Job 32:8

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ¹  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ²  after I plant them back in the land,” ³  says the Lord. ⁴  “I will ⁵  put my law within them ⁶  and write it on their hearts and minds. ⁷  I will be their God and they will be my people. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁹  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹⁰  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹¹  they will never again turn ¹²  away from me.

Jeremiah 32:1

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32:1 In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. ¹³  That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah 3:4

3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! ¹⁴ 

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

[32:8]  ¹ tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “breath”); according to Gen 2:7 it was breathed into Adam to make him a living person (“soul”). With that divine impartation came this spiritual understanding. Some commentators identify the רוּחַ (ruakh) in the first line as the Spirit of God; this “breath” would then be the human spirit. Whether Elihu knew that much, however, is hard to prove.

[31:33]  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.

[31:33]  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.

[31:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ⁵ 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]  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.

[31:33]  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.

[31:33]  ⁸ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[32:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹² tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[32:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the eleventh year of…” See 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1; 30:1 for this same formula.

[3:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.