Commentary on Jeremiah Part 8 (No. F024viii)

Chapter 29

These are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnez'zar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconi'ah, and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Ela'sah the son of Shaphan and Gemari'ah the son of Hilki'ah, whom Zedeki'ah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, ⁹for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the LORD. ¹⁰"For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. ¹⁵"Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,' -- ¹⁶Thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷'Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹because they did not heed my words, says the LORD, which I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, says the LORD.' -- ²⁰Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ²¹'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kola'iah and Zedeki'ah the son of Ma-asei'ah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. ²²Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: "The LORD make you like Zedeki'ah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," ²³because they have committed folly in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words which I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, says the LORD.'" ²⁴To Shemai'ah of Nehel'am you shall say: ²⁵"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephani'ah the son of Ma-asei'ah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶'The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoi'ada the priest, to have charge in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and collar. ²⁷Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of An'athoth who is prophesying to you? ²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, "Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce."'" ²⁹Zephani'ah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ³¹"Send to all the exiles, saying, 'Thus says the LORD concerning Shemai'ah of Nehel'am: Because Shemai'ah has prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, ³²therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemai'ah of Nehel'am and his descendants; he shall not have any one living among this people to see the good that I will do to my people, says the LORD, for he has talked rebellion against the LORD.'"

Intent of Chapter 29

29:1-32 Jeremiah's Letters to Babylon

29:1-23 Letters to the Exiles The exiles in Babylon were being misled by the same false assurances of a speedy return as uttered by Hananiah in Jerusalem (Ch. 27). Jeremiah sent a letter by Elasah (perhaps the brother of Ahikam (26:24) and Gemariah (36:10) to the elders of the people. They had been warned of punishment by God (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1). His advice to them was the reverse of what they had been told by these false prophets. They were to even establish homes in Babylonia and assist in the welfare of the state. He said that God would be with them and ultimately restore them after the period of seventy years (25:11; 27:7). The two colleagues of Hananiah, Ahab and Zedekiah (v. 21). were condemned by Jeremiah (see Ezek. Ch. 13). He predicted their execution, which the Babylonians saw as political subversion of the state, and not for the reasons in v. 23. “Jeremiah 29:18-19 also notes the concept of warning the nation. Note the fact that the punishments here are the same as the second, third and fourth seals of Revelation Ch. 6. Thus the end-time duality of application is also evident. The comments also appear in Jeremiah 44:4-5.” The Warning of the Last Days (No. 044)

We can read about God’s thoughts in Jeremiah 29:11.

vv. 21-23 might perhaps follow v. 15.

vv. 16-20 are sometimes considered an editorial comment on the letter.

29:24-32 Jeremiah and Shemaiah Another supporter of Hananiah, Shemaiah wrote a vitriolic letter to the new Temple Overseer (comp. 20:1). He charged Zephaniah with dereliction of duty in not arresting Jeremiah for his letter to Babylon here mentioned. Instead Zephaniah read the letter to Jeremiah. Thus Jeremiah sent another letter to the exiles condemning Shemaiah and stating that God has said He did not send him and that he lied to the people. As a result there would be none of His people that would live to see the good that God would do to his people; as Shemaiah had talked rebellion against the Lord. This is all in accord with the punishment of Hananiah in 28:12-17 and will carry on into the Last Days. Enoch and Elijah and the prophets of the Last Days will be opposed by these religious authorities and false prophets of the pseudo-Christians and other faiths. They will succeed in killing the Two Witnesses in the evening of the 1260^th day. They will all be killed by Messiah and the Host (see Rev. Ch. 11 (F066iii) and 20 (F066v) and 141E.

It is important to note that Chapter 29 in the Modern MT has no relationship to the LXX which deals with a letter to the Philistines. The first part of the text appears in chapter 47 over seven verses. However the seventh verse in ch. 47 bears no relationship to the Seventh verse of the LXX here in 29. Ch 48 of the MT goes on to deal with Moab rather than the Idumea of the LXX here in v 7. The Jews rewrote the MT after the fall of the Temple and their relocation in Jamnia and well on after 220 CE.

29 Chapter: 7-22 is relocated in the MT in Ch. 49:7-22. The comments of the texts are made in the Intent of the chapters of the MT as they occur in the RSV in the commentary here.

English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible.

Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L.. (1851)

Chapter 29 ^29:1 THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES; ² Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fulness; the city, and them that dwell in it: and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl, ³ at the sound of his rushing, at the sound of his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels: the fathers turned not to their children because of the weakness of their hands, ⁴ in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines: and I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon and all the rest of their allies: for the Lord will destroy the remaining inhabitants of the islands. ⁵ Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim. ⁶ How long wilt thou smite, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere thou art quiet? return into thy sheath, rest, and be removed. ⁷ How shall it be quiet, whereas the Lord has given it a commission against Ascalon, and against the regions on the sea-coast, to awake against the remaining countries! ⁷ CONCERNING IDUMEA, thus saith the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thaeman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone, ⁸ their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, ye that inhabit Daedam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him. ⁹ For grape-gatherers are come, who shall not leave thee a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon thy possessions. ¹⁰ For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished each by the hand of his brother, my neighbour, and it is impossible ¹¹ for thy fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me. ¹² For thus saith the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk it; and thou shalt by no means be cleared: ¹³ for by myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, that thou shalt be in the midst of her an impassable land, and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever. ¹⁴ I have heard a report from the lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, saying, Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise ye up to war. ¹⁵ I have made thee small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men. ¹⁶ Thine insolence has risen up against thee, the fierceness of thine heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high: thence will I bring thee down. ¹⁷ And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it. ¹⁸ As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, saith the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there. ¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of Jordan to the place of Ætham: for I will speedily drive them from it, and do ye set the young men against her: for who is like me? and who will withstand me? and who is this shepherd, who shall confront me? ²⁰Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he has framed against Idumea; and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Thaeman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them. ²¹ For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard. ²² Behold, he shall look upon her as an eagle, and spread forth his wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Idumea shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Chapter 30

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ²"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. ³For behold, days are coming, says the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it." ⁴These are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ⁵"Thus says the LORD: We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace. ⁶Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale? ⁷Alas! that day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it. ⁸"And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will break the yoke from off their neck, and I will burst their bonds, and strangers shall no more make servants of them. ⁹But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. ¹⁰"Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, says the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for lo, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid. ¹¹For I am with you to save you, says the LORD; I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will chasten you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished. ¹²"For thus says the LORD: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. ¹³There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you. ¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant. ¹⁵Why do you cry out over your hurt? Your pain is incurable. Because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant, I have done these things to you. ¹⁶Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who despoil you shall become a spoil, and all who prey on you I will make a prey. ¹⁷For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: 'It is Zion, for whom no one cares!' ¹⁸"Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be. ¹⁹Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. ²⁰Their children shall be as they were of old, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them. ²¹Their prince shall be one of themselves, their ruler shall come forth from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? says the LORD. ²²And you shall be my people, and I will be your God." ²³Behold the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. ²⁴The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.

Intent of Chapter 30

30:1-31:40 The Book of Consolation

30:1-4 Initially collected by Baruch, most of the

Chs. 30-31 deal with the period 622-609 BCE (3:1-4:4).

30:5-9 Oracles concerning Israel

The text concerns the Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192) and God's impending judgment (Am. 5:18-20). God will restore Israel, and Messiah and David (Zech 12:7-8) will rule Israel from Jerusalem (23:5-6; Hos. 3:5).

30:10-11 Fear Not This is a common phrase in God's address to man (Gen. 15:1; Isa. 35:4; Lk. 2:10).

Not make a full end; God says He will make full end of the Nations in which He scattered Israel but He will not make a full end of Jacob (this was the promise of Jeremiah 4:15-27 when God commissions the final prophetic voice (in Dan-Ephraim) of the Churches of God before the arrival of the Witnesses (see also 5:10,18; comp. 46:27-28), These nations north of the Araxes into which Israel was scattered in 722 BCE, by the Assyrians, are to come to an end and they will retain their identity as part of the restored nation of Israel and dwell in the tents of Shem (Gen. 9:27) (see 212E; 212F).

Although ostensibly incurably wounded (8:22; 14:17) and being deserted (4:30; 13:21) due to her unrepented sins, Israel will be healed (Hos. 14:4). Assyria will be despoiled (9:25-26; 25:13-14). But it will also be restored and come out of the north with Israel and be restored north of the Euphrates as part of a trading triumvirate with Israel and Egypt under Messiah (Isa. 11:16; 19:24).

30:18-22 The city refers to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem which will be left as an elevated plateau after the great earthquake of the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4 F038). The restoration is described in Ezekiel Chs. 40-48 (F026x, xi, xii); see also Rev. Ch. 21-22 (#300; F066v).

v. 21 Make him draw near refers to the danger of approaching God or the Elohim in their glorified state (Ex. 19:21; 33:20; Num. 8:19).

30:22 7:23; 11:4; 24:7

30:23-31:1 The Storm of the Lord

30:23-24 see 23:19-20

The LXX has its chapter 30:1-16 as the text of 49:1-6 in the MT and 49:7-22 places 29:7-22 as its text. The text of 30:23-27 was relocated to MT Ch. 49:23-27.

The Text of Jeremiah was thus virtually rewritten by the post Temple Masoretes. They were thus scattered in the dispersion before they could do more damage to the Temple system and the Church who used the LXX as its Bible.

English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible.

Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L.. (1851)

Chapter 30 ^30:1 CONCERNING THE SONS OF AMMON thus saith the Lord, Are there no sons in Israel? or have they no one to succeed them? wherefore has Melchol inherited Galaad, and why shall their people dwell in their cities? ² Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will cause to be heard in Rabbath a tumult of wars; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion. ³ Howl, O Esebon, for Gai has perished; cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with sack-clothes, and lament; for Melchol shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together. ⁴ Why do ye exult in the plains of the Enakim, thou haughty daughter, that trustest in thy treasures, that sayest, Who shall come in to me? ⁵ Behold, I will bring terror upon thee, saith the Lord, from all the country round about thee; and ye shall be scattered every one right before him, and there is none to gather you.

²⁸ CONCERNING KEDAR THE QUEEN OF THE PALACE, WHOM NABUCHODONOSOR KING OF BABYLON SMOTE, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem. ²⁹ They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon ye destruction against them from every side. ³⁰ Flee ye, dig very deep for a dwelling-place, ye that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a device against you. ³¹ Rise up, and go up against a nation settled and dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, who dwell alone. ³² And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed: and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads, I will bring on their overthrow from all sides, saith the Lord. ³³ And the palace shall be a resting-place for ostriches, and desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there.

²³ CONCERNING DAMASCUS. Emath is brought to shame, and Arphath: for they have heard an evil report: they are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest. ²⁴ Damascus is utterly weakened, she is put to flight; trembling has seized upon her. ²⁵ How has she not left my city, they have loved the village? ²⁶ Therefore shall the young men fall in thy streets, and all thy warriors shall fall, saith the Lord. ²⁷ And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.

Chapter 31

"At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." ²Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, ³the LORD appeared to him from afar. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. ⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with timbrels, and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. ⁵Again you shall plant vineyards upon the mountains of Sama'ria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. ⁶For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of E'phraim: 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'" ⁷For thus says the LORD: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'The LORD has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.' ⁸Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who is in travail, together; a great company, they shall return here. ⁹With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and E'phraim is my first-born. ¹⁰"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.' ¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. ¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. ¹³Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. ¹⁴I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD."¹⁵Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not." ¹⁶Thus says the LORD: "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. ¹⁷There is hope for your future, says the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. ¹⁸I have heard E'phraim bemoaning, 'Thou hast chastened me, and I was chastened, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for thou art the LORD my God. ¹⁹For after I had turned away I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' ²⁰Is E'phraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD. ²¹"Set up waymarks for yourself, make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. ²²How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman protects a man." ²³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: 'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!' ²⁴And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. ²⁵For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish." ²⁶Thereupon I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. ²⁷"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' ³⁰But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. ³¹"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. ³³But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." ³⁵Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD of hosts is his name: ³⁶"If this fixed order departs from before me, says the LORD, then shall the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever." ³⁷Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the descendants of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD." ³⁸"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Han'anel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Go'ah. ⁴⁰The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown any more for ever."

Intent of Chapter 31

31:1 Israel

This text emphasises the inclusiveness of the term “Israel” in embracing all the families that are within it and God will be their God (30:22); And they His People. This inclusiveness of the term Israel (meaning He shall rule as God) is to extend Salvation to the Gentiles under Messiah (see the Elect as Elohim (No. 001)).

31:2-6 This text resembles the Exodus narrative (Found grace (favour); see Ex. 33:12-17 Comp. Jer. 23:7-8 and the covenant promises of everlasting love and faithfulness. God here promises the joyful restoration of all Israel. The text includes the restoration of the pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple (see Zion: 41:5) (see also Zech. 14:16-21; Isa. 66:23-24) with compulsory participation and representation all over the world.

31:7-14 Homecoming God will assemble the dispersed in their own land in another exodus (Isa. 35:5-10; 65:17-66:24; Ps. 23:2-3).

Israel...Ephraim my first born (Ex. 4:22). As Ephraim is restored, so is all Israel, including Judah (2:3; 3:19);

v. 12 Praises to God shall be raised far and near; From the coast lands (Ps. 72:10-11; Isa. 41:1,5) and near in the Promised Land for deliverance (shepherd Isa. 40:11; redeem Isa. 48:20). This New Age will be marked by bountiful produce (Isa. 58:11).

31:15-22 Rachel She is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin (Gen. 30:22; 35:16-20; 1Sam. 10:2) laments their (the northern tribes) exile (Ramah 1Sam. 8:4). In Matt. 2:18 we see massive grief, but here we see the verse depict the joy of the restoration.

31:18 Ephraim, Joseph's son (Gen. 41:50-52) repents (3:22-25; Hos. 6:1-3). To prevent repeating his past errors he is admonished to set up the waymarks or guide posts leading to his punishment (as a warning).

31:22 A new thing comp. Isa. 43:19.

A woman protects a man, comp. Isa 11:6-9 for the reversal of the normal in the new age.

31:23-40 Restoration and the New Covenant

The following oracles are after 587 BCE.

31:23-30 As God depopulated Judah (1:10) He will also restore it (Ezek. 36:8-11) and reunite it with Israel (vv. 2-14; Isa. 11:11-16).

31:29-30 probably reflects the problem (Deut. 24:16) discussed in Ezekiel Ch. 18.

31:21-34 To oppose an increasingly limited view of the Sinai Covenant, here God gives warning of the coming era where Messiah was to come and qualify for mankind to be given the Holy Spirit (No. 117) and enable the Covenant to be written on the minds and hearts of all men (The Covenant of God (No. 152) and First and Second Statements of the Covenant (No 096B) (see also 32:38-40; Heb: 8:8-12; 10:16-17).

v. 33 “These servants of God in the last days are sealed on their foreheads because they have the laws of God in their minds, and, by extension they keep these laws by their actions. These are they that were prophesied by Jeremiah.

The congregation of God in the end times are those of the renewed covenant. They are those within whom God has put His law. This was the purpose of the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant. That Ark, which God had Moses and the people construct, was to point towards the elect. As Paul said the elect are the temple of God.” The Mark of the Beast (No. 025)

vv. 31-40 “God foretold the coming of the New Covenant through His servants the prophets. The coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel were foretold in Isaiah 11:1 to 12:6. The return from the exile is also foretold in Jeremiah 30:1-24. In the latter days the activity and purpose will be understood. The text refers both to Israel and Judah, and concerns the restoration under a New Covenant. Judah is converted to the elect at the end so that the elect and the city of Jerusalem do not exalt themselves against Judah (Zech. 12:7). The return to Israel on a permanent basis was foretold.

The New Covenant here shows a fundamental distinction between the first and the second statements of the covenants (No. 096B). The second statement of the covenant is written on the hearts and the minds of the people so that the law can be kept by the people without assistance and without fault. It does not eliminate the law; it merely perfects the application of it within the individual such that they are able to execute the will of God through His law. This capacity and asserted “New Covenant” involves Judah prior to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which is the mark of the completion of the sequence. Thus the restoration of Israel will not be complete until the placement of Judah in and to the New Covenant.

The word for New Covenant in Jeremiah is chadash (SHD 2319) meaning fresh or a new thing, which is derived from chadash (SHD 2318) the prime root to be new meaning to cause to rebuild meaning to renew or repair. Thus God renews His covenant with the nation but renews or restores it so that it can be kept from the heart through the intervention of Messiah. The covenant is, however, still with Israel as we see. Modern teaching that the New Covenant does away with God’s law simply misapprehends the nature of the covenants and the activity of God. Those who diminish the law in the least form and teach men so are counted least in the Kingdom of God. (Mat 5:17-20)”

The Covenant of God (No. 152)

The Covenant is inscribed in the hearts of Men.

(17:1; Ezek. 11:19; Hos. 2:20)

31:35-37 God uses the fixed cycle of nature to emphasise the continued existence of Israel as an entity before Him (Isa. 44:24; 54:9-10).

31:38-40 This passage is thought to come after the period of Jeremiah and perhaps in the compilation of Baruch (some compare Zech. 14:10-11) describes Jerusalem's four corners: Northeast (Hananel Neh. 3:1); Northwest (Corner Gate 2Kgs. 14:13); Southeast and Southwest Gareb and Goah (both unidentified) and Southern (Hinnom 7:31-32) and the Eastern (Kidron 2Kgs. 23:4,6) boundaries. The Horse Gate is in the Southeastern Corner (Neh. 3:28).

Chapter 31 of the LXX is actually Chapter 48:1-44 of the post-Temple MT which has an additional three verses from 48:45-47.

English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible.

Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L.. (1851)

Chapter 31 ^31:1 Thus has the Lord said concerning MOAB, Woe to Nabau! for it has perished: Cariathaim is taken: Amath and Agath are put to shame. ² There is no longer any healing for Moab, nor glorying in Esebon: he has devised evils against her: we have cut her off from being a nation, and she shall be completely still: after thee shall go a sword; ³ for there is a voice of men crying out of Oronaim, destruction and great ruin. ⁴ Moab is ruined, proclaim it to Zogora: ⁵ for Aloth is filled with weeping: one shall go up weeping by the way of Oronaim; ye have heard a cry of destruction. ⁶ Flee ye, and save your lives, and ye shall be as a wild ass in the desert. ⁷ Since thou hast trusted in thy strong-hold, therefore thou shalt be taken: and Chamos shall go forth into captivity, and his priests, and his princes together. ⁸ And destruction shall come upon every city, it shall by no means escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain country shall be completely destroyed, as the Lord has said. ⁹ Set marks upon Moab, for she shall be touched with a plague-spot, and all her cities shall become desolate; whence shall there be an inhabitant for her? ¹⁰ Cursed is the man that does the works of the Lord carelessly, keeping back his sword from blood. ¹¹ Moab has been at ease from a child, and trusted in his glory; he has not poured out his liquor from vessel to vessel, and has not gone into banishment, therefore his taste remained in him, and his smell departed not. ¹² Therefore, behold, his days come, saith the Lord, when I shall send upon him bad leaders, and they shall lead him astray, and they shall utterly break in pieces his possessions, and shall cut his horns asunder. ¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chamos, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Baethel their hope, having trusted in them. ¹⁴ How will ye say, We are strong, and men strong for war? ¹⁵ Moab is ruined, even his city, and his choice young men have gone down to slaughter. ¹⁶ The day of Moab is near at hand, and his iniquity moves swiftly to vengeance. ¹⁷ Shake the head at him, all ye that are round about him; all of you utter his name; say ye, How is the glorious staff broken to pieces, the rod of magnificence! ¹⁸ Come down from thy glory, and sit down in a damp place: Daebon shall be broken, because Moab is destroyed: there has gone up against thee one to ravage thy strong-hold. ¹⁹ Stand by the way, and look, thou that dwellest in Arer; and ask him that is fleeing, and him that escapes, and say, What has happened? ²⁰Moab is put to shame, because he is broken: howl and cry; proclaim in Arnon, that Moab has perished. ²¹ And judgment is coming against the land of Misor, upon Chelon, and Rephas, and Mophas, ²² and upon Daebon, and upon Nabau, and upon the house of Daethlathaim, ²³ and upon Cariathaim, and upon the house of Gaemol, and upon the house of Maon, ²⁴ and upon Carioth, and upon Bosor, and upon all the cities of Moab, far and near. ²⁵ The horn of Moab is broken, and his arm is crushed. ²⁶ Make ye him drunk; for he has magnified himself against the Lord: and Moab shall clap with his hand, and shall be also himself a laughing-stock. ²⁷ For surely Israel was to thee a laughing-stock, and was found among thy thefts, because thou didst fight against him. ²⁸ The inhabitants of Moab have left the cities, and dwelt in rocks; they have become as doves nestling in rocks, at the mouth of a cave. ²⁹ And I have heard of the pride of Moab, he has greatly heightened his pride and his haughtiness, and his heart has been lifted up. ³⁰ But I know his works: is it not enough for him? has he not done thus? ³¹ Therefore howl ye for Moab on all sides; cry out against the shorn men in a gloomy place. I will weep for thee, ³² O vine of Aserema, as with the weeping of Jazer: thy branches are gone over the sea, they reached the cities of Jazer: destruction has come upon thy fruits, and upon thy grape-gatherers. ³³ Joy and gladness have been utterly swept off the land of Moab: and though there was wine in thy presses, in the morning they trod it not, neither in the evening did they raise the cry of joy. ³⁴ From the cry of Esebon even to Ætam their cities uttered their voice, from Zogor to Oronaim, and their tidings as a heifer of three years old, for the water also of Nebrin shall be dried up. ³⁵ And I will destroy Moab, saith the Lord, as he comes up to the altar, and burns incense to his gods. ³⁶Therefore the heart of Moab shall sound as pipes, my heart shall sound as a pipe for the shorn men; forasmuch as what every man has gained has perished from him. ³⁷ They shall all have their heads shaved in every place, and every beard shall be shaved; and all hands shall beat the breasts, and on all loins shall be sackcloth. ³⁸ And on all the housetops of Moab, and in his streets shall be mourning: for I have broken him, saith the Lord, as a vessel, which is useless. ³⁹ How has he changed! how has Moab turned his back! Moab is put to shame, and become a laughing-stock, and an object of anger to all that are round about him. ⁴⁰ For thus said the Lord; ⁴¹ Carioth is taken, and the strong-holds have been taken together. ⁴² And Moab shall perish from being a multitude, because he has magnified himself against the Lord. ⁴³ A snare, and fear, and the pit, are upon thee, O inhabitant off Moab. ⁴⁴ he that flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he that comes up out of the pit shall even be taken in the snare: for I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their visitation.

Chapter 32

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedeki'ah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrez'zar. ²At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard which was in the palace of the king of Judah. ³For Zedeki'ah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, "Why do you prophesy and say, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴Zedeki'ah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chalde'ans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; ⁵and he shall take Zedeki'ah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, says the LORD; though you fight against the Chalde'ans, you shall not succeed'?" ⁶Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me: ⁷Behold, Han'amel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, 'Buy my field which is at An'athoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.' ⁸Then Han'amel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, 'Buy my field which is at An'athoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. ⁹"And I bought the field at An'athoth from Han'amel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. ¹¹Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; ¹²and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neri'ah son of Mahsei'ah, in the presence of Han'amel my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. ¹⁵For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.' ¹⁶"After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neri'ah, I prayed to the LORD, saying: ¹⁷'Ah Lord GOD! It is thou who hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thy outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for thee, ¹⁸who showest steadfast love to thousands, but dost requite the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of hosts, ¹⁹great in counsel and mighty in deed; whose eyes are open to all the ways of men, rewarding every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings; ²⁰who hast shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and hast made thee a name, as at this day. ²¹Thou didst bring thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror; ²²and thou gavest them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; ²³and they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey thy voice or walk in thy law; they did nothing of all thou didst command them to do. Therefore thou hast made all this evil come upon them. ²⁴Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chalde'ans who are fighting against it. What thou didst speak has come to pass, and behold, thou seest it. ²⁵Yet thou, O Lord GOD, hast said to me, "Buy the field for money and get witnesses" --though the city is given into the hands of the Chalde'ans.'" ²⁶The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁷"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me? ²⁸Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chalde'ans and into the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. ²⁹The Chalde'ans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Ba'al and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. ³⁰For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; the sons of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, says the LORD. ³¹This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight ³²because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they did to provoke me to anger--their kings and their princes, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³They have turned to me their back and not their face; and though I have taught them persistently they have not listened to receive instruction. ³⁴They set up their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. ³⁵They built the high places of Ba'al in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. ³⁶"Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence': ³⁷Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation; I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. ³⁸And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. ⁴⁰I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. ⁴¹I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. ⁴²"For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. ⁴³Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hands of the Chalde'ans. ⁴⁴Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephe'lah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, says the LORD."

Intent of Chapter 32

32:1-44 Jeremiah Purchases Land in Anathoth

32:1-5 For background see Ch. 37; (date 587 BCE). Some scholars think that chronologically the account should follow Chapter 37. Its placement here emphasises the validity of the preceding oracles concerning Judah's restoration.

32:6-15 This text is the most detailed account of a business transaction in the Bible (comp. Gen. 23:1-16). Jeremiah's cousin Hanamel offered to sell his land to Jeremiah, to prevent the loss of family property (Lev. 25:25-28). Seventeen shekels (approx. 7 ounces) refers to weight, not coins. The official copy of the deed was written on papyrus and rolled up and sealed. The open copy was for easy reference. Similar storage of deeds in earthen jars is known from Elephantine in Egypt. Baruch was Jeremiah's secretary or scribal house (Ch. 36). Jeremiah's purchase illustrates his trust in God and his confidence in the future of Israel and Judah.

32:16-44 Some think that this section is editorial as an expansion of the preceding theme of the future of Judah. First is a formal prayer (vv. 16-25). The OARSV scholars n, think it may have been drawn from liturgical sources (Neh. 9:6-38), Jeremiah praises God's Omnipotence (10:10,16; 27:5), His Omniscience (17:10) and His Wondrous Deeds on Israel's behalf (11:5). Jeremiah then proceeds to question the wisdom of His purchase in view of the circumstances (vv. 24-25). God answers him in vv. 26-44 which summarizes Jeremiah's interpretation of the contemporary critical events. God produces a summary of Judah's Idolatry in offering oblations and offering to other gods on the rooftops (19:13); the comparative sinfulness of Israel and Judah (3:6-11); human sacrifice (7:30-32). Judah stubbornly ignored (and ignores) God's Warnings (17:21-23). Her destruction was imminent, i.e. by the sword, pestilence and famine (14:11-12; 21:7), as stated by God. The section concludes with God's assurance of restoration, firstly with reference to the Everlasting Covenant, that He has made with them, and will restore under Messiah, and in using the Holy Spirit. They will then be planted in the Holy Land in faithfulness.

32:42-44 God says that the land which is now a desolation will be restored and fields will be bought and sold in all the areas of Judah from the Negeb, in the south, to the hill country in the north.

Israel and Judah are rotten with idolatry and sin and lawlessness to this very day and we are about to see God act again and send Messiah and the Host to end this sinful system and establish the Millennium under the Messiah enforcing the Law of God.

The LXX omits the first 14 verses contained in the later MT. The text also does not contain the last verses of 39-44. These verses appear to be additions to the MT made after the dispersion ca 135 and probably after 220 CE after Emperor Severin returned the Temple scrolls.

English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible.

Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L.. (1851)

Chapter 32 ^32:15 Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Take the cup of this unmixed wine from mine hand, and thou shalt cause all the nations to drink, to whom I send thee. ¹⁶ And they shall drink, and vomit, and be mad, because of the sword which I send among them. ¹⁷ So I took the cup out of the Lord’s hand, and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink: ¹⁸Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, and the kings of Juda, and his princes, to make them a desert place, a desolation, and a hissing; ¹⁹ and Pharao king of Egypt, and his servants, and his nobles, and all his people; ²⁰ and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and the remnant of Azotus, ²¹ and Idumea, and the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, ²² and the kings of Tyre, and the kings of Sidon, and the kings in the country beyond the sea, ²³ and Daedan, and Thaeman, and Ros, and every one that is shaved round about the face, ²⁴ and all the mingled people lodging in the wilderness, ²⁵ and all the kings of Ælam, and all the kings of the Persians, ²⁶ and all the kings from the north, the far and the near, each one with his brother, and all the kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. ²⁷ And thou shalt say to them, Thus said the Lord Almighty; Drink ye, be ye drunken; and ye shall vomit, and shall fall, and shall in nowise rise, because of the sword which I send among you. ²⁸ And it shall come to pass, when they refuse to take the cup out of thine hand, to drink it, that thou shalt say, Thus said the Lord; Ye shall surely drink. ²⁹ For I am beginning to afflict the city whereon my name is called, and ye shall by no means be held guiltless: for I am calling a sword upon all that dwell upon the earth. ³⁰ And thou shalt prophesy against them these words, and shalt say, The Lord shall speak from on high, from his sanctuary he will utter his voice; he will pronounce a declaration on his place; and these shall answer like men gathering grapes: and destruction is coming on them that dwell on the earth, ³¹ even upon the extreme part of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations, he is pleading with all flesh, and the ungodly are given to the sword, saith the Lord. ³² Thus said the Lord; Behold, evils are proceeding from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind goes forth from the end of the earth. ³³ And the slain of the Lord shall be in the day of the Lord from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth. ³⁴ Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and lament, ye rams of the flock: for your days have been completed for slaughter, and ye shall fall as the choice rams. ³⁵ And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the rams of the flock. ³⁶ A voice of the crying of the shepherds, and a moaning of the sheep and the rams: for the Lord has destroyed their pastures. ³⁷ And the peaceable abodes that remain shall be destroyed before the fierceness of my anger. ³⁸ He has forsaken his lair, as a lion: for their land is become desolate before the great sword.

*****

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs. 29-32 (for KJV)

Chapter 29

Verse 1

words: i.e. prophecies, as in Jeremiah 25:1 ; Jeremiah 26:1 ; Jeremiah 27:1 ; Jeremiah 30:1 , &c.

letter = writing.

residue of the elders. Compare Ezekiel 8:1 ; Ezekiel 14:1 ; Ezekiel 20:1 .

the prophets: i.e. Ezekiel (Jeremiah 1:1 ); Daniel (Jeremiah 1:6 ).

Nebuchadnezzar. Same spelling as throughout Jeremiah 2:0 8 and Jeremiah 29:3 here. Not the same as in Jeremiah 29:21 .

Verse 2

Jeconiah: i.e. Jehoiachin.

the queen = the queen-mother, Nehushta, the wife of Jehoiakim. Compare Jeremiah 13:18 . See 2 Kings 24:12 , 2 Kings 24:15 .

eunuchs = chamberlains.

carpenters = artificers, smiths. Compare Jeremiah 24:1 .

Verse 3

Shaphan. See note on 2 Kings 22:3 .

Zedekiah . . . sent. Compare Jeremiah 51:59 .

Verse 7

seek the peace = seek the welfare. Compare Ezra 6:10 .

captives. For sixty-three years. From Jehoiachin's captivity to Cyrus (489-426 = 63).

Verse 10

seventy years. See special note on 2 Chronicles 36:21 .

Verse 11

an expected end. Figure of speech Hendiadys. Hebrew "an end and an expectation" = an end, yea, an end which I have caused you to hope for: i.e. a hoped-for end.

Verse 13

ye shall seek Me. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 4:29 ; Deuteronomy 30:2 ).

Verse 14

away = back.

captivity. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), for captives.

Verse 16

of = concerning.

Verse 17

I will send . . . the sword, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:25 , Leviticus 26:26 ).

the famine. Some codices, with three early printed editions (one in margin), Aramaean, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and famine", thus completing the Figure of speech Polysyndeton .

vile figs = worthless figs. See Jeremiah 24:2 .

Verse 18

with. Some codices, with one early printed edition, read "and with".

removed. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 28:25 , the same word).

Verse 19

unto them. Some codices, with four early printed editions, read "unto you".

rising up early, &c . See note on Jeremiah 7:13 .

Verse 20

sent. Some codices, with Aramaean, read "caused to be carried captive". Compare Jeremiah 24:5 .

Verse 21

Ahab . . . Zedekiah. These were false prophets-whom Nebuchadrezzar treated as stated in Jeremiah 29:22 .

Kolaiah . . . curse . . . roasted. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia . Hebrew. Kolayah . . . kelah . . . kalam.

Nebuchadrezzar. Some codices read Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 22

a curse = a curse formula.

Verse 23

committed villany = vileness: i.e. worshipped idols. See the first occurance Genesis 34:7 .

Verse 24

Nehelamite: or, dreamer.

Verse 26

mad. Compare John 2:20 ; John 10:20 , John 10:39 . See App-85 .

maketh himself a prophet. Compare Matthew 21:11 . Joh 8:53 . See App-85 .

Verse 31

trust = confide. Hebrew. batah. App-69 .

Verse 32

rebellion, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 13:5 ). App-92 .

Chapter 30

Verse 1

Jeremiah's Twentieth Prophecy (see book comments for Jeremiah).

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 2

the LORD God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 11:3 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .

in a book. For abiding comfort and hope in the coming times of trouble. Written before the deportation. Compare Jeremiah 30:5-11 , Jeremiah 30:12-24 . A dark foreground is shown in Jeremiah 31:37 .

Verse 3

lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

Israel. As well as Judah.

Verse 4

these are the words. This is the introduction to the two chapters.

Verse 6

a man = a male. Hebrew. zakar.

man = a strong man. Hebrew. geber . App-14 .

Verse 7

that day. The interpretation here is of the day of Babylon's overthrow. The application is of the yet future Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:0 . This is in contrast with the day of Restoration.

great, &c. = too great to have another like it.

Jacob's. Not Israel's, for it is the natural seed that is here in question, not the spiritual. See notes on Genesis 32:28 ; Genesis 43:6 ; Genesis 45:26 , Genesis 45:28 .

Verse 8

break his yoke. Reminding us of Jeremiah 28:10 , Jeremiah 28:11 .

Verse 9

David their king. This is yet future. Compare Ezekiel, Jeremiah's contemporary (Ezekiel 34:23 , Ezekiel 34:24 ; Ezekiel 37:24 , Ezekiel 37:25 .Isaiah 55:3 .Hosea 3:5; Hosea 3:5 ) for seven years (484-477). See App-77 .

Verse 10

fear thou not, &c. Taking up Isaiah 41:10 , Isaiah 41:18 ; Isaiah 43:5 ; Isaiah 44:2 .

shall be in rest = be [again] in rest.

Verse 11

in measure = to the due measure.

unpunished = guiltless. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 20:7 ; Exodus 34:7 . Numbers 14:18 ). App-92 .

Verse 13

that thou mayest, &c. = for binding thee up.

Verse 16

all they that devour thee, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 23:22 ).

Verse 18

upon her own heap. This cannot have a spiritual application; still less interpretation. It is literally Zion. This was written in the book, before the siege, which had already been foretold (chs. 7; 19; Jeremiah 21:10 , Jeremiah 34:2 , Jeremiah 37:10 ).

heap = ruins.

palace = fortress.

after the manner thereof: or, upon its own site.

Verse 19

them: i.e. the restored cities and palaces.

I will multiply . Note the Alternation : | multiply. | not be few. | glorify. | not be despised.

small = small (in number).

Verse 20

children = sons.

oppress. First used by God Himself (Exodus 3:9 ).

Verse 21

their nobles. Hebrew his Prince.

their governor. Hebrew his Ruler.

cause him to draw near. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 16:5 ).

who is this . . . ? Compare Isaiah 63:1 (in judgment). Matthew 21:10 (in grace).

engaged = pledged.

Verse 23

continuing whirlwind = a tempest rolling itself upward: i.e. a roaring tempest.

the wicked = lawless ones (plural) Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .

Verse 24

the latter days = the end of the days. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 49:1 ). Compare Jeremiah 23:20 . App-92 . consider = understand. Compare Jeremiah 23:20 .

https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bul/jeremiah-31.html

Chapter 31

Verse 1

At the same time: i.e. in the latter days (Jeremiah 30:24 ).

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .

of = to.

all. Not Judah alone.

they shall be My People. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:12 ). App-92 . Compare Jeremiah 30:22 .

Verse 2

when I went. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 3:0 .Numbers 10:33 .Deuteronomy 1:33; Deuteronomy 1:33 ). App-92 .

Verse 3

everlasting love. See notes on Isaiah 44:7 .

Verse 4

Again . . . again, &c. App-92 . Figure of speech Anaphora .

tabrets. See notes on Exodus 15:20 . 1 Samuel 10:5 .

Verse 5

vines = vineyards.

mountains. A special reading called Sevir ( App-34 ), reads "cities".

eat them as common things. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 19:23-25 .Deuteronomy 20:6 ; Deuteronomy 28:30 ). Compare Isaiah 62:9 . App-92 .

Verse 6

there shall be = there is. Hebrew. yesh. See note on Proverbs 8:21 , and Proverbs 18:24 .

mount = hill country.

Verse 7

Jacob. Note the frequent use of "Jacob" in these chapters, referring to the natural seed.

save Thy People. Compare the Hebrew Hosannah. See Psalms 118:25 , and see note on Matthew 21:9 .

Verse 8

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos.

gather = gather out.

coasts = borders, or extremities.

company = an organized community.

thither = hither.

Verse 9

rivers = streams. Hebrew nahal = a wady.

Ephraim is My firstborn. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 4:22 ). App-92 . "My firstborn" occurs nowhere else. Compare Psalms 89:27 . Ephraim is put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), for all the ten tribes.

Verse 10

isles = coastlands, or maritime countries.

He that scattered, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 30:3 ).

Verse 11

redeemed = liberated, or redeemed (by power). Hebrew. padah. See note on Exodus 13:13 .

ransomed = redeemed (by blood) and avenged. Hebrew. ga'al. See note on Exodus 6:6 .

stronger. See note on Psalms 35:10 .

Verse 12

flow together. Same word as in Jeremiah 51:44 .Isaiah 2:2 .Micah 4:1 .

wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27 .

soul. Hebrew. nephesh.

Verse 15

A voice was heard, &c. Quoted in Matthew 2:18 . Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 35:19 ). App-92 .

in Ramah = on the high place. Evidently a "high place" near Bethlehem. A common name in Palestine. The Targum and Vulg, read "in a high place".

Rahel = Rachel. The mother of Joseph and Benjamin (i.e. Ephraim); thus uniting the two kingdoms and the two peoples. Compare Jeremiah 31:9 .

children = sons.

because they were not. Now, another weeping, and other comfort given. Compare verses: Jeremiah 31:9 , Jeremiah 31:16 . Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 42:36 ). App-92 .

Verse 16

shall be rewarded = there exists a reward. Hebrew. yesh. See note on Jeremiah 31:6 .

come again: i.e. in resurrection. Compare Jeremiah 31:15 .

Verse 17

there is = there exists. Hebrew. yesh . Compare Jeremiah 31:6 .

Verse 18

I have surely heard, &c. Figure of speech Prolepsis.

hast chastised = didst chastise.

was chastised = I have been chastised.

turn Thou me = cause Thou me to return.

Verse 20

child = a young child. Hebrew. yalad.

My bowels are troubled. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:36 ). Compare Duke Jeremiah 15:20 .

Verse 21

Set thee up = Erect.

make thee = set up.

high heaps: i.e. finger posts.

Verse 22

go about: i.e. in order to elude by withdrawing. Elsewhere only in Song of Solomon 5:6 .

new thing. The interpretation must satisfy this condition.

in the earth = in the land. This is another condition.

A woman = A spouse: i.e. Israel shall turn and cleave to the Mighty One. See Genesis 1:27 ; Genesis 5:2 ; Genesis 6:19 ; Genesis 7:3 , Genesis 7:9 , Genesis 7:16 . Leviticus 3:1 , Leviticus 3:6 ; Leviticus 4:28 ; Leviticus 5:6 , &c. Here, the virgin of Israel.

compass = turn about [so as to return to and seek the favour of] the man. A "new thing"for a woman to become the suitor. See Jeremiah 31:14 and Deuteronomy 24:4 .Hosea 2:19 , &c. Hebrew. sabab, to turn about, used in Psalms 26:6 , "so will I compass Thine altar", not go round it, but keep close to it. Compare Psalms 7:7 . (Jonah 2:5 , "closed me round"). Instead of "going about", wandering (first line), the virgin of Israel will seek, and cleave close to the Mighty One, even Jehovah, as a girdle cleaves to a man.

a man = a mighty one. Hebrew. geber. App-14 .

Verse 23

the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 7:3 .

bring again. This cannot be spiritualized.

Verse 27

the house of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 2:4 .

the house of Judah. See note on Jeremiah 3:18 . Here we have the union of the two houses. Israel is always named first, for this was the name of the whole nation, which Judah was not.

man. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

Verse 28

watched. Compare Jeremiah 1:12 (same word).

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6).

Verse 29

set on edge. A proverb, mentioned here for the first time. Here restated, and corrected in Jeremiah 31:30 .

Verse 30

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah. App-44 .

Verse 31

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. Quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 ; Hebrews 10:16 , Hebrews 10:17 .

I will make. See Matthew 26:28 .

Verse 32

that I made. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 24:3-8 ). App-92 .

I took them by the hand, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 19:4 .Deuteronomy 1:31 ; Deuteronomy 32:11 , Deuteronomy 32:12 ). App-92 .

although I was an husband unto them. The Hebrew ba'al is a Homonym with two meanings: (1) to be lord, or master, hence to be a husband; (2) to disdain, or reject. If it be the latter here, the last clause will read, "and I rejected (or abhorred)them, declareth Jehovah". So the Syriac and other ancient interpreters. Moreover, it is quoted thus in Hebrews 8:9 , "and I regarded them not, saith the Lord".

Verse 33

the house of, &c. Some codices, with four early printed editions (one in margin), read "the sons of": i.e. of the whole nation.

in their hearts = on their hearts. Compare Ezekiel 11:19 ; Ezekiel 36:26 . Hebrews 10:16 .

and will be their God. Compare Jeremiah 24:7 ; Jeremiah 30:22 ; Jeremiah 32:38 .

Verse 34

every man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

they shall all know Me. See note on Jeremiah 9:24 .

know. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), for all the effects of knowing Jehovah.

Verse 35

giveth the sun, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 1:16 ).

ordinances = statutes. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 8:22 ). Compare Jeremiah 33:20 , Jeremiah 33:25 .

divideth = -stirreth up, or exciteth.

The LORD of Hosts. See note on Jeremiah 6:6 , and 1 Samuel 1:3 .

Verse 36

If those ordinances. So sure is the literal fulfilment of these prophecies concerning the literal restoration of Israel.

the seed. Note the Structure (on p. 1061).

for ever = all the days.

Verse 37

If heaven above, &c. Another asseveration as to the literal fulfilment of Israel's restoration.

Verse 38

come. This word is not in the Hebrew text, "but it is in the margin, as well as in some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, which read "Lo, days are coming".

the tower of Hananeel. On the north-east corner.

unto = as far as.

the gate of the corner. At the north-west. Compare 2 Kings 14:13 .

Verse 39

upon = over. A special various reading called Sevir ( App-34 ), reads "as far as", with some codices, Aramaean, and Septuagint

Gareb . . . Goath. Not named elsewhere.

Verse 40

fields. Hebrew text reads "dry places", but the margin, with some codices and seven early printed editions, Authorized Version and Revised Version, read "fields".

Chapter 32

Verse 1

The word that came, &c. This chapter commences an historical part of the book, describing the incidents of the two years preceding the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. See Jeremiah 32:2 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

the tenth . . . eighteenth year. Another contact between Biblical and secular chronology. See App-86 .

Verse 2

besieged = was besieging.

the court of the prison: to which Jeremiah had access. Compare verses: Jeremiah 32:8 , Jeremiah 32:12 , Jeremiah 32:1 .

Verse 3

had shut him up. One of the eleven rulers who were offended with God's messengers. See note on Exodus 10:28 .

Verse 4

his eyes shall behold his eyes: he should go to Babylon (Jeremiah 34:3 ). Yet Ezekiel (Jeremiah 12:13 ) declared that he should not "see" Babylon. Both statements were true; for we read that Zedekiah did "see" the king of Babylon at Riblah, but his eyes being put out there (2 Kings 25:6 , 2 Kings 25:7 ), he never saw Babylon, though he was led there. See Jeremiah 52:10 , Jeremiah 52:11 .

Verse 5

saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah's oracle.

Verse 7

The Twenty-Second Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah)

Behold : Figure of speech. Asterismos . App-6 .

thine uncle: i.e. Shallum, not Hanameel, who was Jeremiah's cousin. See next verse.

my field. Accusative case to Numbers 35:5 , this would be within 2,000 cubits of Anathoth.

the right, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 25:24 , Leviticus 25:25 , Leviticus 25:32 ). Compare Ruth 4:6 .

Verse 9

shekels. See App-51 .

Verse 10

the evidence = the deed.

Verse 11

according to the law. See notes on Jeremiah 32:7 .

Verse 12

uncle's son. Hebrew text reads "uncle". But some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "uncle's son", as in verses: Jeremiah 32:8 , Jeremiah 32:9 .

subscribed. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "[whose names] were written".

before. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and before".

Verse 14

the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 7:3 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .

many days: i.e. the seventy years, of which fifty two years had yet to run (deducting eighteen years from the fourth of Jehoiakim to the tenth of Zedekiah).

Verse 17

Lord GOD = Adonai Jehovah.

Thou hast made, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 1:0 ). Compare Jeremiah 27:5 .

nothing too hard for Thee. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 18:14 ). App-92 .

Verse 18

Thou shewest lovingkindness, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 20:6 ; Exodus 34:7 . Deuteronomy 5:9 , Deuteronomy 5:10 ). App-92 .

lovingkindness = grace. Hebrew. hesed.

iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah. App-44 .

children = sons.

after them. Compare Exodus 34:6 , Exodus 34:7 .

the Mighty. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 10:17 ). App-92 . Compare Isaiah 9:6 .

GOD. Hebrew El (with Art.) App-4 . Occurs in Jeremiah only here and Jeremiah 51:56 .

the LORD of Hosts. See note on Jeremiah 6:6 .

Verse 19

Thine eyes. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.

men. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

Verse 20

signs and wonders. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 7:3 .Deuteronomy 4:34 ; Deuteronomy 6:22 ; Deuteronomy 7:19 ; Deuteronomy 13:1 , Deuteronomy 13:2 ; Deuteronomy 26:8 ; Deuteronomy 28:46 ; Deuteronomy 29:3 ; Deuteronomy 34:11 ). App-92 . Elsewhere only in Psalms 78:43 ; Psalms 105:27 ; Psalms 135:9 ; and Nehemiah 9:10 .

other men = mankind. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

made Thee a name. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 9:16 ).

Verse 21

with a strong hand, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 9:6 ). App-92 . See note on Jeremiah 27:5 .

Verse 22

milk and honey. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 3:8 , Exodus 3:17 ). See note on Jeremiah 11:5 , and App-92 .

Verse 23

law. Hebrew text has "laws" in margin, with some codices and three early printed editions.

evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 .

Verse 24

mounts. Erections of earth raised by the enemy to overtop the walls. Compare Jeremiah 6:6 , and Jeremiah 33:4 .

Verse 25

for the city is given, &c. An expression of surprise at the command to buy the field under such circumstances.

Verse 26

The Twenty-Third Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah).

Jeremiah. Septuagint reads "me": for Jeremiah's answer to Zedekiah took in not only verses: Jeremiah 32:16-25 , but verses: Jeremiah 32:27-44 .

Verse 27

the God of all flesh. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 16:22 ). App-92 .

Verse 29

upon whose roofs, &c. Compare Jeremiah 19:13 .

to provoke Me to anger. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 4:25 ; Deuteronomy 9:18 ; Deu 81:29 ; Deuteronomy 32:21 ). App-92 .

Verse 30

evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 .

Verse 32

men. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Verse 33

rising up early, &c. See note on Jeremiah 7:13 .

Verse 34

which is called by My name = upon which My name is called.

Verse 35

to pass through the fire . Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 18:21 ).

came it into My mind. Compare Jeremiah 7:31 ; Jeremiah 19:5 .

sin. Hebrew. chata'. App-44 .

Verse 36

the LORD, the God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 11:3 .

Verse 37

I will gather them out, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 30:3 , the same word).

I will cause them to dwell safely. Hiphil of yashab = to settle down. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 23:43 ). App-92 . Compare Ezekiel 36:11 , Ezekiel 36:33 .Hosea 11:11 .Zechariah 10:6 .

Verse 39

fear = revere.

for ever = all the days.

Verse 40

everlasting covenant. See note on Genesis 9:16 . Reference to Pentateuch ( App-92 ).

shall = may.

not depart. This must refer to millennial days: for Israel did depart; and that is why the nation is still "scattered", and not yet "gathered".

Verse 41

I will rejoice, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 30:9 ).

plant. Compare Jeremiah 1:10 .

soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.

Verse 43

man. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .

Verse 44

Men. Not in Hebrew Should be in italic type.

mountains = hill country.

captivity. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), for captives.

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