Yeremia 31:27

Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated

31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. ³ 

Yeremia 33:22

33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ⁴ 

Yesaya 27:6

27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; ⁵ 

Israel will blossom and grow branches.

The produce ⁶  will fill the surface of the world. ⁷ 

Yesaya 60:22

60:22 The least of you will multiply into ⁸  a thousand;

the smallest of you will become a large nation.

When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” ⁹ 

Yehezkiel 36:10-15

36:10 I will multiply your people ¹⁰  – the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be populated and the ruins rebuilt. 36:11 I will increase the number of people and animals on you; they will increase and be fruitful. ¹¹  I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient times, and will do more good for you than at the beginning of your history. ¹²  Then you will know that I am the Lord. 36:12 I will lead people, my people Israel, across you; they will possess you and you will become their inheritance. No longer will you bereave them of their children.

36:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because they are saying to you, “You are a devourer of men, and bereave your nation of children,” 36:14 therefore you will no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the sovereign Lord. 36:15 I will no longer subject you to ¹³  the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave ¹⁴  your nation, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Yehezkiel 36:37

36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: ¹⁵  I will multiply their people like sheep. ¹⁶ 

Yehezkiel 37:26

37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. ¹⁷  I will establish them, ¹⁸  increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever.

Zakharia 2:4

2:4 and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man ¹⁹  as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls ²⁰  because of the multitude of people and animals there.

Zakharia 8:4-5

8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age. 8:5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing. ²¹ 

Zakharia 10:8

10:8 I will signal for them and gather them, for I have already redeemed them; then they will become as numerous as they were before.

[31:27]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold days are coming!” The particle “Behold” is probably used here to emphasize the reality of a fact. See the translator’s note on 1:6.

[31:27]  sn This same expression is found in the introduction to the Book of Consolation (Jer 30:1-3) and in the introduction to the promise of a new covenant (or covenant; 31:31). In all three passages it is emphasized that the conditions apply to both Israel and Judah. The Lord will reverse their fortunes and restore them to their lands (30:3), increase their numbers and build them up (31:27-28), and make a new covenant with them involving forgiveness of sins (31:31-34).

[31:27]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:27]  ³ tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming and [= when] I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and of animals.” For the significance of the metaphor see the study note.

[31:27]  sn The metaphor used here presupposes that drawn in Hos 2:23 (2:25 HT) which is in turn based on the wordplay with Jezreel (meaning “God sows”) in Hos 2:22. The figure is that of plant seed in the ground which produces a crop; here what are sown are the “seeds of people and animals.” For a similar picture of the repopulating of Israel and Judah see Ezek 36:10-11. The promise here reverses the scene of devastation that Jeremiah had depicted apocalyptically and hyperbolically in Jer 4:23-29 as judgment for Judah’s sins.

[33:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[33:22]  sn Context makes it clear that what is in view is an innumerable line of descendants from the righteous ruler that the Lord raises up over Israel and Judah after their regathering and restoration to the land. What is in view, then, is a reinstitution or reinstatement of the Davidic covenant of grant, the perpetual right of the Davidic dynasty to rule over the nation of Israel for all time (see also v. 26). This is guaranteed by the creation order which is the object of both God’s creative decree (Gen 1:14-19) and his covenant with Noah after the flood (Gen 8:22). (For further discussion on the nature of a covenant of grant see the study note on 32:40.) The rejection of the lines of Jehoiakim (36:30) and Jeconiah (22:30) and the certain captivity and death of Zedekiah (32:4) may have called into question the continuance of the Davidic promise which always had a certain conditional nature to it (cf. 1 Kgs 2:4; 8:25; 9:5). This promise and this guarantee show that the covenant of grant still stands and will ultimately find its fulfillment. Because this promise never found its fulfillment after the return from exile, it is left to the NT to show how it is fulfilled (cf., e.g., Matt 1:1-17 where it is emphasized that Jesus is the son (and heir) of both Abraham and David).

[27:6]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).

[27:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[27:6]  ⁷ sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.

[60:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).

[60:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”

[36:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will multiply on you human(s).”

[36:11]  ¹¹ sn These verbs occur together in Gen 1:22, 28; 9:1.

[36:11]  ¹² tn Heb “your beginning.”

[36:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “cause you to hear.”

[36:15]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads תַכְשִׁלִי (takhshiliy), a metathesis for תַשְׁכִלִי (tashkhiliy) from the root שָׁכַל (shakhal) which is used in each of the previous verses.

[36:37]  ¹⁵ tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”

[36:37]  ¹⁶ sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”

[37:26]  ¹⁷ sn See Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60, for other references to perpetual covenants.

[37:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “give them.”

[2:4]  ¹⁹ sn That is, to Zechariah.

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Jerusalem will dwell as open regions (פְּרָזוֹת, pÿrazot)”; cf. NAB “in open country”; CEV “won’t have any boundaries.” The population will be so large as to spill beyond the ancient and normal enclosures. The people need not fear, however, for the Lord will be an invisible but strong wall (v. 5).

[8:5]  ²¹ sn The references to longevity and to children living and playing in peace are eschatological in tone. Elsewhere the millennial kingdom is characterized in a similar manner (cf. Isa 65:20; Jer 31:12-13).