23:5 “I, the Lord, promise 1 that a new time will certainly come 2
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, 3 a descendant of David.
He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding 4
and will do what is just and right in the land. 5
23:7 “So I, the Lord, say: 6 ‘A new time will certainly come. 7 People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.”
1 tn Heb “Oracle of the
2 tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”
3 tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).
sn This passage and the parallel in Jer 33:15 are part of a growing number of prayers and prophecies regarding an ideal ruler to come forth from the Davidic line who will bring the justice, security, and well-being that the continuing line of Davidic rulers did not. Though there were periodic kings like Josiah who did fulfill the ideals set forth in Jer 22:3 (see Jer 22:15), by and large they were more like Jehoiakim who did not (see Jer 22:13). Hence the
4 tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).
5 sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).
6 tn Heb “Oracle of the
7 tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”