Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 33:17
For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
17. David man ] lit. as mg. There shall not be cut off from David.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Read literally, these verses promise the permanent restoration of the Davidic throne and (of the Levitical priesthood. As a matter of fact Zedekiah was the last king of Davids line, and the Levitical priest-hood has long passed away. Both these changes Jeremiah himself foretold Jer 22:30; Jer 3:16. In what way then is this apparent contradiction (compare Isa 66:20-23; Ezek. 4048) to be explained? The solution is probably as follows. It was necessary that the Bible should be intelligible to the people at the time when it was written, and in some degree to the writer. The Davidic kingship and the Levitical priest-hood were symbols, which represented to the Jew all that was most dear to his heart in the state of things under which he lived. Their restoration was the restoration of his national and spiritual life. Neither was so restored as to exist permanently. But that was given instead, of which both were types, the Church, whose Head is the true prophet, priest and King.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
This is apparently a promise relating to Christ, for Davids line had failed long since, had it not been continued in Christ, whose kingdom is and shall be an everlasting kingdom. So long as Israel remained a kingdom, those of the line of David ruled over it; when that failed, Christ came in the flesh, who ruleth, and shall rule, over the Israel of God for ever.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. The promises of perpetuityof the throne of David fulfilled in Messiah, the son of David(2Sa 7:16; 1Ki 2:4;Psa 89:4; Psa 89:29;Psa 89:36; compare Luk 1:32;Luk 1:33).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thus saith the Lord,…. Confirming the above promise concerning the Messiah; giving a reason why his coming may be expected; and why the salvation, justification, and final perseverance of his church and people, are certain things, and to be depended upon:
David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; or, “there shall not be cut off unto David a man” a; and this is not to be understood of the temporal kingdom of David, which has been at an end long ago: Jeconiah, that was carried captive into Babylon, was written childless, and left no issue; and Zerubbabel, the only one of David’s seed that made any figure after the captivity, was not a king; this is only true of the man Christ Jesus, of the seed of David, and is his son, to whom has been given the throne of his father David; and who reigns over the house of Jacob for ever; and of whose kingdom there is no end, Lu 1:32; and as long as he is King of saints, which will be for ever, David will not want a man to sit upon his throne. David’s earthly kingdom was but a typical and shadowy one; a type of Christ’s spiritual kingdom, which has succeeded it, and in which Christ is David’s son and successor, and whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
a “non exscindetur Davidi vir”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Security of God’s Covenants; The Covenant of Priesthood. | B. C. 589. |
17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; 18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
Three of God’s covenants, that of royalty with David and his seed, that of the priesthood with Aaron and his seed, and that of Peculiarity with Abraham and his seed, seemed to be all broken and lost while the captivity lasted; but it is here promised that, notwithstanding that interruption and discontinuance for a time, they shall all three take place again, and the true intents and meaning of them all shall be abundantly answered in the New Testament blessings, typified by those conferred on the Jews after their return out of captivity.
I. The covenant of royalty shall be secured and the promises of it shall have their full accomplishment in the kingdom of Christ, the Son of David, v. 17. The throne of Israel was overturned in the captivity; the crown had fallen from their head; there was not a man to sit on the throne of Israel; Jeconiah was written childless. After their return the house of David made a figure again; but it in the Messiah that this promise is performed that David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of Israel, and that David shall have always a son to reign upon his throne. For as long as the man Christ Jesus sits on the right hand of the throne of God, rules the world, and rules it for the good of the church, to which he is a quickening head, and glorified head over all things, as long as he is King upon the holy hill of Zion, David does not want a successor, nor is the covenant with him broken. When the first-begotten was brought into the world it was declared concerning him, The Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever,Luk 1:32; Luk 1:33. For the confirmation of this it is promised, 1. That the covenant with David shall be as firm as the ordinances of heaven, to the stability of which that of God’s promise is compared, ch. xxxi. 35, 36. There is a covenant of nature, by which the common course of providence is settled and on which it is founded, here called a covenant of the day and the night (Jer 33:20; Jer 33:25), because this is one of the articles of it, That there shall be day and night in their season, according to the distinction put between them in the creation, when God divided between the light and the darkness, and established their mutual succession, and a government to each, that the sun should rule by day and the moon and stars by night (Gen 1:4; Gen 1:5; Gen 1:16), which establishment was renewed after the flood (Gen. viii. 22), and has continued ever since, Ps. xix. 2. The morning and the evening have both of them their regular outgoings (Ps. lxv. 8); the day-spring knows its place, knows its time, and keeps both, so do the shadows of the evening; and, while the world stands, this course shall not be altered, this covenant shall not be broken. The ordinances of heaven and earth (of this communication between heaven and earth, the dominion of these ordinances of heaven upon the earth), which God has appointed (Jer 33:25; Job 38:33), shall never be disappointed. Thus firm shall the covenant of redemption be with the Redeemer–God’s servant, but David our King, v. 21. This intimates that Christ shall have a church on earth to the world’s end; he shall see a seed in which he shall prolong his days till time and day shall be no more. Christ’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and when the end cometh, and not till then, it shall be delivered up to God, even the Father. But it intimates that the condition of it in this world shall be intermixed and counterchanged, prosperity and adversity succeeding each other, as light and darkness, day and night. But this is plainly taught us, that, as sure as we may be that, though the sun will set tonight, it will rise again tomorrow morning, whether we live to see it or no, so sure we may be that, though the kingdom of the Redeemer in the world may for a time be clouded and eclipsed by corruptions and persecutions, yet it will shine forth again, and recover its lustre, in the time appointed. 2. That the seed of David shall be as numerous as the host of heaven, that is, the spiritual seed of the Messiah, that shall be born to him by the efficacy of his gospel and his Spirit working with it. From the womb of the morning he shall have the dew of their youth, to be his willing people, Ps. cx. 3. Christ’s seed are not, as David’s were, his successors, but his subjects; yet the day is coming when they also shall reign with him (v. 22): As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, so will I multiply the seed of David, so that there shall be no danger of the kingdom’s being extinct, or extirpated, for want of heirs. The children are numerous; and, if children, then heirs.
II. The covenant of priesthood shall be secured, and the promises of that also shall have their full accomplishment. This seemed likewise to be forgotten during the captivity, when there was no altar, no temple service, for the priests to attend upon; but this also shall revive. It did so; immediately upon their coming back to Jerusalem there were priests and Levites ready to offer burnt-offerings and to do sacrifice continually (Ezr 3:2; Ezr 3:3), as is here promised, v. 18. But that priesthood soon grew corrupt; the covenant of Levi was profaned (as appears Mal. ii. 8), and in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans it came to a final period. We must therefore look elsewhere for the performance of this word, that the covenant with the Levites, the priests, God’s ministers, shall be as firm, and last as long, as the covenant with the day and the night. And we find it abundantly performed, 1. In the priesthood of Christ, which supersedes that of Aaron, and is the substance of that shadow. While that great high priest of our profession is always appearing in the presence of God for us, presenting the virtue of his blood by which he made atonement in the incense of his intercession, it may truly be said that the Levites do not want a man before God to offer continually,Heb 7:3; Heb 7:17. He is a priest for ever. The covenant of the priesthood is called a covenant of peace (Num. xxv. 12), of life and peace, Mal. ii. 5. Now we are sure that this covenant is not broken, nor in the least weakened, while Jesus Christ is himself our life and our peace. This covenant of priesthood is here again and again joined with that of royalty, for Christ is a priest upon his throne, as Melchizedek. 2. In a settled gospel ministry. While there are faithful ministers to preside in religious assemblies, and to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, the priests, the Levites, do not want successors, and such as have obtained a more excellent ministry. The apostle makes those that preach the gospel to come in the room of those that served at the altar, 1Co 9:13; 1Co 9:14. 3. In all true believers, who are a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9), who are made to our God kings and priests (Rev. i. 6); they offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, and themselves, in the first place, living sacrifices. Of these Levites this promise must be understood (v. 22), that they shall be as numerous as the sand of the sea, the same that is promised concerning Israel in general (Gen. xxii. 17); for all God’s spiritual Israel are spiritual priests, Rev 5:9; Rev 5:10; Rev 7:9; Rev 7:15.
III. The covenant of peculiarity likewise shall be secured and the promises of that covenant shall have their full accomplishment in the gospel Israel. Observe, 1. How this covenant was looked upon as broken during the captivity, v. 24. God asks the prophet, “Hast though not heard, and dost thou not consider, what this people have spoken?” either the enemies of Israel, who triumphed in the extirpation of a people that had made such a noise in the world, or the unbelieving Israelites themselves, “this people among whom thou dwellest;” they have broken covenant with God, and then quarrel with him as if he had not dealt faithfully with them. The two families which the Lord hath chosen, Israel and Judah, whereas they were but one when he chose them, he hath even cast them off. “Thus have they despised my people, that is, despised the privilege of being my people as if it were a privilege of no value at all.” The neighbouring nations despised them as now no more a nation, but the ruins of a nation, and looked upon all their honour as laid in the dust; but, 2. See how firm the covenant stands notwithstanding, as firm as that with day and night; sooner will God suffer day and night to cease then he will cast away the seed of Jacob. This cannot refer to the seed of Jacob according to the flesh, for they are cast away, but to the Christian church, in which all these promises were to be lodged, as appears by the apostle’s discourse, Rom. xi. 1, c. Christ is that seed of David that is to be perpetual dictator to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and, as this people shall never want such a king, so this king shall never want such a people. Christianity shall continue in the dominion of Christ, and the subjection of Christians to him, till day and night come to an end. And, as a pledge of this, that promise is again repeated, I will cause their captivity to return; and, having brought them back, I will have mercy on them. To whom this promise refers appears Gal. vi. 16, where all that walk according to the gospel rule are made to be the Israel of God, on whom peace and mercy shall be.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet had spoken of the restoration of the Church; he now confirms the same truth, for he promises that the kingdom and the priesthood would be perpetual. The safety of the people, as it is well known, was secured by these two things; for without a king they were like an imperfect or a maimed body, and without a priesthood there was nothing but ruin; for the priest was, as it were, the mediator between God and the people, and the king represented God. We now, then, perceive the object of the Prophet, why he speaks expressly here of the kingdom and the priesthood, for the people could not otherwise have any ground to stand on. He therefore declares that the condition of the people would be safe, because there would always be some of the posterity of David, who would succeed to govern them, and there would always be some of the posterity of Levi, to offer sacrifices.
But this passage ought to be carefully noticed, for we hence gather, that though all other things were given to us according to our wishes, we should yet be ever miserable, except we had Christ as our head, to perform the office of a king and of a priest. This, then, is the only true happiness of the Church, even to be in subjection to Christ, so that he may exercise towards us the two offices described here. Hence also we gather, that these are the two marks of a true Church, by which she is to be distinguished from all conventicles, who falsely profess the name of God, and boast themselves to be Churches. For where the kingdom and priesthood of Christ are found, there, no doubt, is the Church; but where Christ is not owned as a king and a priest, nothing is there but confusion, as under the Papacy; for though they pretend the name of Christ, yet, as they do not submit to his government and laws, nor are satisfied with his priesthood, but have devised for themselves numberless patrons and advocates, it is quite evident that, notwithstanding the great splendor of the Papacy, it is nothing but an abomination before God. Let us, then, learn to begin with the kingdom and the priesthood, when we speak of the state and government of the Church.
Now we know that in David was promised a spiritual kingdom, for what was David but a type of Christ? As God then gave in David a living image of his only-begotten Son, we ought ever to pass from the temporal kingdom to the eternal, from the visible to the spiritual, from the earthly to the celestial. The same thing ought to be said of the priesthood; for no mortal can reconcile God to men, and make an atonement for sins; and further, the blood of bulls and of goats could not pacify the wrath of God, nor incense, nor the sprinkling of,water, nor any of the things which belonged to the ceremonial laws; they could not, give the hope of salvation, so as to quiet trembling consciences. It then follows, that that priesthood was shadowy, and that the Levites represented Christ until he came.
But the Prophet here speaks according to the circumstances of his own time, when he says, Cut off shall not be from David a man, who may sit on the throne of the house of Israel; and then, cut off shall not be from the priests, the Levites, a man who may kindle burnt-offerings burn an oblation, etc. (92) Why does he not speak in general of the whole people? Why does he not promise that the twelve tribes would be saved? for this would be, a matter of greater moment. But as we have said, we ought to understand this principle, that every kind of blessing is included here, so that men are always in a miserable state unless they are ruled by Christ and have him as their priest.
But it may be asked here, how does this prophecy agree with facts? for from the time Jeremiah promised such a state of things, there has been no successor to David. It is true, indeed, that Zerubbabel was a leader among the people, but he was without a royal title or dignity. There was no throne, no crown, no scepter, from the time in which the people returned from their Babylonian exile; and yet God testified by the mouth of Jeremiah that there would be those from the posterity of David, who would govern the people in continual succession. He does not stay that they would be chiefs or leaders, but he adorns them with a royal title. Some one, he says, will ever remain to occupy the throne. I have said already that there has been no throne. But we must bear in mind what Ezekiel says, that an interruption as to the kingdom is not contrary to this prophecy, as to the perpetuity of the kingdom, or continued succession, (Eze 21:27) for he prophesied that the crown would be cast down, until the legitimate successor of David came. It was therefore necessary that the diadem should fall and be cast on the ground, or be transverted, as the Prophet says, until Christ was manifested. As, then, this had been declared, now when our Prophet speaks of kings succeeding David, we must so understand what he says as that that should remain true which has been said of the cast down diadem. God, then, did cast down the diadem until the legitimate successor came. Ezekiel does not only say, “Cast ye it down transverted,” but he repeats the words three times, intimating thereby that the interruption would be long. There was, therefore, no cause of stumbling, when there was no kind of government, nor dignity, nor power; for it was necessary to look forward to the king, to whom the diadem, or the royal crown, was to be restored.
We now then see how it was that there have been always those of David’s posterity who occupied the throne; though this was hidden, yet it may be gathered from other prophetic testimonies. For Amos, when he speaks of Christ’s coming, makes this announcement,
“
There shall come at that time one who will repair the ruins of the tabernacle of David.” (Amo 9:11)
It was therefore necessary that the kingdom should be, as it were, demolished when Christ appeared. We further know what Isaiah says,
“
Come forth shall a shoot from the root of Jesse.” (Isa 11:1)
He does not there name David, but a private person, who was content with a humble, retired, and rustic life; for a husbandman and a shepherd, as it is well known, was Jesse the father of David. In short, whenever the Prophets declare that the kingdom of David would be perpetual, they do not promise that there would be a succession without interruption; but this ought to be referred to that perpetuity which was at length manifested in Christ alone. We have said elsewhere, how the time of return ought to be connected with the coming of Christ. For it is not necessary nor expedient to introduce an anagogical sense, as interpreters are wont to do, by representing the return of the people as symbolical of what was higher, even of the deliverance which was effected by Christ; for it ought to be considered as one and the same favor of God, that is, that he brought back his people from exile, that they might at length enjoy quiet and solid happiness when the kingdom of David should again be established.
(92) It is better to adopt the secondary meaning of the verb, rendered “cut off,” as it is done by the Syr. and the Targ., which is that of failing or wanting, —
17. For thus saith Jehovah, — Not wanting to David shall be a man, Sitting on the throne of the house of Israel;
18. And to the priests, the Levites, Not wanting shall there be a man before me, Burning a burnt-offering, And perfuming an oblation, And making a sacrifice all the days.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) David shall never want a man . . .The words are hardly more than a repetition of promises like those of 2Sa. 7:16; 1Ki. 2:4; Psa. 89:29; Psa. 89:36, but it is here repeated under very different circumstances. Then it had been given when the line of David was in all the freshness of its strength. Now it is uttered when that line seemed on the very point of dying out. The hope of the prophet is, however, inextinguishable. He is certain that the true King will always be of the house of David. It lay almost in the nature of the case that the words of the prophet should find a fulfilment other than that which was present to his thoughts; and that, while he pictured to himself an unbroken succession of sovereigns of Davids line, there was in fact a higher fulfilment in the continuous sovereignty of the Christ as the true Son of David. We have something like an echo of the words in the words of the Angel at the Annunciation (Luk. 1:32-33), and it is an echo that interprets them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17, 18. David shall never want a man And yet in such passages as Jer 22:30; Jer 30:21, the failure of the Davidic kingdom seems to be definitely predicted; and this prediction, as a matter of fact, was exactly fulfilled. No king, after Zedekiah, of the Davidic line ever sat upon the throne. The explanation of this apparent incongruity is this: the real reign of David was perpetuated in Christ. His kingdom was a permanent reality. The stream of its life might, for a time, disappear beneath the surface; yet in Christ it would break forth in exhaustless fulness. So, also, of the Levitical priesthood. Its offerings might be interrupted, but these types would be fulfilled in the permanent priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Guarantees The Provision Permanently Of Successors To David, And Successors To The Levitical Priesthood While They Are Still Required For The Offering Of The Regular Offerings ( Jer 33:17-18 ).
Jer 33:17-18
“For thus says YHWH, David will never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.”
YHWH’s words are carefully chosen. He promises that there will always be a descendant of David available to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, not that one will always be sitting on it. Indeed the latter situation could not be true in exile. And it was from the line of David’s successors that Joseph, Jesus’ father, was king-elect in Israel, as Matthew’s genealogy demonstrates, and that the right passed on to Jesus as the eldest son.
He also promised that there would never be a lack of a Levitical priest to offer the regular offerings and sacrifices, while such a priest was required. Unlike Isaiah Jeremiah did not foresee the day when the regular offerings and sacrifices would be required no more, because Another would have been offered up as an all-sufficient sacrifice (Isaiah 53; Hebrews 7-10), but he did recognise that YHWH would always make provision for man’s atonement.
Both promises have been fulfilled. On the return to the land a Davidide was available to govern Israel, leading up to the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there was an abundance of Levitical priests for the renewal of Temple worship. It was only when the sacrificial system finally ceased, never to be renewed, spiritually at the death of Christ, and literally at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, that the line of Levitical priests ceased. For by then we had One Who was chosen by God as both King and Priest to act on our behalf for ever. (Today we could not find either a genuine Davidide other than Jesus Christ, or a genuine Levitical priest).
‘The priests, the Levites.’ This phrase is found nowhere else in Jeremiah, but it also occurs in Deu 17:9; Deu 18:1; Jos 3:3; Isa 66:21; Eze 43:19; Eze 44:15; 2Ch 30:27. As found in Deu 18:1 a distinction is made between ‘the priests, the Levites’ and ‘the whole tribe of Levi’ (see our commentary on Deuteronomy for evidence of this) which is then explained in more detail in Deu 18:2-8.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
YHWH’s Promise That There Will Always Be A True Son Of David, And A True Priesthood, To Meet The Needs Of His People ( Jer 33:17-24 ).
In a series of three short words from YHWH the guarantee is made to God’s people that they will always have a Son of David available to rule over them, and that while offerings and sacrifices are necessary there will always be a legitimate Levitical priesthood. Each ‘word’ is introduced by a standard Jeremaic introduction:
‘For thus says YHWH’ (Jer 33:17).
‘And the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying, thus says YHWH’ (Jer 33:19-20 a).
‘And the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying’ (Jer 33:23).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 33:17. David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne, &c. Or rather, There shall not be a failure in the line of David of one sitting, &c. From the Babylonish captivity to the coming of Christ, David was without a successor of his family sitting upon the throne of Judah or Israel, in any sense whatsoever. And from the destruction of Jerusalem to the present time, the Jews have had neither a king nor a regular priesthood belonging to their nation. So that hitherto there has been a failure and interruption both in the royal line of David, and in the sacerdotal one of Levi. A plain proof that the prophesy alludes not to any time that is already past, but respects what is to come. It is true indeed, that in a spiritual sense the kingdom of Christ, the son of David, has been for some time established over those whom the Apostle calls the Israel of God, Gal 6:16 and the children of Abraham, Gal 3:7 meaning thereby all true believers, whether of the Jews or of the Gentiles. And it is true also, that in the church of Christ there has been a constant and uninterrupted succession of persons to perform the public offices of religion in the room of, although not taken out of, the priests the Levites. And the perpetuity of this kingdom and this ministry is, I know, in the opinion of many learned expositors, looked upon as a full and authentic completion of the intention of this prophesy. This, however, seems to be spiritualizing too far, when the case admits of a more direct and literal interpretation. The days, it is evident, are not yet arrived, though they certainly will come, for the performance of God’s good promise concerning the restoration of the house of Israel and the house of Judah under Christ, THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Admitting this, and that all the families of Israel shall again be re-established in their own possessions, what improbability is there, that the two families of David and Levi may actually revert also to their ancient privileges, subject only to the supreme authority of the Messiah, and continue to enjoy them, as it is here expressly declared, in uninterrupted succession to the end of the world?
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I do not presume to decide, but I would venture to enquire, is not the Lord Jesus, both in his royal and in his priestly offices, pointed out here?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 33:17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
Ver. 17. David shall never want a man. ] The man Christ Jesus. Luk 1:32-33
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
David shall never want: Heb. There shall not be cut off from David, Jer 35:19, 2Sa 3:29, 2Sa 7:14-16, 1Ki 2:4, 1Ki 8:25, *marg. 1Ch 17:11-14, 1Ch 17:27, Psa 89:29-37, Isa 9:7, Luk 1:32, Luk 1:33
Reciprocal: 1Ki 11:13 – for David 1Ki 11:36 – David 2Ki 11:2 – they hid him 1Ch 15:2 – to minister Isa 65:9 – I will Jer 17:25 – sitting Hos 3:5 – and David their king
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 33:17. Never want a man is a prediction that David’s great Descendant would occupy the throne continuously. He was not to be succeeded, by other kings as were the ones in fleshly Israel.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 33:17-18. For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man, &c. It is very evident that the prophecies in these verses were not fulfilled in the Jews after the Babylonish captivity; for, from that time to the coming of Christ, David was without a successor of his family sitting upon the throne of Judah or Israel. Nor have they been fulfilled in them since, for, from the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans to the present time, they have neither had a king nor a regular priesthood belonging to their nation. There can therefore be no doubt that Jeremiah here foretels the kingdom of the Messiah, and the priesthood, or ministry rather, to be established by him, by which a pure and spiritual oblation should be offered in every place where a church should be formed for him, (see Mal 1:11,) and not at Jerusalem and in Judea only. As the Jewish priesthood, in the family of Aaron, is extinct, and hath been exercised neither in Jerusalem nor in any other place for seventeen centuries, it follows, says Calmet, that these promises can respect only the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, exercised by himself, and by his ministers, in the Christian Church from the beginning, and which shall continue to the end of time. Nor is it unusual for God in the Old Testament to express promises relating to, and to be fulfilled under, the gospel, by terms proper to the Old Testament. See Isa 19:19; Isa 56:7; Isa 66:23. And as the prophets often describe the Christian worship by representations taken from the temple service, so the apostles prove the rights and privileges belonging to the ministers of the gospel from the prerogatives given to the Jewish priesthood. See Rom 15:16; 1Co 9:13-14.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
From then on there would always be a Davidic king ruling over the nation of Israel (cf. 1Ki 2:4; 1Ki 8:25; 1Ki 9:5). [Note: See Douglas K. Stuart, "The Prophetic Ideal of Government in the Restoration Era," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 283-92.]
That King has appeared, but His subjects, the Israelites, refused to accept Him as their King. Therefore, He returned to heaven-but He will return to earth to restore and rule over Israel in the future, at the Second Coming. Christ’s present rule over the church today, from heaven, is not the same rule as the one promised here. The one promised here is a reign over the Israelites at the time of their future restoration.
Covenant premillennialists and "progressive" dispensationalists take a slightly different position. They believe that Christ’s present rule from heaven is the first phase of His reign as the Davidic King, and the second phase will begin with His return to the earth to rule over Israel and the whole world. [Note: For further discussion of this view, see Craig A. Blaising, "The Kingdom of God in the New Testament," in Progressive Dispensationalism, pp. 257-62, 282.]