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30. Restoration of Israel

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. ³ The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.”

⁴ These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ⁵ “This is what the LORD says:

   “‘Cries of fear are heard—
   terror, not peace.
⁶ Ask and see:
   Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
   with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,
   every face turned deathly pale?
⁷ How awful that day will be!
   No other will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
   but he will be saved out of it.

    ⁸ “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty,
   ‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
   no longer will foreigners enslave them.
⁹ Instead, they will serve the LORD their God
   and David their king,
   whom I will raise up for them.

    ¹⁰ “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
   do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD.
‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
   your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
   and no one will make him afraid.
¹¹ I am with you and will save you,’
   declares the LORD.
‘Though I completely destroy all the nations
   among which I scatter you,
   I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
   I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

¹² “This is what the LORD says:

   “‘Your wound is incurable,
   your injury beyond healing.
¹³ There is no one to plead your cause,
   no remedy for your sore,
   no healing for you.
¹⁴ All your allies have forgotten you;
   they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
   and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
   and your sins so many.
¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your wound,
   your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
   I have done these things to you.

    ¹⁶ “‘But all who devour you will be devoured;
   all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
   all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
¹⁷ But I will restore you to health
   and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD,
‘because you are called an outcast,
   Zion for whom no one cares.’

¹⁸ “This is what the LORD says:

   “‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
   and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
   and the palace will stand in its proper place.
¹⁹ From them will come songs of thanksgiving
   and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
   and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
   and they will not be disdained.
²⁰ Their children will be as in days of old,
   and their community will be established before me;
   I will punish all who oppress them.
²¹ Their leader will be one of their own;
   their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
   for who is he who will devote himself
   to be close to me?’ declares the LORD.
²² “‘So you will be my people,
   and I will be your God.’”

    ²³ See, the storm of the LORD
   will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
   on the heads of the wicked.
²⁴ The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
   until he fully accomplishes
   the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
   you will understand this.

The Prophet seems to speak abruptly; for nothing could be more delightful than the promise that God gives, that he would be a Father to the people; but he immediately adds, that there would arise an involving whirlwind, which would abide on the head of the wicked. These things, at the first view, seem not to harmonize. But the latter sentence may be applied to the heathens, or to any of the enemies of the Church; for whenever God appears as the Savior of his people, his vengeance goes forth, and is poured on the wicked. Hence such declarations as the following often occur,

“The day of my vengeance is nigh, and the year of my visitation.” (Isaiah 63:4)

Isaiah joins both, the favor of God and his vengeance: and this is often done by the other Prophets, in order that we may see that God’s mercy cannot be clearly and distinctly perceived towards the faithful, except when his judgment on the other hand be made conspicuous as to the wicked. So this passage may be explained. But we may well thus connect the words of the Prophet, — that he kindly endeavored to allure the people by offering them God’s favor; but that having seen that it would be despised, as we stated yesterday, by the greater part of them, he now seasonably threatens them, that if they refused the favor offered them, such ingratitude could not be borne by God. And this is a mode of teaching common in Scripture. For God on his part thus manifests his kindness so as to stimulate men; but as he sees them not only slothful and tardy, but also wicked and ungrateful, he declares that they shall not be unpunished if they despise his favor. The former truth then well agrees with what the Prophet now says, — that the wrath of God would arise like a tempestuous storm.

He afterwards adds, a whirling or involving tempest, properly, a tempest gathering itself. The verb is גור gur, in a reduplicate form and in Hithpael. A similar sentence is found in Jeremiah 23:19; but there the Prophet used another word as required by the subject. ¹⁹¹⁹ This verse is literally the same, word for word, with the passage referred to here, with the exception of the word that is noticed; and yet neither the early versions nor the Targum are the same: it is singular how they differ from themselves, so that we can have no confidence in their verbal accuracy. Instead of “the pregnant tempest” in Jeremiah 23:19, we have here “the violent tempest;” it is a participle from a verb which means to agitate, to excite, to stir up; and being passive, it means what is agitated or in great commotion, and hence violent or turbulent.
Many copies have ו here before סער, as in the former passage, where it is omitted only in one copy. — Ed. Some render it “falling,” for גור, gur, means to fall; and this meaning is suitable, “a falling storm,” that is, impetuously descending, so as to abide on the head of the wicked. But the former sense has been more generally taken, and I am disposed to embrace it; for it tends to shake men with terror, when the storm is said to be like a whirlwind, for it turns and twists around, so that it cannot be avoided. The meaning then is, that God’s vengeance would be fatal to all the wicked. But we may take the wicked, רשעים reshoim, for the despisers of God, though boasting of his name, as well as for aliens: but I am inclined to include both, even domestic and foreign enemies of God; as though the Prophet had said, that no remedy remained, except they fled to the mercy of God. It afterwards follows, —