Discovery BoxJeremiah 3:18 
Context3:18 At that time 1 the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. 2 Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” 3
Jeremiah 30:3
Context30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm 4 that the time will come when I will reverse the plight 5 of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors 6 and they will take possession of it once again.’” 7
Jeremiah 31:27
Context31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” 8 says the Lord, 9 “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. 10
1 tn Heb “In those days.”
2 tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”
3 tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”
4 tn Heb “Oracle of the
5 tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.
6 tn Heb “fathers.”
7 sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.
8 tn Heb “Behold days are coming!” The particle “Behold” is probably used here to emphasize the reality of a fact. See the translator’s note on 1:6.
sn This same expression is found in the introduction to the Book of Consolation (Jer 30:1-3) and in the introduction to the promise of a new covenant (or covenant; 31:31). In all three passages it is emphasized that the conditions apply to both Israel and Judah. The
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming and [= when] I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and of animals.” For the significance of the metaphor see the study note.
sn The metaphor used here presupposes that drawn in Hos 2:23 (2:25 HT) which is in turn based on the wordplay with Jezreel (meaning “God sows”) in Hos 2:22. The figure is that of plant seed in the ground which produces a crop; here what are sown are the “seeds of people and animals.” For a similar picture of the repopulating of Israel and Judah see Ezek 36:10-11. The promise here reverses the scene of devastation that Jeremiah had depicted apocalyptically and hyperbolically in Jer 4:23-29 as judgment for Judah’s sins.
