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Jer_31:31-40
When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah:
32 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
In the day that I took them by their hand,
To lead them forth out of the land of Egypt;
Which my covenant they broke;
And yet I was their husband, saith Jehovah.
33 But this is the covenant which I will make
With the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah:
I will put my law within them, and write it on their heart,
And I will be their God and they shall be my people.
34 And a man will no more teach his neighbor,
Nor a man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah!
For all will know me from the least to the greatest, saith Jehovah:
For I will forgive their sin,
And their iniquity I will remember no more.
35 Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for light by day,
And the laws of the moon and stars for light by night,
Who exciteth the sea so that its waves roar,
Jehovah Zebaoth is his name:
36 If these laws perish before me, saith Jehovah,
The seed of Israel will also cease to be a nation before me forever.
37 Thus saith Jehovah, When the heavens above are measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
Then will I also reject the whole seed of Israel
For all that they have done, saith Jehovah.
38 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
When the city shall be built for Jehovah,
From the tower of Hananeel to the corner-gate.
39 And the measuring-line shall go forth further,
Straight out to the hill Gareb and turn towards Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes,
And all the land to the brook Kedron,
To the corner of the horse-gate towards the east,
Shall be holy unto Jehovah,
And shall no more be devastated nor destroyed forever.
Jer_31:31-32. Behold … Jehovah. Here also the prophet’s discourse extends to both halves of the nation. The Lord will conclude a new covenant with the whole of Israel (Jer_32:40; Jer_50:5; Isa_55:3). This new covenant stands in contrast to the old, which the Lord made with the fathers of the Israelites “in the day when He took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” Wrong as it would be to understand by this “day” the stay at Sinai, equally so would it be to restrict it to the day of the exodus (Exo_12:51; Exo_13:3-4). Two things pertain to the conclusion of a covenant, a performance and a condition or requirement; the concluding of the covenant between Jehovah and the people Israel then lasted through the whole period of the Mosaic legislation, just as long as the bringing forth out of Egypt lasted. The manuduction ends only with the promised land, and from the day of the exodus to the day of his death Moses did not cease to give laws to the people (Exodus 12 to Deuteronomy 32). Since now there is no grammatical necessity of taking “day” in a literal sense (comp. Isa_11:16; 2Sa_21:12; 2Sa_22:1), we are justified in understanding by the covenant of Jer_31:32 that covenant which Jehovah concluded through the mediation of Moses in different acts (Deu_29:1; comp. Kurtz, Gerch. d. A. B. II., S. 522 [History of the Old Covenant] with the people Israel, and required as its condition the keeping of the Torah (comp. áְּçåֹöִàåֹ Deu_29:24; Deu_28:1 sqq.; 13 sqq.).—Which my covenant. Which is at any rate to be referred to my covenant, since this is also the main conception in the previous clause of the sentence.—They is emphatic: they broke the covenant, not I. It was the weak side of this covenant that it could be broken, and had God made this only, there might have been a doubt either as to His omniscience or His holy love. The first covenant, however, was only preliminary, preparatory and typical.—And yet I was their husband. The LXX., which translates Jer_3:14 êáôáêõñéåýóù ὑìῶí , here has ἠìÝëçóá áὐôῶí . So likewise in Heb_8:9. From the context we should certainly expect an idea corresponding to broke, i. e. a word by which Jehovah’s relation to the covenant-breakers would be designated. Meanwhile grammatical considerations require us to take áָּòַì in the meaning, which it has everywhere else, namely=to possess, and indeed (predominantly) as spouse. But we cannot, with Hengstenberg, take the sentence and yet I, etc., as a promise (I will marry them), for that would be an anticipation of the turn of thought beginning with But, in Jer_31:33; we must rather, with Ewald, regard it as an antithetical statement of a fact: and yet I was (or: while I was their husband). Thus the emphasis rests on the idea of husband, and the sense is: it is not a covenant concluded inter pares, which each of the contracting parties may renounce, which they have broken, but a marriage alliance in which they represent the woman, who is never justified in desiring the dissolution of the matrimonial connection, or in effecting it. [“Probably the true rendering is, and therefore I rejected them (from bâal, to refuse, to loathe). See the Syriac, Pococke (Port. Mosis, pp. 5–10, Gesenius, 130, and Mr. Turpie’s valuable work, ‘The Old Testament in the New’, pp. 251, 252).” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.].
Jer_31:33-34. But this is … remember no more. ëִּé is “for,” but in the sense of “but,” because it corresponds to not, in Jer_31:32. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 110, 4.—Those days. It is not said these, for this would be the days of the present, while the word used refers to more distant days, to those namely, which will precede the turn to good, the ùׁåּë ùְׁëåּú (Jer_31:16 sqq.).—I will put, etc. The prophet evidently has in view the stone tables of the Law, on which the ten “words,” the kernel of the Torah, were written. This law of commandments (Eph_2:15; Col_2:14) externally imposed on men by a subordinate mediator (Gal_3:19), was ἀóèåíὴò êáὶ ἁíùöåëÞò (Heb_7:19), wherefore it is also said of it ïὐäὲí ἐôåëåßùóåí (Heb_7:19). It was only to render men conscious how far the human subject in and of himself was in a condition to satisfy the demands of a holy God, i. e the law was to produce conviction of sin (Rom_3:20). Only a heart in which the law has been livingly written and in which it dwells, i. e. only a human will, which has become one with the divine will, and thus free, can continue in covenant with God (Jer_32:40; Jer_24:7; Eze_11:19; 2Co_3:3). Only where this takes place is God truly the man’s God, and the people God’s people. To be God is to be the most exalted being, therefore the highest good, the source and end of life. Only where God is thus for man, is He truly his God. And a people only which stands in this relation to God, is truly God’s people (comp. Jer_7:23).—Hengstenberg is of opinion that between the old and new covenants there is only a quantitative not a qualitative difference. “Parallel to the passage under consideration is the promise of God of the pouring out of the Spirit, Joe_3:1-2 (Jer_2:28-29), so that what we remarked on that passage is applicable here also … As under the New Covenant generally in its relation to the Old there is nowhere an absolutely new beginning but always a completion only … so in reference to the communication of the Spirit, Joel puts only abundance in the place of scarcity, many in the place of few” [Christology, Eng. Tr. II., p. 439]. It is true no legal enactment of the Old Covenant is declared false in the New (Mat_5:17-19); it is true that men knew even under the Old Covenant that the law, in order to be fulfilled must not be merely externally before the eyes, or merely in the head, but that it must be in the heart (Deu_30:6; Psa_40:9; Pro_3:1-3). But this Old Testament having-in-the-heart, which is spoken of in the passages cited, is quite a different thing from that which Jeremiah means in this passage. There were many God-fearing Jews who had the law at heart, and in their heart, and who loved the Lord with all their strength, but was one of them justified by this observance of the law? We shall recur to this again directly.
Jer_31:34. No more teach, etc. Theodoret says, ôῶí äὲ ῥçôῶí ôïýôùí ôÝ ôÝëïò ὁ ìÝëëùí äὸîåôáé âßïò . We have however no intimation that the prophecy of Jer_31:34 will be fulfilled at another time than that which is spoken of before and afterwards. No passage can be shown in which the Old Testament prophets make predictions concerning the heavenly state. The prophet therefore sets before his hearers a period of terrestrial development in which the illumination of the Spirit (Joe_3:1-2; Joh_6:45) will lead each of himself to the essentially correct knowledge of God. Reciprocal furtherance is certainly not thus denied.—For all will, etc. In these words the prophet indicates the proper basis of the gifts of grace previously named. So also the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews understands the passage, quoting Jer_10:16 sqq. (in distinction from Jer_8:7 sqq.) so that after äéäïὺò íüìïíò ìïõ ἐðὶ êáñäßáò áὐôῶí êáὶ ἐðὶ ôὴí äéÜíïéáí áὐôῶí ἐðéãñÜøù áὐôïýò he directly adds the concluding words of Jer_31:34, êáὶ ôῶí ἁìáñôéῶí áὐôῶí êáὶ ἀíïìéῶí áὐô ͂ ῶí ïὐ ìὴ ìõçóèÞóïìáé ἔôé . Only where the real (not merely ideal and hypothetical) forgiveness of sins conditioned by the true atoning sacrifice is imparted (comp. Heb_10:1-4), can there be the communication of the spirit of adoption (Gal_3:2; Gal_3:6), and thus true knowledge, and the true walk according to God’s will. And herein also consists the most radical objective difference between the Old Covenant and the New, in the former all is shadow and type, the latter only has the essence of the good things itself (Heb_10:1). Not till the sacrifice was offered on the cross was the veil of the temple rent, and the way of access to God actually opened. Now even if Moses and Elias be pointed to (Mat_17:3), it is certain that no one received the knowledge of the “mystery of godliness” (1Ti_3:16) before the death and resurrection of our Lord. John was more than a prophet, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mat_11:9 sqq.) The for before I will forgive is therefore to be well observed. Here also we learn the meaning of ëָּøָúַּé áãéú . It is without doubt incorrect to take it in the sense of “constituere, to establish, make arrangements,” for everywhere else it signifies to conclude a covenant. But where God concludes a covenant it is always at the same time He who works the will and the execution, whence also in this passage gifts of God only are mentioned. At the same time we are neither justified nor in a condition to give a definite historical date for the conclusion of the New Covenant. If we should designate the day of the crucifixion as on the part of God the moment when He entered into the New Covenant relation, yet on the part, of mankind there would then be no corresponding date of acceptance. In the fact that the Covenant is in the most exalted sense granted, lies also the necessity of its acceptance. God does not give His Son for an uncertainty. The taking is included in the giving. In fact the measure of the covenant members becomes full by the successive accession of individual believers.
Jer_31:35-37. Thus saith … Jehovah. Not only by its inwardness, but, also, closely connected with this by its eternal duration, is the New Covenant distinguished from the Old. The Old was broken by Israel and the nation therefore rejected by Jehovah. This will no more take place under the New Covenant. This will be as it were a second ordinance of nature. It will be as immovable as the great laws of nature.—Who giveth the sun, etc. The prophet has Gen_1:14 in view. Comp. Psa_136:8. The expression and the laws, etc., seems to be a reminiscence of Job_38:33, which comes out more plainly in Jer_33:25.—Who exciteth the sea, etc., is taken from Isa_51:15. There the might of the Lord, as it has been displayed in the wonders of history and of nature in general, is set forth for the comfort of Israel. Here all the emphasis lies on the idea of the fixedness and stability of the ordinances of nature, which God has created. That God can excite the mighty ocean is rather a proof of His power than-an instance of the inviolate order of nature, and it is hence probable that the expression originated with Isaiah.
Jer_31:36. If these laws, etc. As certainly as the laws of nature are inviolable, so certainly shall Israel everlastingly continue as a nation before the Lord (Jer_33:20-26; Psa_89:37-38). The question is natural here: why then has Jehovah raised the eternal continuance of the people of Israel as it were to the rank of a law of nature? The answer is given in Jer_31:37, (which does not feebly hobble after, as Graf supposes), not however with a solution of the problem, but with the declaration that the ground of the historical fact is as secret as the heavens above us are immeasurable, and the earth beneath us in its profoundest depths is unsearchable. Comp. Jer_33:22; Jer_33:26.
Jer_31:38-40. Behold the days … forever.—Tower of Hananeel. This tower designates, as is acknowledged, the North-East corner of Jerusalem. It is also mentioned in Zec_14:10; Neh_3:1; Neh_12:39. The corner-gate (comp. 2Ki_14:13; 2Ch_26:9, and also ùַׂòַã äַôִּðִּéí Zec_14:10) designates the North-West corner. Vid. Raumer, Paläst. S. 290. By these two points then the northern limit of the city is defined. As the tower of Hananeel and the corner tower were part or the fortifications of the city, there seems to be no further extension on this side—Straight out, ððãå accus. of motion to the question whither? To its opposite, i. e., straight out. Comp. Amo_4:3; Jos_6:5; Jos_6:20.—Gareb occurs here only as the name of a place, as the name of a person in 2Sa_23:38; 1Ch_11:40. The meaning of the word must according to ðָøָë scabies, (Lev_21:20; Lev_22:22) be “scabby, leprous.” In accordance with the other localizations, this must mean, as Graf has shown, the South-West corner. What Goath ( ðòָä ) is, is quite uncertain. The word occurs were only. The Chald. has áְּøֵëַú òֶðְìָà (cowpond) the Syr. lormeto, i.e., rocky hill, by which it seems to have understood the projecting rock of the castle Antonia (Hitzig, Fuerst). Vitringa and Hengstenberg take it as = ðì ðåòúä , i. e., Golgotha. But both the etymology and topography are very uncertain. The valley of corpses and ashes is without doubt the vale of Hinnom in the South, for that was the place where all the refuse of the city ran or was carried. (Comp. Comm. on Jer_19:2). ôֶðֶø is the unburied cadaver of men and beasts (Jer_41:9; Gen_15:11), ãֶּùֶׁï is especially the ashes of burnt fat (Lev_1:16; Lev_4:1). It is better to regard it as the ashes of the offal, burned without the camp, than of the sacrifices burned on the altar (flesh, skin, dung, Lev_4:11-12; Lev_7:17; Lev_7:19; Lev_8:17; Lev_8:32; Lev_9:11; Lev_16:27; Lev_19:6) and clothing (Lev_13:52; Lev_13:55; Lev_13:57). The horse-gate was on the East of the city by the temple (Neh_3:18; Neh_12:39-40). So far as we can perceive in general from these local determinations, the subject is not primarily, as in Eze_48:15 sqq. an extension of the city. For the gain in space according to the boundaries mentioned is relatively insignificant. Only in the South-West, South, and at any rate in the South-East, are some small portions added to the city. The main point is that by this extension the places which were unholy will be rendered holy. They were the purlieus of the city. If even these places are added to the city, it shows that the city no longer needs such places. It is in itself so thoroughly holy to the Lord that it will have nothing unholy to cast out. Nothing unclean will enter (Rev_21:27), therefore nothing unclean will proceed from it. It will be thoroughly sanctified and enlightened, therefore safe from destruction to all eternity.
Footnotes:
Jer_31:32.—On the punctuation of äֶ ֽäֶæ÷åּ comp. Olshausen, § 192 f.
Jer_31:34.—On ìְîִï comp. rems. on Jer_7:7; Jer_7:25.
Jer_31:38.— áָàִéí , which is wanting in the Chethibh, but is supplied by the Keri, is nowhere else lacking in the formula, so frequent in Jeremiah. There is probably then a scriptural error.
Jer_31:39.—Instead of ÷ָåä the Masoretes would read ÷ָå (here as in 1Ki_7:23; Zec_1:16). Although ÷ָå is the usual form, the form ÷ָåֶä (comp. ùָׂãֶä ) is however not to be discredited.
Jer_31:40.—A word ùְׁøֵîָä does not occur, nor is a root ùָׁøַí to be found. We are therefore obliged to read with the Masoretes ùְׁãֵîåּú . (Comp. Isa_37:27; Isa_16:8; Hab_3:17; Deu_32:32; 2Ki_23:4).
2. On Jer_30:1-3. The people of Israel were not then capable of bearing such a prophecy, brimming over with happiness and glory. They would have misused it, hearing to the end what was promised them, and then only the more certainly postponing what was the only thing then necessary—sincere repentance. Hence they are not yet to hear this gloriously consolatory address. It is to be written, that it may in due time be perceived that the Lord, even at the time when He was obliged to threaten most severely, had thoughts of peace concerning the people, and that thus the period of prosperity has not come by chance, nor in consequence of a change of mind, but in consequence of a plan conceived from the beginning and executed accordingly.
3. On Jer_30:7. The great and terrible day of the Lord (Joe_3:4) has not the dimensions of a human day. It has long sent out its heralds in advance. Yea, it has itself already dawned. For since by the total destruction of the external theocracy judgment is begun at the house of God (1Pe_4:17), we stand in the midst of the day of God in the midst of the judgment of the world. Then the time of trouble for Jacob has begun (Jer_30:7), from which he is to be delivered, when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in (Romans 11.)
4. On Jer_30:9. Christ is David in his highest potency, and He is also still more. For if we represent all the typical points in David’s life as a circle, and draw a line from each of these points, the great circle thus formed would comprise only a part of the ðëÞñùìá given in Christ. Nevertheless Christ is the true David, who was not chosen like Saul for his bodily stature, but only for his inward relation to God (comp. Psa_2:7), whose kingdom also does not cease after a short period of glory, but endures forever; who will not like Saul succumb to his enemies, but will conquer them all, and will give to his kingdom the widest extent promised; all this however not without, like David, having gone through the bitterest trials.
5. On Jer_30:11. “Modus paternæ castigationis accommodatus et quasi appensus ad stateram judicii Dei adeoque non immensus sed dimensus.” “Christus ecclesiam crucis suæ hæredem constituit. Gregor. M.” Förster.
6. On Jer_30:14. “Cum virlutem patientiæ nostræ flagella transeunt, valde metuendum est, ne peccatis nostris exigentibus non jam quasi filii a patre, sed quasi hostes a Domino feriamur. Gregor. M. Moral. XIV. 20, on Job_19:11.” Ghisler.
7. On Jer_30:17. “Providentia Dei mortalibus salutifera, antequam percutiat, pharmaca medendi gratiâ componit, et gladium iræ suæ öéëáíèñùðßᾳ acuit. Evagr. Hist. Ecc_4:6.”—“Quando incidis in tentationem, crede, quod nisi cognovisset te posse illam evadere, non permisisset te in illam incidere. Theophyl. in cap. 18 Joh.” Förster.—“Feriam prius et sanabo melius. Theophyl. in Hosea 11.” Ghisler.
8. On Jer_30:21. “This church of God will own a, Prince from its midst—Jesus, of our flesh and blood through the virgin Mary, and He approaches God, as no other can, for He is God’s image, God’s Son, and at the same time the perfect, holy in all His sufferings, only obedient son of man. This king is mediator and reconciler with God; He is also high-priest and fulfilled all righteousness, as was necessary for our propitiation. What glory to have such a king, who brings us nigh unto God, and this is our glory!” Diedrich.
9. On Jer_31:1. “There is no greater promise than this: I will be thy God. For if He is our God we are His creatures, His redeemed, His sanctified, according to all the three articles of the Christian faith.” Cramer.
10. On Jer_31:2. “The rough heap had to be sifted by the sword, but those who survived, though afflicted in the desert of this life, found favor with God, and these, the true Israel, God leads into His rest.” Diedrich.
11. On Jer_31:3. “The love of God towards us comes from love and has no other cause above or beside itself, but, is in God and remains in God, so that Christ who is in God is its centre. For herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (1Jn_4:10).” Cramer. “Totum gratiæ imputatur, non nostris meritis. Augustine in Psalms 31.” Förster. “Before I had done anything good Thou hadst already moved towards me. Let these words be written on your hearts with the pen of the living God, that they may light you like flames of fire on the day of the marriage. It is your certificate of birth, your testimonial. Let me never lose sight of how much it has cost Thee to redeem me.” Zinzendorf. “God says: My chastisement even was pure love, though then you did not understand it; you shall learn it afterwards.” Diedrich. [“I incline to the construction given in the English version, both because the suffix to the verb is more naturally, ‘I have drawn thee,’ than ‘I have drawn out toward thee,’ and because there seems to be a tacit allusion to Hos_11:4, ‘With loving kindness have I drawn thee.’—-A great moral truth lies in this passage so construed, viz., that the main power which humbles man’s pride, softens his hard heart and makes him recoil in shame and sorrow from sinning, comes through his apprehension of God’s love as manifested in Christ and His cross. It is love that, draws the fearful or stubborn soul to the feet of divine mercy.” Cowles.—S. R. A.]
12. On Jer_31:6. “It is well: the watchmen on Mount Ephraim had to go to Zion. They received however another visit from the Jewish priests, which they could not have expected at the great reformation, introduced by John, and which had its seat among other places on Mount Ephraim. The Samaritans were not far distant, and Mount Ephraim had even this honor that when the Lord came to His temple He took His Seat as a teacher there.” Zinzendorf. [“God’s grace loves to triumph over the most inveterate prejudices… No words could represent a greater and more benign change in national feeling than these: Samaria saying through her spiritual watchmen, ‘Let us go up to Zion to worship, for our God is there.’ ” Cowles. “ ‘Ascendamus in Sion, hoc est in Ecclesiam’ says S. Jerome. According to this view, the watchmen here mentioned are the Preachers of the Gospel.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
13. On Jer_31:9. “I will lead them. It is an old sighing couplet, but full of wisdom and solid truth:—
‘Lord Jesus, while I live on earth, O guide me,
Let me not, self-led, wander from beside Thee.’ ”
—
Zinzendorf.
14. On Jer_31:10. “He who has scattered Israel will also collect it. Why? lie is the Shepherd. It is no wolf-scattering. He interposes His hand, then they go asunder, and directly come together again more orderly.” Zinzendorf.15. On Jer_31:12-14. “Gaudebunt electi, quando videbunt supra se, intra se, juxta se, infra se. Augustine.”—“Præmia cœlestia erunt tam magna, ut non possint mensurari, tam multa, ut non possint numerari, tam copiosa, ut non possint terminari, tam pretiosa, ut non possint æstimari. Bernhard.” Förster.
16. On Jer_31:15. “Because at all times there is a similar state of things in the church of God, the lament of Rachel is a common one. For as this lament is over the carrying away captive and oppressions of Babylon, so is it also a lament over the tyranny of Herod in slaughtering the innocent children (Mat_2:1-7.)”Cramer. “Premuntur justi in ecclesia ut clament, clamantes exaudiuntur, exauditi glorificent Deum. Augustin.” Förster.—With respect to this, that Rachel’s lament may be regarded as a type of maternal lamentation over lost children, Förster quotes this sentence of Cyprian: non amisimus, sed præmisimus (2Sa_12:23). [On the application of this verse to the murder of the innocents consult W. L. Alexander, Connexion of the Old and New. Testament, p. 54, and W. H. Mill in Wordsworth’s Note in loc.—S. R. A.]
17. On Jer_31:18. The conversion of man must always be a product of two factors. A conversion which man alone should bring about, without God, would be an empty pretence of conversion; a conversion, which God should produce, without man, would be a compulsory, manufactured affair, without any moral value. The merit and the praise is, however, always on God’s side. He gives the will and the execution. Did He not discipline us, we should never learn discipline. Did He not lead back our thoughts to our Father’s house which we have left (Luke 15) we should never think of returning.
18. On Jer_31:19. “The children of God are ashamed their life long, they cannot raise their heads for humiliation. For their sins always seem great to them, and the grace of God always remains something incomprehensible to them.”Zinzendorf. The farther the Christian advances in his consciousness of sonship and in sanctification, the more brilliantly rises the light of grace, the more distinctly does he perceive in this light, how black is the night of his sins from which God has delivered him. [“It is the ripest and fullest ears of grain which hang their heads the lowest.”—S. R. A.]
19. On Jer_31:19. “The use of the dear cross is to make us blush (Dan_9:8) and not regard ourselves as innocent (Jer_30:11). And as it pleases a father when a child soon blushes, so also is this tincture a flower of virtue well-pleasing to God.” Cramer. “Deus oleum miserationis suæ non nisi in vas contritum et contribulatum infundit. Bernhard.”Förster.
20. On Jer_31:19. The reproach of my youth. “The sins of youth are not easily to be forgotten (Psa_25:7; Job_31:18). Therefore we ought to be careful so to act in our youth as not to have to chew the cud of bitter reflection in our old age. It is a comfort that past sins of youth will not injure the truly penitent. Non nocent peccata præterita, cum non placent præsentia. Augustine. To transgress no more is the best sign of repentance.” Cramer.
21. On Jer_31:20. “Comforting and weighty words, which each one should lay to heart. God loves and caresses us as a mother her good child. He remembers His promise. His heart yearns and breaks, and it is His pleasure to do us good.” Cramer. “lpsius proprium est, misereri semper et parcere.” Augustine.—“Major est Dei misericordia quam omnium hominum miseria.” Idem.
22. On Jer_31:23. The Lord bless thee, thou dwelling-place of righteousness, thou holy mountain. “Certainly no greater honor was ever done to the Jewish mountains than that the woman’s seed prayed and wept on them, was transfigured, killed and ascended above all heaven.” Zinzendorf. “ It cannot be denied that a church sanctifies a whole place …. Members of Jesus are real guardian angels, who do not exist in the imagination, but are founded on God’s promise (Mat_25:40).” Idem.
23. On Jer_31:29-30. “The so-called family curse has no influence on the servants of God; one may sleep calmly nevertheless. This does not mean that we should continue in the track of our predecessors, ex. gr., when our ancestors have gained much wealth by sinful trade, that we should continue this trade with this wealth with the hope of the divine blessing…. If this or that property, house, right, condition be afflicted with a curse, the children of God may soon by prudent separation deliver themselves from these unsafe circumstances. For nothing attaches to their persons, when they have been baptized with the blood of Jesus and are blessed by Him.” Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer_31:29-30. “In testamento novo per sarguinem mediatoris deleto paterno chirographo incipit homo paternis debitis non esse obnoxius renascendo, quibus nascendo fuerat obligatus, ipso Mediatore di cente: Ne vobis patrem dicüis in terra (Mat_23:9). Secundum hoc utique, quod alios natales, quibus non patri succederemus, sed cum patre semper viveremus, invenimus.” Augustine, contra Julian, VI. 12, in Ghisler.
25. On Jer_31:31. “In veteribus libris aut nusquam aut difficile præter hunc propheticum locum legitur facta commemoratio testamenti novi, ut omnino ipso nomine appellaretur. Nam multis locis hoc significalur et prænuntiatur futurum, sed non ita ut etiam nomen lega’ ur expressum.” Augustine, de Spir. et Lit. ad Marcellin, Cap. 19 (where to Cap. 29 there is a detailed discussion of this passage) in Ghisler.—“In the whole of the Old Testament there is no passage, in which the view is so clearly and distinctly expressed as here that the law is only ðáéäáãáãüò . And though some commentators have supposed that the passage contains only a censure of the Israelites and not of the Old Covenant, they only show thus that they have not understood the simple meaning of the words.” Ebrard. Comm. zum Hebräerbr. S. 275.
26. On Jer_31:31, sqq. “Propter veteris hominis noxam, quæ per literam jubentem et minantem minime sanabatur, dicitur illud testamentum vetus; hoc antem novum propter novitatem spiritus, quæ hominem novum sanat a vitio vetustatis.” Augustine, c. Lit. Cap. 19.
27. On Jer_31:33. “Quid sunt ergo leges Dei ab ipso Deo scriptæ in cordibus, nisi ipsa præsentia Spiritus sancti, qui est digitus Dei, quo præsente diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostrio, quæ plenitudo legis est et præcepti finis?” Augustine, l. c. Cap. 20.
28. On Jer_31:34. “Quomodo tempus est novi testamenti, de quo propheta dixit: et non docebit unusquisque civem suum, etc. nisi quia rjusdem testamenti novi æternam mercedem, id est ipsius Dei beatissimam contemplationem promittendo conjunxit?” Augustine, l. c. Cap. 24.
29. On Jer_31:33-34. “This is the blessed difference between law and Gospel, between form and substance. Therefore are the great and small alike, and the youths like the elders, the pupils more learned than their teachers, and the young wiser than the ancients (1Jn_2:20 sqq.). Here is the cause:—For I will forgive their iniquities. This is the occasion of the above; no one can effect this without it. Forgiveness of sins makes the scales fall from people’s eyes, and gives them a cheerful temper, clear conceptions, a clear head.”Zinzendorf.
30. On Jer_31:35-37. “Etsi particulares ecclesiæ intotum deficere possunt, ecclesia tamen catholica nunquam defecit aut deficiet. Obstant enim Dei amplissimæ promissiones, inter quas non ultimum locum sibi vindicut quæ hic habetur Jer_31:37.” Förster.
31. On Jer_31:38-40. “Jerusalem will one day be much greater than it has ever been. This is not to be understood literally but spiritually. Jerusalem will be wherever there are believing souls, its circle will be without end and comprise all that has been hitherto impure and lost. This it is of which the prophet is teaching, and which he presents in figures, which were intelligible to the people in his time. The hill Gareb, probably the residence of the lepers, the emblem of the sinner unmasked and smitten by God, and the cursed valley of Ben-Hinnom will be taken up into the holy city. God’s grace will one day effect all this, and Israel will thus be manifested as much more glorious than ever before.” Diedrich.
2. On Jer_30:10-12. Consolation of the church in great trial. 1. It has well deserved the trial (Jer_30:12); 2. it is therefore chastised, but with moderation; 3. it will not perish but again enjoy peace.
3. On Jer_30:17. [“The Restorer of mankind. 1. Faith in the Christian Sacrament and its attendant revelation of divine character alone answer the demand of the heart and reason of man for a higher state of moral perfection. 2. Christianity offers to maintain a communication between this world and that eternal world of holiness and truth. 3. It commends itself to our wants in the confirmation and direction of that principle of hope, which even in our daily and worldly life, we are perpetually forced to substitute for happiness, and 4. By the adorable object, which it presents to our affections.” Archer Butler—S. R. A.]
4. On Jer_31:1-2. Gesetz and Zeugniss (Law and Testimony) 1864, Heft. 1. Funeral sermon of Ahlfeld.
5. On Jer_31:2-4. lb. 1865. Heft 1. Funeral sermon of Besser, S. 32 ff.
6. On Jer_31:3. C. Fr. Hartmann (Wedding, School, Catechism and Birth-day sermons, ed. C. Chr. Eberh. Ehemann. Tüb. 1865). Wedding sermon. 1. A grateful revival in the love of God already received. 2. Earnest endeavor after a daily enjoyment of this love. 3. Daily nourishment of hope.
7. On Jer_31:3. Florey. Comfort and warning at graves. I. Bändchen, S. 253. On the attractions of God’s love towards His own children. They are, 1. innumerable and yet so frequently overlooked; 2. powerful and yet so frequently resisted; 3. rich in blessing and yet so frequently; unemployed. [For practical remarks on this text see also Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, No. 11.—S. R. A.]
8. On Jer_31:9. Confessional sermon by Dekan V. Biarowsky in Erlangen (in Palmer’s Evang. Casual-Reden, 2 te Folge, 1 Band. Stuttgart, 1850.) Every partaking of the Lord’s supper is a return to the Lord in the promised land, and every one who is a guest at the supper rises and comes. 1. How are we to come? (weeping and praying). 2. What shall we find? (Salvation and blessing, power and life, grace and help).
9. On Jer_31:18-20. Comparison of conversion with the course of the earth and the sun. 1. The man who has fallen away is like the planet in its distance from the sun; he flees from God as far as he Song of Solomon 2. Love however does not release him: a. he is chastened (winter, cold, long nights, short days); b. he accepts the chastening and returns to proximity to the sun (summer, warmth, light, life). Comp. Brandt, Altes und Neues in i extemporirbaren Entwürfen. Nüremberg, 1829, II. 5. [The stubborn sinner submitting himself to God. I. A description of the feelings and conduct of an obstinate, impenitent sinner, while smarting under the rod of affliction: He is rebellious—till subdued. II. The new views and feelings produced by affliction through divine grace: (a) convinced of guilt and sinfulness; (b) praying; (c) reflecting on the effects of divine grace in his conversion. III. A correcting but compassionate God, watching the result, etc., (a) as a tender father mindful of his penitent child; (b) listening to his complaints, confessions and petitions; (c) declaring His determination to pardon. Payson.—S. R. A.]
10. On Jer_31:31-34. Sermon on 1 Sunday in Advent by Pastor Diechert in Gröningen, S. Stern aus Jakob. I. Stuttg. 1867.
11. On Jer_31:33-34. Do we belong to the people of God? 1. Have we holiness? 2. Have we knowledge? 3. Have we the peace promised to this people? (Caspari in Predigtbuch von Dittmar, Erlangen, 1845).
12. On Jer_31:33-34. By the new covenant in the bath of holy baptism all becomes new. 1. What was dead becomes alive 2. What was obscure becomes clear. 3. What was cold becomes warm. 4. What was bound becomes free (Florey, 1862).