Author: Administrador

The new covenant God makes with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (31:31) is both strange and familiar, rooted in and ripped from tradition. The passage, Jeremiah 31:31-34, appears in the so-called “Book of Comfort” at the heart of the book of Jeremiah (chapters 30-33). These poignant visions of restoration and renewal … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Amy Erickson”

Jeremiah 31:31-34 is an arresting set of verses. Out of context, their familiarity often mutes their impact and audacity. Prophetic denunciation, a dominant part of the book of Jeremiah, is upended in these four verses. The future, termed “days are coming,” is unconditionally good. No more threat; no more summons to repent; no more “if” … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Richard W. Nysse”

Reformation Sunday draws our attention to God’s ongoing work of renewal in the church, to the unmerited gift of divine grace that cannot be bought or sold, and to a history of courageous response to that free gift, embodied in reformers who have been willing to challenge abuses within the body of Christ.  Jeremiah’s declaration … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

The images used in Jeremiah 31 are predominantly familial rather than political or military. Female images, especially associated with birth and new life, are prominent. God is imaged as a loving, nurturing parent (both father and mother), comforting those who sorrow and caring for the needs of a bruised community. This passage is picked up … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

Early Christians recognized God’s utterly new and transformative work in Jesus Christ in Jeremiah’s description of the “new covenant.” Jesus refers to it in the words of institution of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:28), and it is the basis for the Christian designation of the scriptures as the Old and New Testaments. Old and new … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Margaret Odell”

Rembrandt’s famous Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem captures what most of us picture when we think of the biblical Jeremiah: the prophet, forlorn, painted against a dark background, leans his head on his hand. It’s an image of abandoned hope, one that reflects the noun created out of Jeremiah’s name: jeremiad, “a long, mournful … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:31-34 Commentary by Kelly J. Murphy”

The promise of a “new covenant” in this passage may evoke the Christian scriptures, stories, and promises for many readers. Yet in their original context these words signified the promise of a faithful God to a devastated people for restoration, perhaps even in their lifetimes. Jeremiah lived through the demise of his civilization when the … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:27-34 Commentary by Wil Gafney”

Jeremiah starts this passage on a hopeful note. In 29:11, he has promised us a “future of hope.” This is the lens through which Jeremiah sees the world. In spite of the many difficulties that the Israelites face, he rings the same note at the start of this passage. In verse 27, he envisions a … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:27-34 Commentary by Garrett Galvin”

The prophet’s job is twofold. In Jeremiah 31:27 God reminds Jeremiah of his commission by summarizing and reiterating the task in Jeremiah 1:10. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. Although only two of the … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:27-34 Commentary by Alphonetta Wines”

The weeping Rachel of Jeremiah 31 is among the most powerfully drawn figures in Scripture. Within the luminous Book of Consolation (Jeremiah 30-31), the reader is astonished to find the matriarch utterly inconsolable because her children are no more. A unique figuration in the Latter Prophets, Rachel here refracts the trauma of a people broken … Continue reading “Jeremiah 31:15-17 Commentary by Carolyn J. Sharp”