“Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of Yahweh’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Yahweh’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Yahweh’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
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Jeremiah 3:14-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says Yahweh.” “Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of Yahweh’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Yahweh’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Yahweh’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
Parallel Translations
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“Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of Yahweh’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made.
At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Yahweh’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Yahweh’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
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Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
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Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.'
Cross-references (106)
- Jeremiah 23:4 (v15) I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says Yahweh.
- Acts 20:28 (v15) Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the…
- Ephesians 4:11-12 (v15) He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints,…
- Ezekiel 34:23 (v15) I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
- John 21:15-17 (v15) So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him,…
Show all 100 cross-references
- Isaiah 30:20-21 (v15) Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes…
- Proverbs 10:21 (v15) The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.
- Luke 12:42 (v15) The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at…
- 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (v15) Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you…
- Ezekiel 37:24 (v15) “ ‘ “My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my…
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 (v15) We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to…
- 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (v15) But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us…
- John 10:1-5 (v15) “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.…
- Micah 5:4-5 (v15) He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: and they will live, for then he…
- 1 Peter 2:2 (v15) as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow,
- 1 Peter 5:1-4 (v15) Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory…
- 1 Samuel 13:14 (v15) But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince…
- Hosea 2:19-20 (v14) I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion. I will…
- Jeremiah 2:19 (v14) “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
- Jeremiah 31:32 (v14) not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of…
- Ezekiel 43:7 (v17) He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell among the children of…
- Amos 9:14-15 (v16) I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant…
- Isaiah 54:5 (v14) For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the…
- Isaiah 65:17 (v16) “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
- Ezekiel 37:26 (v16) Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and…
- Hebrews 5:12-14 (v15) For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the…
- Jeremiah 31:8 (vv16, 18) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame,…
- Jeremiah 17:12 (v17) A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
- Jeremiah 31:8-10 (v14) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame,…
- Ezekiel 34:11-14 (v14) “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock…
- Micah 4:1-5 (v17) But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be…
- Zechariah 13:7-9 (v14) “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep…
- Isaiah 6:13 (v14) If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are cut…
- Isaiah 10:22 (v14) For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing…
- Isaiah 11:11-12 (v14) It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from…
- Jeremiah 2:2 (v14) “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings;…
- Jeremiah 3:8 (v14) I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce,…
- Jeremiah 11:8 (v17) Yet they didn’t obey, nor turn their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of their evil heart. Therefore I brought on them all the…
- Jeremiah 23:3 (v14) “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and…
- Jeremiah 23:8 (v18) but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries…
- Jeremiah 50:4 (v18) “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
- Hosea 1:11 (v18) The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from…
- Amos 9:15 (v18) I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- Zechariah 2:11 (v17) Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that…
- Zechariah 8:20-23 (v17) Yahweh of Armies says: “Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come; and the inhabitants of one shall go to another,…
- Isaiah 1:9 (v14) Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 2:2-4 (v17) It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be…
- Isaiah 17:6 (v14) Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in…
- Isaiah 24:13-15 (v14) For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done. These…
- Isaiah 66:1-2 (v16) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest? For my hand…
- Jeremiah 3:1 (v14) “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that…
- Jeremiah 3:12 (v18) Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you;…
- Jeremiah 16:15 (v18) but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven…
- Hosea 1:10-11 (v16) Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that,…
- Zechariah 8:4-5 (v16) Yahweh of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very…
- Romans 9:27 (v14) Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
- Romans 11:4-6 (v14) But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then at this…
- Isaiah 49:18-23 (v17) Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely…
- Isaiah 56:6 (v17) Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him, and to love Yahweh’s name, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the…
- Isaiah 60:3-9 (v17) Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather…
- Isaiah 60:22 (v16) The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, Yahweh, will do this quickly in its time.”
- Isaiah 61:4 (v16) They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastated places. They will repair the ruined cities that have been…
- Isaiah 66:20 (v17) They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to Yahweh, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on…
- Jeremiah 30:19 (v16) Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also…
- Ezekiel 36:8-12 (v16) “ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to…
- Zechariah 10:6 (v18) “I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they…
- Zechariah 10:7-9 (v16) Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart…
- Matthew 3:9 (v16) Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these…
- Hebrews 10:19-21 (v16) Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and…
- Genesis 8:21 (v17) Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the…
- Numbers 15:39 (v17) It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your…
- Deuteronomy 29:29 (v17) The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all…
- Judges 2:19 (v17) But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow…
- Psalms 78:8 (v17) and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was…
- Psalms 87:3 (v17) Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God.
- Isaiah 6:1 (v17) In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
- Isaiah 11:11-13 (v18) It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from…
- Isaiah 26:8 (v17) Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
- Isaiah 59:19 (v17) So they will fear Yahweh’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which…
- Isaiah 66:1 (v17) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- Jeremiah 7:4 (v16) Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’
- Jeremiah 7:24 (v17) But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward,…
- Jeremiah 9:14 (v17) but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them.”
- Jeremiah 14:21 (v17) Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us.
- Jeremiah 16:12 (v17) You have done evil more than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to…
- Jeremiah 18:12 (v17) But they say, ‘It is in vain; for we will walk after our own plans, and we will each follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ”
- Jeremiah 30:3 (v18) For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause…
- Jeremiah 31:23 (v17) Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse…
- Jeremiah 31:27 (v16) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of…
- Jeremiah 50:20 (v18) In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah,…
- Ezekiel 37:16-22 (v18) “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick, and…
- Ezekiel 39:25-28 (v18) “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Now I will reverse the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel. I will be jealous…
- Hosea 11:12 (v18) Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
- Amos 9:9 (v16) “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least…
- Zephaniah 3:11 (v16) In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from…
- Matthew 1:11 (v16) Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.
- John 4:20-24 (v16) Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her,…
- Romans 1:21 (v17) Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart…
- Galatians 4:26 (v17) But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
- Hebrews 9:9-12 (v16) This is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (106 total citations).
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Jeremiah repeats the same thing in other words; but…
Jeremiah repeats the same thing in other words; but God by so many words shews clearer how ready he would be to grant pardon, provided the Israelites really repented. It would have been enough for God to testify once, that he would be reconcilable, but seeing that they were slow and hard to believe, he proceeds in the same strain. It is a wonderful forbearance and kindness that God, finding his favor neglected, and as it were rejected through the sloth of men, should yet persevere, and invite them again and again. What man would thus patiently bear the loathing of his favor and kindness? But we see that God does not immediately reject the tardy and the slothful, but adds new stimulants that he might at length move them, though this may seem more than necessary. How great is our torpidity? Were not God daily to urge us, how little attention would any of us give to his admonitions? It is, therefore, no wonder that he, pardoning our tardiness, should again and again invite us to repentance; which we find is done continually in the Church.
This, then, is the reason why the Prophet now repeats the same thing, Return, now, ye rebellious children; for he had said before, “Return, thou rebellious Israel.” He then adds, For I am a husband to you Some regard בעל bol, in the sense of being wearied, when found as here, בעלתי בכם bolti bekem, “I have been wearied by you:” but this meaning does not comport with this passage. More correctly, then, have others rendered the words, “I am lord to you: “but this lord is not to be taken indefinitely as in Latin, for it properly means a husband, who is a lord to his wife. God, then, no doubt, continues the same comparison, that of a marriage, which has already been often mentioned; for he charges the Israelites with adultery, because they had departed from him. Hence it is that he says, I am your husband He had previously said, “Though a person, when he repudiates his wife, and she be married to another, will never again be reconciled to her; yet I am ready to forgive your perfidy and wantonness: only observe chastity hereafter, and I will deal kindly with you.” Similar is this passage, “I am your husband,” though I have repudiated you. He had, indeed, said, that he had given them a bill of divorce, and thus testified, as by a public document, that there was no longer any connection between him and that people, for exile was a kind of divorce; but he says now, “I am your husband; for though I have been grievously offended with you, because you have broken your pledged faith, I yet remain in the same mind, so as to be ready to be your husband.”
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We now, then, perceive the real meaning of the Prophet: despair might have laid hold on the Israelites so as to dread that access to which the Prophet had invited them; but that no terror might hinder them to repent, God here declares that he would become their husband, and that he had not forgotten that relationship with which he had once favored them. The sum of what he says is, “I have once embraced you with the love of a husband; ye have, indeed, become alienated from me, but return, and I am ready to forgive and to receive you, as though ye had always been faithful to me.”
Again will I take you, he says; and then he adds, one from a city, two from a family Deserving of especial notice is this passage; for God shews that they were not to wait for one another, and also, that though the whole body of the people rotted in their sins, yet a few would return to him, and that he would be reconciled to them. This was a point most necessary to be taught; for God’s covenant was in common with the whole seed of Abraham; they might then have concluded that the covenant was extinct, except he gathered together the whole people; for he had not chosen one or two or a hundred or a thousand, but all the seed of Abraham. Since then the promise, without exception, was common, to all, any one might thus reason, “What connection have I with God, except as one born of the race of Abraham? but I am not alone, for we are all the children of Abraham: yet I see that none turn to God, so I must perish with the rest of the people.” Now, that this thought should not hinder the godly, he says, “I will take one from a city, two from a family;” that is, “If one only come to me from a city he shall find an open door; if two only from a tribe come to me, I shall receive them.” We now apprehend the design of the Prophet.
Interpreters, indeed, explain one from a city as meaning, that though the multitude should perish, yet God would not deny forgiveness to three or four; but they teach not what is especially worthy of notice, that two or three are mentioned, because this thought, as it has been said, might have perplexed them, that is, that they had been all in common chosen as a holy people.
What is here taught may be useful to us in the present day. For we see many foolishly excluding themselves from the hope of salvation, and seeking no access to God, because they have a regard to one another, and the great mass hold them entangled. How is it under the Papacy, that so many pertinaciously resist God? even because they think themselves safely hid in the multitude. We also find among us that some are an hindrance to others. Let this truth be ever remembered, that when God stretches forth his arms, he is ready to receive, not only all, were they with one consent to come to him, but also two or three, even from one city, or from a whole people.
He adds, I will cause you to come to Zion. This had been once said before: God intimates that their exile would be temporary, that the Israelites would again be made partakers of his inheritance, if they returned to God in sincerity and truth. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16–18 This is to be understood of the coming of…
This is to be understood of the coming of Christ: for then they shall not seek the Lord by ceremonies, and all figures shall cease.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD;…
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Ver. 14. Turn, O backsliding children.] See on Zec 1:3.
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For I am married unto you.] And, as "I hate putting away," {Mal 2:16} so I can receive to favour a wife that hath been disloyal, {Jer 3:1} and after a divorce.
And I will take you one of a city,] i.e., Though but a few, {Isa 10:11-12; Isa 17:6; Isa 24:3} all the rest hardening their hearts by unbelief. This hath been principally fulfilled in the days of the gospel.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Turn, O backsliding children; for I am married unto…
Turn, O backsliding children; for I am married unto you; I am in covenant with you, Deu 29:1,10-12, &c., and this covenant, notwithstanding all your unfaithfulness, I am ready to renew with you, Hos 2:19,20.
One of a city, and two of a family: this word family is not always to be taken strictly for a household; for then the expression would seem to imply more in a family than in a city; but frequently for a country or nation; compare Gen 12:3, with Gen 22:18; see Jer 1:15; or for a tribe; and this may partly respect the fewness of those that will be found penitents and return. God will have a sprinkling in every city, and in every family, or tribe, or country. But chiefly it respects God’s exact care of them, that being now married to them, there shall not be one in a city, or two in a country or tribe, but he will find them out; if there be but one or two, he will not overlook them: this seems to be intimated Isa 27:12, a text that points at the same thing.
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I will bring you to Zion, i.e. to JerusaLem, a type of the church; a double metonymy of the subject. It is the manner of the prophets, when they are treating of temporal deliverances, especially from Babylon, frequently to break out abruptly into the spiritual deliverance by Christ, and so probably he doth here; and therefore bringing them to Zion must be understood, either of joining them to his church under the Messiah, or bringing them again to worship with Judah at Jerusalem; as may seem to be intimated, Jer 31:6; but the ten tribes did never return into their own land, and therefore that text must be understood of a spiritual going up to Zion, viz. when all Israel shall be saved, Rom 11:26. See Isa 56:7,8; 66:20; and this chapter, Jer 3:18. Thus we may look upon this part of the prophecy to have respect, partly to what God was at that time about to do, in this verse; and partly what he would hereafter do, when they should be again settled in their own land, under the Messiah, Jer 3:16-19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord,.... All of…
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord,.... All of them were children by national adoption, and some by special grace, and yet "backsliders", O monstrous ingratitude! "backsliders", and yet "children", still the relation continues, O marvellous grace! God's own children may backslide, and often do; either in heart, when love waxes cold, faith declines, zeal wanting; when they get into a carnal sleepy frame of spirit, and have not that quick sense of sin, and of duty, as heretofore: or in practice, when private prayer is restrained; public worship is neglected; get into bad company, and fall into gross sins; all which is owing to the prevalence of indwelling sin, the force of Satan's temptations, and the enticing snares of the world; but God will not leave them, he calls unto them again and again to turn unto him by repentance, and to doing their first works; which calls, at length, through powerful grace, become effectual; see Jer 3:22 and the arguments used to engage to it follow,
for I am married unto you; in a civil sense as a nation, Jer 31:32, and in a spiritual sense to a remnant of them; Christ is the bridegroom, the church is the bride, which he has secretly betrothed to himself in eternity; openly in time, at the conversion of everyone of them; and will more publicly at the last day, when all are gathered in and prepared for him. This relation, as it is a very near one, so it is very astonishing, considering the disparity between the two parties, and it always continues; love, the bond of it, never alters; the covenant, in which this transaction is carried on, is ever sure; and Christ always behaves agreeably to it; wherefore it is base ingratitude to backslide; and reason there is sufficient why his backsliding spouse should return to him. The Septuagint version is, "because I will rule over you." agreeable to which is Jarchi's note,
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"because I am your Lord, and it is not for my glory, (or honour) to leave you in the hand of enemies.''
Kimchi's father interprets the word used by "I loath you", or I am weary of you; the reverse of which is the Targum,
"for I am well pleased with you;''
and so the Syriac version, "I delight in you"; which carries in it a much more engaging argument to return, and agrees with what follows:
and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family: or tribe, or country; for sometimes a whole country is called a family, as in Jer 1:15 and here it must design more than a city; for otherwise there are many families in a city; the meaning is, according to Kimchi, that though there may be but one Jew in a city of the Gentiles, or two only in a nation, the Lord would take them from thence; and, according to others, that though one or two, or a few, here and there one of the backsliders, should return to him by true repentance, he would receive them graciously; the smallness of their number would be no objection to him; which is a sense not to be despised: but the phrase seems to denote the distinguishing grace of God to his people; which appears in the choice of them in his Son; the redemption of them by him; and the sanctification of them by his Spirit; and very few are the objects of his grace, as it were one of a city, and two of a tribe; however, they shall none of them be lost, notwithstanding their backslidings, to which they are bent: for it is added,
and I will bring you to Zion; to the church of God here, a Gospel church state, whither to come is the great privilege of the saints, Heb 12:22 and to the Zion above, the heavenly state, where all the chosen and ransomed, and sanctified ones, shall come, with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads, Isa 35:10 and all as the fruit of distinguishing and efficacious grace.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 18 I am married - I am in covenant with…
I am married - I am in covenant with you, and this covenant notwithstanding all your unfaithfulness, I am ready to renew with you. Family - This word is taken frequently for a country or nation, and this may partly respect the fewness of those that will return. But chiefly it respects God's exact care of them, that being now married to them, there shall not be one in a city, or two in a country or tribe, but he will find them out. Zion - The ten tribes did never return into their own land, therefore this must be understood of a spiritual going up to Zion, when all Israel shall be saved, Rom. xi, 26.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Verse 14. I will take you one of a…
Verse 14. I will take you one of a city, and two of a family] If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a whole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one only out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastingly! And yet these persons, who spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Jer 3:14. Turn, for I am married unto you…
Jer 3:14. Turn, for I am married unto you — I am in covenant with you, and this covenant, notwithstanding all your unfaithfulness, I am ready to renew with you. Hebrew, בעלתי בכם, which Blaney translates, I have been a husband among you; observing, that God hereby “means to remind them that he had fulfilled the covenant on his part, by protecting and blessing them, as he had promised when he engaged to be their God: and therefore, as they had never any reason to complain of him, he urges them to return to their duty, and promises, in that case, to be still kinder to them than before.” I will take you one of a city, &c. — Some interpret these words thus: “I will receive you, though there should be but one from a city willing to return, and two from a province, or tribe.” This prophecy was accomplished in the letter, after the edict of Cyrus, when several of the Israelites returned to Palestine, but only by little and little, and, as it were, one by one. But undoubtedly it was intended to be understood chiefly, in a spiritual sense, of their conversion to Christianity, and their reception into the gospel church, into which they partly have been, and probably hereafter in greater numbers will be admitted, “not all at a time, or in a national capacity, but severally, as individuals, here and there one.” See Isa 27:12.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Children ... married - The twofold relationship gives a…
Children ... married - The twofold relationship gives a double certainty of acceptance. As children, they were sure of a father’s love, as a wife they might hope for a revival of past affection from the husband of their youth.
One of a city, and two of a family - The family (in Hebrew) is far larger than a city, as it embraces all the descendants of a common ancestor. Thus, the tribe of Judah was divided into only four or five families. However national the apostasy, it does not involve in its guilt the few who are faithful, and the promises are still their rightful possession.
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To Zion - To the true Church. The fulfillment of the promise began with the return to Palestine after the Babylonian exile, but is complete only in Christianity.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Kindred. Only few Israelites returned under Cyrus. The rest…
Kindred. Only few Israelites returned under Cyrus. The rest came by degrees, though it was more fully accomplished by the conversion of the Gentiles.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–18 I am married--literally, "I am Lord," that is, husband…
I am married--literally, "I am Lord," that is, husband to you (so Jer 31:32; compare Hos 2:19-20; Isa 54:5). GESENIUS, following the Septuagint version of Jer 31:32, and Paul's quotation of it (Heb 8:9), translates, "I have rejected you"; so the corresponding Arabic, and the idea of lordship, may pass into that of looking down upon, and so rejecting. But the Septuagint in this passage translates, "I will be Lord over you." And the "for" has much more force in English Version than in that of GESENIUS. The Hebrew hardly admits the rendering though [HENGSTENBERG].
take you one of a city--Though but one or two Israelites were in a (foreign) city, they shall not be forgotten; all shall be restored (Amo 9:9). So, in the spiritual Israel, God gathers one convert here, another there, into His Church; not the least one is lost (Mat 18:14; Rom 11:5; compare Jer 24:5-7).
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family--a clan or tribe.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–18 14. I am married unto you — A divine…
14. I am married unto you — A divine tenderness breathes in these words. God still remembers the sacred covenant between himself and his faithless people; and, in spite of their infidelities, looks upon their miseries with sincere and yearning pity. He even turns suppliant himself, and pleads with them to return. The mingling of metaphor in this passage, which starts with the parental and then introduces the conjugal relation, is not a blemish, but reveals the warm feeling which underlies the passage; a feeling that struggles in vain for adequate expression. The two most expressive figures which human experience furnishes are here blended in a way that leaves the impression of an unfathomable depth of meaning behind.
One of a city, and two of a family — The word rendered “family” is of broad import, and answers in a general way to stock or tribe. If but “one of a city,” or “two of a tribe,” (evidently a larger term than city,) shall turn to me, I will be careful to save even them. This promise is full and absolute.
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Though not exclusively Messianic and spiritual, yet, on the other hand, it is not limited to any material restoration. It is one of those broad predictive promises which sweep over the centuries, and are being constantly and everywhere fulfilled. And yet its highest force and significance belong to the highest things, and so the promise contains the glory of the Messianic revelation.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–18 14. one of … family] Very small places were…
14. one of … family] Very small places were called “cities,” while “family” must mean a considerable number, a clan, or even a larger group. Cp. Jer_8:3, Jer_25:9.
14–18. Much here is probably a later editorial insertion (see Intr. iv. § 8), for (i) the picture (Jer_3:14) of a very limited number of the captives returning from Assyria, and settling in Jerusalem, while afterwards (Jer_3:16) spreading over the land, is inconsistent with Jer_31:7 ff., (ii) we have no warrant for thinking that Jeremiah (Jer_3:17) expected all nations to gather at Jerusalem to worship, (iii) Jer_3:18 contemplates a return of Judah and Israel together from exile, but the earlier part of the ch. emphasizes the difference of treatment to be accorded to the two. Is the reference to the Ark (Jer_3:16) also late? After Solomon’s time its history is obscure. Was it carried off by Shishak (1Ki_14:26), or removed by Manasseh (as suggested by 2Ch_33:7) to be replaced, according to the Chronicler’s tradition (2Ch_35:3), by Josiah, though there is no confirmation of this in the parallel account in 2 Kings 23. We therefore cannot be sure that it existed in Jeremiah’s time. The post-exilic Temple had no Ark (Josephus, Wars, V. Jer_3:5). But whether the Ark was still in existence or not, this part of Jer_3:16 is probably a genuine fragment, though displaced, for the prophet’s attitude towards the Ark, as symbolical of the old Covenant which was destined to yield to the new one for which he looked (Jer_31:31 ff.), is paralleled by his view as to the Temple (Jer_7:4).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–18 (14) Turn, O backsliding children.—In his desire to individualise…
(14) Turn, O backsliding children.—In his desire to individualise his call to repentance, the prophet drops his parable, or rather combines the sign and the thing signified, with the same assonance as before—turn back, ye children who have turned away.
I am married unto you.—The tender pity of Jehovah leads Him to offer pardon even to the adulterous wife. Jeremiah had learned, in all their fulness, the lessons of Hosea 1-3.
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One of a city, and two of a family.—The latter word is the wider in its range of the two—a clan, or tribe, that might embrace many cities. The limitation to the “one” and the “two” is after the manner of Isaiah’s reference (Isa_1:9) to the “remnant” that should be saved, and reminds of the “ten righteous men” who might have saved the cities of the plain (Gen_18:32).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–18 Turn, O backsliding children. There is a play upon…
Turn, O backsliding children. There is a play upon words, or rather upon senses, in the original, "Turn, ye turned away ones" (comp. ver. 12). To whom is this addressed? To the Israelites in the narrower sense, for there is nothing to indicate a transition. Long as they have been removed from the paternal hearth, they are still "sons." For I am married unto you. The same Hebrew phrase occurs in Jer_31:32. Its signification has been a subject of dispute. From the supposed necessities of exegesis in Jer_31:32, some (e.g. Pococke and Gesenins) have translated, "for I have rejected you," but the connection requires not "for" but "though," which, however, is an inadmissible rendering; besides, the Hebrew verb in question nowhere has the sense of "reject" elsewhere. (yet the Septuagint already has it, virtually at least, in Jer_31:32, q.v.) The literal meaning is for I have been a lord over you, i.e. a husband. Israel is despondent, and fears to return. Jehovah repeats his invitation, assuring Israel that he does not regard the marriage bond as broken. He is still (in spite of ver. 8) the husband, and Israel the bride. (comp. Ho 2 Isa_1:1 Isa_54:6, etc.) One of a city, and two of a family. The promises of God are primarily to communities, but this does not prevent him from devoting the most special care to individuals. "One of a city, and two of a family," even though there should be but one faithful Lot in a city, and two such in a family (larger than a city, a single tribe containing only a few mishpa-khoth, or clans), yet I will admit these few to the promised blessings." Calvin"s remark is worth noticing: "Hie locus dignus est observatu, quia ostendit Deus non esse, cur alii alios expectent; deinde etiam si corpus ipsum populi putreseat in suis peccatis, tamen si pauci ad ipsum redeant, se illis etiam fore placabilem." The historical facts to which the prophecy corresponds are variously regarded. Theodoret, Grotius, etc., suppose it to have been fulfilled exclusively in the return from Babylon; St. Jerome and others think rather of the Messianic period. Hengstenberg finds a continuous fulfillment, beginning at the time of Cyrus, when many belonging to the ten tribes joined themselves to the returning Judahites. He finds a further continuation in the times of the Maccabees, and in fact a continually growing fulfillment in preparation for that complete one brought in by Christ, when the premised blessings were poured out upon the whole dwdekafulon . (Luk_2:36) "Zion and the holy land were at that time the seat of the kingdom of God, so that the return to the latter was inseparable from the return to the former." Dr. Guthe, however, the latest critical commentator on Jeremiah, thinks that the passage can be explained otherwise, viz." from each city one by one, and from each family two by two." This gives a more obvious explanation; but the ordinary rendering is more natural, and the explanation based upon it is in the highest degree worthy of the Divine subject. The doubt, of course, is whether in the Old Testament a special providence is extended elsewhere so distinctly to the individual. But Jeremiah is pre-eminently an individualizing prophet; he feels the depth and reality of individual as opposed to corporate life as no one else among the prophets. (At any rate, one point is clear, that the prophet foresees that the number of the exiles who return will be but small compared with the increase to be divinely vouchsafed to them; see ver. 16)
Ver. 14 (second clause, "and I will take you," etc.). Religious individualism.
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I BY NATURE MEN LIVE SEPARATE, INDIVIDUAL LIVES. Man is social, yet he is personal.
1. Each soul has its own personality, separate from that of every other soul by immeasurable oceans. Sympathy unites souls, but does not destroy this individuality of being. Each soul has its own secret life, and the deeper the spiritual experience is the more lonely, hidden, and incommunicable will it be. There are dark recesses of consciousness in the shallowest heart which no stranger can fathom. (Pro_14:10)
2. Each soul has its own separate course to live, its peculiar privileges and privations, blessings and trials, its duties which no other soul can fulfill, its reserved heritage, its vast destiny. Starting from near points, our lives may branch out in all directions till they are utterly isolated in the lonely solitudes of the infinite possibilities of being.
3. Each soul has its own necessary Variety of nature. No two are alike. The unity of mankind is a oneness, not of unison, but of harmony.
II GOD DEALS WITH MEN SEPARATELY AND INDIVIDUALLY.
1. His love is towards men as individuals. The size of the human family is no impediment to this with an Infinite Being who possesses infinite capacities of thought and affection. Even among men the parent of a large family has as individual a love for each of his children as the parent of a small family.
2. God approaches man individually. The outward voice of invitation is general: "whosoever will" is invited. But the inward voice, in conscience and spiritual communion, is private. Yet this fact is not a restriction on our enjoyment of God"s favors, for he speaks thus inwardly to all who will listen to him.
III MEN MUST RETURN TO GOD SEPARATELY AND INDIVIDUALLY. Each must repent, trust, pray for himself. A nation can only return as the units return, "one of a city, and two of a family." We must enter the "wicket-gate" in single file. No association with Christendom, a Christian nation, a Church, a Christian family, will secure our personal redemption. Even families are divided here. Each must say for himself in the singular, "will arise;" "My Father; My God." Still:
(1) We may help one another, and owing to the influence of sympathy there may be "two of a family," while perhaps there is only "one of a city;
(2) after we return to God we may naturally unite in his service as his family, his Church, the one body of which Christ is the Head; and
(3) though a few may return at first, it is to be the work of these few to increase their number till the whole apostate family is reconciled to God.
Married to God.
"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you.
I THIS SEEMS AN INCREDIBLE STATEMENT. Had it been spoken of angels, or of unfallen man, or of eminent saints, it would have been more easy of belief. But it is of men desperately wicked, and to such, that God says, "I am married unto you." What infinite condescension and love!
II BUT NEVERTHELESS IT IS TRUE. For:
1. We have the marriage lines, the record of the transaction, the very words of the covenant deed. (cf. Psa_89:3, 28 Heb 8 Jer_32:38-40) In all these God declares that he has taken us to be his forever: "They shall be my people, and I will be their God.
2. Our children are his. He bids them all call him by the blessed name of Father.
3. He repeatedly declares that we were the objects of his choice. Cf. Ephesians 1, "He took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham." And this because we "were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself also took part in the same;" "God so loved the world;" "He came to seek and to save that which was lost". (cf. also Eph_5:25-27)
4. He has given us the sign and token of our being his in the sacrament of our baptism. That which the wedding ring is to the wife, baptism is to us: it declares the blessed fact that we are God"s, and separates us for his Name, the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
5. He has endowed us with his goods: "All things are yours... the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours". (1Co_3:22)
6. He is always with us: "In him we live and move," etc. He is not far from any one of us: "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
7. He is jealous of our love: "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." What is the Bible but one long record of the disquiet of the heart of God? When the love of those to whom he is "married" is turned from him? Hence the eternal law, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." A man has a right to claim that she whom he has married should love him. He has no such claim on any other. And so because the Lord God condescends to hold this relationship towards us, he too claims our love: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
8. We are on the way to dwell with him in his eternal home. We are not there yet, but we are on the way. "We are coming up from the wilderness," and if we faithfully recognize our relationship to God, we shall be "leaning upon our beloved". (Son_8:5)
9. He has done for us, and does for us still, what only such a near and dear relationship can account for. Even the compassionate friend will not feel himself bound, though he will minister relief, to go and share the very same lot as that of those whom he compassionates. And the father of the prodigal did not make himself poor as that prodigal was. He lifted him up, but he did not himself stoop down. To; that which the Lord God has done is more than the love of friend, brother, father; it is the love of the husband alone. For the husband, if he be worthy of the name, will sly. are the lot of the wife. And if she must suffer hardship, he will share it with her. If she dwell in mean abode, he will not be happy to dwell elsewhere. But does not all this describe what the Lord God hath done? "He, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor." The word "married" is not a mere metaphor, it is the alone explanation of the Incarnation and of the Atonement. The general benevolence of God, not even the fatherhood of God, will adequately tell wherefore he so humbled himself and lived here "as a poor meek man upon earth," and then died for us; but the husbandhood of God, the fact that he declares when he says, "I am married unto you," will account for it and explain all. We have to live here in this wilderness world, to be tried, tempted, troubled, and at length to die, and we have also to resist even unto blood, striving against sin; and therefore he himself- also took part in the same. Then if this statement of the text be true
III VAST CONSEQUENCES FOLLOW.
1. Forgetfulness or disregard of this relationship in which we stand to God must be utter misery. Perhaps hell is never so nearly brought up and made known in all its hideous wretchedness here on earth as by means of a marriage in which one side has lost all love for the other. Oh, the drag of the marriage bond then! What an iron chain; what a fetter it is! How it frets! How it galls! How simply horrible it has become! Penal servitude for life is but a mild description of it. From ever knowing it by experience, may God deliver us all! But such things, alas, are, and between men and women who have vowed to love and cherish each other "until death do them part." But we do not recognize so readily that well-nigh all the sorrow of this life of ours is because we have forgotten or disregarded our relationship to God. That marriage also is a bond which can never be severed. And if we have no love to God, no delight in him, no trust or confidence, oh, how that bond will gall, will irritate, will fret, and so become the very "strength of sin!" The unrest, the distress, the wild attempts to win happiness in lawless ways, the sting of conscience, the inward remorse, are all accounted for by the consciousness that men have of their obligation to God whilst that obligation is being grievously disregarded. On the other hand:
2. Due response rendered to the love of God towards us must be our deep, our indestructible, our ever-advancing joy. See the proofs of this in the return of the prodigal: "They began to be merry." Listen to David: "O God, thou art my God," etc. "I will go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy." Behold the martyrs. Rather than be severed from God by denial of him, let what shame, agony, loss, death, that might come upon them. Ask those who know what the love of God is, if it be not as we say. That pure joy which a true wife has in the husband she loves and reveres, that is the type of the joy in God which we may have and should have, and to which even the worst of us, the miserable backsliders, are by God himself entreated to return. How happy in his protection! How certain that he will be prompt to help in all peril and emergency! How free the outpouring of the heart in loving confidence! How sure of his love always! no doubt ever clouding that certainty. And how sure, too, of his sympathy, his wise counsel, his constant support! And to all this God invites us, yea, he by this word of his bids us claim it as our right a right he will at once recognize. It is wonderful; the condescension and the love of it are so marvelous that we are slow to comprehend, slower still to believe it, and slowest of all to realize and rejoice in it. But yet it is most assuredly true. Therefore, Lord, increase our faith; we believe, but help thou our unbelief. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15–17 I will give you pastors according to Mine heart.
Jer_3:15
I will give you pastors according to Mine heart.
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The character and teaching of Christs ministers
I. Their character. To be a pastor after Gods heart, a man must not only theoretically understand, but practically feel the truths he sets forth in his teaching. How describe the burden of a guilty conscience, if he has never felt it himself? How expatiate on the love and unfold the preciousness of a Saviour, whilst himself still out of Christ? How exhort hearers to set affections on things above, when his own thoughts are entirely absorbed by things below?
II. Their teaching. What they have found to be, by Gods blessing, useful to themselves, they will bring before their people. They will not daub the wall with untempered mortar, crying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace; but, will cry aloud and lift up their voice like a trumpet, to warn the unconverted of their danger, and convince them of their guilt. Nor will they show the disease without, at the same time, declaring the remedy. They will prove to their hearers their numberless shortcomings, in order that they may be led the more highly to prize the Saviours merits. Conclusion--
1. Seek the increase of such pastors.
2. Help to provide for such pastors. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
The duty of a pastor
I. To feed the Church with knowledge and understanding. This is by preaching the Gospel.
1. There is spiritual wisdom in understanding the mysteries of the Gospel, that we may be able to declare the whole counsel of God, and the riches and treasures of the grace of Christ unto the souls of men (Act_20:27; 1Co_2:1-4; Eph_3:7-9).
2. Authority is required. What is authority in a preaching ministry? It is a consequent of unction, and not of office.
3. Experience of the things preached.
4. Skill to divide the Word aright.
5. The knowledge and consideration of the state of the flock.
6. To be actuated by zeal for the glory of God, and compassion to the souls of men.
II. Continual prayer for the Churches over which Christ has made them overseers.
1. No man can have any evidence in his own soul, that he doth conscientiously perform any ministerial duty towards his flock, who doth not continually pray for them.
2. This is the way whereby we may bless our congregations.
3. What shall we pray for?
(1) For the success of the Word that we preach unto them.
(2) For the presence of Christ in all our assemblies.
III. To preserve the truth and doctrine of the Gospel that is committed to the Church. What is required hereunto?
1. A clear apprehension in ourselves of those doctrines and truths which we are so to defend.
2. Love of the truth.
3. Let us take heed in ourselves of any inclination to novel opinions, especially in, or about, or against such points of faith, as those wherein they who are fallen asleep, found life, comfort, and power.
4. There is skill and ability required hereunto, to discover and be able to oppose and confound the cunning sophistry of adversaries. Great prayer, watchfulness, and diligence are required, that we may be able to attend unto these things. And those who are less skilled may do well to advise with those who are more exercised in them to give them assistance.
5. That we labour diligently for the conversion of souls. (John Owen, D. D.)
The true teacher
1. There are some teachers of religion who are teachers according to Gods heart.
2. All such teachers are the gift of God.
(1) He prepares them for their office.
(2) He designates the sphere of their ministry
3. They are distinguished by the care and fidelity with which they minister to the spiritual wants of their people. (E. Cooper, M. A.)
Pastors according to Gods own heart
I. What those qualifications are which render men pastors after Gods own heart.
1. Their being sent and commissioned by God.
2. Their being thoroughly instructed in the knowledge of Gods mind and will.
3. Their being exemplary in their conversation of the goodness and purity of their own doctrine (1Ti_3:12).
(1) In word, that is, in observing a decent gravity in discourse.
(2) In conversation; a sweet and obliging deportment.
(3) In charity; a hearty goodwill to all men as we have opportunity.
(4) In spirit; that is, in an active zeal for the glory of God, and the good of souls.
(5) In faith, that is, in an immoveable constancy and fidelity to our religion, in holding fast the form of sound words, and contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.
(6) In purity, that is, in abstaining from all fleshy lusts, from worldly mindedness, intemperance, and wantonness.
II. How much such pastors do conduce to the glory, and beauty, and perfection of the Church.
1. In soundness of faith, to which there is nothing can more conduce than pious and learned pastors; who being not only purged from vicious affections, and inspired with an hearty zeal for truth; but also accomplished with parts and learning to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and to separate the innovations of false teachers from the ancient truths of Christianity, cannot but be highly instrumental to the restoring the faith of their Churches, wherever they find it corrupted and sophisticated, to its primitive lustre and simplicity.
2. In purity of worship; for the end of all Church assemblies being to worship God, and the worship of God consisting in a devout acknowledgment of the infinite perfections of His nature, by such internal and external acts, as right, reason, and revelation directs: all such as are truly devout, and sincerely affected with the Divine perfections, must look upon themselves, as greatly concerned to worship God, in such manner as is most suitable to His will and nature. And this the pastors of the Church are more peculiarly concerned in, being the guides of the public worship.
3. A Churchs glory and perfection consists also in the vigour of its discipline, in the just and vigilant administration of the power of the keys, in admonishing such as go astray, in excluding them the communion of the Church if they continue obstinate, and readmitting them upon their repentance.
4. A Churchs glory and perfection consists in unity of communion and affections, so that there be no schisms in the body, but that all its members, being incorporate in the same communion, be knit and fastened to one another by the ligaments of mutual love and charity; to which excellent effect there is nothing in the world can more conduce than learned, prudent, and pious pastors.
5. The glory and perfection of a Church consists also in sanctity of manners; to promote which, also, nothing can be more conducive than pastors according to Gods own heart.
(1) Their being commissioned from God to teach and govern His flock must give their doctrine a very great authority in the minds of all that have any reverence for God, and thereby render it more prevalent and effectual
(2) Their doctrine, supposing they are pious and learned, will be throughout holy, and in all points tending to promote the interest of piety and virtue.
(3) Their holy doctrine will be enforced by their holy examples, which will preach more effectually than their tongues. (John Scott, D. D.)
The constitution, character, and duties of the Gospel ministry
I. God is engaged by covenant to provide a perpetual public ministry for His Church.
1. A public stated ministry in the Christian Church is a Divine institution.
2. It is the ordinance of God that a public ministry should be continued in His Church unto the end of the world.
3. God hath covenanted with His Church to supply her congregations with a public ministry--And I will give you pastors.
(1) Promises, made upon the footing of a permanent relation between God and His Church, which have respect to a benefit of a permanent nature, are to be understood as securing to the Church that benefit indefinitely throughout every period of time.
(2) Many promises delivered by the prophets were designed to refer immediately to the New Testament Church; and were so applied by the apostles of our Lord. Some of these refer to the Christian ministry (Isaiah Iii. 6, 7, 10; Rom_10:14-15).
(3) The Redeemer, in whom the promises are made, and in whom they are accomplished, has solemnly engaged never to leave His Church entirely destitute of a public ministry. He walks amidst the golden candlesticks. He holds the stars in His right hand. He gives power to His witnesses.
II. God hath set distinguishing marks upon the ministry, of which He approves--Pastors according to Mine heart.
1. The pastor according to Gods heart has received a regular call to the ministry.
(1) The call of God to ecclesiastical office is inward, when there is a Divine influence experienced upon the mind, inclining and commanding the person to devote himself to the service of the Church.
(2) It is outward, when accompanied with external evidence for the satisfaction of the Church. The inward call may satisfy a mans own mind; but others must, in order to receive Him, have some external evidence.
(a) Ordination constitutes the call of God to the ministry of reconciliation in the Gospel Church (1Ti_3:1-7; Tit_1:5-9; Rom_10:15).
(b) Ordination to the holy ministry is to be performed by imposition of hands (1Ti_5:22; 1Ti_4:14; Heb_6:2; Act_13:2-3).
2. The pastor according to Gods heart has a life corresponding to the functions of his holy office.
(1) A ministry evidently impious will meet with few advocates. This evil can be tolerated only in a Church which has far departed from truth and holiness.
(2) The pious minister is constrained by the love of a crucified Saviour to diligence in his sacred office. He perceives the danger of sinners; and, anxious for their salvation, he warns them of it frequently and fervently. From house to house he visits, examines, exhorts. In afflictions, he soothes; in temptation, admonishes; in sickness, comforts; and in death, resigns their departing spirits into the hands of that God who created both him and them.
(3) The pastor, who is near the heart of God, is faithful to God and His Church. He deals plainly with sinners, uninfluenced by their frowns or their smiles.
III. The sum of pastoral duty is the edification of the Church.
1. The pastor according to Gods heart preaches to his congregation the Gospel of Christ. This is the food which he diligently provides for immortal souls.
2. The pastor of whom God approves is in duty bound, from time to time, to examine the religious state of his congregation.
3. It is the duty of the Christian pastor to administer the sacraments of the New Testament to the members of his Church.
4. It is the duty of a Christian minister to exercise authority over his flock. This is necessary to their edification, and is implied in feeding with knowledge. The power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven is in the hands of every Christian minister. (A. MLeod, D. D.)
Pastors office no sinecure
To a person who regretted, to the celebrated Dr. Johnson, that he had become a clergyman, because he considered the life of a clergyman an easy and comfortable one, the Doctor made this memorable reply: The life of a conscientious clergyman is not easy. I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain. No, sir, I do not envy a clergymans life as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life.
The pastors obligation to feed the people
The Rev. Robert Hall of Bristol was asked what he thought of a sermon which had been delivered by a proverbially fine preacher, and which had seemed to excite a great sensation among the congregation: Very fine, sir, he replied, but a man cannot feed upon flowers.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16–17 you will increase and bear fruit
you will increase and bear fruit
The word "you" refers to the people of Israel. The phrase "bear fruit" is a metaphor for having many descendants. AT: "you will increase greatly in number" (See: Metaphor and Doublet)
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this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
This matter will no longer come up in their hearts
Here "come up in their hearts" represents thinking about it. AT: "They will no longer think of this matter" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
ark of the covenant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14–18 3:14 Return home: The Lord had spoken to all…
3:14 Return home: The Lord had spoken to all Israel as a husband to an adulterous wife, but now he refers to Israel as wayward children. The Lord would bring selected exiles back to the Promised Land (31:6, 32; Hos 2:19-20; Rom 11:5). • to the land of Israel: Hebrew to Zion.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.