English · KJV

Jeremiah 30:24

“Final Judgment on the Wicked”Jeremiah 30:23–24

King James Version
The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
The fierce H2740 anger H639 of the LORD H3068 shall not return H7725, until he have done H6213 it, and until he have performed H6965 the intents H4209 of his heart H3820: in the latter H319 days H3117 ye shall consider H995 it.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
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

World English Bible Messianic
The fierce anger of the LORD will not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
The fierce wrath of the Lord shall not returne, vntill he haue done, and vntill he haue performed the intents of his heart: in the latter dayes ye shall vnderstand it.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
The fierceness of the anger of Jehovah Doth not turn back till His doing, Yea, till His establishing the devices of His heart, In the latter end of the days we consider it!

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
15 Hebrew words
  1. לֹאlo'notH3808NegParticle Negative
  2. יָשׁוּבya·Shuvit will turn backH7725V-Qal-Imperf-3msVerb Qal Imperfect 3rd Singular Masculine
  3. חֲרוֹןcha·rOn[the] burning ofH2740N-mscNoun Singular Masculine Construct
  4. אַף'af[the] anger ofH639N-mscNoun Singular Masculine Construct
  5. יְהוָהYah·wehYahwehH3068N-properNoun Proper Title
  6. עַד'aduntilH5704PrepPreposition
  7. עֲשֹׂתוֹa·so·Tohe has brought aboutH6213V-Qal-Inf ¦ 3msVerb Qal Infinitive Constructעֲשֹׂתhas brought aboutוֹhe
  8. וְעַדve·'adand untilH5704Conj-w ¦ PrepPrepositionוְandעַדuntil
  9. הֲקִימוֹha·ki·Mohe has carried outH6965V-Hiphil-Inf ¦ 3msVerb Hiphil Infinitive Constructהֲקִימhas carried outוֹhe
  10. מְזִמּוֹתme·zi·Mot[the] purposes ofH4209N-fpcNoun Plural Feminine Construct
  11. לִבּוֹli·Bohis heartH3820N-msc ¦ 3msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixלִבּheartוֹhis
  12. בְּאַחֲרִיתbe·'a·cha·Ritat [the] end ofH319Prep-b ¦ N-fscNoun Singular Feminine Constructבְּatאַחֲרִית[the] end of
  13. הַיָּמִיםhai·ya·Mimthe daysH3117Art ¦ N-mpNoun Plural Masculine Absoluteהַtheיָּמִיםdays
  14. תִּתְבּוֹנְנוּtit·Bo·nuyou will understandH995V-Hithpael-Imperf-2mpVerb Hithpael Imperfect 2nd Plural Masculine
  15. בָהּVah[in] [the] itPrep-b ¦ 3fsSuffix Personal 3rd Singular Feminineבָ[in] [the]הּit
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

Translation
Details
In the KJVVerse 19,692 of 31,102 · 63.3%

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This verse

The LORD’s fierce anger keeps its course until he has done all that his heart intends, and in the latter days his people will understand it.

“The fierce anger of the LORD”

Chârôwn ʼaph, a burning anger, kindled like a fire. This is the same holy heat as the “fury” of verse 23.

“shall not return,”

Said with the firmness of an oath. Once his anger goes out, it does not turn back halfway.

“until he have done it,”

The “it” is the whole of his work of discipline and redemption.

“and until he have performed the intents of his heart:”

His mᵉzimmâh, deliberate plans, formed in his heart, lêb. His anger serves those plans and ends when they are carried out.

“in the latter days”

ʼAchărîyth with yôwm, the future time when God’s plan reaches its goal. The New Testament places the last days from Christ’s first coming to his return.

“ye shall consider it.”

Bîyn, to understand or discern. God’s people will see the wisdom and faithfulness of what he has done.

Passage studyJeremiah 30:23–24

The Whirlwind of the LORD’s Fury

23Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. 24The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Summary

The LORD’s judgment goes out like a whirlwind, sent in fury, a storm that keeps on raging until it falls with anguish on the head of the wicked. His fierce anger holds its course until he has done all that he intends, and then comes a word to his people: “in the latter days ye shall consider it.” These two verses stand among Jeremiah’s chapters of comfort, and they teach that God’s justice and his promise to restore his people belong together, that he deals with sin before he brings his peace, and that whatever he purposes, he finishes. In Christ we see both where that storm fell for those who trust him and who will bring it to its end.

The whirlwind of the LORD

“Behold” (hinnēh) calls us to look up at once, because something is coming. What comes is a whirlwind, çaʻar, a word for a hurricane, storm or tempest. In Scripture a storm of this kind often pictures the overwhelming power of God’s judgment, or his presence coming down in strength. Israel had seen him come that way at Sinai, amid thunder and lightning on the mountain (Exodus 19:16), and Nahum uses the same picture of the LORD’s power in judgment (Nahum 1:3).

This storm is “the whirlwind of the LORD”. It carries his covenant name, Yᵉhôvâh, so it is his own deliberate act of judgment, sent from the holy God himself. It “goeth forth”, yatsa, the verb for going out, and here it is sent out with a purpose. It goes “with fury”, chêmâh. That word means heat, rage, and in some places poison, and it comes from a root meaning to be hot. Said of the LORD, it is the burning anger of a holy God against sin.

“Whirlwind” stands twice in this verse. The second time it is “a continuing whirlwind”, and the Hebrew behind “continuing” comes from the root gârar, which means to drag off roughly, and here describes a sweeping storm. This storm keeps raging until it has done what it was sent to do. The repetition presses home how fierce and relentless it is.

Where the storm falls

“It shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.” The verb is chûwl, a word for writhing and trembling in anguish, and the same verb is used of bringing forth in birth. So the pain here is the kind that grips the whole person, like the pangs of a woman in labour. It falls “upon the head”, rôʼsh, which pictures the blow landing directly on them, the head standing for the whole person. Those it strikes are “the wicked”, râshâʻ, people who are in the wrong before God and stand against him. God’s judgment is aimed. It falls on the wicked and on them alone, and Scripture draws that line between the righteous and the wicked from its first psalm: “For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6).

Does God’s judgment always come as a literal storm?

The whirlwind in this verse is a picture of the overwhelming force of God’s wrath, and that wrath can come in many forms: political upheaval, defeat in war, personal suffering, and, for those who remain unrepentant, final separation from God. God has also used real storms and waters as his instruments, as in the flood of Genesis 6. Whatever form the judgment takes, it comes from him, it is certain, and it is severe.

Who are the wicked?

Jeremiah spoke in the years leading up to the Babylonian exile, when Judah had turned again and again to idols, oppressed the weak and broken faith with God, in spite of his warnings. The wicked in this verse take in both the ungodly within Judah, who rejected Jeremiah’s message and held on to their idols and their sin, and the nations, such as Babylon, that crushed God’s people and defied his law. What marks the wicked is their rejection of God’s ways, their pursuit of their own interest, the evil they do and their unrepentant hearts. Nationality and rank give no shelter, because the storm is aimed at rebellion wherever it is found.

A storm among the promises of comfort

These verses sit inside the Book of Consolation, Jeremiah 30–33, the chapters best known for God’s promises to bring Israel and Judah home and to make a new covenant with them (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Here, in the middle of that hope, comes a storm of judgment. Its place is deliberate. God’s justice comes before the full peace he has promised, and the wicked, both among his people and among the nations that oppressed them, must answer to him before the righteous enjoy that peace. Sin has to be dealt with for the restoration to be real, and so, all through the prophets, judgment and salvation come together.

His anger holds its course until his purpose is done

“The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart.” In Hebrew, “fierce anger” is chârôwn ʼaph. Chârôwn is a burning of anger, anger kindled like a fire, from a root meaning to be hot, and it often stands beside ʼaph, the ordinary word for anger, which also means the nose. The same picture of heat runs through both verses.

“Shall not return” is spoken like an oath. Once God’s anger has gone out, it goes on until its work is complete, and “until” stands twice in this verse to mark where it stops: when he has done it, and when he has performed the intents of his heart. The “it” is the whole of his work of discipline and redemption.

The word for “intents” is mᵉzimmâh, a plan or device. Said of men it can mean an evil scheme, but here it belongs to God’s heart, lêb, the inner being where will and understanding live, and so it means his deliberate, well-considered purposes. Scripture speaks of God’s anger and his heart in human terms so that we can grasp how personally he is involved and how firmly he wills what he plans. His anger serves those plans, and it ends when they are done. Isaiah hears him say that his counsel shall stand (Isaiah 46:10) and that his word will accomplish what he sends it to do (Isaiah 55:11). Proverbs sets the many plans of man beside the counsel of the LORD, which stands (Proverbs 19:21).

In Jeremiah’s day this anger was the just answer to Judah’s rebellion, the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 coming true. Scripture calls God a righteous judge who stands ready against the wicked (Psalm 7:11–13), and Paul writes of the day of God’s righteous judgment, when he will render to every man according to his deeds (Romans 2:5–6).

How can a God of love be so angry?

God is perfectly loving and perfectly just, and his fury is the holy anger of that love and justice against sin, which offends his character and wrecks the world he made. His love moves him to offer mercy and salvation (John 3:16), and his justice requires that sin be punished. Love that shrugged at evil would be mere sentiment, and his holiness would be compromised. So his wrath belongs to who God is. It makes sure that evil is answered and that his moral order stands, and it serves his righteousness and the good of what he has made. God is patient and longs for people to repent, and his patience also has a limit.

“In the latter days ye shall consider it”

The verse ends with a promise to God’s people. The word for “latter”, ʼachărîyth, means the last or the end, and by extension the future or what comes after. Joined with the word for days, yôwm, it makes the phrase acharit hayyamim, “the latter days”, which the prophets often use for the future time when God’s plan for history reaches its goal.

“Consider” is bîyn, to understand or discern. What looks harsh or hard to grasp while the storm is blowing will be understood then. God’s people will see the wisdom and faithfulness behind his judgments and the glory of the restoration they served. Daniel too speaks of understanding that comes in the time of the end (Daniel 12:4).

The New Testament says that the last days began with Christ’s first coming. God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2), and at Pentecost Peter speaks of what God promised “in the last days” (Acts 2:17). Through the Holy Spirit who lives in them, believers already understand much of God’s plan and see how his purposes come together in Christ. The full understanding will come when Christ returns and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11), and God’s justice and grace stand plain to all.

The whirlwind and the cross

The storm of these verses points to the eternal judgment that awaits all people, and to the place where God’s wrath against sin was poured out in full. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). On the cross he bore the judgment due to sinners, becoming a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). God set him forth as the propitiation for our sins (Romans 3:25), and so all who believe are “saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). For those who are in Christ, the whirlwind has already fallen on their perfect substitute, who took the pain and the fury that were due to the wicked.

The intents of God’s heart, his plan to redeem and reconcile his people under a new covenant, were carried out through Christ’s obedient life, his atoning death and his resurrection. For those who reject him and remain in their sin, Jeremiah’s words still stand as a warning of the day when Christ returns as the righteous judge to bring final judgment on all wickedness (Revelation 19:11–16). He is the one who bore the whirlwind, and he is the one who will bring it to its end in perfect justice.

A God who finishes what he purposes

These verses show us a God who sees every wrong and will answer it. For those who suffer injustice, that is comfort: no evil goes unanswered, and the storm will find the wicked. The same truth is a sober word to anyone, believer or not, who is drifting toward the way of the wicked, and it calls us to turn from sin while God’s patience waits.

They also show that God’s anger and his mercy serve one plan. The storm in verse 23 sits among promises of a homecoming and a new covenant, and the anger of verse 24 runs only until the intents of his heart are performed. When his ways are hard to understand, we have his word that his people will understand them in the latter days. And because the whirlwind fell on Christ, those who trust him can read these verses with reverent fear and with peace, knowing that what God has purposed for them he will finish.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Jeremiah 30:18–24. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 7 verses
Passage under commentJeremiah 30:18–24
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

We have here further intimations of the favour God had in reserve for them after the days of their calamity were over. It is promised,

I.That the city and temple should be rebuilt, Jeremiah 30:18.

Jacob's tents, and his dwelling places, felt the effects of the captivity, for they lay in ruins when the inhabitants were carried away captives; but, when they have returned, the habitations shall be repaired, and raised up out of their ruins, and therein God will have mercy upon their dwelling places, that had been monuments of his justice. Then the city of Jerusalem shall be built upon her own heap, her own hill, though now it be no better than a ruinous heap. The situation was unexceptionable, and therefore it shall be rebuilt upon the same spot of ground. He that can make of a city a heap (Isaiah 25:2) can when he pleases make of a heap a city again. The palace (the temple, God's palace) shall remain after the manner thereof; it shall be built after the old model; and the service of God shall be constantly kept up there and attended as formerly.

II.That the sacred feasts should again be solemnized (Jeremiah 30:19):

Out of the city, and the temple, and all the dwelling-places of Jacob, shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those that make merry. They shall go with expressions of joy to the temple service, and with the like shall return from it. Observe, The voice of thanksgiving is the same with the voice of those that make merry; for whatever is the matter of our joy should be the matter of our praise. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. What makes us cheerful should make us thankful. Serve the Lord with gladness.

III.That the people should be multiplied, and increased, and made considerable:

They shall not be few, they shall not be small, but shall become numerous and illustrious, and make a figure among the nations; for I will multiply them and I will glorify them. It is for the honour of the church to have many added to it that shall be saved. This would make them be of some weight among their neighbours. Let a people be ever so much diminished and despised, God can multiply and glorify them. They shall be restored to their former honour: Their children shall be as aforetime, playing in the streets (Zechariah 8:5); they shall inherit their parents' estates and honours as formerly; and their congregation shall, both in civil and sacred things, be established before me. There shall be a constant succession of faithful magistrates in the congregation of the elders, to establish that, and of faithful worshippers in the congregation of the saints. As one generation passes away another shall be raised up, and so the congregation shall be established before God.

IV.That they shall be blessed with a good government (Jeremiah 30:21):

Their nobles and judges shall be of themselves, of their own nation, and they shall no longer be ruled by strangers and enemies; their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, shall be one that has been a sharer with them in the afflictions of their captive state; and this has reference to Christ our governor, David our King (Jeremiah 30:9); he is of ourselves, in all things made like unto his brethren. And I will cause him to draw near; this may be understood either,

1.Of the people, Jacob and Israel: "I will cause them to draw near to me in the temple service, as formerly, to come in to covenant with me, as my people (Jeremiah 30:22), to approach to me in communion; for who hath engaged his heart, made a covenant with it, and brought it into bonds, to approach unto me?" How few are there that do so! None can do it but by the special grace of God causing them to draw near. Note, Whenever we approach to God in any holy ordinance we must engage our hearts to do it; the heart must be prepared for the duty, employed in it, and kept closely to it. The heart is the main thing that God looks at and requires; but it is deceitful, and will start aside of a great deal of care and pains be not taken to engage it, to bind this sacrifice with cords. Or,

2.It may be understood of the governor; for it is a single person that is spoken of: Their governor shall be duly called to his office, shall draw near to God to consult him upon all occasions. God will cause him to approach to him, for, otherwise, who would engage to take care of so weak a people, and let this ruin come under their hand? But when God has work to do, though attended with many discouragements, he will raise up instruments to do it. But it looks further, to Christ, to him as Mediator. Note,

(1.)The proper work and office of Christ, as Mediator, is to draw near and approach unto God, not for himself only, but for us, and in our name and stead, as the high priest of our profession. The priests are said to draw nigh to God, Leviticus 10:3; Leviticus 21:17. Moses drew near, Exodus 20:21.

(2.)God the Father did cause Jesus Christ thus to draw near and approach to him as Mediator. He commanded and appointed him to do it; he sanctified and sealed him, anointed him for this purpose, accepted him, and declared himself well pleased in him.

(3.)Jesus Christ, being caused by the Father to approach unto him as Mediator, did engage his heart to do it, that is, he bound and obliged himself to it, undertook for his heart (so some read it), for his soul, that, in the fullness of time, it should be made an offering for sin. His own voluntary undertaking, in compliance with his Father's will and in compassion to fallen man, engaged him, and then his own honour kept him to it. It also intimates that he was hearty and resolute, free and cheerful, in it, and made nothing of the difficulties that lay in his way, Isaiah 63:3-5.

(4.)Jesus Christ was, in all this, truly wonderful. We may well ask, with admiration, Who is this that thus engages his heart to such an undertaking?

V.That they shall be taken again into covenant with God, according to the covenant made with their fathers (Jeremiah 30:22):

You shall be my people; and it is God's good work in us that makes us to him a people, a people for his name, Acts 15:14. I will be your God. It is his good-will to us that is the summary of that part of the covenant.

VI.That their enemies shall be reckoned with and brought down (Jeremiah 30:20):

I will punish all those that oppress them, so that it shall appear to all a dangerous thing to touch God's anointed, Psalm 105:15. The last two verses come under this head: The whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. These two verses we had before (Jeremiah 23:19, Jeremiah 23:20); there they were a denunciation of God's wrath against the wicked hypocrites in Israel; here against the wicked oppressors of Israel. The expressions, exactly agreeing, speak the same with that (Isaiah 51:22, Isaiah 51:23), I will take the cup of trembling out of thy hand and put it into the hand of those that afflict thee. The wrath of God against the wicked is here represented to be.

1.Very terrible, like a whirlwind, surprising and irresistible.

2.Very grievous. It shall fall with pain upon their heads; they shall be as much hurt as frightened.

3.It shall pursue them. Whirlwinds are usually short, but this shall be a continuing whirlwind.

4.It shall accomplish that for which it is sent: The anger of the Lord shall not return till he have done it. The purposes of his wrath, as well as the purposes of his love, will all be fulfilled; he will perform the intents of his heart.

5.Those that will not lay this to heart now will then be unable to put off the thoughts of it: In the latter days you shall consider it, when it will be too late to prevent it.

Historical interpretation

Historical reception

1 surviving comment on this verse from the historical church.

1 quote · AD 420
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Jeremiah
(Verse 23, 24) Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord's fury going forth, and the rushing storm. It will rest upon the head of the wicked. The Lord will not turn away the anger of His indignation until He has performed and accomplished the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days, you will understand this. The whirlwind of the Lord's fury and the rushing storm and tempest will rest upon their heads, whether they be demons or those who have blasphemed the Son of God. And He will not turn away His anger until He has performed and accomplished the thoughts of His heart. And Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies and utterly destroyed. However, just as an artisan cannot be understood unless their work is complete, and the industry of medicine cannot be understood unless health has been achieved, so when Jerusalem has been destroyed and the rejection of the former people has occurred, then believers will understand that the expulsion of the Jews is an opportunity for our salvation.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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