King James Version
Jeremiah 33
26 verses with commentary
Promises of Restoration
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,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time</strong>—This divine word (דְּבַר־יְהוָה, <em>debar-YHWH</em>) came while Jeremiah remained imprisoned in <strong>the court of the prison</strong> (חֲצַר הַמַּטָּרָה, <em>chatsar hammattarah</em>). The 'second time' refers back to chapter 32, emphasizing God's persistent grace even when Jeremiah was confined for prophesying J...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XXXIII.
(1-3) **The second time, while he was yet shut up.**—The discourse that follows belongs to the same period as the preceding chapter, and presents the same general characteristics. Its connexion with the operations of the siege to which Jerusalem was exposed will be traced in Jeremiah 33:4. As with other prophecies, its starting-point is found in the thought of the majesty of the attributes...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; the LORD is: or, JEHOVAH, etc
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The LORD the maker thereof</strong> (יְהוָה עֹשָׂהּ, <em>YHWH osah</em>)—God identifies Himself as Creator who <strong>formed it</strong> (יָצַר, <em>yatsar</em>, the potter's shaping) <strong>to establish it</strong> (לַהֲכִינָהּ, <em>lahakinah</em>, to make firm/secure). The threefold description—maker, former, establisher—grounds restoration promises in God's creative sovereignty. What ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 3 Jr 3:1-25. God's Mercy notwithstanding Judah's Vileness.
Contrary to all precedent in the case of adultery, Jehovah offers a return to Judah, the spiritual adulteress (Jr 3:1-5). A new portion of the book, ending with the sixth chapter. Judah worse than Israel; yet both shall be restored in the last days (Jr 3:6-25).
**1. They say--**rather, as Hebrew, "saying," in agreement with "th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. mighty: or, hidden
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse contains one of Scripture's most encouraging invitations to prayer and divine revelation. 'Call unto me' uses qara (קָרָא), meaning to cry out, summon, or proclaim—suggesting earnest, deliberate prayer, not casual mention of God. The promise 'I will answer thee' employs anah (עָנָה), meaning to respond, testify, or speak in reply—guaranteeing divine response to those who genuinely seek ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. high places--**the scene of idolatries which were spiritual adulteries.
**In ... ways ... sat for them--**watching for lovers like a prostitute (Ge 38:14, 21; Pr 7:12; 23:28; Eze 16:24, 25), and like an Arab who lies in wait for travellers. The Arabs of the desert, east and south of Palestine, are still notorious as robbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The houses of this city, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down</strong> (הַנְּתֻצוֹת, <em>hannetutzot</em>, torn down, demolished)—God acknowledges the brutal reality: defensive <strong>mounts</strong> (סֹלְלוֹת, <em>solelot</em>, siege ramps) and <strong>the sword</strong> (חֶרֶב, <em>cherev</em>) have demolished even royal palaces. Homes were dismantled to fortify w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Concerning the houses of this city . . .**—The words point to the incident which was the occasion of the prophecy. The houses referred to had either been destroyed by the invaders, or, more probably, by the besieged, in order to erect a counter-work against the “mounts” which the Chaldæans had set against it. The “swords” (the word is translated by “axes” in Ezekiel 26:9) include tools used ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. no latter rain--**essential to the crops in Palestine; withheld in judgment (Le 26:19; compare Joe 2:23).
**whore's forehead--**(Jr 8:12; Eze 3:8).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men</strong>—The Hebrew construction emphasizes futility: defenders engage Babylon only to provide corpses to fill the demolished houses. <strong>Whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury</strong> (אֲשֶׁר הִכֵּיתִי בְאַפִּי וּבַחֲמָתִי, <em>asher hiketi be'api uvachamati</em>)—God Himself is the ulti...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **They come to fight with the Chaldeans . . .**—The Hebrew construction is participial, and has the force expressed in English by “they” used indefinitely. The prophet sees, as it were, a *sortie *of the besieged, but it is doomed to failure, and the houses of the city are filled with those who were slain by the sword, as well as by the “famine and pestilence” (Jeremiah 32:24).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. from this time--**not referring, as Michaelis thinks, to the reformation begun the year before, that is, the twelfth of Josiah; it means--now at once, now at last.
**me--**contrasted with the "stock" whom they had heretofore called on as "father" (Jr 2:27; Lu 15:18).
**thou art--**rather, "thou wast."
**guide of ... youth--**that is, husband (Jr 2:2; Pr 2:17; Ho 2:7, 15). Husband and fa...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I will bring it health and cure</strong> (הִנְנִי מַעֲלֶה־לָּהּ אֲרֻכָה וּמַרְפֵּא, <em>hineni ma'aleh-lah arukah umarpe</em>)—After describing devastating judgment, God pivots dramatically with 'Behold!' The medical language is striking: <em>arukah</em> (restoration of flesh, new tissue growth) and <em>marpe</em> (healing, cure). God promises to heal the incurable wounds of Judah ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Health and cure . . .**—The first word is, as in Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 30:17, the bandage, or “plaister,” which was prominent in the therapeutics of the East. It is possible that both words may have been spoken in direct contrast with the pestilence which was ravaging the city (Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 27:13; Jeremiah 38:2). In any case, however, the words have a higher and figurative meani...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. he--**"thou," the second person, had preceded. The change to the third person implies a putting away of God to a greater distance from them; instead of repenting and forsaking their idols, they merely deprecate the continuance of their punishment. Jr 3:12 and Psa 103:9, answer their question in the event of their penitence.
**spoken and--**rather (God's reply to them), "Thou hast spoken (th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return</strong> (וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי אֶת־שְׁבוּת יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־שְׁבוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, <em>vahashivoti et-shevut Yehudah ve'et-shevut Yisra'el</em>)—The idiom <em>shuv shevut</em> literally means 'turn the turning' or 'restore the restoration,' a Hebrew intensification meaning complete reversal of exile. Critically, God promises to r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7, 8) **I . . . will build . . . I will cleanse . . . I will pardon . . .**—The vision of the return of the exiles and of a restored city, prominent in Jeremiah 31:38-40, is not allowed to overshadow the yet more glorious vision of spiritual blessings of purity and pardon.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. Jr 3:6-6:30, is a new discourse, delivered in Josiah's reign. It consists of two parts, the former extending to Jr 4:3, in which he warns Judah from the example of Israel's doom, and yet promises Israel final restoration; the latter a threat of Babylonian invasion; as Nabopolassar founded the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., the seventeenth of Josiah, this prophecy is perhaps not earlier than that ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will cleanse them from all their iniquity</strong> (וְטִהַרְתִּים מִכָּל־עֲוֺנָם, <em>vetihartim mikol-avonam</em>)—The priestly cleansing verb <em>taher</em> (used for ritual purification) applies to moral guilt (<em>avon</em>, iniquity/guilt). God acts as both Judge and Priest, cleansing what He condemned. This impossible juxtaposition resolves only at the cross, where Christ became si...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. I said--**(2Ki 17:13).
**sister--**(Eze 16:46; 23:2, 4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It shall be to me a name of joy</strong> (וְהָיְתָה לִּי לְשֵׁם שָׂשׂוֹן, <em>vehaytah li leshem sason</em>)—Restored Israel becomes God's reputation (<em>shem</em>, name) of <em>sason</em> (exultant joy). The phrase 'to me' is emphatic: their restoration brings God Himself joy, revealing His delight in redeeming rebels. <strong>A praise and an honour before all the nations</strong> (לִתְה...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **It shall be to me a name of joy . . .**—The thought presents two aspects in its bearing on the outlying nations. On the one hand, they shall sing the praises of the restored city; on the other, they shall fear and tremble before its greatness, as showing that it was under the protection of the Lord of Israel. The word for “fear” is used in Isaiah 60:5; Hosea 3:5, for the quivering, trembling...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. I saw that, though (whereas) it was for this very reason (namely), because backsliding (apostate) Israel had committed adultery I had put her away (2Ki 17:6, 18), and given her a bill of divorce, yet Judah, &c. (Eze 23:11, &c.).
**bill of divorce--**literally, "a writing of cuttings off." The plural implies the completeness of the severance. The use of this metaphor here, as in the fo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate</strong> (עוֹד יִשָּׁמַע בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם אֹמְרִים חָרֵב הוּא, <em>od yishama bammakom hazzeh asher atem omrim charev hu</em>)—'Again' (<em>od</em>) promises restoration after silence. The people's despair ('shall be desolate,' <em>charev</em>, waste/ruin) contrasts with God's promise of renewal. <stron...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Again there shall be heard in this place.**—The promise of restoration is repeated with a more local distinctness. “This place” is probably, as in Jeremiah 42:18, Jerusalem. The “streets” are, more strictly, the “open places,” the “bazaars,” or even the “outskirts” of the city, which were deserted during the progress of the siege. Now they were waste and silent. The time would come when the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. it--**Some take this verse of Judah, to whom the end of Jr 3:8 refers. But Jr 3:10 puts Judah in contrast to Israel in this verse. "Yet for all this," referring to the sad example of Israel; if Jr 3:9 referred to Judah, "she" would have been written in Jr 3:10, not "Judah." Translate, "It (the putting away of Israel) had come to pass through ... whoredom; and (that is, for) she (Israel) had d...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride</strong>—Four 'voices' replace death-silence with life-celebration. <em>Sason</em> (joy) and <em>simchah</em> (gladness) are wedding terms; marriage imagery represents covenant restoration. The bridegroom-bride motif runs from Hosea through Revelation (19:7-9), depicting God's relationship ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness . . .**—The words gain greater emphasis as being those which the prophet had himself used (Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 25:10) in foretelling the desolation of the city. He points, as it were, by implication to the fulfilment of the one prediction, as a guarantee that the other also will, in due season, have its fulfilment.
**Praise the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. yet--**notwithstanding the lesson given in Israel's case of the fatal results of apostasy.
**not ... whole heart--**The reformation in the eighteenth year of Josiah was not thorough on the part of the people, for at his death they relapsed into idolatry (2Ch 34:33; Ho 7:14).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast</strong>—Repetition from verse 10 emphasizes the contrast: utter desolation versus abundant restoration. <strong>Shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down</strong> (תִּהְיֶה נְוֵה רֹעִים מַרְבִּצִים צֹאן, <em>tihyeh neveh ro'im marbitzim tzon</em>)—The pastoral imagery depicts peace and security...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12, 13) **Again in this place.**—The “place” includes, as in Jeremiah 33:10, “the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem.” The “habitation” for shepherds is translated sometimes by “sheepcote” (1Chronicles 17:7; 2Samuel 7:8), sometimes by “fold” (Isaiah 65:10; Ezekiel 34:14), sometimes by “dwelling” or “habitation.” It would seem here to answer to the “towns” of our old English speech, as m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. justified herself--**has been made to appear almost just (that is, comparatively innocent) by the surpassing guilt of Judah, who adds hypocrisy and treachery to her sin; and who had the example of Israel to warn her, but in vain (compare Eze 16:51; 23:11).
**more than--**in comparison with.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south</strong>—This comprehensive geography covers all Judah's regions: <em>har</em> (hill country), <em>shephelah</em> (lowland/foothills), and <em>negev</em> (south/dry land). God's restoration is total, not partial—no region excluded. <strong>In the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem</st...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. Go--**not actually; but turn and proclaim towards the north (Media and Assyria, where the ten tribes were located by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, 2Ki 15:29; 17:6; 18:9, 11).
**Return ... backsliding--**Hebrew, Shubah, Meshubah, a play on sounds. In order to excite Judah to godly jealousy (Ro 11:14), Jehovah addresses the exiled ten tribes of Israel with a loving invitation.
**cause ....
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This prophetic declaration introduces one of Scripture's most explicit Messianic passages. The Hebrew phrase <em>hineh yamim ba'im</em> ("behold, the days come") is a prophetic formula signaling eschatological fulfillment, pointing be...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14, 15) **Behold, the days come, saith the Lord . . .**—The words are manifestly a conscious reproduction of Jeremiah 23:5-6. In “I have promised” we may indeed trace a distinct reference to that passage. Once more “the Branch of righteousness” (Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1)—the coming heir of the throne of David, the true King who is to execute judgment—is put forward, as seen in the vision of the pr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Only acknowledge--**(De 30:1, 3; Pr 28:13).
**scattered thy ways, &c.--**(Jr 2:25). Not merely the calves at Beth-el, but the idols in every direction, were the objects of their worship (Eze 16:15, 24, 25).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> The Hebrew <em>tsemach</em> ("Branch") is a technical Messianic term appearing prominently in Isaiah 4:2, 11:1, Zechariah 3:8, and 6:12, consistently pointing to the coming Davidic king who would restore Israel. The verb <em>...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. I am married--**literally, "I am Lord," that is, husband to you (so Jr 31:32; compare Ho 2:19, 20; Is 54:5). Gesenius, following the Septuagint version of Jr 31:32, and Paul's quotation of it (He 8:9), translates, "I have rejected you"; so the corresponding Arabic, and the idea of lordship, may pass into that of looking down upon, and so rejecting. But the Septuagint in this passage translat...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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. The LORD: Heb. Jehovahtsidkenu
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse provides the salvific outcome of the Branch's reign. The Hebrew <em>tivasha</em> ("shall be saved") conveys comprehensive deliverance—not merely political liberation but spiritual salvation from sin and its consequences. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **This is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.**—It will be noticed that, while this reproduces the language of Jeremiah 23:6, it does so with a remarkable difference. There the title, “The Lord our Righteousness,” is given to the future King, and the passage has accordingly been used as a proof of the full divinity of the Christ, who is that King. Here it is gi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. pastors--**not religious, but civil rulers, as Zerubbabel, Nehemiah (Jr 23:4; 2:8).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; David: Heb. There shall not be cut off from David
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne</strong> (לֹא־יִכָּרֵת לְדָוִד אִישׁ יֹשֵׁב עַל־כִּסֵּא)—This is God's unconditional covenant promise to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16), reaffirmed in Judah's darkest hour. The Hebrew <em>yikkaret</em> (be cut off) emphasizes permanence: David's line will <em>never</em> fail.<br><br>The fulfillment is ultimately Christological—Jesus the Messiah...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **David shall never want a man . . .**—The words are hardly more than a repetition of promises like those of 2Samuel 7:16; 1Kings 2:4; Psalm 89:29; Psalm 89:36, but it is here repeated under very different circumstances. Then it had been given when the line of David was in all the freshness of its strength. Now it is uttered when that line seemed on the very point of dying out. The hope of th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. they shall say no more--**The Jews shall no longer glory in the possession of the ark; it shall not be missed, so great shall be the blessings of the new dispensation. The throne of the Lord, present Himself, shall eclipse and put out of mind the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat between the cherubim, God's former throne. The ark, containing the two tables of the law, disappeared at the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man</strong>—Parallel to v. 17, this guarantees perpetual Levitical priesthood. The dual promise (Davidic king + Levitical priest) anticipates Christ who is both <em>prophet, priest, and king</em>.<br><br><strong>To offer burnt offerings</strong> (עֹלָה, <em>olah</em>—that which ascends) and <strong>meat offerings</strong> (מִנְחָה, <em>minchah<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man . . .**—Here again we have a promise which received a fulfilment other than that which the words appeared to imply, and which doubtless was in the prophet’s thoughts. The Levitical priesthood passed away (Hebrews 7:11), but Christ was made a Priest after the order of Melchizedek; and by virtue of their union with Him, His people became a holy...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. Jerusalem--**the whole city, not merely the temple. As it has been the center of the Hebrew theocracy, so it shall be the point of attraction to the whole earth (Is 2:2-4; Zec 2:10, 11; 14:16-21).
**throne of ... Lord--**The Shekinah, the symbol of God's peculiar nearness to Israel (De 4:7) shall be surpassed by the antitype, God's own throne in Jerusalem (Psa 2:6, 8; Eze 34:23, 24; Zec 2:...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah</strong>—This formulaic introduction (דְּבַר־יְהוָה, <em>devar-YHWH</em>) appears over 300 times in the prophets, authenticating divine origin. The phrase emphasizes God's initiative in revelation—the prophet is passive recipient, not originator.<br><br>This verse introduces the cosmic covenant analogy (v. 20-26) comparing God's promises to the f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19-22) **And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying . . .**—The new introduction here and in Jeremiah 33:23 indicates a fresh message borne in on the prophet’s mind after an interval of time. In substance it repeats the promise of Jeremiah 33:17-18, but it reproduces them with yet greater solemnity. The covenant of Jehovah with David and with the Levites the priests is placed on the same...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Judah ... Israel ... together--**Two distinct apostasies, that of Israel and that of Judah, were foretold (Jr 3:8, 10). The two have never been united since the Babylonish captivity; therefore their joint restoration must be still future (Is 11:12, 13; Eze 37:16-22; Ho 1:11).
**north--**(Jr 3:12).
**land ... given ... inheritance--**(Am 9:15).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse introduces a divine analogy that grounds God's covenant promises in the created order's stability. The reference to "covenant of the day" and "covenant of the night" invokes Genesis 8:22 and God's post-flood promise that ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. The good land covenanted to Abraham is to be restored to his seed. But the question arises, How shall this be done?
**put ... among ... children--**the Greek for adoption means, literally, "putting among the sons."
**the children--**that is, My children. "How shall I receive thee back into My family, after thou hast so long forsaken Me for idols?" The answer is, they would acknowledge Him ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse completes the conditional argument begun in verse 20, drawing an explicit parallel between creation's stability and covenant permanence. The phrase "my covenant with David" references 2 Samuel 7:12-16, where G...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. Surely--**rather, "But."
**husband--**literally, "friend."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse employs the classic Abrahamic covenant imagery from Genesis 22:17, where God promised Abraham: "I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore." The delib...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21. In harmony with the preceding promises of God, the penitential confessions of Israel are heard.
**high places--**The scene of their idolatries is the scene of their confessions. Compare Jr 3:23, in which they cast aside their trust in these idolatrous high places. The publicity of their penitence is also implied (compare Jr 7:29; 48:38).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying</strong> (וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ שֵׁנִית לֵאמֹר)—a second revelation while Jeremiah remains imprisoned (v. 1, 'shut up in the court of the prison'). The Hebrew <em>debar-YHWH</em> (word of the LORD) marks prophetic authority—not Jeremiah's opinion but divine speech. This formula appears over 150 times in Jeremiah, groundi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
22. Jehovah's renewed invitation (Jr 3:12, 14) and their immediate response.
**heal--**forgive (2Ch 30:18, 20; Ho 14:4).
**unto thee--**rather, "in obedience to thee"; literally, "for thee" [Rosenmuller].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Considerest thou not what this people have spoken?</strong> (הֲלוֹא רָאִיתָ מָה־הָעָם הַזֶּה דִּבְּרוּ לֵאמֹר)—God quotes the skeptics' objection. <em>Ra'itah</em> (have you seen/noticed) uses visual perception for spiritual discernment—'Do you see what they're saying?' <strong>This people</strong> (<em>ha'am hazeh</em>) creates slight distance, marking their speech as contrary to covenant...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24-26) **Considerest thou not what this people have spoken . . .**—The words that follow have been regarded by many commentators as the taunt of the heathen nations—Chaldæans, Egyptians, Edomites, and others—as they beheld what seemed to them the entire downfall of the kingly and the priestly orders, such as we find put into the lips of the heathen in Ezekiel 35:10; Ezekiel 36:20. The words “this...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. multitude of mountains--**that is, the multitude of gods worshipped on them (compare Psa 121:1, 2, Margin).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-24** The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and...
Read full commentary →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;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus saith the LORD; If My covenant be not with day and night</strong> (אִם־לֹא בְרִיתִי יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה)—God invokes creation ordinances to guarantee redemption. <em>Beriti</em> (My covenant) applies covenant language to the natural order—day-night cycle is covenantal, not merely physical. Genesis 8:22 established this post-Flood: 'While earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest... day and n...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. shame--**that is, the idols, whose worship only covers us with shame (Jr 11:13; Ho 9:10). So far from bringing us "salvation," they have cost us our cattle and even our children, whom we have sacrificed to them.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →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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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant</strong> (גַּם־זֶרַע יַעֲקֹב וְדָוִד עַבְדִּי אֶמְאַס)—conditional impossibility (protasis without fulfillable apodosis). 'If creation stops, then (and only then) I'll reject Israel.' <em>Zera'</em> (seed, זֶרַע) links to Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 13:16, 17:7-8); 'David My servant' invokes Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16). ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
25. (Ezr 9:7).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 33
God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (Is. 33:1-14) The happiness of his people. (Is. 33:15-24)
**Verses 1-14** Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength b...
Read full commentary →