JEREMIAH 31:35-37

The Book of Consolation (chs. 30-33)

The uniquely hopeful tone of these chapters (which some such as Bullock and Guthrie would limit to chs. 30-31) marks them out in contrast to the lamentations found in the rest of the book. And others such as Cawley and Millard actually limit that section to Chapter 30 only.

Rosenberg: “The poetic material in Jeremiah is most concentrated at the beginning (chaps. 1-25), middle (chaps 30-31), and end (chaps 46-51).” And that statement certainly holds for Jeremiah 31:35-37 even though it is bounded both before and after by large chunks of prose.

The specific verses in question directly follow what is perhaps the most well-known pronouncement in the whole book, namely the prophecy of the New Covenant in 31:31-34. And Wiseman, for one, considers the whole of vv. 31-37 as a single literary unit.

Then there is Bright's piecemeal theory, followed by few evangelicals in its entirety: “All in all, the safest conclusion is that chapters xxx-xxxi contain genuine sayings of Jeremiah addressed to northern Israel and uttered relatively early in his career (xxxi 2-6, 15-22), together with other words of his uttered much later, and that the material has in certain cases subsequently been expanded and supplemented ...to apply Jeremiah's prophecies more directly to the exiles living in Babylon...The final poetic piece (vss. 35-37) may have originally formed the conclusion of the collection introduced in xxx 1-3...”

And we also have to take into account that the ancient Greek translation of Jeremiah, the Septuagint, actually places verse 37 before 35-36. Most scholars take the Hebrew order to be the original one.

General Comments on 31:35-37

Chisholm: “The Lord concludes this promise of a new covenant with an assuring word. He affirms that his commitment to Israel's descendants (both Israel and Judah are probably in view here; see v. 31) is as constant as the cycles of nature he has set in place (vv. 35-36). To emphasize the point, he states that it is impossible for him to reject his people as it is for a mere human being to measure the extent of the heavens or the subterranean regions (v. 37). Regeneration would indeed come, highlighted by the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which in its entirety would be set apart as a holy city (vv. 38-39).”

Thompson also summarizes verses 35-37 by stating: “Two sayings, semi-proverbial in character lie behind this brief passage, which declares the impossibility of Israel ever being forsaken again by Yahweh.”

And Wiseman similarly says, “The security of the covenant is the faithfulness of the Creator, whose mercies never fail (35-37; cf. 33:19-22). This is a classic passage for understanding the Lord's unchanging nature as the God of order (hosts) in heaven and earth. This is basic to His being as God of law and love. His covenant and His love are consistent.”

Matters of Timing

“The reference to rebuilding the city (31:38) seems to fix the date at the end of the Judean kingdom after Jerusalem had fallen. (Bullock) If this is true, then the same may certainly apply to the dating of vv. 35-37.

Then there is the question regarding the time period which is being referred to in this prophecy of the future as well as the nature of its intended fulfillment. Payne's opinion is that the time of fulfillment will be during the time of “the millennial establishment of God's people as a permanent, political entity.” But he does not define who “God's people” are.

Thus, speaking from a dispensational viewpoint which concentrates on the fate of the Jews to a much greater degree than other schools of evangelical theology, Ryrie states: “The [amillennial] interpretation stulifies any hope of Israel for a national future. Their only hope is spiritual, by entering into faith in Christ in the present interadvent age...The theme of regathering [in Jer. 31:8] is linked in this chapter with the new covenant with the house of Israel (Jer. 31:31-34) and the solemn pledge that Israel shall continue as a nation as long as the sun, moon, and stars continue (Jer. 31:35-37).”

However, many other scholars, such as Clowney, take a less literal view of this admittedly poetic prophecy: “The new covenant is spiritual, bringing the covenant principle to its actualization (Jer. 31:31-37; Ezek. 36:24-28)...The very fulness of the blessing, however, transcends the form of the covenant that is restored, so that the spiritual realities symbolized in its ceremonial types are actualized...The old covenant in its full restoration becomes the new covenant.”

Bruce also takes the far more defensible hermeneutical stance of evangelical interpretation which looks upon the New Testament pronouncements as the definitive, literal ones by which the more poetic statements in the Old Testament are to be understood, instead of vice versa. Thus he says, “Whether the expression 'the Israel of God' in its one appearance in the New Testament (Gal. vi. 16) denotes believing Jews only, or believing Jews and Gentiles without distinction, is disputed; the latter is more probable, especially if the expression is to be construed in apposition to 'all who walk by this rule'. But that the community of believers in Jesus, irrespective of their natural origin, is looked upon as the new Israel throughout the New Testament is clear. They are 'the twelve tribes in the dispersion' (Jas. i. 1), 'the exiles of the dispersion' (I Pet. i. 1), who are further designated, in language borrowed from Old Testament descriptions of Israel, as 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people' (I Pet. ii. 9).”

D.R. Jones says of these verses, “This is the ground of confidence that he will restore his people and establish a covenant which shall not be broken...At the same time the contrast between the old covenant which was broken, and the new, which is based on an inner apprehension of the divine Torah, presupposes that the new covenant will not be broken and the guarantee again is to be found in God.”

This statement should remind us that even the traditional division of the Bible into two testaments (i.e. covenants) goes against the contention of the dispensationalists that the present time of the Gentiles is a “mere parenthesis” in God's overall plan for the Jewish people.

Literary Structure

There is a fairly obvious two-part division to verses 35-37 which can be diagrammed thusly based on the order of words in the original Hebrew:

        A. Yahweh says

                B. who created the heavenly bodies

                        C. who stirs up the seas

                                D. If this order departs

        A'. Yahweh says

                                        E. then shall Israel cease

        A''. Yahweh says

                                D'. If

                B'. the heavens be measured

                        C'. and the foundations of the earth explored

                                        E'. then I will cast off Israel

        A'''. Yahweh says

Jeremiah 31:35

“Verse 35 is in the form of a participial hymn of praise and ends with the refrain the LORD of hosts is his name that is so marked in Am. 4.13; 5.8-9; 9.5-6...Here the familiar form of the doxology is used, not as the solemn prelude to judgment, but as the equally solemn introduction to the divine announcement of the indestructibility of the kingdom of God. Thus v. 35 is in effect a particularly striking and even momentous way of introducing the divine assurance. The allusion to the fixed order of nature is of course particularly apt, since this is the sign of the unchanging purpose of God.” (D.R. Jones)

“The verse harks back to Gen. 1:16, where the verb natan, 'give,' is also used in reference to the sun, moon, and stars. The reference to the stirring up of the seas and the roaring of the waves is known elsewhere (cf. Isa. 17:12; 51:15; Ps. 46:3).” (Thompson)

Jeremiah 31:36

“But it all operates according to Yahweh's fixed order or 'decrees' (huggim). If these should ever cease, which they will not, then the descendants (zera') of Israel will cease (sabat) to exist. It is an argumentum ad adsurdum, and the saying would have given strong confidence to a people so beset by troubles as Israel.” (Thompson)

Beale and Carson state: “Almost all of Jer. 31 describes the future days of God's new covenant with his people...Verses 23-30...employ the form of future predictions, leading to the passage that explicitly anticipates a 'new covenant' (31:31-35), a passage quoted at length in Heb. 8:8-13 as having been fulfilled in Jesus (see also Heb. 10:16-17).”

“Two pledges are seen here that Israel shall endure, the world itself being an illustration. The perseverance of Israel rests on the persistence of Yahweh (cf. Heb 13:8).” (Cawley and Millard)

The famous words in Jeremiah 31:31-34 are widely quoted and alluded to in all four gospels, Romans, II Corinthians, and I Thessalonians.

Guthrie says, “The clause 'the days are surely coming' is an eschatological formula also used in 31:27-30, 38-40.”

Jeremiah 31:37

Regarding this verse, Thompson says, “The second figure is based on a different figure but amounts to the same thing. No one (in those days) could measure the heavens above or explore earth's foundations. No more could Yahweh cast off ('refuse, spurn,' ma'as) the whole people of Israel. He had done too much in past days for his people for all his work to be wasted.”