Jeremiah 31:31-32

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, 1  “when I will make a new covenant 2  with the people of Israel and Judah. 3  31:32 It will not be like the old 4  covenant that I made with their ancestors 5  when I delivered them 6  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” 7  says the Lord. 8 

1 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

2 tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

3 tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

4 tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

5 tn Heb “fathers.”

sn This refers to the Mosaic covenant which the nation entered into with God at Sinai and renewed on the plains of Moab. The primary biblical passages explicating this covenant are Exod 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy; see as well the study note on Jer 11:2 for the form this covenant took and its relation to the warnings of the prophets. The renewed document of Deuteronomy was written down and provisions made for periodic public reading and renewal of commitment to it (Deut 31:9-13). Josiah had done this after the discovery of the book of the law (which was either Deuteronomy or a synopsis of it) early in the ministry of Jeremiah (2 Kgs 23:1-4; the date would be near 622 b.c. shortly after Jeremiah began prophesying in 627 [see the note on Jer 1:2]). But it is apparent from Jeremiah’s confrontation with Judah after that time that the commitment of the people was only superficial (cf. Jer 3:10). The prior history of the nations of Israel and Judah and Judah’s current practice had been one of persistent violation of this covenant despite repeated warnings of the prophets that God would punish them for that (see especially Jer 7, 11). Because of that, Israel had been exiled (cf., e.g., Jer 3:8), and now Judah was threatened with the same (cf., e.g., Jer 7:15). Jer 30–31 look forward to a time when both Israel and Judah will be regathered, reunited, and under a new covenant which includes the same stipulations but with a different relationship (v. 32).

6 tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

7 tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

sn The metaphor of Yahweh as husband and Israel as wife has been used already in Jer 3 and is implicit in the repeated allusions to idolatry as spiritual adultery or prostitution. The best commentary on the faithfulness of God to his “husband-like” relation is seen in the book of Hosea, especially in Hos 1-3.

8 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”