119:5 If only I were predisposed 1
to keep your statutes!
31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. 9 For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” 10 says the Lord. “For 11 I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”
8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put 12 my laws in their minds 13 and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 14
8:11 “And there will be no need at all 15 for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 16
1 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
2 tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.
3 tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.
4 tn Heb “Oracle of the
5 tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the
6 tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.
7 tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.
8 sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.
9 tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the
10 sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).
11 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the
12 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
13 tn Grk “mind.”
14 tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.
15 tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”
16 tn Grk “from the small to the great.”