Jeremiah 33
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. Jeremiah 33:1-26. Renewed promise of return and of honour among the nations

For the late character of Jeremiah 33:14-26 of this ch. see introd. note there. Jeremiah 33:1-13 are also rejected by Schmidt, Co. and Du., while Gi. admits that they include a certain amount of interpolation, e.g. Jeremiah 33:2-3. The case against the earlier portion of the ch. seems far from proven, though Jeremiah 33:1-13 probably contain a considerable amount of editorial addition. The latter part of Jeremiah 33:1 suggests for the Jeremianic portion the same date as ch. 32.

The contents may be summarized as follows. (i) Jeremiah 33:1-3. Jehovah invites the prophet to call upon Him for teaching as to His secret purposes. (ii) Jeremiah 33:4-9. Resistance to the Chaldaeans will involve fruitless bloodshed; but afterwards there shall come to Judah and Israel healing and restoration from exile. Jerusalem shall be honoured of all nations, who shall be smitten with dismay when they behold Jehovah’s mercy towards her. (iii) Jeremiah 33:10-13. The cities and land that are now desolate shall once more flourish and abound in the joys of life, while flocks shall pasture without fear as in former time. (iv) Jeremiah 33:14-18. A righteous Ruler shall spring up in David’s line. Jerusalem shall be named “The Lord is our righteousness.” The permanence of the kingly and priestly line shall be securely established. (v) Jeremiah 33:19-26. The order of nature shall not be more fixed than the continuity of king and priests. The seed of David and the ministering Levites shall be as the stars or the sand for multitude. So far is Jehovah from rejecting His people that He will deliver and cherish them as certainly as day and night alternate in due succession by His ordinance.

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
1. in the court of the guard] See on ch. Jeremiah 32:2.

Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
2. the Lord is his name] He is God and not man, and so is unchangeable and omnipotent. A similar expression is frequent in Isaiah (Isaiah 47:4, Isaiah 48:2, etc.). Cp. Jeremiah 10:16, in connexion, as here, with Jehovah as Creator (“former”) of all things.

2, 3. These vv. bear a close affinity to several passages in 2 Isaiah (e.g. Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 48:6), and are probably an insertion by a later hand. For the indefinite “that doeth it,” etc., which in the Hebrew still more than the English resembles Isaiah 22:11 (cp. Jeremiah 33:4 f. here with Isaiah 22:10), we should probably read with LXX “who made the earth and formed it to establish it.” Cp. Isaiah 45:18.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
3. great things, and difficult] mg. Heb. fenced in. The word means lit. cut off, inaccessible. But certain MSS. of MT., not apparently supported, however, by LXX, read probably rightly (differing only by one letter, nĕtsûroth for bĕtsûroth) hidden, as in Isaiah 48:6.

For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
4. mounts] See on Jeremiah 6:6.

4, 5. These vv., as they stand, are evidently corrupt; for “they” (seeing that the word cannot, as strict grammar demands, mean “the houses”), as applied to the defenders of the city, would require the verb go out instead of “come.” There is something like an agreement among commentators that “the Chaldeans” were originally the subject, not the object, in Jeremiah 33:5. Thus the general sense is given in Co.’s emendation of the passage, viz. “which are broken down, against which the Chaldaeans come with mounds and swords to fight and to fill them with the dead bodies, etc.”

4–9. See introd. summary to section.

They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
5. have hid my face] in displeasure. Cp. Deuteronomy 31:17 and elsewhere.

Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
6. health] mg. healing; lit. fresh flesh; See on Jeremiah 8:22.

abundance] The word in MT. occurs here only, the meaning that the corresponding root bears in Ezekiel 35:13; Proverbs 27:6, being taken to justify the sense assigned here. But the text is probably corrupt. A word almost identical in consonants denotes treasures, and so is very apposite here as a conjectural emendation (so Du.).

truth] (God’s) faithfulness.

And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
7. as at the first] as in former times (those of the undivided kingdom).

And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
8. And I will cleanse them] This feature of the new covenant has been brought out strongly in Jeremiah 31:34. We have it again, Jeremiah 50:20.

And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
9. shall fear and tremble] inferring that He who so honours those who seek Him will punish with equal emphasis those who disregard Him.

Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
10–13. See introd. summary to the section. The genuineness of these vv. may be regarded as questionable; although the fact that the overthrow of Jerusalem is a thing of the past and the land is waste does not prove it to be non-Jeremianic, as the prophet survived the final disaster. The form of the doxology (Jeremiah 33:11), we may note, differs distinctly from that of post-exilic times.

The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
11. Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever] liturgical forms used in the Temple services. See 1 Chronicles 16:34; 2 Chronicles 5:13; 2 Chronicles 7:3; 2 Chronicles 7:6; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 106:1.

sacrifices of thanksgiving] See on Jeremiah 17:26.

I will cause the captivity of the land to return] See note on Jeremiah 32:44.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
13. him that telleth] For “tell” in the sense (now archaic) of count cp. Genesis 15:5; Psalm 22:17; Psalm 48:12.

“While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred.”

Hamlet, Jeremiah 1:2.

The cognate substantive is preserved to us in the title of the “tellers” who report the result of a division in the House of Commons. For tale in the Bible in the sense of number see Exodus 5:8; Exodus 5:18; 1 Samuel 18:27; 1 Chronicles 9:28.—Bible Word Book.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
14–18. The Kingly and Priestly Offices shall be re-established.

14–26. See introd. summary to the section. This portion of the ch. is clearly later than Jeremiah’s time. The expression “Levitical priests” (see on Jeremiah 33:18) is not one which he uses elsewhere. Moreover, there is a considerable amount of repetition in the passage (cp. Jeremiah 33:14-16 with Jeremiah 29:10, Jeremiah 23:5 f., and Jeremiah 33:17 with Jeremiah 35:19, and Jeremiah 33:20-26 with Jeremiah 31:35 f.). Above all, it is lacking in the LXX. It is very improbable that those translators would have designedly omitted such a proclamation of the Messianic hope, of the permanence of David’s line, and of the importance of the priestly office. The generally hopeful character of the passage also would have appealed to them. Gi., though deciding against the genuineness of the passage, considers that the phrase “Levitical priests” is so suitable to Jeremiah’s time, that here it must be considered as an archaism employed by a later writer. Co. summarily rejects the passage, and substitutes Jeremiah 23:7 f., as being most appropriate here, while at least suspicious in 23. in view of its varying position in MT. and LXX.

In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
15, 16. See notes on Jeremiah 23:5 f. For the name applied (Jeremiah 33:6) not to the king but to the city cp. Ezekiel 48:35.

In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
17. David … man] lit. as mg. There shall not be cut off from David.

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
18. The making of the Levites co-extensive with the priests, while in consonance with the Deuteronomic legislation (e.g. Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 17:18), was no longer recognised in Nehemiah’s day. Probably this passage was written after the change had in effect taken place, while yet the earlier phrase was retained.

And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
19–22. God’s Covenant is as certain in its working as the ordinances of nature. Cp. Psalm 89:34 ff.

Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
21. See 2 Samuel 7:12-16.

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
23–26. Renewal of the assurance to the people as a whole, with the same illustration.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
24. this people] If the words be right, they must indicate the sceptical part of the nation. But the subsequent context, as it stands, rather requires the meaning to be hostile nations. The emendation which makes the best sense is that of Du. and Co.: “He hath cast them off and rejected His people, that they should be no more a nation before Him.”

The two families] Israel and Judah, as shewn by Jeremiah 33:26.

Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
25. stand] The absence of a verb in this clause to balance “have … appointed” in the next has led to Du.’s emendation, adopted also by Co., to read by a very slight change in the Hebrew for “If my covenant,” If I have not created. The alteration to the present text might have easily been made by a scribe who was influenced by “my covenant” of Jeremiah 33:20.

Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
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