Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on its own hill, and the palace will be inhabited in its own place.
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Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on its own hill, and the palace will be inhabited in its own place.
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Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
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Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon her own mound, and the palace shall be inhabited upon its wonted place.
Cross-references (27)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 30:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Haggai 2:7-9 and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says Yahweh of Armies. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says Yahweh of Armies; ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ says Yahweh of Armies.”
- Psalms 102:13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.
- Jeremiah 30:3 For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’ ”
- Jeremiah 33:7 I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
- Jeremiah 49:39 ‘But it will happen in the latter days that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”
- Jeremiah 23:3 “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 they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Zechariah 1:16 Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’
- Jeremiah 46:27 “But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.
- Jeremiah 49:6 “But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
- Jeremiah 31:4 I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.
- Jeremiah 33:11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says Yahweh.
- 1 Chronicles 29:19 and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.”
- Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”
- Isaiah 44:28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’ ”
- Jeremiah 31:38 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
- Jeremiah 31:23 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 their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’
- Zechariah 12:6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
- Psalms 78:69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.
- Nehemiah 7:4 Now the city was wide and large; but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built.
- Psalms 85:1 Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.
- Ezra 6:3-15 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid; with its height sixty cubits, and its width sixty cubits; with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s house. Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there. Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all diligence to these men, that they not be hindered. That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. I have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence. Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree. The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
- Jeremiah 31:40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”
- Zechariah 14:10 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.
- 1 Chronicles 29:1 David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God.
- Ezekiel 7:20-22 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing. I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it. I will also turn my face from them, and they will profane my secret place. Robbers will enter into it, and profane it.
- Nehemiah 3:1-32 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up its doors. They sanctified it even to the tower of Hammeah, to the tower of Hananel. Next to him the men of Jericho built. Next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to them, Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn’t put their necks to the Lord’s work. Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars. Next to them, Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor beyond the River. Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the wide wall. Next to them, Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces. Next to him, Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters, made repairs. Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate. Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the spring gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even to the stairs that go down from David’s city. After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men. After him, the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah made repairs. Next to him, Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion, across from the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall. After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. After him, the priests, the men of the Plain made repairs. After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner. Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. (Now the temple servants lived in Ophel, to the place opposite the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.) After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, opposite the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel. Above the horse gate, the priests made repairs, everyone across from his own house. After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate made repairs. After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs across from his room. After him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths to the house of the temple servants, and of the merchants, made repairs opposite the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner. Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Jeremiah goes on with the same subject, and dwells…
Jeremiah goes on with the same subject, and dwells on it more at large; for as it was difficult to lead the people seriously to repent, so it was difficult to raise up desponding minds after they had been subjected to a multitude of calamities. God then declares here again that he would come to restore his people from captivity.
Behold, he says, I restore, etc., as though he was already prepared with an outstretched hand to liberate his people. Let it be noticed, that the Prophet did not in vain represent God as present; but he, no doubt, had regard to the want of faith in the people, and sought to remove this defect. Since then the Jews thought themselves wholly forsaken, the Prophet testifies that God would be present with them, and he introduces him as speaking, Behold, I restore, etc., as though he was already the liberator of the people. He names the restoration of tents and habitations, because they had been long sojourners in Chaldea and other countries, where they had been scattered. As then they had their own dwellings, the Prophet reminds them that they were yet but strangers among the nations, for God would restore them to their own country, which was their real dwelling-place. This is the reason why he speaks of tents and habitations. He, at the same time, points out the cause of their redemption, even mercy, so that the Jews might at length learn to flee to this their sole asylum, and know that there was no other remedy for their calamities than this, — that God should look on them according to his mercy, for he might have justly destroyed them altogether. In short, the Prophet reminds them that they must have perished for ever, had not God at length shewed mercy to them.
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He mentions a fuller display of his favor, — that he would again build Jerusalem upon its own heap, or hill, as some render it; for the situation of the city was high, and towered above other parts of Judea. But it seems to me that the Prophet means that the city would be built on its own foundations, for he calls here the ruins heaps, or piles. For the city had been destroyed in such a manner, that yet some ruins remained, and some vestiges of the walls. It is then the same as though he had said, that the city, however splendid and wealthy in former times, would yet be so restored, that its dignity would not be less than before. But he speaks of its extent when he says, that it would be built upon its heaps, that is, on its ancient foundations.
And this point is confirmed by what immediately follows, the palace shall be set in its own form or station, על משפטו al meshephthu. The word שפט shepheth, properly means judgment, but it means also form, measure, manner, custom. Here, no doubt, the Prophet means that the king’s palace would be equally splendid to what it had been, and in the same place. Some think that ארמון armun, means the Temple; and this sense I do not reject; but as the Hebrews for the most part understand by this term a splendid, large, or high building, I prefer the former sense, that is, that he speaks of the royal palace: stand then will the king’s palace in its own form or place, as though it had never been destroyed. In short, he promises such a restoration of the city and kingdom, that no less favor from God was to be expected in the second state of the Church, than it had formerly; for God would obliterate all memory of calamities when the Church again flourished, and the kingdom became so eminent in wealth, honor, power, and other excellencies, that it would evidently appear that God had only for a time been displeased with his Church.
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 Meaning, that the city and the Temple should be…
Meaning, that the city and the Temple should be restored to their former estate.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 30:18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will…
Jer 30:18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
Ver. 18. The captivity of Jacob’s tents,] i.e., The poor captives that now live at Babylon as strangers in tents or huts.
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And the city shall be builded upon her own heap.] Or, Hill, sc., in Mount Moriah. Jerusalem shall be inhabited in Jerusalem. {Zec 12:6} All this was prolusio perfectae liberationis in Christo, saith Junius, a type and pledge of perfect deliverance by Christ.
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 This verse manifestly is a promise of the rebuilding…
This verse manifestly is a promise of the rebuilding of the city, and was fulfilled in the times of Ezra; and the term
captivity, which in its proper sense relates to persons, not to places, being here applied to places, signifies the miserable state of Jerusalem upon the taking it by Nebuchadnezzar, which God promiseth to change or alter under the notion of
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bringing again; so we read of the captivity of Job, who yet strictly was never a captive, Job 42:10. Whether by the term heap be meant the heap of rubbish into which the city was turned, upon the taking of it by the king of Babylon, or the hill upon which the city was builded, is not much material; by the palace is meant either the king’s house or the temple: so the verse is a promise of the building again of the city, the temple, and the chief governor’s house, all which was fulfilled by Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zorobabel, the history of which we read in the books wrote by Ezra and Nehemiah.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We have here further intimations of the favour God…
We have here further intimations of the favour God had in reserve for them after the days of their calamity were over. It is promised,
I. That the city and temple should be rebuilt, Jer 30:18. Jacob's tents, and his dwelling places, felt the effects of the captivity, for they lay in ruins when the inhabitants were carried away captives; but, when they have returned, the habitations shall be repaired, and raised up out of their ruins, and therein God will have mercy upon their dwelling places, that had been monuments of his justice. Then the city of Jerusalem shall be built upon her own heap, her own hill, though now it be no better than a ruinous heap. The situation was unexceptionable, and therefore it shall be rebuilt upon the same spot of ground. He that can make of a city a heap (Isa 25:2) can when he pleases make of a heap a city again. The palace (the temple, God's palace) shall remain after the manner thereof; it shall be built after the old model; and the service of God shall be constantly kept up there and attended as formerly.
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II. That the sacred feasts should again be solemnized (Jer 30:19): Out of the city, and the temple, and all the dwelling-places of Jacob, shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those that make merry. They shall go with expressions of joy to the temple service, and with the like shall return from it. Observe, The voice of thanksgiving is the same with the voice of those that make merry; for whatever is the matter of our joy should be the matter of our praise. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. What makes us cheerful should make us thankful. Serve the Lord with gladness.
III. That the people should be multiplied, and increased, and made considerable: They shall not be few, they shall not be small, but shall become numerous and illustrious, and make a figure among the nations; for I will multiply them and I will glorify them. It is for the honour of the church to have many added to it that shall be saved. This would make them be of some weight among their neighbours. Let a people be ever so much diminished and despised, God can multiply and glorify them. They shall be restored to their former honour: Their children shall be as aforetime, playing in the streets (Zac 8:5); they shall inherit their parents' estates and honours as formerly; and their congregation shall, both in civil and sacred things, be established before me. There shall be a constant succession of faithful magistrates in the congregation of the elders, to establish that, and of faithful worshippers in the congregation of the saints. As one generation passes away another shall be raised up, and so the congregation shall be established before God.
IV. That they shall be blessed with a good government (Jer 30:21): Their nobles and judges shall be of themselves, of their own nation, and they shall no longer be ruled by strangers and enemies; their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, shall be one that has been a sharer with them in the afflictions of their captive state; and this has reference to Christ our governor, David our King (Jer 30:9); he is of ourselves, in all things made like unto his brethren. And I will cause him to draw near; this may be understood either, 1. Of the people, Jacob and Israel: "I will cause them to draw near to me in the temple service, as formerly, to come in to covenant with me, as my people (Jer 30:22), to approach to me in communion; for who hath engaged his heart, made a covenant with it, and brought it into bonds, to approach unto me?" How few are there that do so! None can do it but by the special grace of God causing them to draw near. Note, Whenever we approach to God in any holy ordinance we must engage our hearts to do it; the heart must be prepared for the duty, employed in it, and kept closely to it. The heart is the main thing that God looks at and requires; but it is deceitful, and will start aside of a great deal of care and pains be not taken to engage it, to bind this sacrifice with cords. Or, 2. It may be understood of the governor; for it is a single person that is spoken of: Their governor shall be duly called to his office, shall draw near to God to consult him upon all occasions. God will cause him to approach to him, for, otherwise, who would engage to take care of so weak a people, and let this ruin come under their hand? But when God has work to do, though attended with many discouragements, he will raise up instruments to do it. But it looks further, to Christ, to him as Mediator. Note, (1.) The proper work and office of Christ, as Mediator, is to draw near and approach unto God, not for himself only, but for us, and in our name and stead, as the high priest of our profession. The priests are said to draw nigh to God, Lev 10:3; Lev 21:17. Moses drew near, Exo 20:21. (2.) God the Father did cause Jesus Christ thus to draw near and approach to him as Mediator. He commanded and appointed him to do it; he sanctified and sealed him, anointed him for this purpose, accepted him, and declared himself well pleased in him. (3.) Jesus Christ, being caused by the Father to approach unto him as Mediator, did engage his heart to do it, that is, he bound and obliged himself to it, undertook for his heart (so some read it), for his soul, that, in the fullness of time, it should be made an offering for sin. His own voluntary undertaking, in compliance with his Father's will and in compassion to fallen man, engaged him, and then his own honour kept him to it. It also intimates that he was hearty and resolute, free and cheerful, in it, and made nothing of the difficulties that lay in his way, Isa 63:3-5. (4.) Jesus Christ was, in all this, truly wonderful. We may well ask, with admiration, Who is this that thus engages his heart to such an undertaking?
V. That they shall be taken again into covenant with God, according to the covenant made with their fathers (Jer 30:22): You shall be my people; and it is God's good work in us that makes us to him a people, a people for his name, Act 15:14. I will be your God. It is his good-will to us that is the summary of that part of the covenant.
VI. That their enemies shall be reckoned with and brought down (Jer 30:20): I will punish all those that oppress them, so that it shall appear to all a dangerous thing to touch God's anointed, Psa 105:15. The last two verses come under this head: The whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. These two verses we had before (Jer 23:19, Jer 23:20); there they were a denunciation of God's wrath against the wicked hypocrites in Israel; here against the wicked oppressors of Israel. The expressions, exactly agreeing, speak the same with that (Isa 51:22, Isa 51:23), I will take the cup of trembling out of thy hand and put it into the hand of those that afflict thee. The wrath of God against the wicked is here represented to be. 1. Very terrible, like a whirlwind, surprising and irresistible. 2. Very grievous. It shall fall with pain upon their heads; they shall be as much hurt as frightened. 3. It shall pursue them. Whirlwinds are usually short, but this shall be a continuing whirlwind. 4. It shall accomplish that for which it is sent: The anger of the Lord shall not return till he have done it. The purposes of his wrath, as well as the purposes of his love, will all be fulfilled; he will perform the intents of his heart. 5. Those that will not lay this to heart now will then be unable to put off the thoughts of it: In the latter days you shall consider it, when it will be too late to prevent it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord, I will bring again the…
Thus saith the Lord, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents,.... That is, the captives of Israel, the inhabitants of them; alluding to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelling in tents, and to the Israelites in the wilderness; and fitly expresses the present unsettled state of the Jews:
and have mercy on his dwelling places; by restoring Israel, or Jacob's posterity, to their dwelling places in Jerusalem, and other places rebuilt by them and for them. The Targum is,
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"I will have mercy on his cities;''
and the city shall be builded upon her own heap; the city of Jerusalem, as the Targum expresses it, as it was in the times of Zerubbabel; it was built in its place, as the same Targum; upon the very spot of ground where it before stood, which was become by its desolation a heap of rubbish: or, "upon its hill" (a); Mount Moriah, on which some part of the city was built; so likewise in the latter day: though Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, and is now in a desolate condition, yet it shall be rebuilt, as it seems by this prophecy, upon the very spot where it formerly stood;
and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof; which the Targum interprets of the house of the sanctuary, the temple; so Jarchi; and it was true of it in Zerubbabel's time: but as this prophecy has a further view to future times, something else seems intended. Kimchi says it is either the king's palace or the temple. The singular may be put for the plural, and design "palaces", noble and stately buildings; signifying that the city shall be rebuilt in a very grand manner: and so "shall remain after the manner of it"; or, "according to its right" or "judgment" (b); it shall be continued and established by or upon that justice and judgment that shall be done in it; for it shall be called a city of righteousness, and a faithful city, Isa 1:26.
(a) "colle suo", Vatablus. (b) "secundum jus suum", Vatablus; "ut oportet habitabitur", Cocceius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. The city shall be builded upon her…
Verse 18. The city shall be builded upon her own heap] Be re-edified from its own ruins. See the book of Nehemiah, passim.
And the palace shall remain] Meaning, the king's house shall be restored; or, more probably, the temple shall be rebuilt; which was true, for after the Babylonish captivity it was rebuilt by Nehemiah, &c. By the tents, distinguished from the dwelling-places of Jacob, we may understand all the minor dispersions of the Jews, as well as those numerous synagogues found in large cities.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 30:18-22. Behold, I will bring again the captivity…
Jer 30:18-22. Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents — The expression alludes to the ancient custom of dwelling in tents. This promise was, in some degree, fulfilled under Zerubbabel. And the city shall be builded upon her own heap — Upon her ruins, which were cleared away, that new houses might be built. And the palace shall remain — Rather, the palace shall be inhabited; after the manner thereof — By
ארמון, here rendered palace, Dr. Waterland and some others understand the temple, and render the clause, The temple shall stand, or, abide after the manner thereof. Their children also, and their congregation, &c. — Their church and commonwealth shall be restored to their former state. Or rather, His children and his congregation, as Blaney translates it; that is, Jacob’s children and congregation, the pronouns both in this and the following verse being in the singular number. And their nobles shall be of themselves — Hebrew, אדירו ממנו, literally, his prince, or, his mighty one, shall be of him. And his governor shall proceed from the midst of him — Some understand this of Zerubbabel, who, by the permission of Cyrus, had the government over the Jews whom he led into Judea to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Others interpret it of the Messiah, who, they think, is plainly marked out by the two names of Prince, or Mighty One, and Governor, in this verse. Thus the Targum understands it. I will cause him to draw near, &c. — Says the Lord; that is, “he shall have a near attendance upon me; for I will make him a priest as well as a king,” according to the prophecy in Psa 110:4. For who is this that engaged his heart, &c. — Who is there so entirely devoted to my service as the Messiah? The words in the original, כי מי הוא זה, who is this, &c., have the emphasis which cannot be expressed in another language, and are spoken by way of admiration. See Lowth. Blaney translates the verse, “And his prince shall be of his own race, and his governor shall go forth out of the midst of him; and I will draw him that he may come near unto me; for who is he that hath set his heart to draw near unto me? saith Jehovah.” Ye shall be my people, &c. — You shall continually adhere to my religion and worship, and I will take you into my favour, and under my protection.
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 The prophet speaks of Judah as the type of…
The prophet speaks of Judah as the type of the Church, with Immanuel as her king.
Jer 30:18
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tents - The word suggests that a considerable portion of the people were still nomads.
The city ... the palace - Or, each city ... each palace. The heap means an artificial mount to keep the city out of the reach of inundations, and to increase the strength of the fortifications.
Shall remain after the manner thereof - Rather, shall be inhabited according to its rights, i. e., suitably.
Jer 30:19
Them - i. e., the city and palace. Render the last words, become few become mean, i. e., despised, lightly esteemed.
Jer 30:21
Translate, And his glorious one shall spring from himself, and his ruler shall go forth from his midst ... who is this that hath pledged his heart, i. e., hath staked his life, to dealt near unto Me? i. e., “Messiah shall be revealed to them out of their own midst.” He can draw near unto God without fear of death, because being in the form of God, and Himself God, He can claim equality with God Phi 2:6.
Jer 30:22
This is the effect of Messiah’s ministry. Men cannot become God’s people, until there has been revealed one of themselves, a man, who can approach unto God, as being also God, and so can bridge over the gulf which separates the finite from the Infinite.
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 Temple. After 70 years, it was rebuilt. The Church…
Temple. After 70 years, it was rebuilt. The Church was founded on a rock. [Matthew xvi. 18.] (Worthington)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 18 Thus saith Jehovah.
3. THE CONSUMMATION OF SALVATION
Jer_30:18-24
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18 Thus saith Jehovah.
Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob’s tents13
And have mercy on his dwelling-places;
And [the] city14 shall be built on its own heap,15 [of ruins]
And the palace shall be inhabited according to its right.16
19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving,
And the voice of them that rejoice;
And I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished,
And honor them, and they shall not be small.
20 Their children also shall be as aforetime,
And their congregation shall be established before me;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
21 And their ruler shall be of themselves,
And their prince shall proceed from the midst of them;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach me,
For who is he, who would have pledged his heart to approach me? saith Jehovah,
22 And ye shall be my people,
And I will be your God.
23 Behold, a tempest of Jehovah, fury is loose,
Whirl-winds17—it will roll on the head of the ungodly.
24 The fierceness of Jehovah’s anger will not return,
Till he do and execute the plans of his heart.
In the end of days ye will consider it.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The restored nation will in every respect present, the picture of a flourishing commonwealth. The ruined dwellings will be rebuilt (Jer_30:18), praise and rejoicing will be heard from them, the number of the inhabitants and the honor of the State will be great (Jer_30:19); the latter will regain its former importance and preserve it, but all its oppressors shall be chastised (Jer_30:20); the ruler of the State shall no more be a stranger, but a native, who will at the same time stand in the closest relation to Jehovah (Jer_30:21); the people will be God’s people, and the Lord his people’s God (Jer_30:22). All this, however, applies only to the Israel which submits to the Lord. The day of the Lord will break upon the ungodly (Jer_30:5-7) like a tempest and destroy them (Jer_30:23-24).
Jer_30:18-20. Thus saith Jehovah … oppressors. It is evident that the phrase turn the captivity may be taken here in a figurative sense, from its application to the ruined buildings. Comp. rems. on Jer_29:4.—Graf refers out of them, Jer_30:19, to the allies, Hitzig to the palaces, but in the sense that he regards the Israelites as the subject of the egression, in the sense of Jer_31:4; Jer_31:13; Jer_33:10-11.—The latter could not well be excluded. But why should not the sound of sacred joy be heard from the dwellings of Israel in any sense, and therefore in the sense, that it proceeds from those who are within? This is at the same time a further adornment of the houses themselves, to which, in a collective sense, out of them is to be referred. These thus become, as it were, instruments of sacred music.—Isa_51:3.—Of them that rejoice. Comp. Jer_15:17; Jer_31:4—Diminished. Comp. Jer_29:6.—As aforetime. As formerly “sub Davide et Salomone rerum statu florentissimo.” Rosenmueller. Comp. Psa_74:2; Lam_5:21.—Their congregation. Comp. 2Sa_7:10; Ps. 102:29; Pro_16:12; 1Ki_2:12.
Jer_30:21-22. And their ruler …yourGod. The description of the glorious future is crowned by the declaration of the relation of the prince to Jehovah. He is called מֶלֶךְ, king, in Jer_30:9, here אַדִּיר, ruler, and משֵׁל, prince. This is not a low predicate, as J. D. Michaelis supposes, but a high one. For not every king may be thus called. There are counterfeit kings (Ecc_4:13; Ecc_10:16). This king, however, is a אַדִּיר, a predicate which is given to the King of all kings (Ps. 8:2, 10; 93:4), and משֵׁל for the מִשׂרָה is on his shoulder (Isa_9:5), and the key of David (Isa_22:22), that he may open and no man shut, and shut and no man open. Comp. Mic_5:1. This powerful ruler is of Israel’s flesh and blood, no foreigner, no representative of the empire hostile to God’s people. And not merely is this declared, but also that proceeding from the midst of the people, he may approach unto Jehovah. The mediatorial position of the king is here announced.—Him after bring refers to the king. Hitzig has correctly remarked that altogether too little would be said of the king if his Israelitish origin merely were set forth, but besides this negative reason, we have also in our rendering of ממנוfrom themselves, and מקרבוfrom their midst, a positive necessity of referring the suffix to the king. Ὁ μεσίτης ἐνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, Gal_3:20. He proceeds from the midst of the people and approaches God. An intimation has been rightly found in bring near and approach of priestly attributes (Exo_24:2; Num_16:5). The sentence with For states the reason why the Lord leads the prince to Himself. The reason is a negative one: there is no other who would be capable of entering into this relation of nearness and communion to God. All here depends especially on the correct understanding of the expression עָרַב אֶת־לִבּוֹ, pledge his heart. The verb עָרַב, with the accusative, may signify two things only. Either “to stand, be a surety for some one, to vouch, guarantee” (comp. Gen_43:9 coll. Gen_44:32. עָרַב זָרspopondit pro alieno, Pro_11:15; Pro_20:16; Pro_27:13 coll. Job_17:3; Isa_38:14), or “to pledge something.” For the latter meaning we can appeal only to Neh_5:3. The meanings “applicare (Vulg.), convertere (Syr.), lubentem reddere (so in sense the LXX., Chald. and others), accommodare, formare (Calvin),” have no grammatical basis, and are all occasioned by לִבּוֹ. If we adhere to the two meanings which are proved, the second, as we have shown, rests only in the authority of one passage in the book of Nehemiah. It is not, however, to be used directly, but the meaning must first be derived from it “to stake, risk, venture.” לֵבheart, must then be taken as=נֶפֶשׁ, soul life. Graf has adduced analogies in favor of this (Jer_4:18 coll. Jer_4:10; Exo_9:14; Psa_84:3 coll. Psa_16:9; Psa_31:10; Psa_63:2), but of these only the first is of consequence, and even these passages only prove that the physical heart may also be designated as the aim of the sword which is threatening the life. There may be other cases where the connection allows the heart to be set for the life, but this is not the case here. Every one feels that here to say “heart” for “life,” would be harsh. I therefore think that we must take עָרַב in the sense of “to be bail, to stand for another.” We should then have to translate: for who stands bail for his heart, to approach to me? Ought we to take לֵב in the sense of “courage” as Hitzig does? There are passages where it gets this meaning from the context (Gen_42:28; 1Sa_17:32; 2Sa_7:27; 2Sa_17:10; Job_41:15), but this is not its direct meaning. I think then that it must be taken here in its general sense as the seat of moral volition. The prophet wishes to say: Who can stand for his heart, that it approach me? and this can certainly be taken in the sense; that it has the will, the power, the courage, to approach me? The point of the thought is evidently in the antithesis, bring him and pledge his heart, i. e., between the divine causality and human spontaneity. No man can undertake to be a mediator between God and man in his own strength. For if one should even have the courage to begin this difficult undertaking, he cannot vouch for himself that he will have the power to carry it out. The nearer the man came to the glory of God, the lower would his courage fall. God alone confers the power to approach him, and he will confer it on him whom he has chosen to be a mediator. In so far now as approaching God is represented as something unattainable by human strength, it is clear that the prophet has not the ordinary priests’ approaching to God in mind. The answer to the question: Who is he who would give his heart as surety, to approach me?—must evidently be: No one. Now not every Israelite indeed, but every normally created member of the priestly or high priestly family would be justified and authorized to approach God as a priest in the sense of the Mosaic law. Even these, however, are excluded by the no one, which the question requires as answer. Consequently the promised mediator can only be an extraordinary personage. Our text gives no further information, as to how the divine causality renders it possible for him to approach God, for this may be done in different ways, from without or from within, in a mechanical or an organic way.
Jer_30:22. And ye, etc. The thought certainly accords well with Jer_30:21, since the inward communion between God and the people, which is predicted in Jer_30:22, is not otherwise possible, even in view of the question, For who is he?etc., than by a mediator; it is however the necessary glorious result of his ministry (comp. Hebrews 8). Since, however, Jer_30:23-24 are decidedly to be regarded as a later addition (Vid. infra,) the thought of our verse appears to be repeated immediately afterwards in Jer_31:1. Such a repetition of these words in immediate sequence is indeed surprising, but not impossible. Since in both instances the words are highly appropriate, in the first as the close of the prophecy relating to the whole, in the second as the beginning of that relating to the first main division, and since further in Jer_31:1 the inversion of the clauses of the sentence is designed to avoid monotony, I regard it as probable that the words are authentic in both instances. If they are to be accounted spurious in one case, I would vindicate the genuineness of Jer_31:1, since here they occur in a characteristic setting. Observe the words to all the families of Israel, which evidently correspond to concerning Israel and concerning Judah, Jer_31:4, and give Jer_31:1 the appearance of being a superscription to the following section.
Jer_30:23-24. Behold, a tempest … consider it. The words are repeated with slight variations from Jer_23:19-20. As chh. 30 and 31 belong to the reign of Josiah (Jer_3:6 Comp. Introd.), and the prophecy, Jer_23:9-40, from which our verses are taken, cannot have originated before the first four years of Jehoiakim, it is clear that verses 23 and 24 cannot have stood originally in this place. Did then Jeremiah himself add them subsequently? I do not regard this as probable, since the words do not correspond to the general character of these chapters. These contain only a prediction of salvation; they represent the brightest and most joyful, we might say, the only untroubled moment in Jeremiah’s life (comp. on Jer_31:26). The verses 23 and 24 accordingly have the effect of a dissonance. Whence, in such a time as the prophet describes, are רֶשָׁעִיםwhirl-winds to come (comp. Jer_31:18-19)? And what thoughts of anger is Jehovah to carry out at a time when He has already turned the captivity of His people? I regard it as not impossible that some later writer thought himself compelled to separate the essentially equivalent words in Jer_30:22 and Jer_31:1 by sentences which he deemed appropriate.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Joh. Conr. Schaller, pastor at Cautendorf, says in his Gospel Sermons, (Hof. 1742, S. 628), “These chapters are like a sky in which sparkle many brilliant stars of strong and consolatory declarations, a paradise and pleasure-garden in which a believing soul is refreshed with delightsome flowers of instruction, and solaced with sweetly flavored apples of gracious promise.”
2. On Jer_30:1-3. The people of Israel were not then capable of bearing such a prophecy, brimming over with happiness and glory. They would have misused it, hearing to the end what was promised them, and then only the more certainly postponing what was the only thing then necessary—sincere repentance. Hence they are not yet to hear this gloriously consolatory address. It is to be written, that it may in due time be perceived that the Lord, even at the time when He was obliged to threaten most severely, had thoughts of peace concerning the people, and that thus the period of prosperity has not come by chance, nor in consequence of a change of mind, but in consequence of a plan conceived from the beginning and executed accordingly.
3. On Jer_30:7. The great and terrible day of the Lord (Joe_3:4) has not the dimensions of a human day. It has long sent out its heralds in advance. Yea, it has itself already dawned. For since by the total destruction of the external theocracy judgment is begun at the house of God (1Pe_4:17), we stand in the midst of the day of God in the midst of the judgment of the world. Then the time of trouble for Jacob has begun (Jer_30:7), from which he is to be delivered, when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in (Romans 11.)
4. On Jer_30:9. Christ is David in his highest potency, and He is also still more. For if we represent all the typical points in David’s life as a circle, and draw a line from each of these points, the great circle thus formed would comprise only a part of the πλήρωμα given in Christ. Nevertheless Christ is the true David, who was not chosen like Saul for his bodily stature, but only for his inward relation to God (comp. Psa_2:7), whose kingdom also does not cease after a short period of glory, but endures forever; who will not like Saul succumb to his enemies, but will conquer them all, and will give to his kingdom the widest extent promised; all this however not without, like David, having gone through the bitterest trials.
5. On Jer_30:11. “Modus paternæ castigationis accommodatus et quasi appensus ad stateram judicii Dei adeoque non immensus sed dimensus.” “Christus ecclesiam crucis suæ hæredem constituit. Gregor. M.” Förster.
6. On Jer_30:14. “Cum virlutem patientiæ nostræ flagella transeunt, valde metuendum est, ne peccatis nostris exigentibus non jam quasi filii a patre, sed quasi hostes a Domino feriamur. Gregor. M. Moral. XIV. 20, on Job_19:11.” Ghisler.
7. On Jer_30:17. “Providentia Dei mortalibus salutifera, antequam percutiat, pharmaca medendi gratiâ componit, et gladium iræ suæ φιλανθρωπίᾳ acuit. Evagr. Hist. Ecc_4:6.”—“Quando incidis in tentationem, crede, quod nisi cognovisset te posse illam evadere, non permisisset te in illam incidere. Theophyl. in cap. 18 Joh.” Förster.—“Feriam prius et sanabo melius. Theophyl. in Hosea 11.” Ghisler.
8. On Jer_30:21. “This church of God will own a, Prince from its midst—Jesus, of our flesh and blood through the virgin Mary, and He approaches God, as no other can, for He is God’s image, God’s Son, and at the same time the perfect, holy in all His sufferings, only obedient son of man. This king is mediator and reconciler with God; He is also high-priest and fulfilled all righteousness, as was necessary for our propitiation. What glory to have such a king, who brings us nigh unto God, and this is our glory!” Diedrich.
9. On Jer_31:1. “There is no greater promise than this: I will be thy God. For if He is our God we are His creatures, His redeemed, His sanctified, according to all the three articles of the Christian faith.” Cramer.
10. On Jer_31:2. “The rough heap had to be sifted by the sword, but those who survived, though afflicted in the desert of this life, found favor with God, and these, the true Israel, God leads into His rest.” Diedrich.
11. On Jer_31:3. “The love of God towards us comes from love and has no other cause above or beside itself, but, is in God and remains in God, so that Christ who is in God is its centre. For herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (1Jn_4:10).” Cramer. “Totum gratiæ imputatur, non nostris meritis. Augustine in Psalms 31.” Förster. “Before I had done anything good Thou hadst already moved towards me. Let these words be written on your hearts with the pen of the living God, that they may light you like flames of fire on the day of the marriage. It is your certificate of birth, your testimonial. Let me never lose sight of how much it has cost Thee to redeem me.” Zinzendorf. “God says: My chastisement even was pure love, though then you did not understand it; you shall learn it afterwards.” Diedrich. [“I incline to the construction given in the English version, both because the suffix to the verb is more naturally, ‘I have drawn thee,’ than ‘I have drawn out toward thee,’ and because there seems to be a tacit allusion to Hos_11:4, ‘With loving kindness have I drawn thee.’—-A great moral truth lies in this passage so construed, viz., that the main power which humbles man’s pride, softens his hard heart and makes him recoil in shame and sorrow from sinning, comes through his apprehension of God’s love as manifested in Christ and His cross. It is love that, draws the fearful or stubborn soul to the feet of divine mercy.” Cowles.—S. R. A.]
12. On Jer_31:6. “It is well: the watchmen on Mount Ephraim had to go to Zion. They received however another visit from the Jewish priests, which they could not have expected at the great reformation, introduced by John, and which had its seat among other places on Mount Ephraim. The Samaritans were not far distant, and Mount Ephraim had even this honor that when the Lord came to His temple He took His Seat as a teacher there.” Zinzendorf. [“God’s grace loves to triumph over the most inveterate prejudices… No words could represent a greater and more benign change in national feeling than these: Samaria saying through her spiritual watchmen, ‘Let us go up to Zion to worship, for our God is there.’ ” Cowles. “ ‘Ascendamus in Sion, hoc est in Ecclesiam’ says S. Jerome. According to this view, the watchmen here mentioned are the Preachers of the Gospel.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
13. On Jer_31:9. “I will lead them. It is an old sighing couplet, but full of wisdom and solid truth:—
‘Lord Jesus, while I live on earth, O guide me,
Let me not, self-led, wander from beside Thee.’ ”
—Zinzendorf.
14. On Jer_31:10. “He who has scattered Israel will also collect it. Why? lie is the Shepherd. It is no wolf-scattering. He interposes His hand, then they go asunder, and directly come together again more orderly.” Zinzendorf.
15. On Jer_31:12-14. “Gaudebunt electi, quando videbunt supra se, intra se, juxta se, infra se. Augustine.”—“Præmia cœlestia erunt tam magna, ut non possint mensurari, tam multa, ut non possint numerari, tam copiosa, ut non possint terminari, tam pretiosa, ut non possint æstimari. Bernhard.” Förster.
16. On Jer_31:15. “Because at all times there is a similar state of things in the church of God, the lament of Rachel is a common one. For as this lament is over the carrying away captive and oppressions of Babylon, so is it also a lament over the tyranny of Herod in slaughtering the innocent children (Mat_2:1-7.)”Cramer. “Premuntur justi in ecclesia ut clament, clamantes exaudiuntur, exauditi glorificent Deum. Augustin.” Förster.—With respect to this, that Rachel’s lament may be regarded as a type of maternal lamentation over lost children, Förster quotes this sentence of Cyprian: non amisimus, sed præmisimus (2Sa_12:23). [On the application of this verse to the murder of the innocents consult W. L. Alexander, Connexion of the Old and New. Testament, p. 54, and W. H. Mill in Wordsworth’s Note in loc.—S. R. A.]
17. On Jer_31:18. The conversion of man must always be a product of two factors. A conversion which man alone should bring about, without God, would be an empty pretence of conversion; a conversion, which God should produce, without man, would be a compulsory, manufactured affair, without any moral value. The merit and the praise is, however, always on God’s side. He gives the will and the execution. Did He not discipline us, we should never learn discipline. Did He not lead back our thoughts to our Father’s house which we have left (Luke 15) we should never think of returning.
18. On Jer_31:19. “The children of God are ashamed their life long, they cannot raise their heads for humiliation. For their sins always seem great to them, and the grace of God always remains something incomprehensible to them.”Zinzendorf. The farther the Christian advances in his consciousness of sonship and in sanctification, the more brilliantly rises the light of grace, the more distinctly does he perceive in this light, how black is the night of his sins from which God has delivered him. [“It is the ripest and fullest ears of grain which hang their heads the lowest.”—S. R. A.]
19. On Jer_31:19. “The use of the dear cross is to make us blush (Dan_9:8) and not regard ourselves as innocent (Jer_30:11). And as it pleases a father when a child soon blushes, so also is this tincture a flower of virtue well-pleasing to God.” Cramer. “Deus oleum miserationis suæ non nisi in vas contritum et contribulatum infundit. Bernhard.”Förster.
20. On Jer_31:19. The reproach of my youth. “The sins of youth are not easily to be forgotten (Psa_25:7; Job_31:18). Therefore we ought to be careful so to act in our youth as not to have to chew the cud of bitter reflection in our old age. It is a comfort that past sins of youth will not injure the truly penitent. Non nocent peccata præterita, cum non placent præsentia. Augustine. To transgress no more is the best sign of repentance.” Cramer.
21. On Jer_31:20. “Comforting and weighty words, which each one should lay to heart. God loves and caresses us as a mother her good child. He remembers His promise. His heart yearns and breaks, and it is His pleasure to do us good.” Cramer. “lpsius proprium est, misereri semper et parcere.” Augustine.—“Major est Dei misericordia quam omnium hominum miseria.” Idem.
22. On Jer_31:23. The Lord bless thee, thou dwelling-place of righteousness, thou holy mountain. “Certainly no greater honor was ever done to the Jewish mountains than that the woman’s seed prayed and wept on them, was transfigured, killed and ascended above all heaven.” Zinzendorf. “ It cannot be denied that a church sanctifies a whole place …. Members of Jesus are real guardian angels, who do not exist in the imagination, but are founded on God’s promise (Mat_25:40).” Idem.
23. On Jer_31:29-30. “The so-called family curse has no influence on the servants of God; one may sleep calmly nevertheless. This does not mean that we should continue in the track of our predecessors, ex. gr., when our ancestors have gained much wealth by sinful trade, that we should continue this trade with this wealth with the hope of the divine blessing…. If this or that property, house, right, condition be afflicted with a curse, the children of God may soon by prudent separation deliver themselves from these unsafe circumstances. For nothing attaches to their persons, when they have been baptized with the blood of Jesus and are blessed by Him.” Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer_31:29-30. “In testamento novo per sarguinem mediatoris deleto paterno chirographo incipit homo paternis debitis non esse obnoxius renascendo, quibus nascendo fuerat obligatus, ipso Mediatore di cente: Ne vobis patrem dicüis in terra (Mat_23:9). Secundum hoc utique, quod alios natales, quibus non patri succederemus, sed cum patre semper viveremus, invenimus.” Augustine, contra Julian, VI. 12, in Ghisler.
25. On Jer_31:31. “In veteribus libris aut nusquam aut difficile præter hunc propheticum locum legitur facta commemoratio testamenti novi, ut omnino ipso nomine appellaretur. Nam multis locis hoc significalur et prænuntiatur futurum, sed non ita ut etiam nomen lega’ ur expressum.” Augustine, de Spir. et Lit. ad Marcellin, Cap. 19 (where to Cap. 29 there is a detailed discussion of this passage) in Ghisler.—“In the whole of the Old Testament there is no passage, in which the view is so clearly and distinctly expressed as here that the law is only παιδαγαγός. And though some commentators have supposed that the passage contains only a censure of the Israelites and not of the Old Covenant, they only show thus that they have not understood the simple meaning of the words.” Ebrard. Comm. zum Hebräerbr. S. 275.
26. On Jer_31:31, sqq. “Propter veteris hominis noxam, quæ per literam jubentem et minantem minime sanabatur, dicitur illud testamentum vetus; hoc antem novum propter novitatem spiritus, quæ hominem novum sanat a vitio vetustatis.” Augustine, c. Lit. Cap. 19.
27. On Jer_31:33. “Quid sunt ergo leges Dei ab ipso Deo scriptæ in cordibus, nisi ipsa præsentia Spiritus sancti, qui est digitus Dei, quo præsente diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostrio, quæ plenitudo legis est et præcepti finis?” Augustine, l. c. Cap. 20.
28. On Jer_31:34. “Quomodo tempus est novi testamenti, de quo propheta dixit: et non docebit unusquisque civem suum, etc. nisi quia rjusdem testamenti novi æternam mercedem, id est ipsius Dei beatissimam contemplationem promittendo conjunxit?” Augustine, l. c. Cap. 24.
29. On Jer_31:33-34. “This is the blessed difference between law and Gospel, between form and substance. Therefore are the great and small alike, and the youths like the elders, the pupils more learned than their teachers, and the young wiser than the ancients (1Jn_2:20 sqq.). Here is the cause:—For I will forgive their iniquities. This is the occasion of the above; no one can effect this without it. Forgiveness of sins makes the scales fall from people’s eyes, and gives them a cheerful temper, clear conceptions, a clear head.”Zinzendorf.
30. On Jer_31:35-37. “Etsi particulares ecclesiæ intotum deficere possunt, ecclesia tamen catholica nunquam defecit aut deficiet. Obstant enim Dei amplissimæ promissiones, inter quas non ultimum locum sibi vindicut quæ hic habetur Jer_31:37.” Förster.
31. On Jer_31:38-40. “Jerusalem will one day be much greater than it has ever been. This is not to be understood literally but spiritually. Jerusalem will be wherever there are believing souls, its circle will be without end and comprise all that has been hitherto impure and lost. This it is of which the prophet is teaching, and which he presents in figures, which were intelligible to the people in his time. The hill Gareb, probably the residence of the lepers, the emblem of the sinner unmasked and smitten by God, and the cursed valley of Ben-Hinnom will be taken up into the holy city. God’s grace will one day effect all this, and Israel will thus be manifested as much more glorious than ever before.” Diedrich.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_30:5-9. Sermon on one of the last Sundays after Trinity or the second in Advent. The day of the judgment of the world a great day. For it is, (1) a day of anxiety and terror for all the world; (2) a day of deliverance from all distress for the church of the Lord; (3) a day of realization of all the happiness set in prospect before it.
2. On Jer_30:10-12. Consolation of the church in great trial. 1. It has well deserved the trial (Jer_30:12); 2. it is therefore chastised, but with moderation; 3. it will not perish but again enjoy peace.
3. On Jer_30:17. [“The Restorer of mankind. 1. Faith in the Christian Sacrament and its attendant revelation of divine character alone answer the demand of the heart and reason of man for a higher state of moral perfection. 2. Christianity offers to maintain a communication between this world and that eternal world of holiness and truth. 3. It commends itself to our wants in the confirmation and direction of that principle of hope, which even in our daily and worldly life, we are perpetually forced to substitute for happiness, and 4. By the adorable object, which it presents to our affections.” Archer Butler—S. R. A.]
4. On Jer_31:1-2. Gesetz and Zeugniss (Law and Testimony) 1864, Heft. 1. Funeral sermon of Ahlfeld.
5. On Jer_31:2-4. lb. 1865. Heft 1. Funeral sermon of Besser, S. 32 ff.
6. On Jer_31:3. C. Fr. Hartmann (Wedding, School, Catechism and Birth-day sermons, ed. C. Chr. Eberh. Ehemann. Tüb. 1865). Wedding sermon. 1. A grateful revival in the love of God already received. 2. Earnest endeavor after a daily enjoyment of this love. 3. Daily nourishment of hope.
7. On Jer_31:3. Florey. Comfort and warning at graves. I. Bändchen, S. 253. On the attractions of God’s love towards His own children. They are, 1. innumerable and yet so frequently overlooked; 2. powerful and yet so frequently resisted; 3. rich in blessing and yet so frequently; unemployed. [For practical remarks on this text see also Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, No. 11.—S. R. A.]
8. On Jer_31:9. Confessional sermon by Dekan V. Biarowsky in Erlangen (in Palmer’s Evang. Casual-Reden, 2 te Folge, 1 Band. Stuttgart, 1850.) Every partaking of the Lord’s supper is a return to the Lord in the promised land, and every one who is a guest at the supper rises and comes. 1. How are we to come? (weeping and praying). 2. What shall we find? (Salvation and blessing, power and life, grace and help).
9. On Jer_31:18-20. Comparison of conversion with the course of the earth and the sun. 1. The man who has fallen away is like the planet in its distance from the sun; he flees from God as far as he Song of Solomon 2. Love however does not release him: a. he is chastened (winter, cold, long nights, short days); b. he accepts the chastening and returns to proximity to the sun (summer, warmth, light, life). Comp. Brandt, Altes und Neues in i extemporirbaren Entwürfen. Nüremberg, 1829, II. 5. [The stubborn sinner submitting himself to God. I. A description of the feelings and conduct of an obstinate, impenitent sinner, while smarting under the rod of affliction: He is rebellious—till subdued. II. The new views and feelings produced by affliction through divine grace: (a) convinced of guilt and sinfulness; (b) praying; (c) reflecting on the effects of divine grace in his conversion. III. A correcting but compassionate God, watching the result, etc., (a) as a tender father mindful of his penitent child; (b) listening to his complaints, confessions and petitions; (c) declaring His determination to pardon. Payson.—S. R. A.]
10. On Jer_31:31-34. Sermon on 1 Sunday in Advent by Pastor Diechert in Gröningen, S. Stern aus Jakob. I. Stuttg. 1867.
11. On Jer_31:33-34. Do we belong to the people of God? 1. Have we holiness? 2. Have we knowledge? 3. Have we the peace promised to this people? (Caspari in Predigtbuch von Dittmar, Erlangen, 1845).
12. On Jer_31:33-34. By the new covenant in the bath of holy baptism all becomes new. 1. What was dead becomes alive 2. What was obscure becomes clear. 3. What was cold becomes warm. 4. What was bound becomes free (Florey, 1862).
Footnotes:
[13]Jer_30:18.—אהֶֹל, poetical for house. Comp. Jer_4:20; 1Ki_8:66; Job_21:8.
[14]Jer_30:18.—עיר, without the article, therefore, not the city κατ’ ἐξοχὴν, i. e., Jerusalem, but the city generally, that is, any city.
[15]Jer_30:18.—על־תלה. The prophet has evidently Deu_13:16 in view, where it is said of a city on which a curse is laid, that it shall be burned and shall be תֵּל עוֹלָם, it shall not be built again. Comp. Jos_8:28; Jos_11:13; Jer_49:2. We see from this that תֵּל is the heap of rubbish formed by the ruined city.
[16]Jer_30:18.—על-משׁפרו ישׁב. Hitzig: The palace will stand in its proper place. Graf [and Henderson]: shall be inhabited in its proper place. Both say that after an appropriate manner would be בְּמִשְׁפָטוֹ. But the phrase may also mean according to its right. Comp. Deu_17:11.—יֵשֵׁב is more than stand. It is here used intransitively as in Jer_17:6; Jer_17:25; Isa_13:20 : Eze_26:20; Zec_7:7 (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 69, 1), but the meaning of inhabit remains. If, however, we take the phrase=upon, in its place, then the idea of inhabit is superfluous, as Hitzig has rightly felt. I therefore consider “it will be inhabited as becomes it,” as the correct rendering. A palace will not be inhabited as a beggar’s hut. The prophet wrote עַל, through occasion of על-תלה, but the second על must not therefore be regarded as being as local in signification as the first.
[17]Jer_30:23.—Instead of מִתְחוֹלֵל, Jer_23:9, we read here מִתְגוֹרֵר by which the paronomasia with יָתוּל is destroyed. The forcible בִינָה at the close is also wanting. As to מתגורר, this Hithp occurs only here and in Hos_7:14 and 1Ki_17:20. In Hosea the meaning “to alarm one’s self,” is most recommended, in 1 Kings 17 that of “commorari” is necessarily required by the connection. In this passage the commentators vacillate greatly; an abiding storm (Hengstenberg): a rolling storm from גָרַר, gargarizare (Meier); turbo cuncta abripiens from גָרַר, rapere, (Gesen. Thes., p. 305); a whirling storm, from גָּלַל=גָּרַר volvere. The last meaning would come nearest the original מִתִחוֹלֵל. Comp. Fuerst, s. v., גּוּר, III. and גּרר.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain bring again . . . captivity-- (Jer 33:7, Jer…
bring again . . . captivity-- (Jer 33:7, Jer 33:11).
tents--used to intimate that their present dwellings in Chaldea were but temporary as tents.
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have mercy on dwelling-places-- (Psa 102:13).
own heap--on the same hill, that is, site, a hill being the usual site chosen for a city (compare Jos 11:13, Margin). This better answers the parallel clause, "after the manner thereof" (that is, in the same becoming ways as formerly), than the rendering, "its own heap of ruins," as in Jer 49:2.
palace--the king's, on Mount Zion.
remain--rather, "shall be inhabited" (see on Jer 17:6, Jer 17:25). This confirms English Version, "palace," not as others translate, "the temple" (see Kg1 16:18; Kg2 15:25).
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 THE BLESSEDNESS OF RESTORATION, Jer_30:18-24.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF RESTORATION, Jer_30:18-24.
18. The captivity of Jacob’s tents — The term “tents” suggests that the stay of the Judahites in Chaldea was to be but temporary. It may also suggest the poverty and wandering condition of the people in that land.
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Heap — Not of ruins, but for defence and safety. The prime condition of strength in the position of a city was, that it should be on an elevation, either natural or artificial. The term here employed — Tel — is frequently a part of the names of cities. Compare Tel-Abib. Eze_3:15. Palace shall remain, etc. — Rather, the palace shall be inhabited, etc.
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 18. turn again the captivity] See on Jer_29:14.
18. turn again the captivity] See on Jer_29:14.
upon her own heap] meaning the hill on which she had previously stood, on her old site. A hill was the usual position of the Eastern cities (Mat_5:14), as helping to protect them alike from sudden attack and from inundation. Hence the frequency with which the word Tel (which is the Hebrew here translated heap) forms part of the name of a city; Telassar (2Ki_19:12; Isa_37:12); Tel-harsha and Tel-melah (Ezr_2:59; Neh_7:61); Tel-abib (Eze_3:15).
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palace] See on Jer_6:5.
shall remain after the manner thereof] shall be inhabited after its fashion, i.e. it shall be occupied by a king and shall be kept up with all the appliances and state suitable for such a place. Cp. note on “judgement” (same word in the Hebrew) in Jer_5:4.
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 (18) I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s…
(18) I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents . . .—The promise of restoration takes naturally a material form. The prophet sees the tents of those who still kept up the old nomadic life, pitched once more in the land of Israel (comp. 1Ki_12:16; Jer_35:10), while for those who dwell in towns, city (the Hebrew has no article) and palace shall rise again from their ruins upon their old foundations on the hills of Judah. The verses that follow carry on the picture of restored prosperity—the streets of the city thronged; the joyous procession of triumphant leaders or of bride and bridegroom; the children playing in the market-place (Zec_8:5; Mat_11:16); the Temple-courts filled with the “congregations” of worshippers; the people ruled by their own councillors and princes, and not by the satraps of their conquerors.
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 Vers. 18-22. A picture of the regenerate commonwealth of…
Vers. 18-22. A picture of the regenerate commonwealth of Israel.
Upon her own heap; rather, upon her own mound, the tell or eminence on which an Eastern town was built. (comp. Jos_11:13, where "in their strength" should rather be "on their own mound Shall remain; rather, shall be inhabited.
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Vers. 18-21. Joys of redemption.
The joys of the restoration of Israel are suggestive of the joys of redemption which belong to those who have been healed of their sins and recovered to the favour of God. Let us consider some of the elements of these joys.
I A RESTORATION TO LOST RIGHTS AND POSSESSIONS. The city is to be built again "upon her own mound." The people not only find the vines they grow in Chaldea fruitful; they are restored to their own land. The prodigal would not have been satisfied if his comrades had helped him to affluence and pleasure again; he must return to the old home. There is something imperfect in the return of prosperity to Job in the fact that though he has greater riches and as many sons and daughters as before his calamities, his dead children are not raised from the grave, and the loss of them cannot be really compensated by the gift of a new family. So is it with earthly losses. The greatest are irretrievable. But the glory of God"s ultimate salvation is that it restores old lost blessings as well as gives new blessings, be comforting memory and satisfying hope.
II AN ENJOYMENT OF INWARD GLADNESS AND THANKSGIVING. The true life is the inner life. Outward sunshine may find this black as midnight, and leave it so. It is much, therefore, to know that redemption from sin brings real gladness. We might have thought that it would have been haunted with dark memories. But God"s deliverance is so complete that it dispels the gloom of a guilty conscience. The Christian should, therefore, be a man of inward joys and thankfulness.
III AN EXTENSION OF POWER AND GLORY. The exiles were scattered and their wealth and influence lost; the return at first promised little satisfaction to the poor and feeble band of patriots that attempted to rebuild the ruins of the ancient nation. But great promises encouraged the faithful to believe that ultimately their numbers would be multiplied, that they should have glory, and not "be lightly regarded," and should be ruled by men of their own people of noble and royal orders. The Christian Church began, like restored Israel, in a small and humble sphere. But she has grown marvellously, and is destined to grow in numbers, in power, and in glory. Redemption is a work worthy of God; no meager saving of a few as "by the skin of their teeth," but a work of right royal magnificence, calling multitudes to its blessings, and giving them liberty and honour for their old shame and bondage. The Christian receives more than salvation; he is an heir of glory.
Vers. 18-22. The multitude of God"s mercies.
A rapid and brilliant enumeration of the characteristics of national glory and human happiness and well being. Representative and suggestive, but not exhaustive.
I SEVERALLY SPECIFIED. Set forth with great distinctness, as one might in a legal document; and yet a complete and comprehensive view of a nation"s restoration.
1. Return of the people to their own land. (Ver. 18) The representatives of those who had been exiled would be brought back. The shifty and uncertain character of their sojourning ("tents") in a strange land would be exchanged for a settled, civic life. As an outward symbol of this Jerusalem would be rebuilt upon its ruins. "He that made of the city a heap (Isa_25:1) can when he pleaseth make of a heap a city again" (Henry). The habits and customs, the public order and life of God"s people, are important as being sacred even as their specially religious observances, and are therefore cared for. True religion is not merely to sojourn in the world, but to dwell there, and influence permanently the conditions and usages of human life. Nothing less than the reconstitution of human society is herein sought. (cf. Joh_17:15)
2. Restoration of religious institutions. (Vers. 18-20) Of these the chief, centre, and condition of all the rest the temple, or "palace is first referred to. From its conspicuous and characteristic position amongst the public buildings of the city, it is mentioned in connection with its rebuilding. Because of its presence therein the latter is also sacred; and so it is said, "Out of them shall proceed," etc. The great festivals are to be restored. Worship, in its most imposing and joyous forms, will be celebrated; and this supposes for its possibility the presence in Israel of a religious, self-governing community. The spiritual training of the people will be resumed (ver. 20). Much attention was always devoted by pious Jews to the upbringing of their children, who are here promised to be "as aforetime," i.e. as Jewish children were wont to be according to the covenant, strictly and piously brought up. In this a fresh security is afforded of the religions and social prosperity of God"s people. The Church can never afford to ignore the upbringing of the children. As it is a positive injunction ("Feed my lambs"), so is it a gracious privilege and favour granted to his servants that they should discharge it. The sunniest and most hopeful department of religious effort is that which relates to the young. "How is it your flowers are so grandly developed?" was asked of a gardener. "Chiefly," he replied, "because I take care of my seedlings." The sacred community of Israel will also thereby be increased and established. New, trained members will be supplied for the spiritual offices, and the ordinary membership of the congregation. It is observable that the chief increase of the Church is thus implied to be from within itself. And so it must be today.
3. National prosperity. This appears in the first place as social well being. The family life will be greatly blessed, and the population multiplied. It is a result of moral order, etc., and also a means of securing and extending the influence of righteousness. In the next place is political freedom. Tyranny will be abolished (ver. 20); and their ruler shall be one of themselves, representing their aims and aspirations, and not imposed upon them by a foreign conqueror. Lastly, political influence will extend abroad (ver. 19).
4. Covenant relations will be renewed. (Ver. 22) This is the culminating and all-comprehensive blessing. Whilst the preceding suppose this, they are really but as antecedents to its complete realization. God will then recognize his people, and regard them with complacency. Neither will be ashamed of the other.
II MUTUALLY RELATED. How essential is it that human life, in its interests and activities, should be regarded as a whole, the secular with the religious, the duty with the right, the responsibility with the privilege! It is a distinct loss when one portion of it is taken apart from the others and concentrates attention upon itself. Here we have a grand ideal for the individual and the community: the life of man, to be complete and healthy in its development, must extend indefinitely outwards and upwards. The deepest reverence for truth, righteousness, and God is consistent with the truest liberty. The blessings and good things of life, to be truly enjoyed, must be received as sacramental; as the outcome and expression of communion between man and God. M.
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 I will also glorify them, and they shall not…
Jer_30:18-20
I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
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The Churchs encouragement in times of depression
I. A representation cf the Church in a state of great depression and affliction.
1. Consternation and dismay are evinced. There is the voice of trembling, and the agitation of fear, at the apprehension of approaching calamities. Every man is represented with his hands upon his loins, the symptoms of agonising pain; and all faces are turned unto paleness, the effect of extreme alarm.
2. Desolation and ruin are also intimated. Their bruise was incurable, and their wound was grievous; for they were wounded by the hand of an enemy,--with the chastisement of a cruel one.
II. The encouraging promise here given to the Church of her restoration to peace and prosperity.
1. Tranquillity and protection; or, peace in all her borders (Jer_30:10).
2. The renewal of her religious privileges (Jer_30:18; Jer_30:22).
3. The increase of her converts (Jer_30:19).
4. The joy of her members is next promised;--and this follows as a matter of course.
5. The destruction of her enemies. (R. Bond.)
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 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you."
I am about to bring back the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his homes
The places where people live are metonyms for the people who live in those places. AT: "I am about bring back the fortunes of the descendants of Jacob, and I will have compassion on them" (See: Metonymy)
I am about to bring back the fortunes of Jacob's tents
"I will cause things to go well for the people in Jacob's tents again" or "I will cause the people in Jacob's tents to live well again." See how you translated similar words in Jeremiah 29:14.
Then a city will be built on the heap of ruins
This can be translated in active form. You may need to make explicit that the city they will build will be Jerusalem. AT: "Then they will rebuild Jerusalem on its ruins" (See: Active or Passive)
Then a song of praise and a sound of merriment will go out from them
"Then they will sing songs of praise and joy"
for I will increase them and not diminish them
"I will cause them to increase in number, not to become fewer"
so they will not be humbled
This can be translated in active form. AT: "so that no one will humble them" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Yahweh
tent
compassion
ruin
stronghold
praise
honor
humble
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 30:18 The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 445…
30:18 The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 445 BC under Nehemiah’s leadership (Neh 12:22-43).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.