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Jeremiah 30

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Command to Write the Book of Consolation 1–4

1
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
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Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. ​
3
For, lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. ​
4
And these are the words that Jehovah spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

The Time of Jacob's Trouble 5–7

5
For thus saith Jehovah: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? ​
7
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. ​

Promise of Deliverance and the Davidic King 8–11

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And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman; ​
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but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. ​
10
Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
11
For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished. ​

The Incurable Wound and Divine Healing 12–17

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For thus saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous. ​
13
There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. ​
15
Why criest thou for thy hurt? thy pain is incurable: for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
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Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that despoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. ​
17
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; because they have called thee an outcast, saying, It is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. ​

Restoration of the Land and People 18–22

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Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner. ​
19
And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
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Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all that oppress them.
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And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith Jehovah. ​
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And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. ​

Final Judgment on the Wicked 23–24

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Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even hiswrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. ​
24
The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 30

Verse 2

Write thee all the words… in a book — The command is given as the LORD gave it before: 'Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee' (36:2). After Jehoiakim burned that roll, Jeremiah dictated another to Baruch (36:32). Isa 30:8 has the same purpose: 'note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever'.

Verse 3

Israel and Judah — Both names stand in the promise: the northern kingdom and Judah, whose 'captivity' the LORD returns (33:7), and with whom the new covenant is made, 'with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah' (31:31). 'Possess it' is the language of Deut 30:5: 'the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it'.

Verse 6

a man doth travail with child — The question has an obvious answer, yet 'every man' is seen 'with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail'. The image is used of Judah's fear (6:24) and of Babylon's king (50:43). 'Paleness' is yeraqon, the yellow-green of mildew, a word found elsewhere in blasting and mildew (Deut 28:22; Amos 4:9).

Verse 7

the time of Jacob's trouble — Tsarah, distress, the word Jacob himself used of the day God 'answered me in the day of my distress' (Gen 35:3). Dan 12:1 speaks of 'a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation', with deliverance for those 'found written in the book'; Matt 24:21 speaks of 'great tribulation'. Here the promise is plain: 'he shall be saved out of it'.

Verse 8

I will break his yoke — 'Bonds' is moserot, the word for the bonds Jeremiah wore in 27:2, and the 'yoke of iron' of 28:13–14 is the one broken. 'Serve themselves of him' is the phrase of 27:7, where nations served themselves of Babylon's king; here strangers shall no more serve themselves of Jacob. Nah 1:13 has the same promise: 'will I break his yoke from off thee'.

Verse 9

David their king — 'Raise up' is qum, the verb of 23:5, 'I will raise unto David a righteous Branch'. Hos 3:5 says 'shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king', and Ezek 37:24, 'David my servant shall be king over them'. Peter says David knew that God would 'raise up Christ to sit on his throne' (Acts 2:30).

Verse 11

correct thee in measure — The word is mishpat, judgment, as in Jeremiah's prayer: 'O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger' (10:24). 'Altogether unpunished' is naqah, to clear as innocent, the verb of Exod 34:7, 'that will by no means clear the guilty'. The promise of no 'full end' is repeated in 46:28.

Verse 12

Thy bruise is incurable — Shever, a breaking, with anush, incurable; Jeremiah said it of his own wound (15:18). The pairing 'thy bruise… thy wound is grievous' (shever, chalah) is spoken of Nineveh in Nah 3:19, and Isa 1:5–6 describes the same state: 'the whole head is sick… wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores'. The healing is given in v.17.

Verse 14

All thy lovers have forgotten thee — 'Lovers' are the nations Judah courted: 'thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria' (2:36); Lam 1:2 records that 'among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her'. The wound itself is the LORD's, 'the wound of an enemy', given 'for the multitude of thine iniquity' (repeated in v.15).

Verse 16

all they that devour thee shall be devoured — Each clause gives the act back to the doer, three times: devour and be devoured, spoil and be a spoil, prey and be given for a prey. Isa 33:1 says it of the destroyer: 'when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled'. The 'adversaries' who 'go into captivity' answer the captivity of v.3.

Verse 17

I will restore health unto thee — Arukah, new growth of flesh over a wound, the word of 8:22, 'why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?', and of 33:6, 'I will bring it health and cure'. 'Outcast' is nadach, 'driven', the verb of 23:3, 'whither I have driven them'. The LORD is the one 'that healeth thee' (Exod 15:26).

Verse 18

builded upon her own heap — Tel, a mound of ruins. Deut 13:16 says of a condemned city, 'it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again', and 49:2 of Rabbah that it 'shall be a desolate heap'. Here the city rises on its own heap, and the LORD will 'have mercy on his dwellingplaces'.

Verse 21

engaged his heart — Arab, to pledge, the verb of standing surety: 'I will be surety for him' (Gen 43:9), 'Be surety for thy servant for good' (Ps 119:122). The ruler is 'of themselves', from the midst of them, and the LORD brings him near. Ezek 34:24 gives the same figure: 'my servant David a prince among them'.

Verse 22

ye shall be my people, and I will be your God — The words first spoken at the exodus: 'I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God' (Exod 6:7). They return in the new covenant (31:33; 32:38), and Rev 21:3 closes with them: 'they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God'.

Verse 23

the whirlwind of the LORD — The verse repeats 23:19, spoken there against the false prophets, with 'continuing' for 'grievous'. Sa'arah, whirlwind, is the storm in which 'the LORD hath his way' (Nah 1:3). It falls 'upon the head of the wicked', and stands here between the promise of v.22 and the closing line of v.24.

Verse 24

in the latter days ye shall consider it — The words repeat 23:20, which ends 'ye shall consider it perfectly'. Acharit hayamim, the latter days, is the phrase of Jacob's blessing (Gen 49:1), 'in the last days', and of Moses' word that 'in the latter days' Israel would turn to the LORD (Deut 4:30). Hos 3:5 uses it of Israel seeking 'David their king'.