Jeremiah 31 Study Notes

31:21 These road markers and signposts would lead Israel back home from Babylon and function as signposts of the “ancient paths” they had traveled with God (6:16).

31:22 Virgin Israel is called a faithless daughter—an apostate, backsliding turnabout. The phrase a female will shelter a man is perhaps the most obscure phrase in all of Jeremiah. Some see this as a prophecy of the virgin birth of Christ. But the word “female” does not have a definite article with it, and such a general word for “woman” cannot be made to mean a virgin. Further, “to shelter” does not mean conceiving, nor does any of this fit the context. No one interpretation satisfies all difficulties since the intention of the verb “to shelter” is uncertain. Something new may mean that “woman” refers to Israel and “man” to the Lord, so a new relationship between Israel and her God will arise in the latter days.

31:23-25 Holy mountain refers to Zion. It occurs twenty-three times in the Prophets and Psalms. Even the lowest classes are promised security.

31:26 Some people take this verse to be a contradiction of 23:25, where Jeremiah criticized revelatory dreams. But there he spoke only of the dreams of false prophets (see note at 23:25-29).

31:27-28 Look, the days are coming occurs fourteen times in Jeremiah, and seven times elsewhere in the OT. Here it echoes the use in 30:3 (see note there). Verse 28 recalls Jeremiah’s commissioning in 1:10,12.

31:29-30 The proverb about the fathers eating sour grapes, and the children’s teeth being set on edge reflects the widespread belief that they were being unfairly punished for the sins of the previous generation, but Moses taught that this was not true (Dt 24:16). Ezekiel also refuted this proverb (Ezk 18:2-4).

31:31-34 The NT frequently used this passage about the new covenant (Lk 22:20; 1Co 11:25; 2Co 3:5-14; and Heb 8:8-12, the longest quote from the OT in the NT). It is a classic text that has shaped much of Christian theological reflection.

31:31 The new covenant is set in eschatological times of the Messiah and the consummation of history (the days are coming). The name of this new covenant suggests a radical break from past covenants. But the word for “new” in Hebrew can also mean “renewed covenant,” especially since three-fourths of the contents of this covenant recall the Abrahamic-Davidic covenants. The principal parties of the covenant are the house of Israel and the house of Judah. While there has been a cleavage between the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes, both parts are included here, suggesting a rejoining of the two parts. This new covenant also applies to the church because Gentiles were part of this continuing Abrahamic-Davidic new covenant when God promised that in Abraham’s seed all nations would be blessed. Among the other names given to this new covenant in the OT is permanent covenant (32:40; cp. Heb 13:20) which speaks to its duration.

31:32 The problem with the old covenant was not with its Maker or its contents, but with God’s people who broke their marriage vows to him (cp. 11:10). God said this covenant would not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors at the exodus or on Sinai, but it would be made “after those days” (v. 33) when the people of Israel are restored to their land.

31:33 God will still place his law within them and write it on their hearts. This law or instruction is a point of continuity between the old and new covenants, only this time God would write the law internally rather than externally on tablets. Gone would be the evil will and heart of the people, which had characterized Israel in the past (13:10; 18:12; 23:17).

31:34 Once the merely external law is a thing of the past, no longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me. Teaching will also be a thing of the past. From the least to the greatest of them indicates all people no matter their social class (“great” to the “poor,” cp. 5:4-5) or age (“youngest” to the “oldest,” cp. 6:13). The phrase I will forgive . . . and never again remember their sin reflects the grace of God that forgives sin and the omniscience of God that chooses not to call it to mind or to hold it against us.

31:35-37 The permanence of God’s promise to Israel is compared to the durability of the cosmos: If this fixed order departs . . . only then will Israel’s descendants cease . . . will I reject all of Israel’s descendants. It is impossible for Israel to disappear, or to cease existing.

31:38 Once again in days connected to the consummation of history, Jerusalem will be rebuilt from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The Tower of Hananel was in the northeast corner of Jerusalem (Neh 3:1; 12:39; Zch 14:10), and the Corner Gate was probably at the northwest corner of the city wall (2Kg 14:13; 2Ch 26:9).

31:39 The hill of Gareb and Goah are unknown to us today. Since the other places mentioned were on the north side of Jerusalem, it may be assumed that these unknown places were on the south.

31:40 The valley, presumably composed of corpses and ashes, must be the Ben Hinnom Valley (see note at 7:31), where Israel buried the dead. The Horse Gate apparently was on the eastern wall of the city at the northern end of the Kidron Valley (Neh 3:28).