Jeremiah 33:3

3 Cry thou to me, and I shall hear thee, and I shall tell to thee great things, and steadfast (and I shall tell thee great and steadfast things), which thou knowest not.

Jeremiah 33:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 33:3

Call unto me, and I will answer thee
This is spoken not to Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of it; but to the prophet, encouraging him to seek the Lord by prayer, promising an answer to him. So the Targum,

``pray before me, and I will receive thy prayer:''

and show thee great and mighty things;
or, "fortified ones" ^F16; which are like fortified cities, that cannot easily be come at, unless the gates are opened to enter into; and designs such as are difficult of understanding, which exceed human belief, and which reason cannot comprehend and take in; and such are the great things of the Gospel. Some copies read it, "things reserved" ^F17; as the Targum; and so Jarchi, who interprets it of things future, of things reserved in the heart of God, and which he purposed to do; and very rightly: which thou knowest not;
until revealed; and from hence it appears, that by these great and hidden things are not meant the destruction of Jerusalem, and the seventy years' captivity, and return from that, things which Jeremiah had been made acquainted with time after time, and had prophesied of them; but spiritual blessings hereafter mentioned, some of which the deliverance from Babylon were typical of Ben Melech interprets these of comforts great and strong.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (twrub) "munita", Vatablus, Paganinus, Montanus; "fortia", Tigurine version.
F17 (twrun) "abstrusa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "recondita", so some in Vatablus.

Jeremiah 33:3 In-Context

1 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, in the second time, when he was closed yet in the porch of the prison, and said, (And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremiah the second time, when he was yet enclosed in the courtyard of the prison, and said,)

2 The Lord saith these things, The Lord is name of him that shall do, and form, and make ready that thing; (The Lord saith these things, he who made, and formed, and established the earth, yea, the Lord is his name;)

3 Cry thou to me, and I shall hear thee, and I shall tell to thee great things, and steadfast (and I shall tell thee great and steadfast things), which thou knowest not.

4 For the Lord God of Israel saith these things to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king(s) of Judah, that be destroyed, and to the strongholds, and to the sword of men (For the Lord God of Israel saith these things about the houses of this city, and the house of the king of Judah, that shall be destroyed, by men from strongholds, wielding their swords;)

5 coming to fight with Chaldees, and to fill those houses with carrions of men, which I smote in my strong vengeance, and in mine indignation; and I hid my face from this city, for all the malice of them. (some shall fight against the Chaldeans, but they shall still fill those houses with the dead bodies of the people, whom I shall strike down in my strong vengeance, and in my indignation; and I hid my face from this city, for all their malice.)