Jeremiah 30:1-3

Introduction to the Book of Consolation

30:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah. ¹  30:2 “The Lord God of Israel says, ²  ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. ³  30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ⁴  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ⁵  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ⁶  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ⁷ 

[30:1]  ¹ tn Compare the headings at 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1 and the translator’s note at those places.

[30:2]  ² tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, saying….” For significance of the title “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel” see the note at 2:19.

[30:2]  ³ tn Heb “Write all the words which I speak to you in a scroll.” The verb “which I speak” is the instantaneous use of the perfect tense (cf. GKC 311-12 §106.i or IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d). The words that the Lord is about to speak follow in chs. 30–31.

[30:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ⁷ sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.