HEBREW WORD STUDY – FORMED ‘ASTAR NATSAR rca rcn נצר אצר

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

The word for formed is repeated two times in this verse in the Hebrew. The first form is ‘etsoreka which comes from the root word yatsar which means to form, fashion or mold. This is the word used for a potter making a vessel. However, this word is seemingly repeated. The following word is similar but not the same; it is the word ‘etsareka the difference being the deletion of the Vav. I find two possible roots words. One could be ‘atsar which means a treasure or it could be natsar which would mean to watch over, guard or preserve. Thus, I could render this one of two ways. “Before you were formed in the womb I was protecting you (natsar) or watching over you.” If I use the root word ‘atsar then I could say: “Before you were formed in the womb, you were a treasure to me.”

I believe the reason the root word is so ambiguous is that both ‘atsar and natsar were intented. It is a play on words to express a double meaning. Before we were fashioned in the womb we were a treasure to God and God was watching over us.