Jeremiah 31:29-34

The Lord Will Make a New Covenant with Israel and Judah

31:29 “When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’ ¹  31:30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb. ² 

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, ³  “when I will make a new covenant ⁴  with the people of Israel and Judah. ⁵  31:32 It will not be like the old ⁶  covenant that I made with their ancestors ⁷  when I delivered them ⁸  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ⁹  says the Lord. ¹⁰  31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹¹  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹²  says the Lord. ¹³  “I will ¹⁴  put my law within them ¹⁵  and write it on their hearts and minds. ¹⁶  I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹⁷ 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹⁸  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ¹⁹  says the Lord. “For ²⁰  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

[31:29]  ¹ tn This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Ezek 18:2 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.

[31:30]  ² sn The Lord answers their charge by stating that each person is responsible for his own sin and will himself bear the consequences. Ezek 18 has a more extended treatment of this and shows that this extends not just to the link between parents and children but between former behavior and future behavior of the same individual. To a certain extent the principle articulated here is anticipatory of the statement in v. 34 which refers to the forgiveness of former sins.

[31:31]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:31]  ⁴ tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

[31:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[31:32]  ⁶ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ⁹ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹¹ 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.

[31:33]  ¹² 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.

[31:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ¹⁵ 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.

[31:33]  ¹⁶ 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.

[31:33]  ¹⁷ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[31:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ¹⁹ 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).

[31:34]  ²⁰ 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 Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).