Jeremiah 30:17

17 For I will apply a bandage unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; for they have called thee an outcast: This is Zion that no man seeketh after.

Jeremiah 30:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 30:17

For I will restore health to thee
That is, bring thee into a comfortable and prosperous condition, both in church and state, with respect to things religions and civil: as the afflictions and distresses of the Jewish nation are expressed by sickness, wounds, and bruises; so their prosperity, both spiritual and temporal, is signified by health. The words may be rendered, "I will cause length to ascend unto thee"; or a long plaster ^F26; or rather, that which has been long looked for, and long in coming, prosperity; or else, that whereas they were before bowed down with afflictions and sorrows, now they should be as a man in an erect posture, that rises up in his full height and length, being in a robust and healthful state; and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord;
pardon their sins, remove their afflictions, and bring them into a comfortable situation, into a Gospel church state, and into their own land: because they called thee an outcast;
as the Jews now are, cast out of their own land, rejected from being the people of God; so they are reckoned by the nations among whom they are: [saying], this [is] Zion, whom no man seeketh after:
after their good, either temporal or spiritual; despised by most, pitied and prayed for by few; and fewer still they are that seek after, and are solicitous about, or take any methods, or make use of any means, for their conversion; but though man does not, God will, and his work will appear the more manifest.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Kl hkra hlea) "adducam tibi emplastrum longum", so some in Gataker; "faciam ut ad justam constitutionem assurgas", Junius & Tremellius; "ut assurgat sanitas tibi", Piscator; "nam faciam ut ascendat tibi proceritas", Cocceius.

Jeremiah 30:17 In-Context

15 Why criest thou because of thy bruise? thy sorrow is incurable; for the greatness of thine iniquity, [because] thy sins are manifold, I have done these things unto thee.

16 Therefore all that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be for a spoil; and all they that prey upon thee will I give to be a prey.

17 For I will apply a bandage unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; for they have called thee an outcast: This is Zion that no man seeketh after.

18 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his habitations; and the city shall be built upon her own heap; and the palace shall be inhabited after the manner thereof.

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 diminished; and I will honour them, and they shall not be small.

Footnotes

• [a] Others, 'healing.'