30:21 their governor. This refers to the Messiah, the king of v. 9 and 23:5, 6, springing up from within Israel (cf. Is. 11:1), able to approach God as a priest.
Jeremiah 31
31:1 At the same time. Equated with the latter days in 30:24. In this chapter, prophecies of the restoration of the nation are continued.
31:2–14 Here are messianic kingdom conditions.
31:15 A voice…in Ramah. The reflection, for a moment, is on the distress of an Israelite mother for her children slain in the Babylonian invasion. This was a backdrop for the many contrasting promises of restoration to a joyful time (as vv. 12–14, 16, 17) in the messianic day. Matthew saw the same description of sadness as apt, in principle, to depict something of the similar weeping of Jewish mothers when King Herod had babies slain at Bethlehem in a bid to kill the Messiah as a child (Matt. 2:17, 18).
31:18–20 Restore me. Jeremiah wrote of Israel (the 10 tribes called Ephraim) as finally recognizing, in humility, the need for the Lord to move them to repentance and forgiveness. Cf. Ps. 102:13–17 for the relation of Israel’s restoration to their prayers; see also 24:6, 7; Lam. 5:21; cf. John 6:44, 65.
31:22 backsliding. See note on 2:19. A woman shall encompass a man. Here is one of the most puzzling statements in Jeremiah. Some see the virgin birth of Christ (but “woman” means a woman, not a virgin, and “encompass” or “surround” does not suggest conceiving). Possibly it refers to the formerly virgin Israel (v. 21), who is now a disgraced, divorced wife (v. 22; 3:8). She will one day in the future re-embrace her former husband, the Lord, and He will receive her back, fully forgiven. That would be “a new thing on the earth.”
31:26 my sleep was sweet. The hope of Israel’s restoration brought a moment of peace in Jeremiah’s otherwise tumultuous ministry.
31:28 build and…plant. The Lord repeated what He at first told Jeremiah in 1:10 regarding His two works of judging and blessing. The latter is in two images, architectural (building) and agricultural (planting).
31:29 eaten sour grapes. This was apparently a proverb among the exiles’ children born in Babylon, to express that they suffered the consequences of their fathers’ sins rather than their own (Lam. 5:7; Ezek. 18:2, 3).
31:31–34 a new covenant. In contrast to the Mosaic Covenant under which Israel failed, God promised a New Covenant with a spiritual, divine dynamic by which those who know Him would participate in the blessings of salvation. The fulfillment was to individuals, yet also to Israel as a nation (v. 36; Rom. 11:16–27). It is set 1) in the framework of a reestablishment in their land (e.g., chaps. 30–33 and in vv. 38–40) and 2) in the time after the ultimate difficulty (30:7). In principle, this covenant, also announced by Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20), begins to be exercised with spiritual aspects realized for Jewish and Gentile believers in the church era (1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:7–13; 9:15; 10:14–17; 12:24; 13:20). It has already begun to take effect with “the remnant according to the election of grace” (Rom. 11:5). It will be also realized by the people of Israel in the last days, including the regathering to their ancient land, Palestine (chaps. 30–33). The streams of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants find their confluence in the millennial kingdom ruled over by the Messiah.
31:35–37 These verses emphasize the certainty with which Israel can expect God to fulfill the New Covenant (cf. 33:17–22, 25, 26).
31:38–40 The tower was in the NE corner of the city (cf. Neh. 3:1; 12:39). When New Covenant promises are ultimately fulfilled to Israel in its regathering to its land, rebuilt Jerusalem will meet certain specifications. The “Corner Gate” is at the NW corner (2 Kin. 14:13; 2 Chr. 26:9). “The surveyor’s line” marks out the area for rebuilding. It will point over the hill Gareb and then toward Goath; both places are impossible to identify today. “The valley of…dead bodies” is the valley of Hinnom, a place of refuse and burning fires (cf. 7:31, and see note there). The “Horse Gate” was at the SE corner of the temple courts (2 Kin. 11:16; Neh. 3:28).
Jeremiah 32
32:1 tenth year. The time is 587 B.C., the tenth year in Zedekiah’s reign (597–586 B.C.), the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, during Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem.
32:2 Babylon’s army besieged. The siege, set up in the tenth month (Jan.) of 588 B.C., lasted at least 30 months to the fourth month (July) of 586 B.C. (39:1, 2). Cf. 34:1 and see note there. The events of the chapter occurred in this setting of Judah’s imminent loss of its land, only about a year before Babylon’s final takeover detailed in chaps. 39, 40, 52.
32:2–5 shut up in…prison. Judah’s final king put Jeremiah into prison on the charge of preaching treason, against nation and king, whereas Zedekiah savored positive talk to spark new morale to hold out.
32:8 the right of inheritance. A man facing hardship could sell property, and the right to redeem it until the Jubilee year belonged to the closest blood relative. If a stranger had taken it due to unpaid debt, the relative could redeem it as a family possession (Lev. 25:25). Levite land could be sold only to a Levite (Lev. 25:32–34), such as Jeremiah. He did as the Lord told him (vv. 9–12).
32:14 Take these deeds. Title deeds to the land, kept for security reasons in a pottery jar, would attest in a future day to one’s claim of possession. Men of Anathoth did return to Jerusalem from Babylon (Ezra 2:23). Also, some of the poor of the land, left by the Babylonians (chap. 39), could have included certain inhabitants of Anathoth. In a still future day, God will be able (vv. 17, 27) to make this land good to a resurrected Jeremiah and confirm to the right people that they are the prophet/priest’s descendants.
32:16–25 With the immense sovereign power God possesses to do whatever He wishes in the present captivity and the future return, Jeremiah wondered why God had him redeem the field.
32:26–35 God reviewed Judah’s sins and affirmed to Jeremiah that the Babylonians would prevail over Jerusalem (“this city” in v. 28, etc.).
32:36–41 However, one day God will restore Israel to the Land and provide the blessing of salvation.
32:37 I will bring them back to this place. God pledged to restore Israelites to the very land of Israel (cf. v. 44). It is natural to expect His fulfillment of this blessing to be just as literal as the reverse—His scattering from the Land (cf. v. 42).
32:38, 39 This speaks of spiritual salvation, i.e., the true knowledge and worship of God.
32:40 an everlasting covenant. The ultimate fulfillment of a future in the Land was not fulfilled in the Ezra/Nehemiah return. This occurs in the time when God gives the people of Israel a new heart in eternal salvation along with their return to the ancient land (cf. 33:8, 9, and Ezek. 36:26).
32:42–44 In the millennial kingdom, land will again be bought and sold in Israel.
Jeremiah 33
33:3 Call…I will answer. God invited Jeremiah’s prayer, which appeals to Him to fulfill the aspects of His promises which He guarantees He will attend to (as 29:11–14; Dan. 9:4–19; cf. John 15:7). His answer to the prayer was assured in vv. 4–26 here (cf. v. 14).
33:8 Again the Lord emphasized the individual spiritual salvation associated with the New Covenant restoration to the land.
33:11 Praise the LORD. These are the words of Ps. 136:1, actually used by the Jews at their return from Babylon (Ezra 3:11).
33:15 A Branch. This is the Messiah King in David’s lineage, as in 23:5, 6. He is the King whose reign immediately follows the second coming when He appears in power (Dan. 2:35, 45; 7:13, 14, 27; Matt. 16:27, 28; 24:30; 26:64).
33:17–22 God promised to fulfill the Davidic (2 Sam. 17) and Priestly/Levitical (Num. 25:10–13) Covenants without exception. The promise was as certain as the sure appearance of night and day and the incalculable number of stars or sand grains (cf. 31:35–37; 33:25, 26).
33:24 two families. Judah and Israel. He has also cast them off. Many, even today, believe Israel as a nation has no future. In vv. 25, 26 God emphatically denies that notion (cf. 31:35, 36; Ps. 74:16, 17; Rom. 11:1, 2).
Jeremiah 3
4
34:1 when Nebuchadnezzar…fought. The siege began ca. Jan. 15, 588 B.C. (39:1), and ended ca. July 18, 586 (39:2; 52:5, 6). This chapter was set in Zedekiah’s reign, during the siege of 588–586 B.C., and was an amplification of 32:1–5, the message that resulted in Jeremiah’s incarceration. against Jerusalem. Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem began Aug. 14, 586 (2 Kin. 25:8, 9).
34:3 This prophecy about Zedekiah (cf. 32:1–5) was fulfilled as reported in 2 Kin. 25:6, 7; Jer. 52:7–11.
34:8–10 a covenant…to proclaim liberty. Zedekiah’s pact to free slaves met with initial compliance. The covenant followed the law of release in Lev. 25:39–55; Deut. 15:12–18 in hopes of courting God’s favor and ending His judgment.
34:11 they changed their minds. Former slave masters treacherously went back on their agreement and recalled the slaves. Some suggest that this treachery came when the Egyptian army approached and Babylon’s forces withdrew temporarily (37:5, 11) and the inhabitants believed that danger was past.
34:12–16 Therefore the word…came. God reminded the unfaithful Jews of His own covenant, when He freed Israelites from Egyptian bondage (cf. Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12–15). He had commanded that Hebrew slaves should serve only 6 years, then be set free in the seventh (vv. 13, 14).
34:17–22 You have not obeyed. Due to recent duplicity (v. 16), God promised only one kind of liberty to the offenders, liberty to judgment by sword, pestilence, and famine (v. 17).
34:18, 21 cut the calf in two. God will give the guilty over to death before the conqueror, for they denied the covenant ratified by blood (v. 21). In this custom, as in Gen. 15:8–17, two parties laid out parts of a sacrifice on two sides, then walked between the parts. By that symbolic action each pledged to fulfill his promise, agreeing in effect, “May my life (represented by the blood) be poured out if I fail to honor my part.”
Jeremiah 35
35:1–19 This chapter provided a description of the commitment to obedience by a group of people to their father, in contrast to the Jews’ disobedience to God.
35:1 days of Jehoiakim. 609–597 B.C. This backed up to several years before 34:1, possibly for a thematic reason—to cite a case of obedience after the episode of treachery in chap. 34.
35:2 The Rechabites. These were a semi-nomadic Kenite group, related to Moses’ father-in-law (Judg. 1:16; 4:11), descended from those in 1 Chr. 2:55. The originator of their rules was Jonadab (35:6, 14; 2 Kin. 10:15, 23). They derived their name from Rechab (v. 8) and were not of Jacob’s seed, but “strangers” in Israel.
35:8 obeyed. What was commended here was not the father’s specific commands about nomadic life, but the steadfast obedience of the sons. Their obedience was unreserved in all aspects, at all times, on the part of all, without exception; in all these respects Israel was lacking (v. 14).
35:13–17 The prophet indicted the Jews for flagrant disobedience.
35:18, 19 Because you have obeyed. God will bless the Rechabites not in spiritually saving them all, but in preserving a posterity in which some can have a place in His service. A Rechabite still has a role in Neh. 3:14. Also, the title over Ps. 71 in the LXX (Gr. translation of the OT) was addressed for use by the sons of Jonadab and the earliest captives.
Jeremiah 36
36:1 fourth year of Jehoiakim. This chapter, like chap. 35, goes back several years earlier than chaps. 32–34, before or shortly after the first of 3 deportations from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605 B.C.
36:2 write on it. The command was to record in one volume all the messages since the outset of Jeremiah’s ministry in 627 B.C. (1:2) up to 605/604 B.C., to be read to the people in the temple (v. 6.).
36:4 Baruch wrote. Jeremiah’s recording secretary (cf. 32:12) wrote the prophet’s messages (cf. 45:1), and penned them a second time after the first scroll was burned (cf. 36:32). He also read the messages in the temple (v. 10) and in the palace (v. 15). Later, Jehudi read a small part of the first scroll before King Jehoiakim (vv. 21–23).
36:5 confined. The word means “restricted, hindered, shut up,” and is the same term used for imprisonment in 33:1 and 39:15. The fact that princes allowed Jeremiah to depart into hiding (v. 19) may indicate that he was curtailed in some ways without being in prison. There is no record of his being imprisoned in Jehoiakim’s rule.
36:6 the day of fasting. Cf. v. 9. Here was a special fast day, appointed to avert the impending calamity, which would make the Jews more open to the message of the prophet (v. 7).
36:9 fifth year. This year (604 B.C.) was the next year after that of v. 1, which may suggest that it took some part of a year to repeat and record the long series of messages so far given (cf. v. 18). ninth month. Nov./ Dec. (cf. vv. 22, 23).
36:10 chamber. On the N side, above the wall overlooking the temple court, where the people gathered, Baruch read from a window or balcony.
36:17, 18 They asked if Baruch had written these words from memory or actual dictation from the inspired prophet. The latter was true. They were concerned it might be God’s Word (cf. vv. 16, 25).
36:23 cut it. As often as Jehudi read “three or four columns,” the king cut it up, doing so all the way through the whole scroll because he rejected the message (cf. v. 29). Jehoiakim is the king who sent men to Egypt (chap. 26) to bring back God’s faithful prophet, Urijah, so that he could execute him.
36:24 not afraid. The king’s servants were more hardened than the princes (v. 16).
36:26 the LORD hid them. God, who guides (cf. 1:8, 19; 10:23), gave Jeremiah and Baruch safety (cf. 36:19; Ps. 32:8; Prov. 3:5, 6).
36:27 Cf. Is. 40:18; 55:11; Matt. 5:18.
36:31 I will punish him. Consequences followed Jehoiakim’s defiance. In 598 B.C. he met his own death (22:18, 19; 2 Kin. 23:36; 2 Chr. 36:5). He had none to occupy the throne (v. 30). Jehoiachin or Jeconiah (Coniah in 22:24), his son, did succeed him, but with virtually no rule at all, lasting only 3 months and 10 days in 597 B.C. (22:24–30; 2 Chr. 36:9, 10). Babylon deported him for the rest of his life (cf. 52:31–34) and none of his descendants ruled (cf. 22:30, and see note there).
Jeremiah 37
37:1 Zedekiah…reigned. Zedekiah, an uncle of Jeconiah, was raised to the throne by Nebuchadnezzar in contempt for Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. His 11 year vassal rule was from 597–586 B.C. The message of the king to Jeremiah in this chapter is somewhat earlier than that in chap. 21, when Zedekiah was afraid of the Chaldean’s (Babylonian’s) defeating Egypt and returning to besiege Jerusalem (vv. 3, 5).
37:4 The prophet was no longer in the prison court as he had been (32:2; 33:1).
37:7–10 say to the king. Babylon, which temporarily ended the siege to deal with an Egyptian advance, would return and destroy Jerusalem.
37:12 Jeremiah went out. He returned to his hometown to claim the property he had purchased in 32:6–12.
37:13 Hananiah. Jeremiah had predicted his death (28:16) and thus the grandson took revenge with a false accusation (cf. 38:19; 52:15).
37:15 struck him. Jeremiah often absorbed blows, threats, or other mistreatment for proclaiming the truth from God (11:21; 20:2; 26:8; 36:26; 38:6, 25).
37:17 This showed Zedekiah’s willful rejection. He knew Jeremiah spoke for God.
37:19 prophets. They were shown to be liars who said the “king of Babylon” would not come. He had come and would return.
37:21 bread. The king showed a measure of kindness by returning Jeremiah to “the court of the prison” (cf. 32:2; 33:1), promising “bread” as long as it lasted in the siege (cf. 38:9). He remained there until Jerusalem was taken soon after the food was gone (38:28), with only a brief trip to a pit (38:6–13).
Jeremiah 38
38:4 let this man be put to death. Cf. 26:11 and see note there. he weakens the hands. They charged that Jeremiah’s urging to submit to Babylon (v. 2) undermined the defenders’ morale and will. By proclaiming Babylon’s victory, he was viewed as a traitor to Judah.
38:5 the king can do nothing. This is a spineless evasion of courage and decency b
y a leader who rejected God’s Word.
38:6 no water, but mire. The murderous princes (cf. v. 4) would let God’s spokesman die of thirst, hunger, hypothermia, or suffocation if he sank too deeply into the bottom of the cistern. Cf. Ps. 69:2, 14, a reference to Messiah.
38:7–13 Ebed-Melech. An Ethiopian, Gentile stranger acted decisively to deliver Jeremiah from his own people who were seeking to kill him. Perhaps a keeper of the royal harem (“eunuch”), this man later received God’s deliverance of his own life and His tribute for his faith (39:15–18).
38:14–23 I will ask you. This is one of several queries as Zedekiah wanted to hear God’s Word but rejected it. God’s Word was surrender, and His answer for rejection was calamity for Jerusalem, capture of the king, and tragedy for his family plus others of the palace. For the fulfillment to Zedekiah, cf. 39:4–8.
38:22 close friends have set upon you. Palace women, taken over by Babylonians, heaped cutting ridicule on Zedekiah for listening to friends whose counsel failed him, who left him helpless as one with his feet stuck in mire.
38:27 these words…the king…commanded. Jeremiah did not fall into lying deception here. What he said was true though he did not divulge all details of the conversation, to which the princes had no right.
Jeremiah 39
39:1, 2 In the ninth year…the eleventh year. Cf. 34:1, and see note there. Cf. 52:1–7; 2 Kin. 25:1–4. This siege of 30 months involved the enemy’s surrounding the city walls, cutting off all entrances and exits, all food supplies, and as much water as possible, so that famine, thirst, and disease would eventually weaken the beleaguered city dwellers and they could be easily conquered.
39:3 sat in the Middle Gate. This expressed full military occupation of the city, since this gate was between the upper city (Mt. Zion) and the lower city to the N.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 369
