Bible Commentaries
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 33
1. While he — Jeremiah.
Was yet shut up — Implying the close connexion of this chapter with the preceding.
THE MESSAGE TO ZEDEKIAH ANNOUNCING THE FUTILITY OF RESISTANCE, 1-7.
The time when this prophecy was spoken must have been near the beginning of the siege; for —
a. Jeremiah was not in confinement. “Go and speak,” Jeremiah 33:2.
b. Lachish and Azekah were not captured, Jeremiah 33:7.
It would seem then that the first seven verses of this chapter cannot be simply a repetition in a more extended form of Jeremiah 33:3-5 of chap. 32, but should rather be classed with chap. 21, and were intended as a warning to King Zedekiah of the fruitlessness of all attempts to drive away the Chaldeans. The very full and formal introduction in Jeremiah 33:1, and the character of the contents, alike favour this view.
2. Maker… formed… establish — The logical order is preserved, but there is a progress from extent to intensity of meaning.
The Lord is his name — This appeal to the import of the name Jehovah suggests the stability of his word and the perpetuity of his covenant. The pronouns in this verse, thereof and it, are used impersonally, and mean that which results from the action of the verbs.
3. Mighty things — Literally, things fortified, that is, inaccessible, hard to be found out. Ewald conjectures, that in the original word one letter, nun, ( נ,) has been changed into another, beth, ( ב.) If this be true (which is by no means necessary) the reading would be hidden.
4. By the mounts, and by the sword — Literally, against, or on account of. The houses had been pulled down to strengthen the walls of the city and repair the breaches. Swords are here mentioned as being the leading, and so the most representative, weapon of offensive warfare.
5. They come to fight, etc. — This sentence is very enigmatical, and has occasioned many conjectural emendations of the text. But all such violent solutions of difficulties are to be rejected. We may take into thought the possibility of textual change, but have no right to postulate such change. The best explanation these puzzling words admit of is, They (the people) come to fight with the Chaldeans, but (the result is,) to fill the houses with the dead bodies of the slain, etc.
6. I will bring it health and cure — Literally, I will apply to it a bandage and healing, that is, a healing bandage. The language following sets forth the idea more fully: I will cure them, and will reveal, etc.
8. Will cleanse — Transcendent grace! He not only remits the punishment, but removes the sin.
9. It — The city.
Shall fear and tremble — Because of the overwhelming revelation of that God “who doeth his pleasure in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”
10. In this place — In this land — Judea.
Which ye say shall be desolate — Rather, of which ye say it is desolate.
11. The voice of joy, etc. — The fulness and emphasis of this promise is indicated by the wave after wave of parallelism which flows in upon us. Praise the Lord, etc. — This phraseology seems to be quoted here as liturgical; the regular and universal formula of praise and thanksgiving.
As at the first — I will restore the land to the condition it had before the captivity.
12. Causing their flocks to lie down — A graphic feature of pastoral life, suggesting peace and tranquillity.
13. Under the hands of him that telleth them — That is, who counts the sheep as they are put out to pasture, and again as they are brought back to the fold.
CHRIST THE BRANCH — THE FULFILMENT OF BOTH THE KINGLY AND THE PRIESTLY IDEAS, Jeremiah 33:15-18.
15, 16. These verses are substantially a repetition of Jeremiah 23:5-6, with several changes, most of which, however, are of no real significance. But in one important feature this passage is different. It is here stated that the city shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. This suggests the real oneness between the personal life-source, the Messiah, and the channel through which this life flows forth to the nations.
17, 18. David shall never want a man — And yet in such passages as Jeremiah 22:30; Jeremiah 30:21, the failure of the Davidic kingdom seems to be definitely predicted; and this prediction, as a matter of fact, was exactly fulfilled. No king, after Zedekiah, of the Davidic line ever sat upon the throne. The explanation of this apparent incongruity is this: the real reign of David was perpetuated in Christ. His kingdom was a permanent reality. The stream of its life might, for a time, disappear beneath the surface; yet in Christ it would break forth in exhaustless fulness. So, also, of the Levitical priesthood. Its offerings might be interrupted, but these types would be fulfilled in the permanent priesthood of Jesus Christ.
GOD’S PERPETUAL COVENANT, Jeremiah 33:19-26.
20. My covenant of the day, etc. — An appeal to the changeless and irresistible ongoing of nature, the innumerable host of stars, and the immeasurable quantity of the sand, as symbols of the stability and exhaustlessness of the divine resources. The stability of the physical universe leads to the stability of God’s higher kingdom; and its wonderful extent and variety suggest the infinite and all-comprehending character of the divine plans.
24. What this people — The Jews.
Two families — Israel and Judah.
Have despised my people — In that they have denied them their true and proper character as the covenant people of God.
25. If my covenant be not with day and night — The repetition ofthis appeal to the established laws of nature shows the warmth and emphasis of the passage.
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