Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

JEREMIAH 32:17KJV
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Jeremiah 32:17 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 32:17 mean?

Jeremiah 32:17 opens a prayer by recognizing God as the maker of heaven and earth. Jeremiah connects God’s power in creating the world with his confidence that no task is too difficult for God.

The image of a “stretched out arm” pictures strength being put into action. Jeremiah has just bought a field while Jerusalem is under attack, and his prayer begins before he asks about that purchase.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 32:17

  • “Ah” — אֲהָהּ (ahah): This is an expression of feeling, often used in an appeal or a cry of distress. Jeremiah’s opening gives his prayer an urgent, personal tone.

  • “hard” — פָּלָא (pala): This word can carry the sense of being extraordinary or beyond someone’s ability. Jeremiah says that no matter is beyond God’s ability.

Why Jeremiah 32:17 matters

  • The field purchase gives Jeremiah’s words a particular setting. The city is threatened, yet God has told Jeremiah to buy land there (Jeremiah 32:24–25). His opening words prepare for the question raised by that command.

  • Jeremiah’s confidence and his question belong in the same prayer. After saying that nothing is too hard for God, he describes the danger facing the city and brings up the field purchase (Jeremiah 32:24–25).

  • The words “nothing too hard for thee” introduce a theme that God later repeats. In Jeremiah 32:27, God asks whether anything is too hard for him, directly echoing Jeremiah’s opening.

Where else these words appear

“Ah” Hebrew H162 · used in 15 verses

  • Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
  • 2 Kings 6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
  • Ezekiel 4:14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

“hard” Hebrew H6381 · used in 69 verses

  • Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
  • Job 5:9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
  • Psalms 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

“arm” Hebrew H2220 · used in 84 verses

  • Genesis 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
  • Job 38:15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
  • Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

“power” Hebrew H3581 · used in 121 verses

  • Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
  • 2 Chronicles 22:9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him,(for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.
  • Proverbs 20:29 The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.