1And the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 2Thus says Jehovah the Maker, Jehovah who formed it in order to establish it; Jehovah is His name: 3Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and unfathomable things which you do not know. 4For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 5They come to fight with the Chaldeans, only to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, for all whose evil I have hidden My face from this city. 6Behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them and will show them the abundance of peace and truth. 7And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. 8And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned, and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the welfare that I am bringing to it. 10Thus says Jehovah: Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast; 11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His mercy is eternal; and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captives of the land to return, as at the first, says Jehovah. 12Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: Again in this place which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who counts them, says Jehovah. 14Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will establish the good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up to David; and He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name by which she shall be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 17For thus says Jehovah, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually. 19And the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20Thus says Jehovah: If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, so that there should not be day and night in their season, 21then also may My covenant with David My servant be broken, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. 22As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who serve Me. 23Moreover the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, 24Do you not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah has chosen, He has even cast them off? Thus they have despised My people, that they should no more be a nation before them. 25Thus says Jehovah: If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and the earth, 26then I will 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 bring back their captives, and have mercy on them.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 PROPHECY OF THE RESTORATION FROM BABYLON, AND OF MESSIAH AS KING AND PRIEST. (Jer. 33:1-26)
shut up-- (
Jer 32:2-
Jer 32:3;
2Tim 2:9). Though Jeremiah was shut up in bondage, the word of God was "not bound."
2 maker thereof--rather, "the doer of it," namely, that which Jeremiah is about to prophesy, the restoration of Israel, an act which is thought now impossible, but which the Almighty will effect.
formed it--namely, Jerusalem (
Jer 32:44) [CALVIN]. Rather, "that formed," that is, moulds His purpose into due shape for execution (
Isa 37:26).
Lord . . . his name-- (
Exod 3:14-
Exod 3:15).
3 Call . . . I will answer-- (
Jer 29:12;
Ps 91:15). Jeremiah, as the representative of the people of God, is urged by God to pray for that which God has determined to grant; namely, the restoration. God's promises are not to slacken, but to quicken the prayers of His people (
Ps 132:13,
Ps 132:17;
Isa 62:6-
Isa 62:7).
mighty things--Hebrew, "inaccessible things," that is, incredible, hard to man's understanding [MAURER], namely, the restoration of the Jews, an event despaired of. "Hidden," or "recondite" [PISCATOR].
thou knowest not--Yet God had revealed those things to Jeremiah, but the unbelief of the people in rejecting the grace of God had caused him to forget God's promise, as though the case of the people admitted of no remedy.
4 houses . . . thrown down by the mounts--namely, by the missiles cast from the besiegers' mounds (
Jer 32:24); "and by the sword" follows properly, as, after missiles had prepared the way, the foe next advanced to close quarters "with the sword."
5 They--the Jews; the defenders of the "houses" (
Jer 33:4), "come forward to fight with the Chaldeans," who burst into the city through the "thrown-down houses," but all the effect that they produce "is, to fill them (the houses) with their own "dead bodies."
6 (
Jer 30:17). The answer to Jeremiah's mournful question (
Jer 8:22).
cure--literally, the long linen bandage employed in dressing wounds.
truth--that is, stability; I will bring forth for them abundant and permanent peace, that is, prosperity.
7 cause . . . to return--that is, reverse (
Jer 33:11;
Jer 32:44). The specification, both of "Judah" and "Israel," can only apply fully to the future restoration.
as at the first-- (
Isa 1:26).
8 cleanse-- (
Ezek 36:25;
Zech 13:1;
Heb 9:13-
Heb 9:14). Alluding to the legal rites of purification.
all their iniquity . . . all their iniquities--both the principle of sin within, and its outward manifestations in acts. The repetition is in order that the Jews may consider how great is the grace of God in not merely pardoning (as to the punishment), but also cleansing them (as to the pollution of guilt); not merely one iniquity, but all (
Mic 7:18).
9 it--the city.
a name . . . a praise-- (
Jer 13:11;
Isa 62:7).
them--the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
they shall fear . . . for all the goodness-- (
Ps 130:4). The Gentiles shall be led to "fear" God by the proofs of His power displayed in behalf of the Jews; the ungodly among them shall "tremble" for fear of God's judgments on them; the penitent shall reverentially fear and be converted to Him (
Ps 102:15;
Isa 60:3).
10 ye say . . . desolate-- (
Jer 32:43).
11 (
Jer 7:34;
Jer 16:9).
Praise the Lord, &c.--the words of
Ps 136:1, which were actually used by the Jews at their restoration (
Ezra 3:11).
sacrifice of praise-- (
Ps 107:22;
Ps 116:17). This shall continue when all other sacrifices shall be at an end.
12 habitation of shepherds . . . flocks--in contrast to
Jer 33:10, "without man . . . inhabitant . . . without beast" (
Jer 32:43; compare
Jer 31:24;
Jer 50:19;
Isa 65:10).
13 pass . . . under . . . hands of him that telleth them--Shepherds, in sending forth and bringing back their sheep to the folds, count them by striking each as it passes with a rod, implying the shepherd's provident care that not one should be lost (
Lev 27:32;
Mic 7:14; compare
John 10:28-
John 10:29;
John 17:12).
14 perform--"I will make to rise"; God's promise having for a time seemed to "lie" dead and abortive [CALVIN].
15 Repeated from
Jer 23:5.
the land--the Holy Land: Israel and Judah (
Jer 23:6).
16 Jerusalem--In
Jer 23:6, instead of this, it is "Israel." "The name" in the Hebrew has here to be supplied from that passage; and for "he" (Messiah, the antitypical "Israel"), the antecedent there (
Isa 49:3), we have "she" here, that is, Jerusalem. She is called by the same name as Messiah, "The Lord Our Righteousness," by virtue of the mystical oneness between her (as the literal representative of the spiritual Church) and her Lord and Husband. Thus, whatever belongs to the Head belongs also to the members (
Eph 5:30,
Eph 5:32). Hence, the Church is called "Christ" (
Rom 16:7;
1Cor 12:12). The Church hereby professes to draw all her righteousness from Christ (
Isa 45:24-
Isa 45:25). It is for the sake of Jerusalem, literal and spiritual, that God the Father gives this name (Jehovah, Tsidkenu, "The Lord our Righteousness") to Christ.
17 The promises of perpetuity of the throne of David fulfilled in Messiah, the son of David (
2Sam 7:16;
1Kgs 2:4;
Ps 89:4,
Ps 89:29,
Ps 89:36; compare
Luke 1:32-
Luke 1:33).
18 Messiah's literal priesthood (
Heb 7:17,
Heb 7:21,
Heb 7:24-
Heb 7:28), and His followers' spiritual priesthood and sacrifices (
Jer 33:11;
Rom 12:1;
Rom 15:16;
1Pet 2:5,
1Pet 2:9;
Rev 1:6), shall never cease, according to the covenant with Levi, broken by the priests, but fulfilled by Messiah (
Num 25:12-
Num 25:13;
Mal 2:4-
Mal 2:5,
Mal 2:8).
20 covenant of the day--that is, covenant with the day: answering to "covenant with David" (
Jer 33:21, also
Jer 33:25, "with day"; compare
Jer 31:35-
Jer 31:36;
Lev 26:42;
Ps 89:34,
Ps 89:37).
22 (
Gen 15:5;
Gen 22:17). The blessing there promised belonged to all the tribes; here it is restricted to the family of David and the tribe of Levi, because it was on these that the welfare of the whole people rested. When the kingdom and priesthood flourish in the person of Messiah, the whole nation shall temporally and spiritually prosper.
24 this people--certain of the Jews, especially those who spoke with Jeremiah in the court of the prison (
Jer 32:12;
Jer 38:1).
the two families--Judah and Israel.
before them--in their judgment. They suppose that I have utterly cast off Israel so as to he no more a nation. The expression, "My people," of itself, shows God has not cast off Israel for ever.
25 (
Jer 31:35-
Jer 31:36;
Gen 8:22;
Ps 74:16-
Ps 74:17). I who have established the laws of nature am the same God who has made a covenant with the Church.
26 Isaac-- (
Ps 105:9;
Amos 7:9,
Amos 7:16).
The prophecy (
Jer 34:1-
Jer 34:7) as to Zedekiah is an amplification of that in
Jer 32:1-
Jer 32:5, in consequence of which Jeremiah was then shut up in the court of the prison. The prophecy (
Jer 34:8-
Jer 34:22) refers to the Jews, who, afraid of the capture of the city, had, in obedience to the law, granted freedom to their servants at the end of seven years, but on the intermission of the siege forced them back into bondage.
