sources: Hebrew text from the Masoretic text; English from The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text (Jewish Publication Society, 1917, public domain). Commentaries (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Metzudat David, Metzudat Zion, Malbim and others) quoted from their Hebrew originals, in our own translation. Lexical notes from Brown-Driver-Briggs and Strong’s.