Jeremiah 31:35
Context31:35 The Lord has made a promise to Israel.
He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day
and the moon and stars to give light by night.
He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll.
He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all. 1
Jeremiah 33:20-26
Context33:20 “I, Lord, make the following promise: 2 ‘I have made a covenant with the day 3 and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people 4 could break that covenant 33:21 could my covenant with my servant David and my covenant with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me. 5 33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” 6
33:23 The Lord spoke still further to Jeremiah. 7 33:24 “You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, 8 ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah 9 that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. 10 33:25 But I, the Lord, make the following promise: 11 I have made a covenant governing the coming of day and night. I have established the fixed laws governing heaven and earth. 33:26 Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, 12 I will restore them 13 and show mercy to them.”
[31:35] 1 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for this title. In the Hebrew text the verse reads: “Thus says the
[33:20] 2 tn Heb “Thus says the
[33:20] 3 tn The word יוֹמָם (yomam) is normally an adverb meaning “daytime, by day, daily.” However, here and in v. 25 and in Jer 15:9 it means “day, daytime” (cf. BDB 401 s.v. יוֹמָם 1).
[33:20] 4 tn Heb “you.” The pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43; 33:10.
[33:21] 5 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
[33:22] 6 tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.
[33:23] 7 tn Heb “And the word of the
[33:24] 8 tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.
[33:24] 9 tn Heb “The two families which the
[33:24] 10 tn Heb “and my people [i.e., Israel and Judah] they disdain [or look down on] from being again a nation before them.” The phrase “before them” refers to their estimation, their mental view (cf. BDB s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a[g]). Hence it means they look with disdain on the people being a nation again (cf. BDB s.v. עוֹד 1.a[b] for the usage of עוֹד [’od] here).
[33:25] 11 tn Heb “Thus says the
[33:26] 12 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).
[33:26] 13 tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”