Jeremiah 31:26 Komentář

This chapter goes on with the good words and comfortable words which we had in the chapter before, for the encouragement of the captives, assuring them that God would in due time restore them or their children to their own land, and make them a great and happy nation again, especially by sending them the Messiah, in whose kingdom and grace many of these promises were to have their full accomplishment. I. They shall be restored to peace and honour, and joy and great plenty (Jer 31:1-14). II. Their sorrow for the loss of their children shall be at an end (Jer 31:15-17). III. They shall repent of their sins, and God will graciously accept them in their repentance (Jer 31:18-20). IV. They shall be multiplied and increased, both their children and their cattle, and not be cut off and diminished as they had been (Jer 31:21-30). V. God will renew his covenant with them, and enrich it with spiritual blessings (Jer 31:31-34). VI. These blessings shall be secured to theirs after them, even to the spiritual seed of Israel for ever (Jer 31:35-37). VII. As an earnest of this the city of Jerusalem shall be rebuilt (Jer 31:38-40). These exceedingly great and precious promises were firm foundations of hope and full fountains of joy to the poor captives; and we also may apply them to ourselves and mix faith with them.

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 31 This chapter is connected with the former, respects the same times, and is full of prophecies and promises of spiritual blessings; of the coming of Christ; of the multiplication of his people, and the increase of their joy; of the conversion of the Gentiles; of the covenant of grace; and of the stability of the saints. It begins with the principal promise of the covenant, confirmed by past experience, of divine goodness, and with a fresh declaration of God's everlasting love, Jer 31:1; an instance of which would appear, in planting vines or churches in Samaria, the metropolis of Ephraim or the ten tribes, under the ministry of the apostles, the watchmen, on Mount Ephraim; whereby the Israel of God would be built, beautified, and made to rejoice, Jer 31:4; yea, it would be matter of joy to all that heard of it; since, notwithstanding distance and other difficulties, a great number should come to Christ, and to his church, drawn by the Father's love to them, and as owing to the relation he stands in to them, Jer 31:7; redemption out of the hands of Satan, and every spiritual enemy, must be published among the Gentiles; which would cause great joy, and give great satisfaction to the priests and people of the Lord, expressed by various metaphors, Jer 31:10; and though, upon the birth of the Redeemer, there would be an event, which might tend to damp the joy of saints on account of it, the murder of the infants at Bethlehem; yet some things are said to encourage faith, hope, and joy, and to abate sorrow and weeping, Jer 31:15; Ephraim's affliction, and behaviour under it, his repentance and reception, are recorded, Jer 31:18; backsliding Israel are called upon to return, in consideration of the birth of the Messiah, Jer 31:21; the happy and flourishing estate of the people of God is promised; all which were made known to the prophet by a dream in the night, Jer 31:23; and fresh promises are made, that the Lord would do them good, and not punish the children for their fathers' sins, but everyone for their own, Jer 31:28; and then an account is given of the new covenant of grace, as distinct from the old, and of the articles of it; the inscription of the law in the heart, spiritual knowledge of the Lord, and remission of sin, Jer 31:31; then follow assurances of the everlasting continuance of the true Israel and church of God, Jer 31:35; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, and of the holiness of it, and of its abiding for ever, Jer 31:38.

Upon this I awakened, and beheld,.... When or after he beheld or had seen the vision and prophecy concerning the incarnation of Christ, and the glory and happiness of his church and people in the latter day, he awoke; for it seems the prophecy contained in this and the preceding chapter was delivered to Jeremiah in a dream; who, when he had seen the vision, and upon the last words being spoken to him, awoke out of it: and my sleep was sweet unto me; as it must needs be, to have so many gracious promises, and glorious prophecies, delivered to him in it. Some understand the words, that when he awoke out of sleep, he saw and considered with pleasure what had been made known to him; and then fell into a sweet sleep again, which was not usual with him. To which the Targum inclines, "the prophet said, because of this good news of the days of consolation (that is, the days of the Messiah) that should come, I was raised up, and saw; again I slept, and my sleep was profitable to me.'' So Kimchi. Some interpret the words of Christ, and of his sleep in the grave.

Let us, then, submit ourselves to God, and not be subject to sin, and when we ponder the remembrance of our offences, let us blush as though at some disgrace, and not speak of them as a glory to us, as some boast of overcoming modesty, or putting down the feeling of justice. Let our conversion be such, that we who did not know God may now ourselves declare Him to others, that the Lord, moved by such a conversion on our part, may answer to us: “Ephraim is from youth a dear son, a pleasant child, for since My words are concerning him, I will verily remember him, therefore have I hastened to be over him; I will surely have mercy on him, saith the Lord.” And what mercy He promises us, the Lord also shows, when He says further on: “I have satiated every thirsty soul, and have satisfied every hungry soul. Therefore, I awaked and beheld, and My sleep was sweet unto Me.” We observe that the Lord promises His sacraments to those who sin. Let us, then, all be converted to the Lord.

For you should not be surprised if the Prophet says that his soul is disturbed, since the Lord Jesus himself said: "Now my soul is troubled." For he who took on our weaknesses also took on our emotions, in which he was sad even unto death, not because of death; for voluntary death could not have sorrow, in which the joy and refreshment of all was to come. Of this he also said elsewhere: "And I arose, and saw, and a sweet sleep came to me." Blessed sleep that made the hungry not hunger, the thirsty not thirst, for whom he prepared the sweetness of the sacraments. So how then was his soul troubled by fear, who made the souls of others not fear? Sorrowful even unto death, until grace was perfected: which is proven by his own testimony saying of his death: "With the baptism I am to be baptized, and how am I distressed until it is accomplished?"

Because I have made the weary soul drunk (or because I have made every thirsty soul drunk) and I have satisfied (or filled) every hungry soul: therefore I am awake and I have seen, and my sleep has been sweet to me. The change of persons makes the understanding of the Prophets obscure. The Lord had said, 'Yet they will say this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I turn their captivity.' But what will they say? No doubt this follows: May the Lord bless you, the beauty of righteousness, the holy mountain, etc. And again, when they said these things, the Lord responded: Because I have refreshed the weary soul, whether thirsty or hungry, and I have satisfied every hungry soul. And when he said this, the people responded, those who came from captivity: Therefore I awakened and saw, and my sleep was sweet to me. For the Lord refreshes the weary soul, whether thirsty or hungry, and he says in the Gospel: Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). And he said: 'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from his belly.' (Ibid., 38). And he satisfies every hungry soul and thirsty soul. Regarding this hunger and thirst, the same is testified in the Gospel: 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.' (Matthew 5:6). And it should be noted that intoxication is being portrayed positively in this passage, as it is mentioned in the Song of Solomon: 'Eat, friends, drink, and become intoxicated, my beloved.' (Song of Solomon 5:1). Joseph was intoxicated with wine along with his brothers at noon (Gen. XLIII). And being intoxicated and satisfied, those who had been tired and hungry give thanks, responding: I have awakened and seen the Lord, namely raising up and saying: Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you (Ephes. V, 14). And my sleep, he said, was sweet to me, so that I might imitate the words of my Lord saying: I slept, and was filled with sleep, and I arose, because the Lord will receive me (Psal. III, 6).

CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY IN THE THIRTIETH CHAPTER. (Jer. 31:1-40) At the same time--"In the latter days" (Jer 30:24). the God of--manifesting My grace to (Gen 17:7; Mat 22:32; Rev 21:3). all . . . Israel--not the exiles of the south kingdom of Judah only, but also the north kingdom of the ten tribes; and not merely Israel in general, but "all the families of Israel." Never yet fulfilled (Rom 11:26).

The words of Jeremiah: Upon this (or, By reason of this) announcement of a happy restoration, "I awaked" from the prophetic dream vouchsafed to me (Jer 23:25) with the "sweet" impression thereof remaining on my mind. "Sleep" here means dream, as in Psa 90:5.

Thereupon the prophet awoke from his ecstatic sleep, and said, "My sleep was pleasant" (cf. Pro 3:24). Very many expositors, including Rosenmller, Umbreit, and Neumann among the moderns, understand the words, "therefore (or, because of this) I awoke," etc., as referring to God, because in what precedes and follows Jahveh speaks, and because God is sometimes, in the Psalms, called on to awake, e.g., Psa 7:7; Psa 35:23; Psa 44:24, etc. But it has been properly objected to this, that the words, "my sleep was sweet" (pleasant), are inappropriate as utterances of God, inasmuch as He does not sleep; nowhere in Scripture is sleep attributed to God, and the summons to awake merely implies the non-interference on the part of God in the affairs of His people. Moreover, we would need to refer the sleeping of God, mentioned in this verse, to His dealing towards Israel during the exile, in such a way that His conduct as a powerful judge would be compared to a sweet sleep - which is inconceivable. As little can the verse be supposed to contain words of the people languishing in exile, as Jerome has taken them. For the people could not possibly compare the time of oppression during the exile to a pleasant sleep. There is thus nothing left for us but to take this verse, as the Targum, Raschi, Kimchi, Venema, Dahler, Hitzig, Hengstenberg, and others have done, as a remark by the prophet regarding his feelings when he received this revelation; and we must accept something like the paraphrase of Tholuck (die Propheten, S. 68): "Because of such glorious promises I awoke to reflect on them, and my ecstatic sleep delighted me." This view is not rendered less tenable by the objection that Jeremiah nowhere says God had revealed Himself to him in a dream, and that, in what precedes, there is not to be found any intimation that what he sets forth appeared to him as a vision. For neither is there any intimation, throughout the whole prophecy, that he received it while in a waking state. The command of God, given Jer 30:2 at the first, to write in a book the words which Jahveh spoke to him, implies that the prophecy was not intended, in the first instance, to be publicly read before the people; moreover, it agrees with the assumption that he received the prophecy in a dream. But against the objection that Jeremiah never states, in any other place, in what bodily condition he was when he received his revelations from God, and that we cannot see why he should make such an intimation here - we may reply, with Ngelsbach, that this prophecy is the only one in the whole book which contains unmixed comfort, and that it is thus easy to explain why he could never forget that moment when, awaking after he had received it, he found he had experienced a sweet sleep. Still less weight is there in the objection of Graf, that one cannot comprehend why this remark stands here, because the description is evidently continued in what follows, while the dream must have ended here, when the prophet awoke. For this is against the assumption that the hand of the Lord immediately touched him again, and put him back into the ecstatic state. One might rather urge the consideration that the use of the word שׁנה, "sleep," does not certainly prove that the prophet was in the ecstatic state, from the fact that the lxx render תּר, in Gen 2:21 and Gen 15:2, by ἔκστασις. But wherever divine revelations were made in dreams, these of course presuppose sleep; so that the ecstatic state might also be properly called "sleep." Jeremiah adds, "And I looked," to signify that he had been thoroughly awakened, and, in complete self-consciousness, perceived that his sleep had been pleasant.