Verse 30
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil - They have all been transgressors from their earliest history.
For the children of Israel - The ten tribes.
Have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands - They have been sinners beyond all others, being excessive idolaters. Their hands have formed the objects of their worship.
Verse 33
Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them - From the frequent reference to this, we may naturally conclude that morning preaching prevailed much in Judea.
Verse 37
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries - A promise often repeated. See [Jer 29:14], and the notes on [Jer 31:8] (note), etc.
Verse 39
I will give them one heart - And that a clean one.
And one way - And that a holy and safe one: and to have this clean heart, and to walk in this good way, will be for the good of them and their children after them. God's blessing is a profitable inheritance. They shall have but one object of worship, and one way of salvation; and being saved from sin, idolatry, and destruction, they must necessarily be happy within and happy without.
Verse 41
Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good - Nothing can please God better than our coming to him to receive the good which, with his whole heart and his whole soul, he is ready to impart. How exceedingly condescending are these words of God!
Verse 42
Will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised - God's word cannot fail. The Jews have never yet received the good that God has promised. Nothing like the fulfillment of these promises took place after their return from Babylon; therefore there remaineth yet a rest for these ancient people of God; and it is under the Christian dispensation that they are to have it.
Verse 44
Men shall buy fields for money - This is a reference to the symbolical purchase mentioned at the beginning of the chapter; that may be considered by them as a sure sign of their restoration, not only to the same land, but to their respective inheritances in that land. This the power of God could alone perform.
Introduction
In this chapter the prophet predicts a restoration of Israel and Judah to the favor of God, attended with such glorious circumstances as shall astonish all the world, [Jer 33:1-9]. Their prosperity from that period is then described by a beautiful enumeration of circumstances, [Jer 33:10-13]. Thus leads to the promise of the Messiah, the grand subject of the prophetical writings, and the happiness and stability which the children of Israel shall enjoy under his government; promises which, in so far as they respect the great body of the Jews, remain still to be fulfilled, [Jer 33:14-26].
Verse 1
Moreover the word of the Lord - This was in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah being still shut up in prison: but he was now in the court of the prison, where the elders and the king's officers, etc., might consult him with the greater ease; for they continued to inquire, foolishly thinking, that if he would but prophesy good things, that these must come, or that he had sufficient power with God to induce him to alter his mind, - destroy the Chaldeans, and deliver the city.
Verse 2
Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof - עשה osah, the doer of it. That is, he who is to perform that which he is now about to promise.
Thus translated by Dahler. -
Voici ce que dit l'Eternel, qui fait ce qu'il a dit. - "Thus saith the Lord, who doth that which he hath said."
The word Jehovah, not Lord, should be used in all such places as this.
Verse 3
Call unto eve, and I will answer thee - To me alone it belongs to reveal what is future; and the stupendous things which are now coming are known only to myself. These idolaters go to their gods to get information relative to the issue of the present commotions; but there is no light in them. Ask thou, O Jeremiah, and I will tell thee the great and mighty things which even thou knowest not.
Verse 4
Thus saith the Lord - This is a new confirmation of what has already been said, viz., The city shall fall, a number of the inhabitants shall perish, the rest shall be carried into captivity; but the nation shall be preserved, and the people return from their captivity.
Verse 6
Behold I will bring it health and, cure - ארכה aruchah, an extensive plaister; or, as we phrase it, a plaister as large as the sore. I will repair the losses of families by numerous births, and bless the land with fertility.
Verse 7
The captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel - This must respect the latter times, for the ten tribes did not return with the Jews at the termination of the seventy years.
Verse 8
I will cleanse them - These promises of pardon and holiness must be referred to their state under the Gospel, when they shall have received Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Verse 9
They shall fear and tremble - The surrounding nations shall be persuaded that it is the hand of the Almighty that has wrought this change in your behalf; and shall fear to molest you, and tremble lest they should incur the displeasure of your God by doing you any kind of evil.
Verse 11
The voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts - That is, the voice of the Levites in the sacred service: intimating that the temple should be rebuilt, and the public service restored.
Verse 12
A habitation of shepherds - See on [Jer 31:12] (note).
Verse 14
Behold the days come - See [Jer 23:5], and [Jer 31:31].
That good thing which I have promised - By my prophets: for those who have predicted the captivity have also foretold its conclusion, though not in such express terms as Jeremiah did. See [Hos 1:10], etc.; [Hos 2:15], etc.; [Hos 6:11], etc.; [Amo 9:14], etc., and [Jer 3:12], etc. The end of the captivity has been foretold by Micah, [Mic 7:9], etc.; Zephaniah, [Zep 3:10], etc.; and by Jeremiah, [Jer 16:15]; [Jer 23:3]; [Jer 29:10]; [Jer 32:37]. The Targum explains [Jer 32:14], [Jer 32:15], and [Jer 32:16] of the Messiah.