Jeremiah 33:24

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24-26) Considerest thou not what this people have spoken . . .—The words that follow have been regarded by many commentators as the taunt of the heathen nations—Chaldæans, Egyptians, Edomites, and others—as they beheld what seemed to them the entire downfall of the kingly and the priestly orders, such as we find put into the lips of the heathen in Ezekiel 35:10; Ezekiel 36:20. The words “this people,” however, used as they are invariably of that to which the prophet himself belonged (Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 5:14; Jeremiah 5:23; Jeremiah 6:19, and elsewhere), and indeed in the hundred or more passages in which the phrase occurs in the Old Testament, lead to a different conclusion. The prophet’s declaration of the steadfastness of God’s covenant was made in answer, not to the taunts of the heathen, but to the despair of Israel, such as had found utterance in the words recorded in Jeremiah 33:10 and Jeremiah 32:43. If the words “thus they have despised my people” seem to favour the former interpretation, it must be remembered that the subject of the verb is not necessarily the same as that of the previous clause, and that the scorn of other nations would be the natural outcome of the despondency into which Israel had fallen; or they might emphasise the fact that the despondency was itself, as it were, suicidal. Those who despised their own nation were despising the people of Jehovah. In contrast with this despondency, the prophet renews his assurance of the permanence of the kingly and priestly lines, and strengthens it by reference to the three great patriarchs of the race, with whom the truth of Jehovah’s promises was identified (Exodus 3:15), and by connecting it with the promise of a return from the captivity. When that return came, it would be the pledge and earnest of the yet greater blessings which were involved in the new and everlasting covenant.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 33:24-26. The two families which the Lord hath chosen — “It is plain from Jeremiah 33:26,” says Blaney,” that the two families here meant are those of Jacob and David, though some have supposed the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, others the royal and sacerdotal families of David and Levi, to be intended.” He hath even cast them off — The words are spoken by those unbelieving Jews who thought God would never restore them to their former condition, nor give them again a king of the seed of David, thus indirectly accusing him of a breach of promise. Thus they have despised my people, &c. — Thus, saith God, they have spoken in a reproachful and degrading manner of my people, as if they should never be a nation again, having rulers of themselves and a ministry. If my covenant be not with day and night, &c. — If I have not appointed the vicissitudes of day and night, and of summer and winter, upon which the seasons of the year and the fruitfulness of the earth depend; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob — Then will I finally, and for ever, abandon the body of the Jews and Israelites; and David my servant — Namely, the seed of David, all persons lineally descended from him, so that none of them shall ever hereafter reign over Israel and Judah. The sum of these verses is plainly this, that a restoration of them to their own land should as certainly succeed their captivity as the day succeeds the night, or summer follows winter. God had as certainly ordained the one as the other, and, would as certainly have mercy on his people as he would certainly continue the revolutions of the heavenly bodies. And in showing this mercy he would take care that one of the seed of David should be their ruler: which has been, and still more fully shall be, fulfilled in the Messiah, who shall always as certainly govern his church, whether consisting of converted Jews or Gentiles, as there will always be a church on earth to be governed.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

33:14-26 To crown the blessings God has in store, here is a promise of the Messiah. He imparts righteousness to his church, for he is made of God to us righteousness; and believers are made the righteousness of God in him. Christ is our Lord God, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. But in this world prosperity and adversity succeed each other, as light and darkness, day and night. The covenant of priesthood shall be secured. And all true believers are a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood, they offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God; themselves, in the first place, as living sacrifices. The promises of that covenant shall have full accomplishment in the gospel Israel. In Ga 6:16, all that walk according to the gospel rule, are made to be the Israel of God, on whom shall be peace and mercy. Let us not despise the families which were of old the chosen people of God, though for a time they seem to be cast off.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Considerest thou not - literally, Hast thou not seen, i. e., noticed?

This people - i. e., the Jews.

Thus ... - Or, and "My people they have despised," so that they are "no more a nation" in their sight. They say that God has rejected Judah as well as Israel: and thus they despise themselves in their relation to God as His covenant-people, by regarding their national existence as about immediately to cease forever.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. this people—certain of the Jews, especially those who spoke with Jeremiah in the court of the prison (Jer 32:12; 38:1).

the two families—Judah and Israel.

before them—in their judgment. They suppose that I have utterly cast off Israel so as to he no more a nation. The expression, "My people," of itself, shows God has not cast off Israel for ever.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This people, that is, (say some,) the enemies of the Jews; but it may as well be interpreted either of the wicked Jews, wicked men being always full of groundless, presumptuous hopes, or sunk in despair; or of such amongst them as were better, but weak in faith, that knew not how to give any firm assent to promises, the fulfilling of which seemed to the eyes of sense and reason so improbable. By

the two families here mentioned, the prophet either meaneth the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, or, which seemeth to me much more probable, the families of David and Aaron, mentioned before. Thus, saith God, they have spoken scornfully of my people, as if they should never be a nation more, having rulers of themselves and a ministry.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken,.... The words are directed to the prophet by an interrogation, if he had not considered in his mind what he heard the people say; not the Chaldeans, with whom the prophet was not; but the unbelieving Jews, either the profane part of them, who had a wicked view in it, to accuse God, and discourage the godly; or the weaker sort of the good people, indulging unbelief and despondency:

saying, the two families which the Lord had chosen, he hath even cast them off? the kingdom and the priesthood, as Jarchi; the family of David and the family of Aaron, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; the, one with respect to the kingdom, and the other with respect to the priesthood; so Abarbinel, which seems right: though some interpret it of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and others of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; but since the covenant with David, and with the priests, are before spoken of, and the seed of David afterwards, it seems rather to regard the two houses of David and Aaron, which the Lord chose for the kingdom and priesthood to continue in; but by the captivity of the royal family, and of the priests in Babylon, just now about to take place, it was suggested that both were cast off by the Lord, and that there would be no more kings out of the one, nor priests out of the other:

thus they have despised my people: as being rejected of God, whom he would never more regard or restore to their former condition in church and state; so giving them up for lost, that they would be no more a nation and church, having kings to reign over them, or priests to minister for them:

that they should be no more a nation before them; either before their kings and priests, or in the sight of those persons who spoke the words before related.

Geneva Study Bible

Considerest thou not what {q} this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

(q) Meaning, the Chaldeans and other infidels who thought God had utterly cast off Judah and Israel or Benjamin, because he corrected them for a time for their amendment.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. this people] If the words be right, they must indicate the sceptical part of the nation. But the subsequent context, as it stands, rather requires the meaning to be hostile nations. The emendation which makes the best sense is that of Du. and Co.: “He hath cast them off and rejected His people, that they should be no more a nation before Him.”

The two families] Israel and Judah, as shewn by Jeremiah 33:26.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - This people; i.e. not Egyptians or Babylonians (as some have supposed), but the people of Judah, regarded as alienated from Jehovah (hence the touch of disparagement), as elsewhere in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:10, 11; Jeremiah 5:14, 23; Jeremiah 6:19; Jeremiah 7:33, etc.). There were unworthy Jews, who, seeing their nation fallen from its high estate, despaired of its deliverance and regeneration. That they should be no more, etc.; rather, so that they are no more a people - no more an independent people The "two families," of course, are the "two houses of Israel" (Isaiah 8:14), i.e. the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.



Jeremiah 33:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In order to make still more impressive the pledge given, that the covenant with David and the Levitical priesthood can never be broken, the Lord adds the promise of a numerous increase of the seed of David and the Levites. אשׁר as correlative to כּן stands for כּאשׁר; for in the accusative lies the general reference to place, time, kind, and manner; cf. Ew. 360 a, 333 a. The comparison with the innumerable host of stars and the immeasurable quantity of the sand reminds us of the patriarchal promises, Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17. In this way, the promises that apply to all Israel are specially referred to the family of David and the Levites ("the Levites," Jeremiah 33:22, is abbreviated from "the Levites, the priests," Jeremiah 33:21). This transference, however, is not a mere hyperbole which misses the mark; for, as Jahn observes, an immense increase of the royal and priestly families would only have been a burden on the people (Graf). The import of the words of the verse is simply that the Lord purposes to fulfil the promise of His blessing, made to the patriarchs in favour of their whole posterity, in the shape of a numerous increase; but this promise will now be specially applied to the posterity of David and to the priests, so that there shall never be wanting descendants of David to occupy the throne, nor Levites to perform the service of the Lord. The question is not about a "change of the whole of Israel into the family of David and the tribe of Levi" (Hengstenberg); and if the increase of the family of David and the Levites correspond in multitude with the number of all the people of Israel, this increase cannot be a burden on the people. But the question, whether this promise is to be understood literally, of the increase of the ordinary descendants of David and the Levites, or spiritually, of their spiritual posterity, cannot be decided, as Hengstenberg and Ngelsbach think, by referring to the words of the Lord in Exodus 19:6, that all Israel shall be a kingdom of priests, and to the prophetic passages, Isaiah 66:6, Isaiah 66:23., according to which the whole people shall be priests to God, while Levites also shall be taken from among the heathen. For this prophecy does not treat of the final glory of the people of God, but only of the innumerable increase of those who shall attain membership in the family of David and the Levitical priests. The question that has been raised is rather to be decided in accordance with the general promises regarding the increase of Israel; and in conformity with these, we answer that it will not result from the countless increase of the descendants of Jacob according to the flesh, but from the incorporation, among the people of God, of the heathen who return to the God of Israel. As the God-fearing among the heathen will be raised, for their piety, to be the children of Abraham, and according to the promise, Isaiah 66:20., even Levitical priests taken from among them, so shall the increase placed in prospect before the descendants of David and Levi be realized by the reception of the heathen into the royal and sacerdotal privileges of the people of God under the new covenant.

This view of our verse is confirmed by the additional proof given of the promised restoration of Israel, Jeremiah 33:23-26; for here there is assurance given to the seed of Jacob and David, and therefore to all Israel, that they shall be kept as the people of God. The occasion of this renewed confirmation was the allegation by the people, that the Lord had rejected the two families, i.e., Israel and Judah (cf. Jeremiah 31:27, Jeremiah 31:31; Jeremiah 32:20), called, Isaiah 8:14, the two houses of Israel. With such words they despised the people of the Lord, as being no longer a people before them, i.e., in their eyes, in their opinion. That those who spoke thus were Jews, who, on the fall of the kingdom of Judah, despaired of the continuance of God's election of Israel, is so very evident, that Hengstenberg may well find it difficult to understand how several modern commentators could think of heathens - Egyptians (Schnurrer), Chaldeans (Jahn), Samaritans (Movers), or neighbours of the Jews and of Ezekiel on the Chebar (Hitzig). The verdict pronounced on what these people said, "they despise, or contemn, my people," at once relieves us from any need for making such assumptions, as soon as we assign the full and proper force to the expression "my people" equals the people of Jahveh. Just as in this passage, so too in Jeremiah 29:32, "this people" is interchanged with "my people" as a designation of the Jews. Moreover, as Graf correctly says, the expression "this people" nowhere occurs in the prophets of the exile as applied to the heathen; on the contrary, it is very frequently employed by Jeremiah to designate the people of Judah in their estrangement from the Lord: Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 5:14, Jeremiah 5:23; Jeremiah 6:19; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 8:5; Jeremiah 9:14; Jeremiah 13:10; Jeremiah 14:10; Jeremiah 15:1, Jeremiah 15:20, and often elsewhere. "My people," on the other hand, marks Judah and Israel as the people of God. In contrast with such contempt of the people of God, the Lord announces, "If my covenant with day and night does not stand, if I have not appointed the laws of heaven and earth, then neither shall I cast away the seed of Jacob." The לא is repeated a second time before the verb. Others take the two antecedent clauses as one: "If I have not made my covenant with day and night, the laws of heaven and earth." This construction also is possible; the sense remains unchanged. בּריתי יומם ולילה is imitated from Jeremiah 33:20. "The laws of heaven and earth" are the whole order of nature; cf. Jeremiah 31:35. The establishment, institution of the order of nature, is a work of divine omnipotence. This omnipotence has founded the covenant of grace with Israel, and pledged its continuance, despite the present destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the temporary rejection of the guilty people. But this covenant of grace includes not merely the choosing of David, but also the choosing of the seed of Jacob, the people of Israel, on the ground of which David was chosen to be the ruler over Israel. Israel will therefore continue to exist, and that, too, as a nation which will have rulers out of the seed of David, the servant of the Lord. "The mention of the three patriarchs recalls to mind the whole series of the promises made to them" (Hengstenberg). The plural משׁלים does not, certainly, refer directly to the promise made regarding the sprout of David, the Messiah, but at the same time does not stand in contradiction with it; for the revival and continued existence of the Davidic rule in Israel culminates in the Messiah. On כּי cf. Jeremiah 31:23; Jeremiah 30:3, Jeremiah 30:18, and the explanations on Jeremiah 32:44. The Qeri אשׁיב rests on Jeremiah 33:11, but is unnecessary; for אשׁוּב makes good enough sense, and corresponds better to ורחמתּים, in so far as it exactly follows the fundamental passage, Deuteronomy 30:3, where רחם is joined with שׁוּב את־שׁבוּת.