9:7 His dominion will be vast 6
and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. 7
He will rule on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom, 8
establishing it 9 and strengthening it
by promoting justice and fairness, 10
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord’s intense devotion to his people 11 will accomplish this.
23:5 “I, the Lord, promise 12 that a new time will certainly come 13
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, 14 a descendant of David.
He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding 15
and will do what is just and right in the land. 16
23:6 Under his rule 17 Judah will enjoy safety 18
and Israel will live in security. 19
This is the name he will go by:
‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ 20
1 tn Heb “give.”
2 tn Heb “gave him a lamp.”
3 tc The Old Greek has the plural “his sons.”
4 tn Heb “by raising up his son after him.”
5 tn Heb “and by causing Jerusalem to stand firm.”
6 tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”
7 tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”
8 tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”
10 tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”
11 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.
12 tn Heb “Oracle of the
13 tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”
14 tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).
15 tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).
16 sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).
17 tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”
18 tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).
19 sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.
20 tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The
21 tn The very complex and elliptical syntax of the original Hebrew of vv. 20-21 has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style. The text reads somewhat literally (after the addition of a couple of phrases which have been left out by ellipsis): “Thus says the
22 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is probably intensive here as it has been on a number of occasions in the book of Jeremiah (see BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for the category).
23 tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”