scribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

CHAP. XXXIII. 1-13. Renewed promise of return and of honour among the nations.

33 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, Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 3 call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. For thus saith

4

subscribe evidences] write the particulars of the purchase in the deed.

in the land of Benjamin...] The several parts of the land are specified in order to make the promise more distinct that it should be possessed again in its entirety. See note on chap. xvii. 26, where the word "plain" is the same in the Heb. as that here rendered valley (and in xxxiii. 13 "vale").

I will cause their captivity to return] probably not, I will bring back the captives, but rather, I will remove their captive condition and restore them to their former estate.

CHAP. XXXIII. 1-13. RENEWED PROMISE OF RETURN AND OF HONOUR AMONG THE NATIONS.

1. the second time] From the tenor of the communication as well as from the words which follow in this verse we gather that it was not much subsequent to the former.

in the court of the prison] in the court of the guard. See chap. xxxii. 2 with note.

2. the maker thereof] who does it (viz. that which he has purposed). the Lord is his name] He is God and not man, and so is unchangeable and omnipotent. Compare xxxi. 35.

3. great and mighty things] The only other cases where the Heb. occurs have reference to the cities of the Amorites (Deut. i. 28, ix. 1, and once or twice elsewhere). It is there rendered in the Eng. Vers. fenced, or walled, and hence the notion of mighty, as in the text. But the Heb. for 'mighty things' becomes by the easy change of one letter the original expression in Is. xlviii. 6, there rightly rendered "hidden things." Some have supposed accordingly that, as the Isaiah passage is obviously not taken from this, this has been taken from it either by Jeremiah himself or by some one subsequent to him, and that the right

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; they 5 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. Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the cap-7 tivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them 8 from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have

reading here is that found in Isaiah. This assumption is improbable, although we may fitly say that this whole passage is more in the style of Isaiah than of Jeremiah.

4. by the mounts, and by the sword] rather, against the mounts and against the sword. These houses of the city and of the kings were not thrown down by the besiegers, as our Version suggests, but by the besieged, in order to make room for defensive works to be raised against these forms of attack. See chap. v. 17 with note, and Is. xxii. 10; also Ezek. xxvi. 9 where for "axes" we should read swords.

5. they come] As far as grammar is concerned 'they' should refer to 'houses.' As the sense precludes this, the verse becomes extremely difficult. The Septuagint cuts the knot by the omission of the word. Among the expedients proposed the most satisfactory seems to be that we should understand the besieged Jews to be meant, who, although not directly mentioned, can be readily understood from the sense of the earlier part of the passage: While they come to fight with the Chaldaeans and to fill them (the houses) with, &c. The sudden change from the buildings to the people is illustrated immediately in ver. 6.

have hid my face] a phrase used elsewhere also (e.g. Deut. xxxi. 17) to express displeasure.

6. I will bring it health and cure] I will lay upon it a bandage and a remedy, i.e. a healing bandage. See notes on chaps. viii. 23,

XXX. 17.

I will bring it...I will cure them] For the change from city (it) to inhabitants (them) see note on ver. 5.

and will reveal unto them] and will roll down (pour out) upon them, is another possible translation, but (as in xi. 20, where see note) our Version's rendering is better.

truth] (God's) faithfulness.

8. And I will cleanse them] This distinctive feature of the new covenant has been already brought out strongly in xxxi. 34. We shall have it again, 1. 20.

sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. 9 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 10 unto it. 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 II without inhabitant, and without beast, 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 12 the LORD. 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 a 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

9. they shall fear and tremble] as inferring, and rightly, that the God who so honours those who seek Him will punish with equal emphasis those who disregard Him.

10. which ye say shall be desolate] of which ye say, It is desolate. the voice of joy...] See note on vii. 34.

11.

Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever] These clauses seem to have been liturgical forms used in the Temple services. This we gather from such passages as 2 Chron. v. 13, vii. 3, 6; Ezra iii. 11; Ps. cvi. I.

and of them that shall bring] rather, (and) that bring, or, as they bring, to be joined with them that shall say, etc. above.

44.

the sacrifice of praise] For the probable sense see note on xvii. 26.
I will cause to return the captivity of the land] See note on xxxii.

12. a habitation of shepherds] See note on ix. 10, also vi. 2.

13.

In the cities...] See note on xxxii. 44.

under the hands of him that telleth them] Tell is used, as often in

14-18. The Kingly and Priestly Offices shall be

re-established.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform 14 that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at 15 that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be 16 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 17 sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the 18 priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

old English, in the sense of count.
Gen. xv. 5; Ps. xxii. 17, xlviii. 12.
"While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred."

Other instances in the Bible are
Compare Shakespeare,

so Milton,

Hamlet, Act. I, Sc. 2.

"And every shepherd tells his tale (counts the number of his sheep) Under the hawthorn in the dale.'

L'Allegro, 67.

For tale in the Bible in the sense of number see Exod. v. 8, 18; 1 Sam. xviii. 27; 1 Chron. ix. 28.-Bible Word Book.

14-18. THE KINGLY AND PRIESTLY OFFICES SHALL BE

RE-ESTABLISHED.

The Septuagint omit from ver. 14 to the end of the chapter. 15, 16. See notes on xxiii. 5, 6.

17, 18.

The permanence of the kingly and priestly line is here emphatically declared. But elsewhere Jeremiah no less plainly announces the cutting off of both, of the former in xxii. 30, xxx. 21, of the latter in iii. 16, xxxi. 33. We must therefore take the passage as one of the prophet's pictures of the Christian dispensation, clothed in a Jewish dress, the only form in which it could present any meaning to those to whom it was delivered. It is no doubt to such passages as this that St Peter refers (1 Pet. i. 10, 11), when he speaks of the prophets as "enquiring and searching diligently... what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." Christ uniting the offices of King and Priest should make the spiritual Israel more glorious than ever.

19

19-22. God's Covenant is as certain as the ordinances

of nature.

And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should 21 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 22 Levites the priests, my ministers. 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.

23

23-26. Renewal of the assurance to the people as a whole, with the same illustration.

Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying,

19-22. GOD'S COVENANT IS AS CERTAIN AS THE ORDINANCES OF NATURE.

20. The argument of this section is the same as that of chap. xxxi. 35-37. The only distinction is that while there the fixity of God's work in nature is appealed to as an illustration of the fixity with which he will retain Israel as His people, here the same natural laws are appealed to as illustrating the certainty with which the particular blessings of the monarchy and priesthood are secured to the people.

21. The covenant with David's line is given 2 Sam. vii. 12—16, while that with the Levites (so far as it was not included in the general covenant to maintain Israel, of whom the Levites were an integral part) was made in the person of Phinehas (Numb. xxv. 13).

23-26. RENEWAL OF THE ASSURANCE TO THE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE, WITH THE SAME ILLUSTRATION.

24. Considerest thou not...] Hast thou not seen, etc.? this people] Some understand these words of the heathen, in order to escape the difficulty of giving to them the same reference (viz. to the Jews), as the words 'my people' just after. In usage however, the two expressions differ exactly as is required here, the former being used frequently by Jeremiah (e. g. iv. 10, v. 14, 23, etc.) of the people in a state of estrangement from God, while the latter denotes the same people as viewed with affection by Him. The sense of this verse then is, that the people, seeing that both Israel and Judah ('the two families') are being apparently cast off, despise their own nation, despair of any better days, and consider their national existence to be a thing of the past.