Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 31:23
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, [and] mountain of holiness.
23. The Lord now turns from Israel (Ephraim) to Judah, and in this and the next two verses promises her like blessing.
again ] as was the use in former time.
habitation ] homestead; the word rendered “folds” in Jer 23:3, where see note.
mountain of holiness ] The expression seems to be used indifferently of the Temple Mountain and of Jerusalem as a whole. See Psa 2:6; Isa 11:9; Isa 27:13, and (especially for Jerusalem) the following: Isa 66:20; Dan 9:16; Zec 8:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23 26. See introd. summary to the section. The passage resembles 12 14, and is probably later than Jeremiah’s time.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As yet – Or, Again, once move. The prophet now turns to Judah. By the mountain of holiness is meant not the temple only, but all Jerusalem, of which the temple was the most sacred spot, and that by which all the rest was made holy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice] After their return they shall be remarkably prosperous. Piety and industry shall go hand in hand; they shall have their husbandmen, their shepherds, and neatherds, Jer 31:24. And Jerusalem shall become a righteous city, and the temple shall be a place of holiness; so the weary there shall have rest, and the sorrowful shall be abundantly comforted, Jer 31:24-25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: these prophecies of the restoration of the Jews are very ordinarily prefaced with these two attributes of God; the one of which asserts his power to do the thing promised; for what cannot be done by the Lord of hosts? the other asserting his goodness or good-will to this people, because he is their God, related to them, in covenant with them: ability and love, or good-will to us, being the two pillars of our faith and confidence in God, which requireth no more than that we should be assured that the person whom we trust is able and willing to do what we trust to him for.
Yet they shall use, & c.: the particle seemeth better translated, Jer 31:5, yet again they shall use, &c. The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. Three things the prophet here foretelleth.
1. That the cities which had formerly been the habitations of bloody, unjust, cruel men, should become the habitations of men who should do justice to all.
2. That the city which stood upon Mount Zion, and had formerly been a habitation of idolaters, and other unholy persons, should become a place in which men should in a due and holy manner serve and worship the true God.
3. That they should be so famous both for justice and holiness, that men should take notice of it, and wish them well under that notion; and upon that account, as they had for their sins been made a curse and a proverb, so upon their reformation they should be for a blessing. By this we may observe that those who would be blessed by God and men, must be just towards men, and holy towards God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Jerusalem again shall be themetropolis of the whole nation, the seat of “justice”(Psa 122:5-8; Isa 1:26),and of sacred worship (“holiness,” Zec8:3) on “Mount” Moriah.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,…. The Governor of the whole world, the Lord of armies above and below; and yet has a peculiar regard to Israel, his spiritual Israel, whose covenant God and Father he is; and is to be believed in what he after says, the fulfilment of which may be depended on:
as yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; not the Babylonish captivity, but their present one; for, upon their return from Babylon, though there was a reformation among them, by means of Ezra, and Nehemiah, and others, yet not so great an one as is here suggested; when, by way of salutation and prayer, the following words will be said by all that know them, and wish well to them, as had been heretofore:
the Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, [and] mountain of holiness; for now Jerusalem will be the habitation of righteous men, and every pot or person in it, and in “Judah, shall be holiness to the Lord”, Zec 14:21; and so shall be blessed of God, and pronounced blessed by men, by all good men, among the Gentiles, who will rejoice at their conversion, restoration, and reformation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The re-establishment and blessing of Judah. – Jer 31:23. “Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Once more shall they say this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I turn their captivity: ‘Jahveh bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness!’ Jer 31:24. And there shall dwell in it, [in] Judah and all its cities together, husbandmen and [those who] move about with the flock. Jer 31:25. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have filled every languishing soul. Jer 31:26. Because of this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was sweet unto me.”
The prophecy which treats of Judah alone is condensed, but states much in few words – not merely the restitutio in statum integritatis , but also rich blessing thereafter. “May Jahveh bless thee” is a benediction, equivalent to “may you be blessed;” cf. Psa 128:5; Psa 134:3. does not mean “habitation of salvation,” but “habitation of righteousness;” cf. Isa 1:21, where it is said of Jerusalem that righteousness formerly dwelt in it. This state of matters is again to exist; Jerusalem is again to become a city in which righteousness dwells. “The holy mountain” is Zion, including Moriah, where the Lord had set up His throne. That the designation “the holy mountain” was applied to the whole of Jerusalem cannot be made out from Psa 2:6; Psa 48:2., Isa 11:9; Isa 27:13, which have been adduced to prove the assertion. The prayer for the blessing implies that Zion will again be the seat of the Divine King of His people. Jer 31:24. “There dwell in it (in the land of Judah) Judah and all his towns,” i.e., the population of Judah and of all its towns, as “husbandmen and (those who) pasture flocks,” i.e., each one pursuing undisturbed his own peaceful employment, agriculture and cattle-rearing, and (Jer 31:25) so blessed in these callings that they are kept from every need and want. may either be viewed as the perfect, before which the relative is to be supplied, or an adjectival form imitated from the Aramaic participle, masc. .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 23-30: BLESSING AND RETRIBUTION
1. Verses 23-25 visualize the people of Judah restored to their land and finding satisfaction in their God, (Jer 30:18; Jer 32:44; comp. vs. 12-13; Mat 5:6; Joh 4:14); the blessings of Jehovah rest upon them as the “habitation of righteousness” and “mountain of holiness”, (Isa 1:26; Psa 48:1; Psa 87:1-3).
2. From verse 26 it appears that God gave this revelation to Jeremiah in a dream -for he suddenly awoke from what he described as a “sweet sleep”, (comp. Zec 4:1).
3. Once the lessons of apostasy have been learned, the heavenly Sower will increase both men and flocks in a thriving land; no longer will it be necessary for Him to “pluck up, break down and overthrow”, (vs. 27-29; Jer 32:41; Hos 2:23).
4. Some among the exiles were evidently claiming that the Lord was unjust in punishing them for circumstances which were no fault of their own; the popular proverb quoted in verse 29 reflected their skepticism, (comp. La 5:7; Eze 18:1-4).
5. Jeremiah assures them that God holds each individual among them morally responsible for his own life, and will judge accordingly, (vs. 30; Deu 24:16; Isa 3:11; comp. Rom 14:12; Mat 12:36; Mat 16:27).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
He confirms in other words what he has said before; nor is the repetition, as we have said elsewhere, superfluous; for it was difficult to convince the Jews that what they had already regarded as impossible could be effected; for by their perverseness they had closed, as it were, the door against the word of God. As then despair had thus laid hold on them, and fast bound their minds, it was necessary to dwell at large on the subject, so that they might at length embrace the promise of deliverance. This is the reason why the Prophet employed many words on the same subject.
Now he makes this preface, that he had his message from God; and he speaks in his name, so that the incredible thing might be believed both by the Israelites and the Jews. They shall yet, he says, say in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall restore their captivity, etc. By these words the Prophet brings forward the Israelites and the Jews, as it were, into the middle, that they might see placed before their eyes what they deemed impossible. When I shall restore, therefore, their captivity, they shall again say, Bless thee may God, O dwelling-place of justice, O mountain of holiness
It was not without reason that the Prophet employed this mode of speaking; for Jerusalem, we know, was entirely overthrown, and the Temple pulled down, and even burnt with fire. As then this was a spectacle awful and dreadful to all, there is here described a wonderful revolution, even that Sion would again be the moment of holiness, and Jerusalem the habitation of justice, though then a solitude and desolation. And this passage deserves a special notice, so that we may know that God restores his Church as though he drew it up even from hell itself. When, therefore, there is no form of a Church appearing, let us allow that the power of God can raise it up. Whence?, even, as it has been said, from hell. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
D. New Conditions Jer. 31:23-30
TRANSLATION
(23) Thus says the LORD of hosts the God of Israel: Yet they shall speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I reverse their fortunes: May the LORD, the Habitation of Justice, bless you, O mountain of holiness! (24) And Judah and all of its cities will dwell there together, farmers and nomadic shepherds. (25) For I satiate the weary soul and every languishing SOU1 I fill up. (26) At this moment I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. (27) Behold, days are coming (oracle of the LORD) when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and the seed of cattle. (28) And it will come to pass as I have looked upon them to uproot, tear down, raze, destroy and do hurt, so will I look upon them to build and to plant (oracle of the LORD). (29) In those days they shall not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes but the teeth of the children have been set on edge. (30) But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats sour grapes, his own teeth shall be set on edge.
COMMENTS
After the prophet has promised Ephraim, the ten northern tribes, an abundant material and spiritual blessing from God he does the same for Judah. -When Gods people return from exile completely new conditions will exist throughout the land. Pure religion will be restored. The people will again pronounce blessings upon the sacred sanctuary and the holy city. Throughout the cities of Judah the people will say, May the Lord, the Habitation of Justice, bless you, O mountain of holiness (Jer. 31:23). In both the title for God[270] and the designation of the holy city[271] the people who return from exile seem to realize the important place of justice and holiness for the first time.
[270] On the basis of Jer. 50:7 the present writer takes the phrase Habitation of Justice to be a title for God. Others regard this as a title for Jerusalem and/or the Temple.
[271] The expression mountain of holiness or holy mountain is used both for the Temple mountain and for Jerusalem itself. See Psa. 2:6; Isa. 11:9; Isa. 27:13; Isa. 66:20; Dan. 9:16; Zec. 8:3.
Not only will idyllic conditions exist in the realm of religion but also among the various elements of society. Peace and harmony shall exist between farmers and nomads (Jer. 31:24). The weary world shall find rest and the sorrowful will find abundant comfort (Jer. 31:25).[272]
[272] In Hebrew the verbs are in the perfect or completed state. It is another example of the so-called prophetic perfect which represents future facts as already accomplished.
At this point Jeremiah says something rather unexpected. He declares that he awoke from a deep.[273] The question is whether real physical sleep is meant or some ecstatic condition resembling sleep. On the whole it is best to think in terms of real sleep for dreams were frequently the channels of communication for divine revelation to prophets.[274] Since the prophecies just enunciated were hopeful and comforting it is quite understandable why the prophet describes his sleep as sweet.
[273] There can be little doubt that it is Jeremiah who is speaking in Jer. 31:26 for the language would not be appropriate to God or to the exiles,
[274] Cf. Gen. 31:10-11; 1Ki. 3:5; 1Ki. 9:2; Joe. 2:28; Zec. 1:8.
It is impossible to tell whether or not an interval of time elapsed between Jer. 31:26 and Jer. 31:27. Perhaps Jeremiah at once fell asleep again much as a dreamer might go back to sleep after being awakened in order to continue a pleasant dream. At any rate the four verses which follow continue the picture of the new conditions which will exist in the Messianic age.
There is in these verses, first, a promise of fruitfulness. God will make the people and their cattle multiply so fast that it will seem as though they spring up like seed sown in fertile soil (Jer. 31:27). It is both Israel and Judah reunited into one people who are the recipients of this promise.
Secondly, there is here a promise of faithfulness. Just as God has been watchful over the fulfillment of the prophecies of judgment and destruction, so will He now be equally zealous in fulfilling his promises of restoration (Jer. 31:28). In this chapter Jeremiah is beginning to develop that more positive side of his message of which mention was made in his call (Jer. 1:10).
Thirdly, there is a promise of fairness. Apparently the people of Jerusalem and the exiles already in Babylon had complained that it was unfair for them to have to suffer for the sins of their fathers. A popular proverb expressed the mood of the people, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on edge. Such a proverb could only be uttered by a generation blind to their own sin and disobedience and utterly deluded in thinking that they were innocent of all wrong-doing. Ezekiel (chapter 18) attacks this proverb as a blasphemy of Gods justice. On the other hand, Jeremiah is not so much concerned to refute this notion as to merely assert that in the Messianic age people will have no occasion to make such a complaint. There are certain implications and involvements in Jeremiahs prediction that the sour grapes proverb will no longer be used in the Messianic age.
a) The prophet may be suggesting that individuals in the Messiahs kingdom will be more sensitive to the sin in their own lives. Unlike the people of Jeremiahs day they will recognize that divine judgment is their just desert, Thus the prediction here would involve a change of attitude on the part of the people.
b) Similarly, the thought may be that in the Messianic age the absolute justice of God will come to be fully recognized by all members of the covenant people.
c) A further implication of the prediction might be that in the Messianic Age the emphasis will be more upon the individual than upon the community. Individual responsibility will be the mark of the new age. Heretofore the basic unit of responsibility before God was the nation; in the future it would be the individual.
d) Another possible implication of Jeremiahs prediction would be the holiness of Messianic Israel. The prophet may be saying that the moral level in the Messianic age will be so high that collective or corporate guilt will no longer be possible. Only individual transgression will occur as isolated exceptions from the rule. God will not allow the sins of individuals to permeate the whole. Each individual sinner will suffer the consequences of his own sin.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23) As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah . . .Better, Once more, or yet again. The phrase is the same as in Jer. 31:5. The eye of the prophet turns from the northern kingdom to that of Judah, and sees it also as a sharer in the restoration. Jerusalem should be blest, and be worthy of blessingonce more a faithful city, a holy mountain, righteousness dwelling in it (Isa. 1:21). The holy mountain is used with a special reference to Moriah and the Temple.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. As yet Rather, once more, again.
Mountain of holiness Jerusalem, including Zion as well as Moriah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Sub-Part B. The Coming Days Will Introduce A Completely New Type Of Covenant Provided By YHWH, One That Is Written In The Heart And Will Thus Result In Changed Lives ( Jer 31:23-40 ).
This sub-part commences with the words, ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel,’ and a feature of it is the phrase ‘the days are coming, says YHWH, when –’ (Jer 31:27; Jer 31:31; Jer 31:38), with its emphasis being on the glorious future. We may analyse it as follows:
The fortunes of Judah and its cities will be restored and they will rejoice in YHWH’s holy habitation. Both town and country will rejoice together, for YHWH will satisfy all hearts (Jer 31:23-26).
‘The days are coming, says YHWH, when’, rather than being broken down and destroyed, both the house of Israel and the house of Judah will be watched over by YHWH and built up and planted, with individuals being seen as responsible for their own sins. In other words they will no longer be a nation with joint responsibility for the covenant and suffering accordingly, but a nation of individuals each accountable for themselves (Jer 31:27-30).
‘The days are coming, says YHWH, when’ He will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not one like the old covenant which they broke, but one written in their hearts so that He will be their God and they will be His people. And all will know YHWH and enjoy total forgiveness (Jer 31:31-34).
‘Thus says YHWH.’ The continuation of Israel is as certain as the arrival of the sun by day and of the moon and stars by night and as YHWH’s control of the seas (Jer 31:35-36).
‘Thus says YHWH.’ The fact that Israel will not be cast off for what they have done is as certain as the fact that the heavens cannot be measured, and the foundations of the earth explored (Jer 31:37).
The days are coming, says YHWH, when’ the city will be rebuilt for YHWH, and the whole area, even the unclean valley of Hinnom, will be sacred to Him. They will be established for ever (Jer 31:38-40). In the final analysis this is clearly something that can only be possible in the eternal kingdom.
Jer 31:23
‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel,’
This phrase introduces the second subpart of Section 2 Part 1, and emphasises again that we have in it ‘the word of YHWH’.
Jer 31:23
“Yet again will they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities,
When I will bring again their captivity,
YHWH bless you, O habitation of righteousness (or ‘justice’),
O mountain of holiness.”
Once the exile is over and YHWH has brought His people back to the land they will once again look to Mount Zion and exult in the presence of YHWH among them. The exile will have accomplished its purpose. They will rejoice in Him, and He will be their all, ‘dwelling’ on His holy mountain (compare the vivid picture in Isa 4:5-6 where the everlasting future is in mind). However, as in Jer 50:7 it is YHWH Himself Who is the ‘habitation of righteousness’, designated as such by the nations, this must possibly be seen as the significance of the words here. Then the thought would be that as they look to the holy mountain they ‘see’ Him dwelling there as ‘the habitation of righteousness’.
There can be no doubt that initially this would be the idea which would take up the minds of the returned exiles as they rejoiced at being back in the land with the assurance from Ezekiel that YHWH’s heavenly Temple was among them (Eze 40:1 to Eze 43:12), even though they could not see it. All that they had was the altar built on the holy mount (Eze 43:13-27), through which they could access that heavenly Temple. But it represented true worship. And they even set about building a Temple. Its foundations were laid. But the hardships of their lives began to press in on them so that they took their eyes off YHWH and His holy mountain and began to concentrate on more mundane things.
This is ever man’s tendency. The glorious vision is lost in the hard practicalities. It was then that they neglected the restoration of the Temple (Hag 2:9), with its consequent effect on their own spiritual lives. We might even begin to feel that the restoration was somehow failing. But we must remember that while this period might have appeared to be ‘a day of small things’ to the exiles (Zec 4:10), as they struggled on in difficult surroundings, and that it may also appear so to us in our comfortable chairs, from Heaven’s viewpoint the picture was wholly different. The earth was being shaken (Hag 2:21), and the Davidic prince was being established (Hag 2:23). God was moving mountains! Zerubbabel would act by YHWH’s Spirit (Zec 4:6) and be the reducer of mountains of difficulties as the Temple was rebuilt (Zec 4:7; Zec 4:9). And this would eventually lead on to the rebuilding of Jerusalem as an independent city (Nehemiah) and then to the coming of an even greater Davidic prince Who would cause the heavens to open (Mat 3:16), and would accomplish His purpose by being cut off (Dan 9:25-26), something which would result in His ascending to a place of ‘all authority in Heaven and on earth’ (Mat 28:18; Heb 1:3). God would have broken through to man (Mat 17:2 onwards; Joh 1:14). But it all began here with a motley group of returning refugees.
It is on the whole regularly God’s way to work through sowing seeds rather than by dropping bombs. He starts with small beginnings and eventually produces a huge mustard tree. Even the coming of Jesus was but a blip in secular history, until suddenly everyone was saying, ‘where on earth has this huge body of Christians, that we see all around us, sprung up from?’
Jer 31:24-25
“And Judah and all its cities will dwell in it together,
The husbandmen, and those who go about with flocks.
For I have fully satisfied the weary soul,
And every sorrowful soul have I replenished.”
The spotlight now turns on returned Judah. Once again they will dwell in the land in safety and their restored cities will dwell there too, along with the farming communities and the shepherds. It is an idyllic picture combining civilisation and strength, safety and security, with pastoral pursuits. (The cities were the places where they could find refuge from marauders). God’s people will be made up of all types, and all will be satisfied in soul, and replenished at heart. For He will be to them all that they need. Outwardly at least they will appear to be as they should have been from the beginning.
Jer 31:26
Upon this I awoke, and beheld,
And my sleep was sweet to me.”
And on this delightful thought Jeremiah awoke from his prophetic dream, and saw its fulfilment as one day becoming reality. And it made his sleep sweet to him. The bitterness of the past was, at least for the present, behind him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
b. The Share Of Judah
3. The Blessing of the Sanctuary
Jer 31:23-26.
23Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel:
Yet will they speak this word in the laud of Judah,
And in its cities, when I turn their captivity:
Jehovah bless thee, dwelling-place of salvation [or justice]21
Mountain of the sanctuary!
24And Judah shall dwell therein and all its cities together,
As husbandmen and those who go forth with flocks.22
25For I refresh the panting soul,
And every languishing23 soul I satisfy.
26Upon this I awoke and looked up;
And my sleep had been sweet unto me.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
After the prophet had promised the tea tribes spiritual and material prosperity in richest measure, he now does the same with respect to Judah. Judah will also return to his country; the sanctuary, the central point and source of all blessing is again saluted with benedictions (Jer 31:23). The whole land is again inhabited; agriculture and cattle-breeding again flourish (Jer 31:24). For the Lord s disposed to afford help in every distress, satisfaction for every need (Jer 31:25). The prophet received this revelation in a dream. Its joyful import was the cause of his feeling on awaking that his sleep had been sweet (Jer 31:26). He remarks this specially because with no other revelation in a dream had he had a similar experience.
Jer 31:23-25. Thus saith Jehovah . . . satisfy.When I turn. Comp. on Jer 29:14.Jehovah bless thee. The words may mean either Jehovah will bless thee, or, Jehovah bless thee. The former bears more of the priestly character, the latter is more appropriate as spoken by the congregation. We find such a benediction specified in Psa 122:6-9.Dwelling-place, etc. Comp. Jer 50:7, where, Jehovah himself is so-called.Mountain, etc., may be in apposition to dwelling-place, etc., and then the expression may either be a designation of the temple alone, or of the whole city of Jerusalem (comp. Isa 66:20; Zec 8:3). It may also be taken as an asyndeton, so that then the former will designate the holy city, the latter the temple. Finally the double phrase may designate both at the same time, i. e., the city including the temple, and as there is no reason for excluding either of the two, this may well be the correct rendering. Comp. Psa 2:6; Psa 48:2 sqq.; Isa 11:9; Joel 4:17.
Jer 31:25. Therein, i. e., the land, Jer 31:23.Judah and all its cities. The expression cannot designate Jerusalem and the provincial cities (comp. Jer 11:12), nor the whole and the single parts of the nation, because such a distinction can be made only in abstracto. I therefore think that the prophet really distinguishes the people and the cities. Both sit, dwell, lie in the land. Comp. 30:18; Zec 2:8; Zec 12:6; Zec 14:10.
Jer 31:25. For I refresh. The perfect is the prophetical perfect. It represents the future fact as already accomplished. For denotes that all that has been previously mentioned is only the realization of the purpose of Jehovah to relieve every distress and need, wherefore the satisfaction of hunger and thirst spoken of in Jer 31:25 is only to be understood as instar omnium. of the thirsty. Comp. Psa 63:2; Psa 143:6; Pro 25:25; Job 22:7; Isa 32:2.
Jer 31:26. Upon this sweet unto me. If we take these words, with Chr. B. Michaelis, Rosenmueller, Umbreit and others, as the words of God, we have the altogether crooked sense that Jehovah designates the time, when He was acting as a severe judge, as a time of sweet sleep. If we understand the people as awaking, then we have again the contradictory thought that the time of visitation is compared with a sweet sleep. The explanations of Ewald (quotation from a well-known sang, which is to show that then they will have no more bad dreams), and of Graf (therefore will it then be said, I awake, etc.), are too artificial, for they require the supplementation of introductory formulas which by no means offer themselves. As the words stand they can be understood only of the prophet. But it is a question, whether it is a real physical sleep or an ecstatic condition resembling sleep, which is spoken of. It is difficult to decide. Hengstenberg has declared in favor of the latter (Christology, Eng. Tr. II., 426). But in Zec 4:1, to which passage Hengstenberg appeals, the prophet is awakened to an ecstatic vision. I do not think, moreover, that the ecstatic condition is anywhere directly called sleep, and that he who awakes from it has the feeling of having slept. It cannot be doubted that dreams generally served as the physical means of divine revelation. Comp. rems, on Jer 23:25 and Num 12:6; Joe 3:1; 1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 9:2. Jeremiah never tells us elsewhere in what bodily condition he was when he received his revelation, but of this he tells us that he received it in sleep. Why here only such a remark on the outward form of the revelation and the feeling which he had in connection with it? Let us remember that this prophecy is the only uninterruptedly consolatory one in the whole book. Is it not then very intelligible that that moment was never forgotten when, awaking after the reception of this revelation, he had the feeling of an exceedingly sweet and refreshing sleep? I therefore perceive in this brief remark an indication that Jeremiah himself regarded the moment of the reception of this revelation as a point of light in his otherwise rough and laborious prophetic career (comp. Jer 20:7 sqq.). We may indeed truly say that here we stand at the most comforting and brightest point in the prophecies of Jeremiah.Upon this. may well mean upon this, combining the local and causal senses (comp. Jer 4:28).Looked up. The prophet mentions that he opened his eyes and saw, to intimate that he was really and fully awake, and that in a fully awake and self-conscious state he had the feeling that his sleep had been sweet. There is, as we know, a half-awaking, which is only apparent and therefore deceptive.Sweet unto me. Comp. Pro 3:24; Jer 6:20.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Joh. Conr. Schaller, pastor at Cautendorf, says in his Gospel Sermons, (Hof. 1742, S. 628), These chapters are like a sky in which sparkle many brilliant stars of strong and consolatory declarations, a paradise and pleasure-garden in which a believing soul is refreshed with delightsome flowers of instruction, and solaced with sweetly flavored apples of gracious promise.
2. On Jer 30:1-3. The people of Israel were not then capable of bearing such a prophecy, brimming over with happiness and glory. They would have misused it, hearing to the end what was promised them, and then only the more certainly postponing what was the only thing then necessarysincere repentance. Hence they are not yet to hear this gloriously consolatory address. It is to be written, that it may in due time be perceived that the Lord, even at the time when He was obliged to threaten most severely, had thoughts of peace concerning the people, and that thus the period of prosperity has not come by chance, nor in consequence of a change of mind, but in consequence of a plan conceived from the beginning and executed accordingly.
3. On Jer 30:7. The great and terrible day of the Lord (Joe 3:4) has not the dimensions of a human day. It has long sent out its heralds in advance. Yea, it has itself already dawned. For since by the total destruction of the external theocracy judgment is begun at the house of God (1Pe 4:17), we stand in the midst of the day of God in the midst of the judgment of the world. Then the time of trouble for Jacob has begun (Jer 30:7), from which he is to be delivered, when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in (Romans 11.)
4. On Jer 30:9. Christ is David in his highest potency, and He is also still more. For if we represent all the typical points in Davids life as a circle, and draw a line from each of these points, the great circle thus formed would comprise only a part of the given in Christ. Nevertheless Christ is the true David, who was not chosen like Saul for his bodily stature, but only for his inward relation to God (comp. Psa 2:7), whose kingdom also does not cease after a short period of glory, but endures forever; who will not like Saul succumb to his enemies, but will conquer them all, and will give to his kingdom the widest extent promised; all this however not without, like David, having gone through the bitterest trials.
5. On Jer 30:11. Modus patern castigationis accommodatus et quasi appensus ad stateram judicii Dei adeoque non immensus sed dimensus. Christus ecclesiam crucis su hredem constituit. Gregor. M. Frster.
6. On Jer 30:14. Cum virlutem patienti nostr flagella transeunt, valde metuendum est, ne peccatis nostris exigentibus non jam quasi filii a patre, sed quasi hostes a Domino feriamur. Gregor. M. Moral. XIV. 20, on Job 19:11. Ghisler.
7. On Jer 30:17. Providentia Dei mortalibus salutifera, antequam percutiat, pharmaca medendi grati componit, et gladium ir su acuit. Evagr. Hist. Ecc 4:6.Quando incidis in tentationem, crede, quod nisi cognovisset te posse illam evadere, non permisisset te in illam incidere. Theophyl. in cap. 18 Joh. Frster.Feriam prius et sanabo melius. Theophyl. in Hosea 11. Ghisler.
8. On Jer 30:21. This church of God will own a, Prince from its midstJesus, of our flesh and blood through the virgin Mary, and He approaches God, as no other can, for He is Gods image, Gods Son, and at the same time the perfect, holy in all His sufferings, only obedient son of man. This king is mediator and reconciler with God; He is also high-priest and fulfilled all righteousness, as was necessary for our propitiation. What glory to have such a king, who brings us nigh unto God, and this is our glory! Diedrich.
9. On Jer 31:1. There is no greater promise than this: I will be thy God. For if He is our God we are His creatures, His redeemed, His sanctified, according to all the three articles of the Christian faith. Cramer.
10. On Jer 31:2. The rough heap had to be sifted by the sword, but those who survived, though afflicted in the desert of this life, found favor with God, and these, the true Israel, God leads into His rest. Diedrich.
11. On Jer 31:3. The love of God towards us comes from love and has no other cause above or beside itself, but, is in God and remains in God, so that Christ who is in God is its centre. For herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (1Jn 4:10). Cramer. Totum grati imputatur, non nostris meritis. Augustine in Psalms 31. Frster. Before I had done anything good Thou hadst already moved towards me. Let these words be written on your hearts with the pen of the living God, that they may light you like flames of fire on the day of the marriage. It is your certificate of birth, your testimonial. Let me never lose sight of how much it has cost Thee to redeem me. Zinzendorf. God says: My chastisement even was pure love, though then you did not understand it; you shall learn it afterwards. Diedrich. [I incline to the construction given in the English version, both because the suffix to the verb is more naturally, I have drawn thee, than I have drawn out toward thee, and because there seems to be a tacit allusion to Hos 11:4, With loving kindness have I drawn thee.-A great moral truth lies in this passage so construed, viz., that the main power which humbles mans pride, softens his hard heart and makes him recoil in shame and sorrow from sinning, comes through his apprehension of Gods love as manifested in Christ and His cross. It is love that, draws the fearful or stubborn soul to the feet of divine mercy. Cowles.S. R. A.]
12. On Jer 31:6. It is well: the watchmen on Mount Ephraim had to go to Zion. They received however another visit from the Jewish priests, which they could not have expected at the great reformation, introduced by John, and which had its seat among other places on Mount Ephraim. The Samaritans were not far distant, and Mount Ephraim had even this honor that when the Lord came to His temple He took His Seat as a teacher there. Zinzendorf. [Gods grace loves to triumph over the most inveterate prejudices No words could represent a greater and more benign change in national feeling than these: Samaria saying through her spiritual watchmen, Let us go up to Zion to worship, for our God is there. Cowles. Ascendamus in Sion, hoc est in Ecclesiam says S. Jerome. According to this view, the watchmen here mentioned are the Preachers of the Gospel. Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
13. On Jer 31:9. I will lead them. It is an old sighing couplet, but full of wisdom and solid truth:
Lord Jesus, while I live on earth, O guide me,
Let me not, self-led, wander from beside Thee.
Zinzendorf.
14. On Jer 31:10. He who has scattered Israel will also collect it. Why? lie is the Shepherd. It is no wolf-scattering. He interposes His hand, then they go asunder, and directly come together again more orderly. Zinzendorf.
15. On Jer 31:12-14. Gaudebunt electi, quando videbunt supra se, intra se, juxta se, infra se. Augustine.Prmia clestia erunt tam magna, ut non possint mensurari, tam multa, ut non possint numerari, tam copiosa, ut non possint terminari, tam pretiosa, ut non possint stimari. Bernhard. Frster.
16. On Jer 31:15. Because at all times there is a similar state of things in the church of God, the lament of Rachel is a common one. For as this lament is over the carrying away captive and oppressions of Babylon, so is it also a lament over the tyranny of Herod in slaughtering the innocent children (Mat 2:1-7.)Cramer. Premuntur justi in ecclesia ut clament, clamantes exaudiuntur, exauditi glorificent Deum. Augustin. Frster.With respect to this, that Rachels lament may be regarded as a type of maternal lamentation over lost children, Frster quotes this sentence of Cyprian: non amisimus, sed prmisimus (2Sa 12:23). [On the application of this verse to the murder of the innocents consult W. L. Alexander, Connexion of the Old and New. Testament, p. 54, and W. H. Mill in Wordsworths Note in loc.S. R. A.]
17. On Jer 31:18. The conversion of man must always be a product of two factors. A conversion which man alone should bring about, without God, would be an empty pretence of conversion; a conversion, which God should produce, without man, would be a compulsory, manufactured affair, without any moral value. The merit and the praise is, however, always on Gods side. He gives the will and the execution. Did He not discipline us, we should never learn discipline. Did He not lead back our thoughts to our Fathers house which we have left (Luke 15) we should never think of returning.
18. On Jer 31:19. The children of God are ashamed their life long, they cannot raise their heads for humiliation. For their sins always seem great to them, and the grace of God always remains something incomprehensible to them.Zinzendorf. The farther the Christian advances in his consciousness of sonship and in sanctification, the more brilliantly rises the light of grace, the more distinctly does he perceive in this light, how black is the night of his sins from which God has delivered him. [It is the ripest and fullest ears of grain which hang their heads the lowest.S. R. A.]
19. On Jer 31:19. The use of the dear cross is to make us blush (Dan 9:8) and not regard ourselves as innocent (Jer 30:11). And as it pleases a father when a child soon blushes, so also is this tincture a flower of virtue well-pleasing to God. Cramer. Deus oleum miserationis su non nisi in vas contritum et contribulatum infundit. Bernhard.Frster.
20. On Jer 31:19. The reproach of my youth. The sins of youth are not easily to be forgotten (Psa 25:7; Job 31:18). Therefore we ought to be careful so to act in our youth as not to have to chew the cud of bitter reflection in our old age. It is a comfort that past sins of youth will not injure the truly penitent. Non nocent peccata prterita, cum non placent prsentia. Augustine. To transgress no more is the best sign of repentance. Cramer.
21. On Jer 31:20. Comforting and weighty words, which each one should lay to heart. God loves and caresses us as a mother her good child. He remembers His promise. His heart yearns and breaks, and it is His pleasure to do us good. Cramer. lpsius proprium est, misereri semper et parcere. Augustine.Major est Dei misericordia quam omnium hominum miseria. Idem.
22. On Jer 31:23. The Lord bless thee, thou dwelling-place of righteousness, thou holy mountain. Certainly no greater honor was ever done to the Jewish mountains than that the womans seed prayed and wept on them, was transfigured, killed and ascended above all heaven. Zinzendorf. It cannot be denied that a church sanctifies a whole place . Members of Jesus are real guardian angels, who do not exist in the imagination, but are founded on Gods promise (Mat 25:40). Idem.
23. On Jer 31:29-30. The so-called family curse has no influence on the servants of God; one may sleep calmly nevertheless. This does not mean that we should continue in the track of our predecessors, ex. gr., when our ancestors have gained much wealth by sinful trade, that we should continue this trade with this wealth with the hope of the divine blessing. If this or that property, house, right, condition be afflicted with a curse, the children of God may soon by prudent separation deliver themselves from these unsafe circumstances. For nothing attaches to their persons, when they have been baptized with the blood of Jesus and are blessed by Him. Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer 31:29-30. In testamento novo per sarguinem mediatoris deleto paterno chirographo incipit homo paternis debitis non esse obnoxius renascendo, quibus nascendo fuerat obligatus, ipso Mediatore di cente: Ne vobis patrem dicis in terra (Mat 23:9). Secundum hoc utique, quod alios natales, quibus non patri succederemus, sed cum patre semper viveremus, invenimus. Augustine, contra Julian, VI. 12, in Ghisler.
25. On Jer 31:31. In veteribus libris aut nusquam aut difficile prter hunc propheticum locum legitur facta commemoratio testamenti novi, ut omnino ipso nomine appellaretur. Nam multis locis hoc significalur et prnuntiatur futurum, sed non ita ut etiam nomen lega ur expressum. Augustine, de Spir. et Lit. ad Marcellin, Cap. 19 (where to Cap. 29 there is a detailed discussion of this passage) in Ghisler.In the whole of the Old Testament there is no passage, in which the view is so clearly and distinctly expressed as here that the law is only . And though some commentators have supposed that the passage contains only a censure of the Israelites and not of the Old Covenant, they only show thus that they have not understood the simple meaning of the words. Ebrard. Comm. zum Hebrerbr. S. 275.
26. On Jer 31:31, sqq. Propter veteris hominis noxam, qu per literam jubentem et minantem minime sanabatur, dicitur illud testamentum vetus; hoc antem novum propter novitatem spiritus, qu hominem novum sanat a vitio vetustatis. Augustine, c. Lit. Cap. 19.
27. On Jer 31:33. Quid sunt ergo leges Dei ab ipso Deo script in cordibus, nisi ipsa prsentia Spiritus sancti, qui est digitus Dei, quo prsente diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostrio, qu plenitudo legis est et prcepti finis? Augustine, l. c. Cap. 20.
28. On Jer 31:34. Quomodo tempus est novi testamenti, de quo propheta dixit: et non docebit unusquisque civem suum, etc. nisi quia rjusdem testamenti novi ternam mercedem, id est ipsius Dei beatissimam contemplationem promittendo conjunxit? Augustine, l. c. Cap. 24.
29. On Jer 31:33-34. This is the blessed difference between law and Gospel, between form and substance. Therefore are the great and small alike, and the youths like the elders, the pupils more learned than their teachers, and the young wiser than the ancients (1Jn 2:20 sqq.). Here is the cause:For I will forgive their iniquities. This is the occasion of the above; no one can effect this without it. Forgiveness of sins makes the scales fall from peoples eyes, and gives them a cheerful temper, clear conceptions, a clear head.Zinzendorf.
30. On Jer 31:35-37. Etsi particulares ecclesi intotum deficere possunt, ecclesia tamen catholica nunquam defecit aut deficiet. Obstant enim Dei amplissim promissiones, inter quas non ultimum locum sibi vindicut qu hic habetur Jer 31:37. Frster.
31. On Jer 31:38-40. Jerusalem will one day be much greater than it has ever been. This is not to be understood literally but spiritually. Jerusalem will be wherever there are believing souls, its circle will be without end and comprise all that has been hitherto impure and lost. This it is of which the prophet is teaching, and which he presents in figures, which were intelligible to the people in his time. The hill Gareb, probably the residence of the lepers, the emblem of the sinner unmasked and smitten by God, and the cursed valley of Ben-Hinnom will be taken up into the holy city. Gods grace will one day effect all this, and Israel will thus be manifested as much more glorious than ever before. Diedrich.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 30:5-9. Sermon on one of the last Sundays after Trinity or the second in Advent. The day of the judgment of the world a great day. For it is, (1) a day of anxiety and terror for all the world; (2) a day of deliverance from all distress for the church of the Lord; (3) a day of realization of all the happiness set in prospect before it.
2. On Jer 30:10-12. Consolation of the church in great trial. 1. It has well deserved the trial (Jer 30:12); 2. it is therefore chastised, but with moderation; 3. it will not perish but again enjoy peace.
3. On Jer 30:17. [The Restorer of mankind. 1. Faith in the Christian Sacrament and its attendant revelation of divine character alone answer the demand of the heart and reason of man for a higher state of moral perfection. 2. Christianity offers to maintain a communication between this world and that eternal world of holiness and truth. 3. It commends itself to our wants in the confirmation and direction of that principle of hope, which even in our daily and worldly life, we are perpetually forced to substitute for happiness, and 4. By the adorable object, which it presents to our affections. Archer ButlerS. R. A.]
4. On Jer 31:1-2. Gesetz and Zeugniss (Law and Testimony) 1864, Heft. 1. Funeral sermon of Ahlfeld.
5. On Jer 31:2-4. lb. 1865. Heft 1. Funeral sermon of Besser, S. 32 ff.
6. On Jer 31:3. C. Fr. Hartmann (Wedding, School, Catechism and Birth-day sermons, ed. C. Chr. Eberh. Ehemann. Tb. 1865). Wedding sermon. 1. A grateful revival in the love of God already received. 2. Earnest endeavor after a daily enjoyment of this love. 3. Daily nourishment of hope.
7. On Jer 31:3. Florey. Comfort and warning at graves. I. Bndchen, S. 253. On the attractions of Gods love towards His own children. They are, 1. innumerable and yet so frequently overlooked; 2. powerful and yet so frequently resisted; 3. rich in blessing and yet so frequently; unemployed. [For practical remarks on this text see also Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, No. 11.S. R. A.]
8. On Jer 31:9. Confessional sermon by Dekan V. Biarowsky in Erlangen (in Palmers Evang. Casual-Reden, 2 te Folge, 1 Band. Stuttgart, 1850.) Every partaking of the Lords supper is a return to the Lord in the promised land, and every one who is a guest at the supper rises and comes. 1. How are we to come? (weeping and praying). 2. What shall we find? (Salvation and blessing, power and life, grace and help).
9. On Jer 31:18-20. Comparison of conversion with the course of the earth and the sun. 1. The man who has fallen away is like the planet in its distance from the sun; he flees from God as far as he Song of Solomon 2. Love however does not release him: a. he is chastened (winter, cold, long nights, short days); b. he accepts the chastening and returns to proximity to the sun (summer, warmth, light, life). Comp. Brandt, Altes und Neues in i extemporirbaren Entwrfen. Nremberg, 1829, II. 5. [The stubborn sinner submitting himself to God. I. A description of the feelings and conduct of an obstinate, impenitent sinner, while smarting under the rod of affliction: He is rebellioustill subdued. II. The new views and feelings produced by affliction through divine grace: (a) convinced of guilt and sinfulness; (b) praying; (c) reflecting on the effects of divine grace in his conversion. III. A correcting but compassionate God, watching the result, etc., (a) as a tender father mindful of his penitent child; (b) listening to his complaints, confessions and petitions; (c) declaring His determination to pardon. Payson.S. R. A.]
10. On Jer 31:31-34. Sermon on 1 Sunday in Advent by Pastor Diechert in Grningen, S. Stern aus Jakob. I. Stuttg. 1867.
11. On Jer 31:33-34. Do we belong to the people of God? 1. Have we holiness? 2. Have we knowledge? 3. Have we the peace promised to this people? (Caspari in Predigtbuch von Dittmar, Erlangen, 1845).
12. On Jer 31:33-34. By the new covenant in the bath of holy baptism all becomes new. 1. What was dead becomes alive 2. What was obscure becomes clear. 3. What was cold becomes warm. 4. What was bound becomes free (Florey, 1862).
Footnotes:
[21]Jer 31:23.On . Comp. Pro 3:33; Pro 24:15; for comp. rems. on Jer 7:5; Jer 9:23.
[22]Jer 31:24. . Supply before . This verb is the technical term for the nomadic mode of life. Comp. Gen 33:12; Gen 35:21; Gen 46:1, etc.On =in medio, i. e., cum. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 112, 5 a.
[23]Jer 31:25.. Comp. Jer 31:12. I do not see why this word should necessarily be a participial form. It may be a finite verb with wanting. Comp. Jer 14:1; Isa 51:1; Psa 7:16
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Jer 31:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, [and] mountain of holiness.
Ver. 23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. ] Et haec pertinent ad regnum Christi propriissime. These words also, to the end of the chapter, do most properly pertain to the kingdom of Christ, saith Oeecolampadius.
As yet.
The Lord bless thee.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 31:23-26
23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,
‘The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
24Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. 25For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes. 26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
Jer 31:23-26 These verses are about the restoration of Judah.
1. her cities, Jer 31:24)
2. her capital
3. the temple (i.e., holy hill)
Jer 31:24 is difficult in the MT, and they shall wander, but in the LXX, and he shall be raised up with a flock. The point from the context is that farmers and herdsmen will dwell together. This may be a veiled allusion to the problem between Cain and Abel, but in the new day there will be no tensions related to vocations.
Jer 31:26 is also difficult. It seems out of place or at least ambiguous as to whom it relates.
1. northern ten tribes
2. all descendants of Abraham (TEV)
3. the prophet receiving revelation (I, cf. Jer 30:1)
Jer 31:26 I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant This is possibly a reference to (1) the prophet’s dream of restoration (Jewish Study Bible marginal note suggests he saw in a dream of the future, much like Abraham in Gen 15:12-21, p. 990) or (2) a statement of the inhabitants relating to the restored Judah (TEV).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. See note on Jer 7:3.
bring again. This cannot be spiritualized.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 31:23-30
Jer 31:23-26
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
Upon this I awaked…
(Jer 31:26). God’s revelation of this chapter had apparently come to Jeremiah in a dream, one of the various means (Heb 1:1) by which God of old spoke to the fathers by the prophets. This explanation was the one accepted by Lindblom. The particular revelation that resulted in the dream’s coming to an end was the prophecy of the return of the remnant of Israel from captivity in Babylon to Jerusalem and Judah and to the prosperity that would ensue. Much of that promised happiness and prosperity never materialized, because of the failure of the returnees to repent and turn wholeheartedly unto God, as revealed in some of the minor prophets, notably Micah.
Jer 31:27-30
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Behold the days come…
(Jer 31:27). It is amazing how often this or equivalent expressions such as at that time, occur in this chapter, all of which point unerringly to the Age of Messiah for the fulfillment of the revelation recorded here.
Thus saith Jehovah…
(Jer 31:27-28, etc.). Some nineteen times in the forty verses of this chapter this formula appears. The New Covenant that God is announcing here is radically different from anything ever heard of before; and this oft-repeated statement thus saith Jehovah was necessary. As Green said, The sulking cynical captives would be skeptical; and therefore the announcement of it gets a heavy stamp of divine authority: ‘this is revelation!’
I have watched over them to pluck up, etc….
(Jer 31:28). This is a reference to what Jeremiah had written in Jer 18:7-10; and if Israel would now truly believe and serve God, all of the great blessings would be poured out upon them.
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, etc….
(Jer 31:29). This seems to have been a popular proverb among the Israelites, because Ezekiel also mentioned it and based upon it a chapter regarding individual responsibility (Ezekiel 18). The people were using this saying, To excuse themselves from responsibility for the predicament they were in, to pass the buck to their forbears, and ultimately to God.
In the Messianic age to come, Jeremiah prophesies here that, “Men will no more accuse God of unrighteousness, as in the wicked proverb, but they will perceive that everyone has to suffer for his own guilt.”
New Conditions Jer 31:23-30
After the prophet has promised Ephraim, the ten northern tribes, an abundant material and spiritual blessing from God he does the same for Judah. -When Gods people return from exile completely new conditions will exist throughout the land. Pure religion will be restored. The people will again pronounce blessings upon the sacred sanctuary and the holy city. Throughout the cities of Judah the people will say, May the Lord, the Habitation of Justice, bless you, O mountain of holiness (Jer 31:23). In both the title for God and the designation of the holy city[271] the people who return from exile seem to realize the important place of justice and holiness for the first time. On the basis of Jer 50:7 the present writer takes the phrase Habitation of Justice to be a title for God. Others regard this as a title for Jerusalem and/or the Temple. The expression mountain of holiness or holy mountain is used both for the Temple mountain and for Jerusalem itself. See Psa 2:6; Isa 11:9; Isa 27:13; Isa 66:20; Dan 9:16; Zec 8:3.
Not only will idyllic conditions exist in the realm of religion but also among the various elements of society. Peace and harmony shall exist between farmers and nomads (Jer 31:24). The weary world shall find rest and the sorrowful will find abundant comfort (Jer 31:25). In Hebrew the verbs are in the perfect or completed state. It is another example of the so-called prophetic perfect which represents future facts as already accomplished.
At this point Jeremiah says something rather unexpected. He declares that he awoke from a deep. There can be little doubt that it is Jeremiah who is speaking in Jer 31:26 for the language would not be appropriate to God or to the exiles. The question is whether real physical sleep is meant or some ecstatic condition resembling sleep. On the whole it is best to think in terms of real sleep for dreams were frequently the channels of communication for divine revelation to prophets. Cf. Gen 31:10-11; 1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 9:2; Joe 2:28; Zec 1:8. Since the prophecies just enunciated were hopeful and comforting it is quite understandable why the prophet describes his sleep as sweet.
It is impossible to tell whether or not an interval of time elapsed between Jer 31:26 and Jer 31:27. Perhaps Jeremiah at once fell asleep again much as a dreamer might go back to sleep after being awakened in order to continue a pleasant dream. At any rate the four verses which follow continue the picture of the new conditions which will exist in the Messianic age.
There is in these verses, first, a promise of fruitfulness. God will make the people and their cattle multiply so fast that it will seem as though they spring up like seed sown in fertile soil (Jer 31:27). It is both Israel and Judah reunited into one people who are the recipients of this promise.
Secondly, there is here a promise of faithfulness. Just as God has been watchful over the fulfillment of the prophecies of judgment and destruction, so will He now be equally zealous in fulfilling his promises of restoration (Jer 31:28). In this chapter Jeremiah is beginning to develop that more positive side of his message of which mention was made in his call (Jer 1:10).
Thirdly, there is a promise of fairness. Apparently the people of Jerusalem and the exiles already in Babylon had complained that it was unfair for them to have to suffer for the sins of their fathers. A popular proverb expressed the mood of the people, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on edge. Such a proverb could only be uttered by a generation blind to their own sin and disobedience and utterly deluded in thinking that they were innocent of all wrong-doing. Ezekiel (chapter 18) attacks this proverb as a blasphemy of Gods justice. On the other hand, Jeremiah is not so much concerned to refute this notion as to merely assert that in the Messianic age people will have no occasion to make such a complaint. There are certain implications and involvements in Jeremiahs prediction that the sour grapes proverb will no longer be used in the Messianic age.
a) The prophet may be suggesting that individuals in the Messiahs kingdom will be more sensitive to the sin in their own lives. Unlike the people of Jeremiahs day they will recognize that divine judgment is their just desert, Thus the prediction here would involve a change of attitude on the part of the people.
b) Similarly, the thought may be that in the Messianic age the absolute justice of God will come to be fully recognized by all members of the covenant people.
c) A further implication of the prediction might be that in the Messianic Age the emphasis will be more upon the individual than upon the community. Individual responsibility will be the mark of the new age. Heretofore the basic unit of responsibility before God was the nation; in the future it would be the individual.
d) Another possible implication of Jeremiahs prediction would be the holiness of Messianic Israel. The prophet may be saying that the moral level in the Messianic age will be so high that collective or corporate guilt will no longer be possible. Only individual transgression will occur as isolated exceptions from the rule. God will not allow the sins of individuals to permeate the whole. Each individual sinner will suffer the consequences of his own sin.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
As: Jer 23:5-8, Jer 33:15-26, Isa 1:26, Isa 60:21, Zec 8:3
The Lord: Rth 2:4, Psa 28:9, Psa 122:5-8, Psa 128:5, Psa 129:8, Psa 134:3
O: Jer 50:7, Isa 1:21
and mountain: Psa 48:1, Psa 48:2, Psa 87:1-3, Oba 1:17, Mic 4:1, Zec 8:3
Reciprocal: Exo 15:17 – mountain Deu 26:15 – bless thy Psa 53:6 – bringeth Psa 85:1 – thou hast Psa 102:13 – Thou Isa 26:10 – in the Isa 54:14 – righteousness Jer 3:17 – the throne Jer 30:3 – that I Lam 5:21 – renew Eze 16:53 – bring Joe 3:17 – Jerusalem Amo 9:14 – I will bring Zec 1:17 – My cities Mal 3:4 – the offering Rev 21:2 – the holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 31:23. This verse resumes the good fortune of Israel after the return from captivity. The Lori bless thee is a prediction that the nation will be blessed by being restored to its native land.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 31:23-25. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel These prophecies of the restoration of the Jews are ordinarily prefaced with these two attributes of God, the one of which asserts his power to do the thing promised; the other, his goodness to his people; as yet, or, yet again, they shall use this speech in the land of Judah, and in the cities thereof, &c. Three things the prophet here foretels, 1st, That the cities which had formerly been the habitations of unjust, cruel, and bloody men, should become the habitations of men who should do justice to all. 2d, That the city which stood upon mount Zion, and had formerly been a habitation of idolaters and other unholy persons, should become a place in which men should, in a due and holy manner, worship and serve the true God. 3d, That they should be so famous, both for justice and holiness, that men would take notice of it, and wish they might be blessed on that account: so that as they had, for their sins, been made a curse and proverb, so, upon their reformation they should be for a blessing. And there shall dwell in Judah, &c., husbandmen This verse is not only intended to express that the country should be inhabited, as well as the cities, after their return from captivity, but to set forth their peaceable and happy state at that time. For I have satiated, or, I will satiate, the weary soul I will comfort them after their sorrows and afflictions, and will give them abundance of ease and plenty.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 31:23-26. At the restoration of Judah there shall be joyous acclamation of the city and the Temple (Zec 8:3); agricultural and pastoral life shall be resumed in peace; the thirsty and the hungry (cf. Jer 31:14) shall be satisfied. Jer 31:26 appears to be a gloss, which hints that these bright dreams are very different from the waking reality.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The regathering of Judah 31:23-26
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Instead of Judah being a target for cursing in the future, as she became because of the Babylonian exile, she would be a subject of blessing. She would become a place where righteousness dwelt, a holy hill.