Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
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Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
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And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
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And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying:
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He confirms the same thing, but by introducing a…
He confirms the same thing, but by introducing a similitude; for he shews that God’s covenant with the people of Israel would not be less firm than the settled order of nature. Unceasing are the progresses of the sun, moon, and stars; continual is the succession of day and night. This settled state of things is so fixed, that in so great and so multiplied a variety there is no change. We have now rain, then fair weather, and we have various changes in the seasons; but the sun still continues its daily course, the moon is new every month, and the revolving of day and night, which God has appointed, never ceases; and this unbroken order declares, as it is said in Psalm 19, the wonderful wisdom of God. The Prophet then sets before us here the order of nature, and says, that God’s covenant with his Church shall be no less fixed and unchangeable than what it is with mankind, with regard to the government of the world.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 33:19 And the word of the LORD came…
Jer 33:19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
Ver. 19. And the word of the Lord, &c.] Iterum de perpetuitate regni Christi tractat et iurat, saith Oecolampadius. Once more he treateth of the perpetuity of Christ’s kingdom, and assureth it as by oath.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah,....…
And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah,.... For the further explanation and confirmation of what is before said; and which came at the same time as the other; this being not a new prophecy, but an illustration of the former:
saying; as follows:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 6. The Kingdom and Priesthood of the Future eternal
6. The Kingdom and Priesthood of the Future eternal
Jer_33:19-26
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19, 20 And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah:
If ye will break my covenant[12] of the day and my covenant of the night,
So that13 there shall not be day14 nor night in their season;
21 My covenant with David my servant shall also be broken,
So that he shall have15 no son to be king on his throne,—
And with the Levites, the priests, who serve16 me.
22 As17 the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
Nor the sand of the sea measured,
So will I multiply the seed of David, my servant,
And the Levites who serve me.18
23 Moreover the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying:
24 Hast thou not seen,19 what this people saith,
“The two families which Jehovah had chosen he has rejected?”20
And thus despise my people, that they are no more a nation before them [in then sight.]
25 Thus saith Jehovah, If my covenant continue not day and night,
And I have not appointed the ordinances21 of heaven and earth;
26 Then will I reject the seed of Jacob, and David my servant,
That I will not take of his seed rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
For I will reverse their captivity22 and have mercy on them.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The preceding section concluded with the word “continually.” The idea thus briefly intimated, of a perpetual duration of the promised blessing, forms the main thought in what follows. As it does not lie within the power of man to break the covenant of the Lord, which ensures the change of day and night, so also the covenant is not to be broken which guarantees the perpetual succession of Davidic kings and Levitical priests (Jer_33:19-21). A natural guarantee of this duration will be given by the innumerable increase of the royal and priestly seed (Jer_33:22). In opposition to the presumptuous speech that Jehovah had chosen Judah and Israel and yet afterwards rejected them, which contains both a complaint against the Lord and a despising of the people (Jer_33:23-24), the assurance is again given that so long as day and night, and the fundamental laws of heaven and earth continue, so long also will kings of Jacob’s and David’s race rule over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their rejection is only temporary. The Lord will turn the captivity of the people (Jer_33:25-26). From this table of contents it is clear, that Jer_33:19-26 are related to Jer_33:14-18, just as in Jeremiah 35, Jer 33:35–37, are to Jer 33:31–34. In form and character the section fully accords with the character of the prophet, as will be seen from a consideration of the particulars. Hitzig’s view, which attributes the section to Ezekiel. is deficient in any solid basis. We may indeed infer from the introductory formulas (Jer_33:19; Jer_33:23), that the prophet received these revelations separately, but not that they are disconnected later additions, seeing that these formulas stand in the middle between the large (comp. Jer_32:1), and the small divisions (thus saith Jehovah). Moreover this formula with to Jeremiah, is found all along from Jeremiah 28; Jer_28:12; Jer_29:30; Jer_32:26; Jer_33:1; Jer_33:19; Jer_33:23; Jer_34:12; Jer_35:12; Jer_36:27; Jer_37:6; Jer_42:7; Jer_43:8. Previously we find to me; Jer_1:4; Jer_1:11; Jer_2:1; Jer_13:3; Jer_13:8; Jer_16:1; Jer_18:5; Jer_24:4.
Jer_33:19-22. And the word … who serve me. To break the covenant on which the changes of day and night are founded, is not in the power of man. For according to the divine promise (Gen_8:22) in no circumstances, not even in the case of an apostasy similar to that which occasioned the flood, will any change take place in the laws of nature, so long as the earth stands. In these words it is certainly declared that the earth will one day cease to exist, but it will then according to the teaching of the Scriptures only pass to a higher stage of existence (Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22; 2Pe_3:13; Rev_21:1), and this transition is not an annulling of the promise given to David, but only leads to a corresponding transition to a higher stage of realization.—My covenant of the day is the covenant which I have concluded with respect to the day, whose object is the day.—David my servant. Comp. 2Sa_3:18; 2Sa_7:5; 2Sa_7:8; Eze_34:24, etc.—These verses express substantially the same thought as Jer_31:32-37.—As the host, etc. The reference to the promise given to the patriarchs, Gen_15:5; Gen_22:17; Gen_32:13 is evident, and corresponds with the mention of the same in Jer_33:26. Hengstenberg has pointed out with perfect justice that Jeremiah here by no means prophesies an unlimited increase of the royal and priestly posterity which, as Jahn remarks, would be only a burden on the people. But in perfect accordance with the declaration of the Lord, that all Israel shall be a “kingdom of priests” (Exo_19:6), and with the prophetic utterances (Isa_61:6, “and ye shall be named the priests of Jehovah: men shall call you the Ministers of our God;” Isa_66:20-21, “and I will also take of them to be priests and Levites [Levitic priests]”). Jeremiah here declares that the threefold promise of 1. innumerable increase; 2. the priestly and royal character of the whole people; 3. the everlasting continuance of kingdom and priesthood, will form a grand harmonious chord. If, as cannot be denied, Jeremiah has in view that time, in which all that is ideal will be real, his words cannot (whether he was conscious of it or not, is a matter of indifference), express anything else but this; the priestly and royal seed will be innumerable, because the whole nation having now become innumerable, will consist according to its original and essential idea of priests and kings. The innumerousness of the people, which was never actual even in the times of the highest prosperity (comp. 2Sa_24:9) rests on the inclusion of the whole of regenerate humanity (Isa_66:20).
Jer_33:23-26. Moreover the word … have mercy on them. In the preceding verses (20–22) was positively declared the eternal duration of the covenant which Jehovah has concluded with the theocratic kingdom and priesthood: in the following verses this declaration is defended against a malicious attack.—It is altogether wrong to understand by “this people,” foreign nations (Schnurrer understands Egypt, Jahn Chaldean warriors, Movers Samaritans, Hitzig the neighbors of the Jews and of Ezekiel on the Chaboras). It was surely not worth the trouble to rebut such an assertion, if it were made by the heathen. Their judgment had no weight in such a case. But when Israelites, who ought, to know the relation of their nation to the Lord, subscribed to such pessimism, a counter-testimony was in place.—It is evident that Judah and Israel are meant by the two families. It is clear both from the following phrase “my people,” and “seed of Jacob,” and “seed of Abraham, etc.,” Jer_33:26. מִשְׁפָּחָה is often used in Jeremiah of national races: Jer_1:15; Jer_10:25; Jer_25:9—And thus despise, נאץ is here “cum irrisione spernere,” as in general the idea of rejection, rejection with disdain, is related to that of contempt. Comp. Jer_14:21 where תְּנַבֵּכ is used as synonymous with הִּנְאַץ. These Jews thus pronounce on their own responsibility, without any occasion on the part of the Lord, a sentence of rejection upon their nation, thus on the one hand insulting God as though He were inconsistent, on the other their nation, as though it were only good enough to be the foot-ball of its Lord’s caprice.—A nation before them. From Jer_31:36 coll. Jer_35:19 we see that 1, “to be a nation” signifies national existence in opposition to division and scattering of the constituents of the nation; 2. that “before them” is not to be taken in a temporal but a physical sense; i. e., they maintain that they will no longer be witnesses of that national existence, that their eyes will no longer be gratified by the sight of such prosperity.—If my covenant, etc. Comp. Jer_31:35; Jer_31:37. The charge is rebutted by an appeal to the guarantee involved in the order of nature. Is this more firmly established than the order of salvation? To supplement if by the following have appointed, as in 2Sa_23:5, seems to me forced. If we do not wish to take לֹא according to Job_6:21 as a substantive, it is sufficient to regard it as a negative particle: if my covenant is not daily and nightly, i. e., has no real, permanent existence.—Then will I reject the seed, etc. Observe that the charge in Jer_33:24 involved the rejection of both tribes. With a view to this, “seed of Jacob” is placed first as the main conception “and David my servant” is inserted, because if the charge were well-founded, the promise in Jer_33:17-18 would also fall to the ground. Since now, however, the seed of Jacob is to remain in possession of his promise, the basis is thus given for the preservation of the seed of David. The priests are no longer spoken of specially, being included in the seed of Jacob. The prophet lays special emphasis on the seed of David, because in Jer_33:15 he started with this idea as the security and central point of the theocracy. He then connects this idea with that of the seed of Jacob by saying that there shall never fail a descendant of David to rule over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In naming the three patriarchs he throws new weight into the scale in favor of the nation. Not only Jacob, but Isaac and Abraham also must have lost favor in the sight of God, if He reject their seed. They, however, are dear for the fathers’ sake (Rom_11:28-29 coll. Jer_1:2; Jer_1:16). Comp. Exo_2:24-25; Exo_32:13; Lev_26:42; 2Ki_13:23; Psa_105:8-10; Isa_41:8.
Footnotes:
[12]Jer_33:20.—The י—at the end of בְּרִיתִי is a suffix. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 63, 4 g.
[13]Jer_33:20.—The ו before לְבִלְתִּי=and indeed. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 111, a, and Jer_6:2; Jer_17:10; Jer_19:12; Jer_25:9; Jer_26:5.
[14]Jer_33:20.—יומָם is used as a substantive in the sense of יַוֹם here and in Jer_33:25 only. In Eze_30:16 it=quotidie. Comp. קִלְלַת חִנָּם, Pro_26:2. Haevernick on Ezek., S. 515, 6.—Since יוֹמָם according to all analogies is an old nominal form (comp. Olsh. § 222, b), it is possible that for the sake of solemnity Jeremiah made use of this old form without regard to the adverbial signification which had become usual.
[15]Jer_33:21.—מהיות. Comp. Naeselsb. Gr., § 106, 6.
[16]Jer_33:22.—שֵׁרֵת ּמשרתי is the technical term for the ministration of the Levites and priests. Num_3:6; 1Sa_2:11; Joe_1:9; Joe_2:17; 2Ch_13:10, etc. Comp. Herzog, R.-Enc., XII, § 175, 6.
[17]Jer_33:22.—אשׁר is here used accusatively, i.e., adverbially for כַּאֵשֶׁר. Comp. Isa_54:9.
[18]Jer_33:22.—משׁרתי אתי. Comp. Ewald, § 288, a; Naegelsb. Gr, § 64, 5 c.
[19]Jer_33:24.—הלא ראית. In Ezekiel this idiom is frequent, Jer_8:12; Jer_8:15; Jer_8:17 coll. Jer_33:6; Jer_47:6. Comp. also Jer_3:6 coll. Jer_7:17 This use of ראה by synecdoche, is like that in Jer_5:12; Lam_3:1; Gen_42:1, coll. 2.
[20]Jer_33:24.—וימאסם. Comp. Jer_6:19; Naegelsb. Gr., § 88, 7 e.
[21]Jer_33:25.—חקות. In Jer_31:36, חקים. Comp. Jer_32:11. The former is more usual in Jeremiah,—Jer_5:24; Jer_10:3; Jer_31:35; Jer_44:10; Jer_44:23.
[22]Jer_33:26.—אָשִׁוב. Only in Jer 40:39 besides do we find in Jeremiah the imperfect Kal in this formula. It also occurs in Joel 4:1. Elsewhere, where the thought is expressed in the imperfect, we find the imperfect Hiphil. (N. B. The Perf. Hiph, occurs also Jer_33:7), Jer_32:44; Jer_33:11; Jer_49:6; Eze_39:25. The Masoretes would therefore, and probably not in correctly, read אָשִׁיב in these three places also.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer_32:3. “An effect of anger and a procedure almost like that of Ahab with the prophet Micah. The same spirit prevails now-a-days. For without entering on an investigation, with what right or reason men are found who often in pretty general expressions in a call to repentance, borrow from the prophet all sorts of judicial threatening and point to this or that city, we cannot avoid seeing why they are always put in arrest, viz.: for this cause, ‘Why dost thou prophesy what we do not like to hear?’ When one is sure of his cause, a noble disdain of such people would be the best means to use against them. But men cannot bear a bad conscience and threatenings of all sorts together, and the fear that it may be true has the foolish effect, that they cause the bearers of such unpleasant tidings to come to a bad end, in order to affright others from coming with similar messages.” Zinzendorf.
2. On Jer_32:7 sqq. “Fundatur in hoc textu locus classicus de contractibus emtionis et venditionis, quos improbant Anabaptistæ, probat Scriptura, sicut ostendunt hæc quæ jam sequuntur documenta: Pro_31:14; Mat_13:3.”Förster.
3. On Jer_32:15. “The prophet had often enough declared the land lost to the Chaldeans. Here, however, he must testify that it is not lost forever: his purchase was to restore confidence in the future to other troubled souls. Thus the most afflicted servant of God must again be the most hopeful.”—“When we are outwardly prosperous, we think no one can take our prosperity from us, and when trouble comes upon us, we again think that no one can help us. Both courses are, however, equally ungodly. Therefore God’s servants must contradict both those who are at ease, and those who are in despair. The reverse is always right. In good days humble thyself, and in bad days let thyself be exalted, for then it is a great thing to do.” Diedrich.
4. On Jer_32:9; Jer_32:16; Jer_32:24-25. “Jeremiah also contends, but as a servant of the Lord. First he obeys and afterwards speaks about it. This is a noble way, by which every teacher, who knows the Lord, may prove himself. As soon as he observes that the Lord wishes this or that, it is not the time to expostulate, but to act, not to call anything in question, but to set to work. If then any hesitation is left, or one and another scruple, it is time afterwards to consult with the Lord about it, when one has first shown obedience.” Zinzendorf. [“Though we are bound to follow God with an implicit obedience, yet we should endeavor that it may be more and more intelligent obedience. We must never dispute God’s statutes and judgments, but we may and must inquire, What mean these statutes and judgments? Deu_6:20.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
5. On Jer_32:25. Tertullian (c. Marc, L. IV., c. 40) sees in the words “Buy thee the field for money,” the prophetic passage to which Mat_27:9 refers, regarding the reading Ἰερεμίου as correct. Comp. Euseb. Demonstr. Ev., L. X., c. 4; Augustin, De consensu Evang., L. III., c. 7.
6. On Jer_32:27. To God there is no wonder [miracle]. There are wonders only on the lower stage of existence. Every higher stage is a wonder to the lower. Or is there only one stage of existence, and accordingly only one order of nature? When the North American savages cruelly murdered one of their number who had been on a visit to the Great Father in Washington, and told them of the wonders of civilization, as a demoniacally possessed liar, were they less in the right than our highly civilized savages, to whom it is a fundamental axiom, that there is no other world, but that which they can reach with their five senses? It is certainly not proved that there is a living, personal, omnipotent God. But this is not to be proved, it is to be felt from the heart. He who is born of God heareth His voice. To him also miracles cease to be aught irrational. He knows well how to distinguish between true and false miracles, but the former come to him like a voice from the higher world, in which he feels truly at home. For the stages of existence and orders of nature are not hermetically sealed towards each other, but the higher break through in order to lift the lower up to themselves.
7. On Jer_32:36 sqq. On the fulfilment of this prophecy comp. the Comm. on Jer_13:14, and the Doctrinal notes on Jer_3:18-25, No. 8. As the threatening that Israel should be dispersed among all nations from one end of the earth to the other (Deu_28:64-66) has been literally fulfilled, why should not this promise also be literally fulfilled, that they shall be collected from all lands whither the Lord has cast them out? Why cannot this people be destroyed? Why do they retain their peculiarities with such tenacity, that neither the most raging fanaticism, nor the most humane cosmopolitanism, which is much more dangerous than the former, can mingle them with other nations; so that we can follow the course of their national stream through the sea of nations, as it is said of the Rhine that its water flows unmingled through the lake of Constance? Assuredly this people must yet have a future. Only thus much is correct; that the real kernel of these prophecies is offered to us in a shell which the prophets prepared from contemporary events, but it is difficult to determine where the shell ceases and the kernel begins. Comp. Rinck, The Scripturalness of the doctrine of the Millennial reign defended against Hengstenberg. Eberfeld, 1866, S. 45 sqq.
8. On Jer_32:36 sqq. “Is the consummation of the redemptive work possible while Israel is rejected as a nation? According to the Old Testament this question must be unconditionally negatived. This knows only a temporary rejection of Israel, which at the same time has this result, that Israel does not perish as a nation, but is preserved for future restoration. Is this law aunulled since Israel despised the gracious visitation of the Messiah, the kingdom of God taken from them and given to a people which bring forth the fruits thereof? Are thus the predictions of the prophets, which treat of a glorification of Israel in the latter days, eternally abrogated on account of the nation’s sin? Or can their fulfilment be found only in a spiritual manner in the Christian church, the main trunk of which was formed by a chosen few from Israel? These questions are answered in the affirmative by Bertheau (Old Testament prophecy of Israel’s national glory in their own land. Jahrb. f. deutsche Theol., 1859 and 1860) in accordance with the older protestant theology (comp. especially Hollaz, Exam, theolog. ed. Teller, p. 1264 sqq.) as decidedly as according to our conviction they must, on the ground of Rom_1:25 sqq., be negatived. It seems to us to be irrefragably established that when the times of the world-nations are full (Luk_21:24), Israel will obey the gospel call, and thus be prepared to welcome the Messiah (Mat_23:39); that for this reason in its dispersion among the nations of the earth it has never been absorbed by them, but preserved in separate existence for its final destination, because God’s gifts of grace and calling are ἀμεταμέλητα.” Oehler in Herzog, R.-Enc., XVII., S. 658, 9.
9. On Jer_33:3. “This is the Lord’s declaration to His obedient servant Jeremiah. My dear child, He says, thou hast acted according to my will, without knowing why. Thou hast done well. But I will make it clear to thee, so that thou wilt wonder no more; I will tell thee that and yet more, so that thou wilt at last say., ‘Yes, let it be so.’ We find such connections a few times elsewhere in the Scriptures. The Lord says, ‘ How can I hide from Abraham the thing that I do!’ (Gen_18:17.) And the same Lord declares to His disciples, whence comes this inclination or predisposition to tell something new to His disciples, ‘ Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you’ (Joh_15:16). So also is it here with Jeremiah.” Zinzendorf.
10. On Jer_33:6. Healing, restoration, joy and permanent prosperity are promised by the prophet to Jerusalem at a time when all seemed lost, and it seemed impossible to regain them. How desolate must it have then appeared in Jerusalem when one house after another was thrown down to furnish means of defence! How wildly raged the tumult of war, and how comfortless was the condition of the city shut in by the enemy and completely cut off from the rest of the country! To the mind of him, who then thought of Jerusalem in the future, pictures of destruction alone presented themselves. Jeremiah, however, whose sight was sharpened by the divine anointing, sees beyond the present abomination of desolation in the far distant future pictures of peace and, moreover, of everlasting peace, such as no eye has ever seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man. There was the patience and faith of the saints (Rev_13:10). ‘Impossible’ is a word, which does not occur in God’s language.
11. On Jer_33:8. “After the stubborn race has been partly annihilated and partly humbled, God will turn the captivity of the nation, as a whole. Israel cannot perish eternally. God will purify the people from their sins, by forgiveness, the only way in which men can be really freed from sin. Grace and forgiveness are the only ground on which we stand as Christians. This seems nothing to the world, and yet it is more than heaven and earth.” Diedrich.
12. On Jer_33:7-13. “An important doctrine meets us in these words, that it is not the gifts of God which we should seek to apprehend, but the love of God which is manifested in that He imputes not our sin to us. Otherwise we treat the Divine benefits like the fishes which swallow the hook with the bait.” Heim and Hofmann. The major prophets expounded for edification, 1839, S. 509.
13. On Jer_33:14-17. “All God’s promises are at the same time fulfilled by the true man, the Son of Man, the pure sprout of David. He will be a King, in whom we have perfect protection from all destructive agencies, for He will help us from sin, procuring and executing on earth justice and righteousness for all mankind. As we all together inherited sin and death from Adam, so Jesus by His righteousness has brought justification of life for all men, if we would now only take it with joy. Jerusalem will itself bear the King’s name, as he was called in Jer_23:6 : Jehovah our Righteousness, i. e., that Jehovah bestows on us the righteousness, which is the bond, which at the same time unites us to the citizens of His celestial city.” Diedrich.
14. On Jer_33:15-16. [The Lord our righteousness. “This is to be explained by the union of the Church with Christ (see Rom_12:4-5; 1Co_10:17; 1Co_12:12; Eph_1:22; Eph_4:12; Eph_4:15-16; Eph_4:25; Eph_6:23; Col_1:18; Col_1:24) so that what belongs to Him is communicated to her (Calvin, Piscator, Muenster).—Thus, by virtue of her mystical union with Christ, and by the imputation of His merits, and the infusion of His Spirit, the Name of the Church may be said to be ‘ The Lord our righteousness;’ she hides herself in Him, and is seen by God as in Him; she is clothed with Christ the Sun of righteousness (see Rev_12:1) and is accepted in the Beloved (Eph_1:6).” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
15. On Jer_33:17. [“When the First-begotten was brought into the world it was declared concerning Him, The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David, Luk_1:32.” Henry.—S.R. A.]
16. On Jer_33:13-22. [“Four words, each of them full of meaning, comprise the conceptions which we attribute to the Paradisaical state. They are these: Innocence, Love, Rural Life. Piety; and it is towards these conditions of earthly happiness that the human mind reverts, as often as it turns, sickened and disappointed, from the pursuit of whatever else it may have ever labored to acquire. The innocence we here think of is not virtue recovered, that has passed through its season of trial, but it is Moral Perfectness, darkened by no thought or knowledge of the contrary. This Paradisaical love is conjugal fondness, free from sensuous taint. This Rural Life is the constant flow of summer days, spent in gardens and afield, exempt from our exacted toil. This piety of Paradise is the grateful approach of the finite being to the Infinite,—a correspondence that is neither clouded, nor is apprehensive of a cloud.” Isaac Taylor, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry.—S. R. A.]
17. On Jer_33:19-22. [“The richest promises are confirmed by the strongest assurances.” Cowles.—S. R. A.] “As God’s arrangements in nature do not fail, still less can His word fail in His kingdom of grace, and all His word refers to the divine Son of David and His eternal kingdom of grace. Yea, the whole innumerable Israel, Abraham’s spiritual posterity, shall become Davids and Levites, i. e., priests and kings, as was designed even at the beginning of Israel. (Exo_19:6; 1Pe_2:9; Rev_5:6).” Diedrich.
18. On Jer_33:18-22. [Wordsworth rejects Hengstenberg’s explanation that these words are to be applied to all Christians indiscriminately, and approves of the argument derived by the ancient Christian fathers from the passage in favor of the threefold order of ministers in the Christian church. He adds “The Gospel of Christ and the Church of Christ possess the spiritual essence of whatever was commanded in the Levitical dispensations. Whatever was local and personal in those dispensations has passed away. The Tabernacle, the Temple, their Sacrifices, their Sabbaths, their Annual Festivals, their threefold Ministry, all these have been spiritualized in the Gospel. Sinai is perpetuated in Zion. The glory of the Law has been absorbed into that of the Gospel. See Psa_68:17, the great Pentecostal Psalm.”—S. R. A.]
19. On Jer_33:23-26. “In the first place they will not be warned, and afterwards they will not be comforted. The true prophet however announces death to sinners according to the law, but afterwards grace for renovation and for life. Despair is blasphemy. God’s kingdom stands and will be perfected, but the fainthearted will not enter it. God answers: so long as heaven and earth are preserved by Me, it is for the sake of My kingdom, and as a pledge that it will not fail. Israel or, what is the same thing, David’s seed shall be a royal seed, and the captivity which the people must now endure is transient. It is however impossible for the worldly to comprehend this, who persist in carnal repose as though no God could punish them, and again in affliction are so despondent, as though there were no God to help them any more.” Diedrich. [“Deep security commonly ends in deep despair; whereas those that keep up a holy fear at all times have a good hope to support themselves in the worst of times.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_32:16. [“Before Jeremiah went to prayer he delivered the deeds that concerned his new purchase to Baruch, which may intimate to us, that when we are going to worship God we should get our minds as clear as may be from the cares and encumbrances of this world.—Note, Prayer is the salve of every sore.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
2. On Jer_32:17-25. The Divine promises our best consolation in every affliction. 1. There are promises of Divine help for every kind of distress in human life. 2. These promises often sound very wonderful (Jer_32:24-25). 3. Their fulfilment on the part of God is guaranteed by the perfection of the Divine nature (Jer_32:17-19). 4. Their fulfilment is on our part conditioned by faith.
3. On Jer_32:18-19. Harvest [Thanksgiving-day] Sermon. “To what should our admiration of the power and grace of God in the present harvest lead us? 1. To thank God. 2. To trust all to Him, that He has promised us. 3. To obey His voice.” Jentsch., Gesetz and Zeugniss, 1853.
4. On Jer_32:19. “The very serious and important truth, the eyes of the Lord are open to all the paths of the children of men. This should 1, shake us and awake us from our security, if some of our ways are sinful and such as the Lord must certainly disapprove; 2, humble us, if we are indeed under the discipline of God’s Spirit, and yet turn to our own self made courses, and have not yet allowed a fixed and sure heart to be imparted to us; 3, be for our comfort and encouragement, when we are often led in dark and difficult paths.” J. M. Mueller, Zeugnisse v. Christo. [Witnesses to Christ]. Neues Predigtbuch., Stuttgart, 1866, S. 757.
5. On Jer_32:19. [“The greatness of God’s wisdom and the abundance of His power. Proved from His nature. Rem. 1. God hath the power of making the deepest affliction of His children produce their highest happiness. 2. The contrivances of tyrants to oppress the church procure its establishment. 3. The triumphs of Satan turn to the destruction of his empire.” Saurin.—S. R. A.]
6. On Jer_32:39. Wedding-sermon, “The promise which the Lord gives to God-fearing couples. 1. One heart. 2. One way. 3. One blessing, which shall extend to their children.” Florey, 1862.
7. On Jer_32:40. Wedding-sermon. The nature and fruit of a true marriage. 1. Its nature: it is a covenant which a man and a woman conclude in the Lord, and with the Lord (put My fear in their hearts;—not depart from Me;—everlasting covenant). 2. Its fruit: good from the Lord without ceasing.
8. On Jer_32:40. [“Teachers may put good things into our heads, but it is God only that can put them into our hearts, that can work in us both to will and to do.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
9. On Jer_32:39-41. “The greatest and dearest of all the promises of God to a marriage in the highest degree happy and delightful.” G. Conr. Rieger.
10. On Jer_32:40-41. Baptismal Sermon. “The gracious promises of God, which He gives to a child of man in holy baptism.” Florey, 1862.
11. On Jer_32:42. “ In communion of suffering of pious Christians is also a blessed fellowship of consolation, since 1, when we as Christians bear with one another, we can also with each other and by each other obtain composure with respect to whatever has befallen us; 2, our heart is revived by what remains, viz., love on earth and hope in heaven; 3, we become strong for whatever duty is laid upon us, viz., labor and courage.” Florey, 1863.
12. On Jer_33:1. [“No confinement can deprive God’s people of His presence; no locks or bars can shut out His gracious visits, nay, oftentimes as their afflictions abound their consolations much more abound, and they have the most reviving communications of His favor then when the world frowns on them. Paul’s sweetest Epistles were those that bare date out of a prison.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
13. On Jer_33:6. “ The disease of our times is no other than a rebellious spirit, and the cause of this is no other than a want of reverence for God and His law.” Discourse on the Birth-day of the king by Deacon Hauber in Tübingen. Palmer, Ev Casualreden, 2te Folge, 1, 1850.
14. On Jer_33:14-16. “Jesus Christ a King. 1. From what a noble royal stock did He proceed! (Raised by God, descending from David, both by His deity and humanity heir of the throne). 2. How well has He exercised His rule with judgment and righteousness (He Himself is the Lord, who is our righteousness). 3. How far does His dominion extend! (From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth). 4. How safely does His people dwell by His help in peace !” Naumann, in Gesetz u. Zeugn., 1860, March.
15. On Jer_33:14-16. “Who is He announced to-day? 1. The long promised—with reference to His historical appearance. 2. The Son of David and at the same time God’s Son—this is His personal significance. 3. The Lord, who is our righteousness—this relates to His holy office and work.” Anacker, in Gesetz u. Zeugn., 1860, March.
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19–22. God’s Covenant is as certain in its working…
19–22. God’s Covenant is as certain in its working as the ordinances of nature. Cp. Psa_89:34 ff.
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 (19-22) And the word of the Lord came unto…
(19-22) And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying . . .—The new introduction here and in Jer_33:23 indicates a fresh message borne in on the prophet’s mind after an interval of time. In substance it repeats the promise of Jer_33:17-18, but it reproduces them with yet greater solemnity. The covenant of Jehovah with David and with the Levites the priests is placed on the same level of permanence as the ordered succession of day and night. If the old order ultimately gave way to the new, it was only because the new was the transfigured and glorified reproduction of the old. Whatever may have been the thoughts of the prophet, we are authorised in looking for the seed of David and of the Levites in those who, by virtue of their union with Christ, are made both kings and priests unto the Father (Rev_1:6). Just as the promise to the seed of Abraham is fulfilled in those who are spiritually the children of the faith of Abraham (Rom_9:7-8), so in this sense only can it be true that the seed of David and the Levites shall out number the host of the heaven and the sand of the sea.
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. 19-26. Nature"s aids to faith.
Vers. 19-26. Nature"s aids to faith.
We see faith and science flung into conflict. In the Bible they not only harmonize, but science is regarded as a stay to faith, and nature, instead of being treated as a hindrance to faith, is repeatedly called in to strengthen it. As science advances old formulae are necessarily discarded. But may we not approach the difficulties of our age in the spirit of the Bible, and hope for some large synthesis which shall restore the old relation of science as the handmaid of religion? In the mean time the general correspondences suggested by Jeremiah are as true now as they were in his day.
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I THE PERMANENCE OF NATURE IS AN ASSURANCE OF THE PERMANENCE OF GRACE. The same God rules in the physical and spiritual spheres. In the one he is not capricious and uncertain. Why should we fear his being so in the other? Night, tempest, winter things dark and wild do not set aside the eternal ordinances of beneficent nature. The blue sky survives the black cloud that hides it for a season only to reveal it the more clearly after shedding itself in thundershowers. Why, then, should we think that the heavenly grace of God"s love should be less enduring? If the ordinances of nature fail we may expect the same of the covenant of grace, but not till then, since both depend on the same Divine endurance.
II THE SUCCESSIONS OF NATURE ARE PLEDGES OF THE SUCCESSIONS OF GRACE. Nature is ever changing, though changing according to uniform laws. In spiritual experience we meet with change. Neither of God"s kingdoms is a Chinese empire. Progress marks both; and progress means change. But the change, though it alters events, does not alter principles; it only develops them to fuller exercise. Do the changes of life make us fear the loss of God"s blessing? Let us remember that the changes in nature do not upset its laws, Our experience varies, but God"s love is changeless. He shows this love, however, rather by a succession of blessings than by maintaining present blessings unaltered. So is it in nature day and night, summer and winter, alternate. Today"s grace will not last for tomorrow; but new grace will be bestowed then if we seek it. The succession does not fail in nature, nor will it in grace.
III THE ABUNDANCE OF NATURE IS A PROMISE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE. We cannot count the stars. Can we count the contents of our own world? of one small section of it? The great and multitudinous variety of nature was a wonder to the ancient Hebrews. How much more wonderful is it to us! There we see no failing of resources, but an infinite abundance, an almost reckless prodigality that sometimes shocks our economic notions, founded as they are on the requirements of limited means, but not applicable to an infinite wealth. Why then should we fear that the fountains of grace that flow from the same God should ever run dry? God administers his grace with a royal bounty. There is enough for all; there is abundance for each.
Vers. 19-22. The covenant of God permanent as the laws of nature.
A curious inversion of Gen_8:22, but very instructive. There, what is considered by the secular mind as secured by the laws of matter operating mechanically, is declared as a promise, and consequently as dependent upon the good will and gracious purpose of God; here, what appears at first to be within the power of one or both parties to it, is stated to be as absolute and permanent as if it were not a moral engagement but a material law. Accepting, as in vers. 17 and 18, the Messianic as the true fulfilment of this prediction, what do we learn?
I THE INTRINSIC POWER OF GOD"S WORD. The creative flat was omnipotent; the promise is to be not less so. It is as if a power dwelt within it to bring to pass what it declares. Of course this is not so in the one case any more than in the other. God is in his Word, making it effectual even to its remotest end. We are reminded of Christ"s utterance, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away," which seems to make an even stronger assertion. Equally potent is the Word of God in the gospel, its warnings, invitations, and transforming energies.
II THE ABSOLUTE, ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. The human element in the Divine covenant relation has ever been the variable and uncertain one. But through the unique personality of the God Man, and of his atoning sacrifice, that element is strengthened and made secure. An incarnation like that of Emmanuel, an act like the death on the cross, once achieved is irreversible, and its consequences must affect the remotest eternity. The spiritual laws comprehended and illustrated in the transactions of the gospel are as irreversible as those of nature; and in the person and work of Christ there is an objective basis presented that can never be destroyed by the weaknesses or unbelief of men, any more than "my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night.
III THE SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE OF THE NEW COVENANT. (Ver. 22) It is really a creative word, because it calls into existence the Church or community of believers, who are the true successors of the seed of David and the Levitical priesthood. In its constant triumphs and the ever increasing nature of the Messianic kingdom, fresh securities are given for the perpetuation of the kingly and priestly functions as developed through the grace of God in human nature. Where the gospel is faithfully preached, and spiritual life truly energizes, believers will, as at Pentecost, be "added daily" and "multiplied." It is like leaven, a seed, etc. As appealing to the deepest needs and yearnings of human nature, it is bound to overcome the world and comprehend the whole race within the zone of its influence. "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it". M. (Isa_55:11)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, "Yahweh
The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, "Yahweh
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 1:4. AT: "Yahweh gave a message to Jeremiah. He said, 'Yahweh" or "Yahweh spoke this message to Jeremiah: 'Yahweh" (See: Idiom)
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to Jeremiah
It is not clear why Jeremiah is referring to himself by name here. There is no need to translate using first person. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Yahweh says
Yahweh is speaking of himself here. AT: "I say" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
my covenant with day and night ... my covenant with David my servant
No one can change day and night, and no one can change God's covenant with David.
to sit on his throne
The throne is a metonym for the king who sits on the throne. AT: "to rule the kingdom I have given to him" (See: Metonymy)
As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted, and as the sand of the seashores cannot be measured, so I will increase the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve before me
No one can count the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore, and no one will be able to count the descendants of David and Levi who serve Yahweh. (See: Simile)
translationWords
word of God
covenant
servant
heaven
descend
servant
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 33:19-22 Jeremiah delivered God’s promise that the new covenant…
33:19-22 Jeremiah delivered God’s promise that the new covenant of the Lord with the descendant of David and with the Levitical priests would be as sure as the sequence of day and night.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.