Hear ye the words of this covenant
Which. Dr. Lightfoot understands of the covenant lately made in the times of Josiah, upon finding and reading the law of Moses, ( 2 Kings 23:3 ) , but it seems rather to design the law of Moses itself; or the covenant made with the people of Israel on Mount Horeb, ( Exodus 24:7 Exodus 24:8 ) , or rather which was made with them in the land of Moab, ( Deuteronomy 29:1 ) . The words of it are the things contained in it, the blessings and curses; the order to hear them is in the plural number, and is directed, not to Jeremiah only, but to others with him, the rest of the prophets that were in his days; as Zephaniah, who prophesied, as Kimchi observes, in the reign of Josiah; and there was Baruch his companion; or the priests at Anathoth are here addressed with him; though it is usual, in the Hebrew language, to put one number for another; and Jeremiah, in the next verse, is singly addressed; and the Syriac version renders it in the singular number; perhaps the book of the law might lie before him, and be pointed at; and so he is bid to take it, or "receive" it, as the Targum is, and read and publish it to the Jews, as follows: and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
the words of the covenant, and what follows.