Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 3:19
But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
19. shall nations ] rightly mg. would nations! Not a question, but the expression of a wish.
children ] sons. Cp. Exo 4:22. The point is that as daughters could not as a rule inherit (Num 27:1 ff.; cp. Job 42:15), God desired to treat His people as sons.
goodly heritage of the hosts ] heritage of the chief splendour, or, goodliest heritage, mg. the goodliest heritage of the nations, lit. “the heritage of the beauty of the beauties (better than ‘hosts’) of the nations.” Cp. Eze 20:6; Eze 20:15; Dan 11:16; Dan 11:41. The sense is that Israel shall have a more glorious land than any other nation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
19, 20. Jehovah would desire to treat His people as sons in the matter of inheritance. Their conduct precludes this.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Chs. Jer 3:19 to Jer 4:4. The invitation includes the whole nation, on a like condition
This section should follow immediately on Jer 3:5. See introd. note on Jer 3:6-18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But I – (emphatic). And I. The emphasis lies in the abundant goodness of God contrasted with Israels waywardness.
How …? – Rather, How …! i. e., How gloriously! With what honor will I place thee among the children!
Goodly … of the hosts … – Rather, a heritage of the chief beauty of nations. The general sense is, that Israel possesses the most beautiful territory of any nation.
And I said – This clause is not the answer to a difficulty, as in the King James Version, but completes the description of Gods loving purpose. I said within myself that I would treat thee as a son, and give thee a glorious inheritance: I also said, that ye would return my love, would call me Father, and be untrue to me no more.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 3:19
How shall I put thee among the children.
Put among the children
I. A most delightful condition of privilege and enjoyment.
1. A real and endearing relation, not a mere figure or shadow. Though all worlds wait on His will, Gods heart is a Fathers heart; and its home, its place of joy and singing, is among the children.
2. This relationship implies dependence. The two principles of trust and obedience constitute the great requirements which the Head of the redeemed family urges upon all His children.
3. The relation between child and parent implies solemn obligations. The children of God are required to exhibit a character and conduct in harmony with their illustrious relationship. The glory of the Father, the honour of His name; the welfare of the whole household of faith; the furtherance of sacred truth in the world are interests dear to their hearts. They are partakers of the Divine nature, each one resembles the children of a king.
4. This relation implies the possession of privileges–If children then heirs, etc. All that the Jew possessed in Canaan, all that Adam delighted to see in Paradise, falls short of the expectations of the believer. The inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away.
II. Some formidable difficulties in the way of conferring the blessings of sonship.
1. This relation between God and man is not natural By nature children of wrath, etc.
2. Justice demands the infliction of the penalty of sire Mercy pleads for compassion and forgiveness. In the courts of earthly sovereigns there is no escape from the dilemma. The sovereign can punish, and thus inflict justice; or pardon and show mercy. But in Christ all the requirements of law are satisfied, while the freest manifestation of mercy is made.
3. The character and condition of the sinner himself. Shall the leper be brought into companionship with the pure and the sound? Shall the outcast and the profligate nestle with the virgin and the holy?
III. The solution of the difficulty and the process of attaining the full enjoyment of the privilege. Thou shalt call Me, My Father.
1. Prayer is the birth cry of the soul. Like that first welcome sound by which the mother knows she has a living child. Every kind of sorrow and distress have driven men to their knees, but there are no prayers, for their fervour, like those which are the fruit of conviction of sin.
2. The spirit of adoption. My Father. Not by the thunders of Sinai, or the curses of Mount Ebal, are men preserved in Christ Jesus, but by the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit.
3. The salvation of a child of God is evinced by the spirit of perseverance. (W. G. Lewis.)
Among the children
I. A difficult question.
1. As to the Holy Lord.
2. As to the unholy person.
3. As to the family.
4. As to the inheritance.
II. A wonderful answer.
1. It is from God Himself, and is therefore a perfect answer.
2. It is in the Divine style: Thou shalt; and thou shalt not. Omnipotence speaks, and grace reveals its unconditional character.
3. It is concerning a Divine work.
4. It is effectual for its purpose.
III. A matchless privilege.
1. We are indeed made children of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
2. We are as much loved as the children.
3. We are treated as the children.
(1) We are forgiven as a father forgives his children.
(2) We are clothed, fed, and housed as children.
(3) We are taught, ruled, and chastened as children.
(4) We are honoured and enriched as children.
4. We are placed under filial obligations–to love, honour, obey, and serve our Father. This should be regarded as a high honour, not a burden. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Regeneration
is not a change of the old nature, but an introduction of a new nature. Not Ishmael changed, but Isaac born, is the son of the promise. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Adoption
Whom God adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints. (Watson.)
A wonderful change
One of my parishioners at East Hampton, converted after having lived, through three or four revivals, to the age of fifty, and having given up hope, used to exclaim for several weeks after his change, Is it I? Am I the same man who used to think it so hard to be converted, and my case so hopeless? Is it I? Is it I? Oh, wonderful! (Lyman Beecher.)
The true source of salvation
I. How the obstructions to the restoration of the Jews shall be surmounted.
1. God Himself presents to them the formidable difficulty. Jews always obdurate. How restored to favour of God?
(1) Extent of their wickedness forbids it.
(2) Honour of God forbids it. To admit rebels to privileges encourages rebellion.
2. These obstacles, though formidable, shall be surmounted. As God spake the universe into existence, so will He form the new creation.
II. How alone the difficulties in the way of our salvation can ever be overcome.
1. There are immense difficulties. Our wickedness equals or exceeds that of the Jews.
2. But these shall be overcome. God will interfere for us in way of sovereign grace and by the exercise of His almighty power.
Conclusion–
1. To those who question the possibility of their own salvation. God is able.
2. To those who have entertained no such fears. You think salvation easy; but only Christs blood could atone for such sin as yours; only the Divine Spirit could renew your depraved heart.
3. To those who profess to have been brought into the family of God. Obey and trust Him, as your Father; let nothing lead you to turn away from Him. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. How shalt I put thee among the children] As if he had said, How can ye be accounted a holy seed, who are polluted? How can ye be united to the people of God, who walk in the path of sinners? How can ye be taken to heaven, who are unholy within, and unrighteous without?
And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father] This is the answer to the above question. They could not be put among the children unless they became legal members of the heavenly family: and they could not become members of this family unless they abandoned idolatry, and took the Lord for their portion. Nor could they be continued in the privileges of the heavenly family, unless they no more turned away from their heavenly Father.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How shall I words that speak either, first, Gods putting them to their own thoughts, how they could think he should bring such a perfidious people as they were into the land which he had promised; else, secondly, his considering within himself how or what course he should take to bring such a thing about, and accomplish it, they had so greatly degenerated from him and disobliged him; see Hos 6:4; both implying that such a thing could not be brought about without repentance and true conversion to him, wrought by his free grace, Eph 1:5,6.
Put thee among the children; esteem thee as my child, till thou give some clearer proof and demonstration of thy repentance.
And give thee a pleasant land; how shall I put thee into possession of that pleasant land of desire that I have promised thee? Canaan is so called, Psa 106:24; Dan 8:9; 11:16,41.
A goodly heritage, Heb. heritage of glory, or beauty: see Isa 4:2.
Of the hosts of nations; so called, either because possessed by several potent nations, Num 13:28; Deu 4:38; or rather, it may note the great hosts and multitudes of nations, or Gentiles, that should be joined to them in the gospel church, viz. of Gods elect, and so a heritage of the greatest delights, or the desire of nations; a people to whom all the nations would desire to flock; see Eze 20:6; and may be spoken also of the heavenly Canaan: the LXX. render it, the heritage of God, the omnipotent Governor of the nations.
And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father: God comes now to a resolution how he would do it. Either it is a direction: q.d. On this condition, that thou wilt own me, and not return any more to idols, this shall be done; or a promise, I will cause thee to own me, and give thee perseverance, that thou shalt not depart from me; and this is very applicable to the work of Christ; see Joh 1:12; see also 2Co 6:17,18; and the condition is indeed no more than God promiseth to effect in them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. The good land covenanted toAbraham is to be restored to his seed. But the question arises, Howshall this be done?
put . . . among . . .childrenthe Greek for adoption means, literally,”putting among the sons.”
the childrenthat is,My children. “How shall I receive thee back into My family,after thou hast so long forsaken Me for idols?” The answer is,they would acknowledge Him as “Father,” and no longer turnaway from Him. God assumes the language of one wondering how sodesperate apostates could be restored to His family and itsprivileges (compare Eze 37:3;CALVIN makes it, How therace of Abraham can be propagated again, being as it were dead);yet as His purpose has decreed it so, He shows how it shall beeffected, namely, they shall receive from Him the spirit of adoptionto cry, “My Father” (Joh 1:12;Gal 4:6). The elect are”children” already in God’s purpose; this is the ground ofthe subsequent realization of this relationship (Eph 1:5;Heb 2:13).
pleasant land (Jer 11:5;Eze 20:6; Dan 11:16,Margin).
heritage of . . . hostsaheritage the most goodly of all nations [MAURER];or a “heritage possessed by powerful hosts” (Deu 4:38;Amo 2:9). The rendering”splendors,” instead of “hosts,” is opposed bythe fact that the Hebrew for “splendor” is not foundin the plural.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I said,…. Within himself, in the thoughts of his heart, when he took up a resolution concerning their conversion, open adoption, and return to their own land, as a symbol of the eternal inheritance:
how shall I put thee among the children? among the children of God, who are so by special adopting grace, which is a high and honourable privilege, greater than to be the sons and daughters of the greatest potentate on earth; who as they are high birth, being born of God, so they are brought up, and fed, and clothed as the children of the King of kings; they have great nearness to and freedom with God their Father; they are heirs with God and joint heirs with Christ, and shall ever remain in this relation. There is a secret and an open putting of the sons of men among the children of God. The secret putting of them among the children is by God the Father, when he predestinated them unto the adoption of children by Christ; when he promised in covenant he would be their Father, and they should be his sons and daughters; and as an act of his own will, secretly, in his own breast, adopted them into his family, his will to adopt being the adoption of them; hence they are called the children of God, previous to their redemption and sanctification, Heb 2:13. Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ was concerned in this affair by espousing these persons to himself in covenant, whereby his Father became their Father, and his God their God; and by assuming their nature, whereby they became his brethren, and so the children of God; and by redeeming them, whereby way is made for their actual reception of the adoption of children; when they are openly put among them in the effectual calling, in which the Holy Spirit is concerned, who regenerates them, works faith in them, and witnesses their adoption to them, from whence he is called the Spirit of adoption; regeneration and faith are the evidences of adoption, Joh 1:12 and the Spirit the witness, Ro 8:15. Now, as all things were seen in one view by the Lord from eternity, as well when he secretly as openly puts them among the children, it may well be thought there were difficulties, at least seeming ones, in the way of it; or, however, such as make it wonderful and marvellous that any of the sons of Adam should be put among the children of God; seeing they that are, sinned in Adam as the rest, fell with him in his transgression into a state of condemnation and death; are corrupt in their first birth, defiled in soul and body, and cast out like the wretched infant, to the loathing of their persons; are as the children of the Ethiopians, black with original and actual sins; are children of disobedience, traitors and rebels against God, and children of wrath, even as others. And though these words may have a principal respect to the Jews, who dealt treacherously with God, in departing from his pure worship, rejecting the Messiah, and continuing in their obstinacy and infidelity, having a “loammi” upon them, and notwithstanding shall be called the children of the living God, Ho 1:9, yet may be applied to any of the sons and daughters of men, whether Jews or Gentiles, that are put among the children of God.
And give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations? the allusion, doubtless, is to the land of Israel, which was a goodly and desirable land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and was the heritage or inheritance of the children of Israel, but not of the hosts of nations; wherefore heaven and eternal happiness is ultimately meant, the better country Christian pilgrims are seeking after, and the desired haven Christian sailors make unto: this is a “pleasant land”; pleasantly situated on high, where are great plenty of provisions, solid substance, enduring riches, the greatest liberty and choices, privileges, and the best of inhabitants and company, Father, Son, and Spirit, angels and glorified saints: this is
a goodly heritage or “inheritance”; not only a house not made with hands, a city that has foundations, but a kingdom and glory, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, which fades not away, reserved in the heavens: and it may be said to be
of the hosts of nations; for, though it is but one inheritance, vast numbers will share in it, and possess it; even an innumerable company of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, which are chosen, redeemed, and called out of them: and this is in, the “gift” of God; he regenerates to a lively hope of it, makes meet for it, and of his own good pleasure bestows it; and marvellous it is that he should give it to the persons before described; the putting of them among the children of God, and giving them such an inheritance, are entirely owing to his sovereign grace and goodness, which only can answer the question put, concerning these things.
And I said, thou shalt call me my father; not merely saying these words, but expressing them with affection and faith, under the witnessings of the Spirit of God; and declaring the relation by deeds, by honouring and obeying him, and being a follower of him in his ways and worship: and shalt not turn away from me; either from calling him Father, through the prevalence of unbelief; or from his service and worship, through the power of corruptions, backsliding and revolting from him, with which they are often charged in this chapter; so the Targum,
“shalt not turn from my worship.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The return of Israel to its God. – Jer 3:19. “ I thought, O how I will put thee among the sons, and give thee a delightful land, a heritage of the chiefest splendour of the nations! and thought, ‘My Father,’ ye will cry to me, and not turn yourselves away from me. Jer 3:20. truly as a wife faithlessly forsakes her mate, so are ye become faithless towards me, house of Israel, saith Jahveh. Jer 3:21. A voice upon the bare-topped hills is heard, suppliant weeping of the sons of Israel; for that they have made their way crooked, forsaken Jahveh their God. Jer 3:22. ‘Return, ye backsliding sons, I will heal your backsliding,’ Behold, we come to thee; for Thou Jahveh art our God. Jer 3:23. Truly the sound from the hills, from the mountains, is become falsehood: truly in Jahveh our God is the salvation of Israel. Jer 3:24. And shame hath devoured the gains of our fathers from our youth on; their sheep and their oxen, their sons and their daughters. Jer 3:25. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us; for against Jahveh our God have we sinned, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not listened to the voice of our God.” Hitz. takes Jer 3:18 and Jer 3:19 together, without giving an opinion on . Ew. joins Jer 3:19 to the preceding, and begins a new strophe with Jer 3:21. Neither assumption can be justified. With Jer 3:18 closes the promise which formed the burden of the preceding strophe, and in Jer 3:19 there begins a new train of thought, the announcement as to how Israel comes to a consciousness of sin and returns penitent to the Lord its God (Jer 3:21-25). The transition to this announcement is formed by Jer 3:19 and Jer 3:20, in which the contrast between God’s fatherly designs and Israel’s faithless bearing towards God is brought prominently forward; and by it is attached to the last clause of the 18th verse. His having mentioned the land into which the Israelites would again return, carries the prophet’s thoughts back again to the present and the past, to the bliss which Jahveh had designed for them, forfeited by their faithless apostasy, and to be regained only by repentant return (Graf). “I thought,” refers to the time when God gave the land to their fathers for an inheritance. Then spake, i.e., thought, I; cf. Psa 31:23. How I will set thee or place thee among the sons! i.e., how I will make thee glorious among the sons ( c. accus. and , as in 2Sa 19:29). No valid objection against this is founded by Hitz.’s plea that in that case we must read , and that by Jeremiah, the teacher of morals, no heathen nation, or any but Israel, can ever be regarded as a son of God (Jer 31:9, Jer 31:20). The fem. is explained by the personification of Judah and Israel as two sisters, extending throughout the whole prophecy. The other objection is erroneous as to the fact. In Jer 31:9 Jahveh calls Ephraim, = Israel, his first-born son, as all Israel is called by God in Exo 4:22. But the conception of first-born has, as necessary correlate, that of other “sons.” Inasmuch as Jahveh the God of Israel is creator of the world and of all men, all the peoples of the earth are His ; and from amongst all the peoples He has made choice of Israel as , or chosen him for His first-born son. Hitz.’s translation: how will I endow thee with children, is contrary to the usage of the language. – The place which God willed to give Israel amongst His children is specified by the next clause: and I willed to give thee a delightful land ( as in Zec 7:14; Psa 106:24). , ornament of ornaments, i.e., the greatest, most splendid ornament. For there can be no doubt that does not come from , but, with Kimchi after the Targum, is to be derived from ; for the plural from may pass into , cf. Gesen. 93. 6 b, as Ew., too, in 186, c, admits, though he takes our from , and strains the meaning into: an heirloom-adornment amidst the hosts of heathen. After such proofs of a father’s love, God expected that Israel would by a true cleaving to Him show some return of filial affection. To cry, “My father,” is a token of a child’s love and adherence. The Chet. and are not to be impugned; the Keris are unnecessary alterations.
Jer 3:20-21 But Israel did not meet the expectation. Like a faithless wife from her husband, Israel fell away from its God. The particle of comparison is omitted before the verb, as in Isa 55:9, cf. Isa 55:10 and Isa 55:11. does not precisely mean husband, nor yet paramour, but friend and companion, and so here is equal to wedded husband. c. , withdraw faithlessly from one, faithlessly forsake – c. , be faithless, deal faithlessly with one.
Yet Israel will come to a knowledge of its iniquity, and bitterly repent it, Jer 3:21. From the heights where idolatry was practised, the prophet already hears in spirit the lamentations and supplications of the Israelites entreating for forgiveness. points back to Jer 3:2, when the naked heights were mentioned as the scenes of idolatry. From these places is heard the supplicating cry for pardon. , because (for that) they had made their way crooked, i.e., had entered on a crooked path, had forgotten their God.
Jer 3:22 The prophet further overhears in spirit, as answer to the entreaty of the Israelites, the divine invitation and promise: Return, ye backsliding children (cf. Jer 3:14), I will heal your backslidings. for . Backslidings, i.e., mischief which backsliding has brought, the wounds inflicted by apostasy from God; cf. Hos 14:5, a passage which was in the prophet’s mind; and fore the figure of healing, cf. Jer 30:17; Jer 33:6. To this promise they answer: Behold, we come to Thee ( for from , Isa 21:12, for ), for Thou art Jahveh, art our God. Of this confession they further state the cause in Jer 3:23-25.
Jer 3:23 From the false gods they have gained but disgrace; the salvation of Israel is found only in Jahveh their God. The thought now given is clearly expressed in the second clause of the verse; less clear is the meaning of the first clause, which tells what Israel had got from idolatry. The difficulty lies in , which the early commentators so joined together as to make stat. constr. ( ). Similarly Hitz. and Graf: from the hills the host (or tumult) of the mountains is (for) a delusion; Hitz. understanding by the host of the mountains the many gods, or the numerous statues of them that were erected at the spots where they were worshipped, while Graf takes the tumult of the mountains to mean the turmoil of the pilgrims, the exulting cries of the celebrants. But it is as impossible that “the sound of the hills” should mean the multitude of the gods, as that it should mean the tumult of the pilgrims upon the mountains. Besides, the expression, “the host or tumult of the mountains comes from the hills,” would be singularly tautological. These reasons are enough to show that cannot be a genitive dependent on , but must be taken as coordinate with , so that the preposition will have to be repeated before . But must be the subject of the clause, else where would be no subject at all. means bustle, eager crowd, tumult, noise, and is also used of the surging mass of earthly possessions or riches, Psa 37:16; Isa 60:5. Schnur., Ros., Maur., de W., have preferred the last meaning, and have put the sense thus: vana est ex collibus, vana ex montibus affluentia , or: delusive is the abundance that comes from the hills, from the mountains. This view is not to be overthrown by Graf’s objection, that we cannot here entertain the idea of abundance, however, imaginary, acquired by the Israelites through idolatry, seeing that in the next verses it is declared that the false gods have devoured the wealth which the Israelites had inherited and received from God. For in the present connection the abundance would be not a real but expected or imagined abundance, the delusiveness of which would be shown in the next verse by the statement that the false gods had devoured the acquisitions of Israel. But to take in the sense of affluentia seems questionable here, when the context makes no reference to wealth or earthly riches, and where the abundance of the hills and mountains cannot be understood to mean their produce; the abundance is that which the idolatry practised upon the hills and mountains brought or was expected to bring to the people. Hence, along with Ew., we take this word in the sig. tumult or noise, and by it we understand the wild uproarious orgies of idolatry, which, according to Jer 3:2 and Jer 3:6, were practised on the hills and mountains ( , Jer 3:9). Thus we obtain the sense already given by the Targ.: in vanum coluimus super collibus et non in utilitatem congregavimus nos ( ( son , prop. tumultuati sumus) super montibus , i.e., delusive and profitless were our idolatrous observances upon the heights.
Jer 3:24 In Jer 3:24 we are told in what particulars idolatry became to them . , the shame, opprobrious expression for , equal to shame-god, cf. Jer 11:13 and Hos 9:10; since the worship of Baal, i.e., of the false gods, resulted in disgrace to the people. He devoured the wealth of our fathers, namely, their sheep and oxen, mentioned as a specimen of their wealth, and their sons and daughters. The idols devoured this wealth, to in respect that sheep and oxen, and, on Moloch’s altar, children too, were sacrificed, for sheep and oxen were offered to Jahveh; but because idolatry drew down judgments on the people and brought about the devastation of the land by enemies who devoured the substance of the people, and slew sons and daughters, Deu 28:30, Deu 28:33. From our youth on; – the youth of the people is the period of the judges.
Jer 3:25 The people does not repudiate this shame and disgrace, but is willing to endure it patiently, since by its sin it has fully deserved it. , not: we lie, but: we will lay us down in our shame, as a man in pain and grief throws himself on the ground, or on his couch (cf. 2Sa 12:16; 2Sa 13:31; 1Ki 21:4), in order wholly to give way to the feelings that crush him down. And let our disgrace cover us, i.e., enwrap us as a mourning robe or cloak; cf. Psa 35:26; Psa 109:29; Mic 7:10, Oba 1:10.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
It is not my purpose to mention all the expositions of this verse; but it is enough to shew what seems to be the meaning of the Prophet. Whenever I touch on opinions which I disapprove, this I feel constrained to do, because when they present the appearance of truth, readers may be deceived by them: but when the truth itself is sufficiently conspicuous, I am not disposed to spend labor in refuting the opinions of others.
What, then, the words of the Prophet mean is this, — God here asks, How was it possible that the race of Abraham could again be propagated since it was nearly dead? The answer is, It shall be, when thou wilt call me Father, and turn not away from me The question was asked, that the Jews might feel as though their condition was past remedy. And doubtless, since they had so greatly and so obstinately provoked God by their wickedness, they might have seemed to have become wholly lost. God then assumes here the character of one filled with astonishment, as though he had said, “Ye are, indeed, in a state of despair, there is no hope of your salvation; but yet, as it is my purpose again to restore you, I wish now to find out a way, by which your race may again be propagated.” How, then, is this to be done? He shews that the only thing required was, to call him Father, not with the mouth, but really with the heart.
We now, then, perceive the meaning of the Prophet: for he humbles the Israelites by thus ascribing astonishment to God, as though it was a thing very difficult to be done; but at the same time he gives them hope, because salvation was prepared for them, provided they called on God with a sincere heart, and acknowledged him as their Father, and that perseveringly, without ever turning aside from him. In short, God intimates that the Israelites were like dead men, and that their salvation was hopeless, without a resurrection, he yet promises them salvation on this condition, — that they called on him and did this, not with a double heart, nor by a sudden impulse, such as soon vanishes away; for he says, Thou shalt not turn aside from me; that is, “Be always obedient to me, and I will prove that I shall not be called in vain a Father by you.” It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) But I said.Better, And I said. There is no contrast with what precedes. The speaker is, of course, Jehovah. The How shall I put thee! is an exclamation rather than a question, the utterance of a promise as with an intensity of affirmation. Special stress is laid on the pronoun I. The words have been rendered by some commentators, following the Targum, How shall I clothe thee with children?
A pleasant land.Literally, as in the margin, a land of desire, i.e., desirable.
A goodly heritage of the hosts of nations.More accurately, a heritage of the beauty of beauties (Hebrew for chief beauty) of the nations. The English version rests on the assumption that the word translated beauties is the same as that elsewhere rendered Sabaoth, or hosts, which it closely resembles.
And I said.Not, as in the English, the answer to a question, but the continuance of the same thought. God will treat repentant Israel as His child: He will lead Israel to trust Him as a father. The days of apostasy (turning away) will then be over. The original Hebrew seems, to judge from the LXX. version, to have had the plural ye shall call, ye shall not turn away, the prophet passing from the collective unity to the individuals that composed it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE CONDITIONS OF RESTORATION, Jer 3:19-25.
19. But The relation of the thought is completely missed in the English Version. The conjunction is not adversative but continuative and not “BUT.” How is not interrogative, but exclamatory, marking a declaration of God’s gracious purpose, and not, as in the text, the statement of a theological problem. How gloriously will I distinguish thee by the value and the beauty of thy heritage!
Thou Hebrew, ye; meaning not Israel collectively, but the individuals thereof.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 3:19. But I said, &c. And when I said, How shall I place thee among sons, and give unto thee the land of desire, the inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations? Then said I, Thou shalt call me, My Father; and thou shalt not turn aside from following me. The paranomasia is a figure that the Hebrew writers much delight in. But by the land of desire, and the glory of the hosts of nations, the Christian church, and the privileges of the Gospel-covenant, are here figuratively designed. And the conditions of adoption into the former, and of enjoying the latter, are expressly stated by Christ and his apostles to be the same as are here prescribed; namely, the profession and possession of the true faith, and uniform obedience for the time to come. Thou shalt call me, My Father; and thou shalt not turn aside from following me.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1034
THE TRUE SOURCE OF SALVATION
Jer 3:19. I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? And said, Thou shalt call me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from me.
IN many parts of the inspired volume, God is pleased to speak of himself after the manner of men; as though he were on some occasions reduced, as it were, to extremities, and at a loss how to act. Thus, by the prophet Hosea, he expresses himself as almost necessitated to cast off his people for their wickedness, but yet as not knowing how to bring his mind to execute on them so severe a judgment: How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee up, Israel? How shall I make thee as Ephraim? How shall I set thee as Zeboim, even as those ill-fated cities that were destroyed together with Sodom and Gomorrha [Note: Hos 11:8.]? So, on the other hand, by Jeremiah, he speaks as equally at a loss how to exercise towards them the mercy which he was inclined to bestow: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations?
This, however applicable to the people amongst whom the prophet ministered, had, beyond all doubt, a reference to a period yet future, even to events that should take place in the latter day. Then will the ark of the covenant, that bright symbol of the Divine presence, be altogether forgotten by the Jews, and all the worship connected with it be utterly renounced; the people being desirous only to worship God in spirit and in truth. At that period they will have ceased to walk after the imagination of their own evil heart; and the ten tribes of Israel will partake with Judah in all the blessings accorded to them [Note: ver. 1618.]. Hitherto these events have never occurred. But the time is fast approaching, when, in every particular they shall be fulfilled. True, it appears almost impossible that they should be realized: but God here declares, that they shall be accomplished in their season. In confirmation of this promise, I will shew,
I.
How the obstructions to the restoration of the Jews shall be surmounted
God himself appeals to them upon this very subject: How shall I put thee among the children?
[From the very beginning the Jews were a stiff-necked people. It was only for his own name sake that God did not again and again destroy them in the wilderness; and on many occasions also, after their establishment in the promised land. At last, God could no longer forbear: and therefore he gave up the ten tribes into the hands of the Assyrians, and the other two tribes into the hands of the Chaldeans. And after their restoration from Babylon, they still remained the same rebellious people, in every thing like their forefathers, except idolatry: and at last they filled up the measure of their iniquity in the murder of their Messiah. For all this wickedness they have now been scattered, these eighteen hundred years, over the face of the earth; and they are still as obdurate as ever. How, then, shall they be restored to the favour of their God? The extent of their wickedness forbids it; and the honour of God, as the Moral Governor of the Universe, forbids it. Suppose an earthly prince were to select, for his attendants and most favoured servants, multitudes who had been long in rebellion against him, and had murdered his only dear Son, whom he had sent, not in a way of vindictive wrath, but in a way of love and mercy, to bring them back to their allegiance: suppose such an act of grace as this: What would be thought concerning it? Would not other potentates be ready to say, that it was an encouragement to all subjects to rebel against their governors, and to commit the greatest possible excesses? Would it not appear an excess of generosity, subversive of all moral government? If then amongst men, whose rights are so limited, this would be judged so replete with danger, how should it be that the great and glorious God should so relinquish all his own rights, and so requite those who have been the most forward to trample on them?]
But these obstacles, however formidable, shall be surmounted
[God had before expressed his earnest desire for their restoration to him; Wilt thou not at this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth [Note: ver. 4.]? And now he determines to effect it by his own Almighty power: Thou shalt call me My Father; and shalt not turn away from me. This will overcome every obstacle: for, if God will work, who shall let it? Vain was the resistance of Pharaoh: vain the obstructions of the sea, the wilderness, and the united nations of Canaan. As God spake the universe itself into existence;, so will he, in his own appointed time, form that new creation to which my text refers, when all the nations (of Jews certainly, and possibly, in part, of Gentiles also) shall be gathered to Jerusalem [Note: ver. 17.]; and, together with all the tribes both of Israel and Judah [Note: ver. 18.], become one fold under one Shepherd [Note: Eze 34:23 and Joh 10:16. with Isa 65:17-18.].]
From hence we may see,
II.
How alone the difficulties in the way of our salvation also can ever be overcome
There are immense difficulties in the way of our salvation
[The extent of our wickedness equals, and perhaps exceeds, that of the Jews. What evil was committed by them which does not also, to a fearful extent, obtain amongst us? And if they crucified the Lord of Glory, have not we also crucified him afresh [Note: Heb 6:6.], by our neglect of his Gospel, and our contempt of his salvation? The Jews of our Lords day were more criminal than Tyre and Sidon; yea, and even than Sodom and Gomorrha; because they sinned against greater light than those idolatrous cities: and, when we reflect on the advantages which we enjoy, we have reason to fear that a still heavier condemnation will come on us, for our abuse of them Indeed, it should seem almost impossible that a God of justice and holiness and truth should ever receive to his bosom those who have so trodden under foot his dear Son, and done such despite to the Spirit of his grace [Note: Heb 10:29.] ]
But these shall be overcome, even as those which obstruct the restoration of the Jews
[If we looked to ourselves only, our salvation would be altogether hopeless, But God directs us to look to Him, with whom nothing is impossible. He promises to interpose for us in a way of sovereign grace, and by the exercise of his Almighty power. His grace is his own: and he may dispense it to whomsoever he sees fit, according to the counsel of his own will. And he says, Thou shalt call me, My Father; and shalt participate all the blessings of my most favoured children And he will, by the exercise of his Almighty power, effect this; for he has said, Thou shalt not turn away from me; that is, I will both restore thee to my favour, and keep thee, by my own power, unto everlasting salvation Here, then, is our security; here is our hope. Nothing less than his merciful interposition can effect this work; and nothing shall ever be permitted to defeat his gracious purpose: His counsel shall stand, and He will do all his will [Note: Isa 46:10.].]
Address
1.
To those who question the possibility of their own salvation
[I do not wonder that any should feel doubts on this head, when God himself seems almost at a loss to find how he shall effect it. But view God as a God of uncontrollable sovereignty and irresistible power, and you may at once dismiss all your fears, if only you cry mightily to him, and put your trust in him ]
2.
To those who have entertained no such fears
[How awfully must Satan have blinded your eyes, and hardened your hearts! You think salvation easy to be attained, and almost a matter of course. But you will be of a very different mind, if ever you come to see the greatness of your guilt, and the inveteracy of your corruptions. I tell you, Brethren, that nothing but the blood of Gods only dear Son could ever have atoned for your guilt; nor can any thing but the operation of the divine Spirit ever renew your depraved hearts: nor till you are made sensible of the difficulties of your salvation, will you have any well-grounded hope of being numbered amongst the children of your God ]
3.
To those who profess to have been brought into the family of their God
[You doubtless wish to be informed how you may walk worthy of your high calling. To you then I say, Obey your God in the two particulars which he here requires. Go to him, as your Father in Christ Jesus; and walk before him as dear children; committing to him your every care, and expecting from him a supply of all your wants And let nothing prevail upon you to turn away from him. Be ready to sacrifice every earthly consideration, and to lay down even life itself, for him. Under all circumstances, my advice to you is, Be stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: and you may then be assured, that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
A difficulty here seemeth to have arisen in the views of such unspeakable mercy; how shall the Lord, consistent with his divine perfections, take home to his favor sinners so ungracious? And none but God himself can remove the difficulty. The privilege of adoption in Christ, is the only possible means by which the Lord can pardon sin, and receive the sinner. This Jehovah hath provided. And he that hath provided the means, will take care it shall be effectual to the end. Reader! think of our adoption privileges, in Christ Jesus, and bless the glorious author of them. Gal 4:6 ; Rom 8:14-17 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 3:19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
Ver. 19. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children? ] How, but by my free grace alone, since thou hast so little deserved it? For the causes of our adoption, see Eph 1:5-6 .
And give thee a pleasant land.
And I said, Thou shall call me, My Father.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 3:19-20
19Then I said,
‘How I would set you among My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father,
And not turn away from following Me.’
20Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover,
So you have dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel, declares the LORD.
Jer 3:19 This verse begins a new strophe (i.e., Jer 3:19-20). It could refer to
1. the natural seed of Abraham (i.e., Israel as the firstborn son)
2. the faith seed of Abraham (cf. Isa 63:16; Rom 2:28-29)
Jeremuah Jer 3:20 implies option #1, while Jer 3:19 implies option #2. Remember Jer 3:16-18 are describing the new age, the new covenant period.
The last two VERBS in Jer 3:19 are PLURAL in the MT, but the Masoretic scholars suggest a change to the SINGULAR.
The NET Bible (p. 1295) suggests (because of the gender of the VERBS) that Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife and the imagery here appears to be that of (1) treating the wife as an equal heir with the sons and (2) giving her the best piece of property.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
children = sons.
a pleasant land. Hebrew a land of desire: i.e. to be desired.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 3:19-21
Jer 3:19-21
“But I said How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah. A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God. Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding.”
The first clause of Jer 3:19 should be read as a question, as in the AV. “The rendering of the KJV is to be preferred here.”
The mingling of two metaphors in this passage, namely, the returning people as “a wife” and as “sons” should not be confusing. “Sometimes scripture combines figures within a single text (Hos 11:3-4).”
In Jer 3:19 a God asks, in effect, How shall I give you this wonderful heritage of which I have been speaking in view of the fact that you have rejected Me? God then answers His own question, I can thus bless you if you will call Me my Father and not turn away from Me. The American Standard Version and a number of commentators prefer to render the first half of Jer 3:19 as an exclamation instead of a question. Either rendering is possible.The most wonderful inheritance that can befall a man is to be part of the kingdom of heaven. That, says Jeremiah, is the most beautiful inheritance of the nations. One is only entitled to that inheritance when he is able by virtue of the New Birth to call God my Father. One can only claim that inheritance when he has been faithful unto death.
From an idealistic view of the distant future the prophet returns in Jer 3:20 to a realistic view of the present. As God looks upon the nation all he presently sees in the whole house of Israel i.e., the whole nation, is unfaithfulness and apostasy. Just as a faithless wife departs from her husband so has the covenant nation departed from the divine Husband (Jer 3:20). The sad description of the present state of affairs ends abruptly and the prophet moves on to a graphic description of the repentance for which God yearns. Like a father listening for the faintest cry of a lost child, so God listens for some sign that the long apostasy has ended. Finally, He hears it. On the high places where once their boisterous idolatrous festivities were conducted now comes forth lamentation and mourning, and prayers pleading for forgiveness for having perverted their ways and having forsaken the Lord (Jer 3:21). Lest they feel that their sin is too grievous and their repentance futile the Lord immediately offers them words of encouragement. He addresses them as sons and calls upon them to return to Him. He, the Great physician, will heal them of their spiritual maladies and restore them to spiritual health if they will but come unto Him (Jer 3:22 a).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
How: Jer 5:7, Hos 11:8
put thee: Jer 3:4, Jer 31:9, Jer 31:20, Joh 1:11-13, 2Co 6:17, 2Co 6:18, Gal 3:26, Gal 4:5-7, Eph 1:5, 1Jo 3:1-3
pleasant land: Heb. land of desire, Jer 12:10, Psa 106:24, Eze 20:6, Dan 8:9, Dan 11:16, Dan 11:41, Dan 11:45
goodly heritage: Heb. heritage of glory, or beauty, Pro 3:35, 1Pe 1:3, 1Pe 1:4
Thou shalt: Jer 3:4, Isa 63:16, Isa 64:8, Mat 6:8, Mat 6:9, Rom 8:15-17, Gal 4:5
shalt not: Jer 32:39, Jer 32:40, Heb 10:39
from me: Heb. from after me
Reciprocal: Num 34:2 – an inheritance Deu 14:1 – the children 1Ki 8:42 – when he shall Job 33:20 – dainty meat Psa 16:6 – I have Psa 47:4 – choose Psa 48:2 – Beautiful Psa 87:6 – this man Isa 43:6 – bring Isa 45:11 – concerning my sons Isa 58:14 – and feed Jer 25:34 – pleasant vessel Hos 1:11 – the children of Judah Hos 6:4 – what Luk 12:32 – the kingdom Luk 15:18 – Father Joh 1:12 – to them Joh 8:41 – we have Act 20:32 – and to give Gal 4:6 – crying
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 3:19. How shall I put thee among the children is the same as asking on what basis the Lord can receive back the wayward nation as bis people, when it has been so unmindful of the goodness bestowed upon it. We can give the answer In the light of other passages; it is because of the divine compassion. Yes, these unworthy people will again look upon God as their father and will not again commit the nationat idolatry.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 3:19. But I said Namely, within myself, God is here represented as deliberating with himself, after the manner of men, in what way he might, consistently with his divine attributes, receive the Jewish people into his favour, and admit them into the Christian Church. How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land? How can it be consistent with my divine holiness and justice to receive such a rebellious people into my favour, to own them for my children, and restore them to the possession of that goodly inheritance which I gave to their fathers. Judea is elsewhere called a pleasant land, the glory of all lands, and the land which God had espied out for his chosen people: see Dan 8:9; and Dan 11:16; Dan 11:45; Eze 20:6. A goodly heritage of the hosts of nations The Hebrew, , is literally, the glory of hosts, or, multitudes of nations, that which they esteem glorious, a phrase of the same import with that now quoted from Ezekiel, the glory of all lands. This pleasant land, and glory of the hosts of nations, is here to be taken figuratively, for the Christian Church and the privileges of the gospel covenant. And the condition of adoption into the former, and of enjoying the latter, are expressly stated by Christ and his apostles to be the same as are here prescribed, namely, true faith in God, as our Father, our reconciled Father in Christ, (which faith is always preceded by the repentance required, Jer 3:13,) and uniform obedience for the time to come. Thou shalt call me, My Father, and shalt not turn away from me On these conditions I will put thee among the children.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 3:19 to Jer 4:4. A Dialogue of Yahwehs Grace.This directly continues Jer 3:5, the I of Jer 3:19 being emphatically contrasted with the thou of Jer 3:5. Yahweh expresses His desire (Jer 3:19 mg.) to give Judah, though a daughter, a sons portion in the best of lands (mg.2), but Judah (here called Israel in narrower sense, Jer 3:20) has left Him. When, speechless, she weeps in penitence (Jer 3:21) on the bare heights, the place of her former sin, Yahweh will bid her return to Him; she comes making confession that Baal (Jer 3:24 mg.) has not profited her. Yahweh assures Judah (Jer 4:1) that true penitence will be followed by the conversion of the heathen, who will use Yahwehs name in blessings (Isa 65:16). Let Judah, then, reform in earnest (Jer 4:3; cf. Hos 10:12), with an inner consecration, before Yahweh punishes (Jer 4:4).
Jer 3:19. children: sons; (cf. Hos 11:1 ff.)
Jer 3:23. Some word parallel to tumult (better throng with mg.) has fallen out (RV italics); the cult of Baal is meant by both; cf. 1Ki 18:26 ff.
Jer 4:1. Read mg.1; for the first shalt render if.abominations denote such heathen emblems as are named in Jer 2:27, etc.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The promise of a beautiful land in spite of former treachery 3:19-20
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord next explained how He longed for the day when this repentance and return would happen. He would set His chosen people among His other sons (including good angels, Gentile believers, and Christians). He would give them a pleasant land, a more beautiful inheritance than He will give believing Gentiles in the future. Israel and Judah would return to the Lord as their Father and would not turn away from Him any more (cf. Hos 11:1).