Jeremiah 31

2 the wilderness. The “wilderness” may perhaps mean the land of exile; for this would be as a wilderness to those who pined for their own land, which they are here assured they shall revisit.

3. The Lord hath appeared, etc. Israel’s response to Jehovah’s words.

of old. Or, “from afar” (R.V., marg.), as in xxx, 10.

5 shall eat [them] as common things. Or, “shall enjoy the fruit.” This implies abiding security, as four years had to elapse between the planting and the eating (Lev. xix. 23-25).

6 the watchmen. Men stationed upon the mountains to proclaim the festival: see Isa. iii. 7, 8. The proclamation of the feasts in Zion by watchmen on Mount Ephraim indicates the re-union of the nation: cp. Isa. xi. 13.

0. Lord, save, etc. “Hosannah” (Psa. cxviii. 25; Matt. xxi. 9). The next verse contains Jehovah’s answer to this invocation.

8 the blind and the lame, etc. None shall be left behind, not even those who appear to be most unfit to undertake the journey. For “the north country,” see on iii. 12. “The coasts” mean “the ends of the earth.”

9. Ephraim is My firstborn. Not by birth, but by choice: see Gen. xlviii. 14-20. So complete

14. I will satiate the soul of the priests. This refers to the priests’ share in the abundance of offerings.

15. A voice was heard in Ramah, etc. By a beautiful figure, Rachel (Rahel) is introduced as mourning in her grave near Ramah (Gen. xxxv. 16; 1 Sam. ix. 6; x. 2) over the destruction of her descendants, the people of Ephraim and Benjamin; but she is comforted by the promise of their return (16, 17): cp. Isa. xlix. 20, 21. The language, being figurative, is susceptible of other applications, and is used in Matt. ii. 18 as a type of the grief caused by Herod’s cruelty.

16 thy work shall be rewarded. The meaning is, Thou shalt not have brought forth and brought up children in vain.

17 in thine end. i.e., in the future.

18. Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned. Real conversion requires Divine aid.

19. I smote upon my thigh. Among the Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, and other nations, smiting on the thigh was a common mode of expressing indignation and grief: see Ezek. xxi. 12.

the reproach of my youth. The reproach brought upon me by the sins of my youth.

21 high heaps. Or, “sign-posts”; i.e., to mark the way for the exiles to return through the deserts.

22. A woman shall compass a man. Commentators are greatly divided as to the meaning of these words. Calvin’s explanation, however, seems the best: “the feeblest of them shall be more than a match for the strongest of their foes.”

24. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, etc. Rather, as R.V., “And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together.”

26. Upon this I awaked. This is probably inserted to keep the reader in mind that all these bright prospects were presented in a dream to the prophet, and would certainly be fulfilled.

29. The fathers have eaten a sour grape (R.V., “sour grapes”), etc. A proverbial expression (see Ezek. xviii. 2), the meaning of which appears from Lam. v. 7. The thought (“they shall say no more,” etc.) is that in the new order of things there would be a quickened sense of personal responsibility. Consciousness of personal guilt is the first step toward recovery.

31 a new covenant. Vers. 31-34 are a clear announcement that the old Jewish economy would be superseded by one of a personal and spiritual character; and they are accordingly quoted for this purpose in Heb. viii. 8-12. In the connexion in which they stand here, they predict not only the Gospel covenant, but also the enjoyment of its blessings by the Hebrew race: cp. Rom. xi. 25-32.

32 although I was a husband unto them. Many follow the Septuagint in rendering these words, “for I rejected them”: a translation adopted in Heb. viii. 9. The Vulgate, followed by Luther, has “I ruled over (or subdued) them” (“dominatus sum corum”).

33 and write it in their hearts. There will not be a mere slavish observance of ceremonies; but the knowledge, love, and zealous fulfilment of God’s commands: cp. Ezek. xi. 19, etc.; John iv. 23.

35 the ordinances of the moon, etc. The laws which regulate these bodies.

36 a nation. God here promises not merely that the Hebrew people shall never be extinct, but also that they shall share the blessings of the Gospel: see note on ver. 31.

38 the tower of Hananeel. At the north-east angle of the city walls; as “the gate of the corner” was at the north-west. See Neh. iii. 1; Zech. xiv. 10.

39. Gareb . . . Goath. These places are not now known; but the general meaning of the passage is, that the new city shall be larger than the former, including places now waste or unclean. An expressive type of the spiritual Jerusalem: see Ezek. xl. 2; xlv. 6. This “valley of the dead bodies” is the valley of Hinnom; that “of the ashes,” the place where the ashes from the altar were cast; “the fields” were the cultivated land between the city walls and the brook Kidron.