Jeremiah 33:2

33:1-13 Those who expect to receive comforts from God, must call upon him. Promises are given, not to do away, but to quicken and encourage prayer. These promises lead us to the gospel of Christ; and in that God has revealed truth to direct us, and peace to make us easy. All who by sanctifying grace are cleansed from the filth of sin, by pardoning mercy are freed from the guilt. When sinners are thus justified, washed, and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit, they are enabled to walk before God in peace and purity. Many are led to perceive the real difference between the people of God and the world around them, and to fear the Divine wrath. It is promised that the people who were long in sorrow, shall again be filled with joy. Where the Lord gives righteousness and peace, he will give all needful supplies for temporal wants; and all we have will be comforts, as sanctified by the word and by prayer.

Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof,.... The Syriac version is, "that made thee"; the prophet. The Septuagint and Arabic versions are, "the Maker of the earth"; see Jeremiah 32:17 . Kimchi interprets it of Jerusalem; rather it is to be understood of the New Jerusalem, or church of God in Gospel times. Jarchi seems to understand it of this prophecy or promise, and so others; the promise of restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem; which, if taken of the church of God, may be admitted; the Lord that formed it, to establish it; who drew the scheme and model of this spiritual building, his church, in his eternal mind, and resolved upon its stability and glory; who forms it, and everyone in it, for himself, and for his praise, in order to establish it in the world; as it will be more especially in the latter day: we often read of the Lord's establishing his church and people in the world, Psalm 48:8; the Lord is his name; Jehovah, the self-existing Being, the Being of beings; who is able to perform whatever he undertakes, and so is equal to this work, of settling and establishing his interest.

Jeremiah 33:2 . Thus saith the Lord, the maker thereof — That is, as many interpreters understand it, of the city of Jerusalem, a figure of that church spoken of before: see Jeremiah 32:36 ; Jeremiah 32:44 , compared with the 4th, 6th, and 9th verses of this chapter. Blaney, however, renders the clause, Thus saith Jehovah the doer of it, Jehovah the framer of it, who also disposeth it, considering the pronoun it as referring to the thing which God here says he is about to do.

Verse 2. - Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, etc.; rather, Thus saith Jehovah , who doeth it, Jehovah who frameth it that he may establish it, whose name is Jehovah. It was needless to express the object of the verbs. Jehovah's great purpose is the regeneration of his people. To "frame" or "form" is synonomous with "purpose" (see on. Jeremiah 38:11 ). The meaning of the verse is that Jehovah's very Name is a pledge of his fidelity to his promises (comp. Jeremiah 32:18 ). To "establish" is synonymous with "to carry out." Jeremiah 33:2

2 . the Lord is his name ] He is God and not man, and so is unchangeable and omnipotent. A similar expression is frequent in Isaiah ( Isaiah 47:4 , Isaiah 48:2 , etc.). Cp. Jeremiah 10:16 , in connexion, as here, with Jehovah as Creator (“former”) of all things. 2, 3 . These vv . bear a close affinity to several passages in 2 Isaiah (e.g. Isaiah 45:18 , Isaiah 48:6 ), and are probably an insertion by a later hand. For the indefinite “that doeth it,” etc., which in the Hebrew still more than the English resembles Isaiah 22:11 (cp. Jeremiah 33:4 f. here with Isaiah 22:10 ), we should probably read with LXX “who made the earth and formed it to establish it.” Cp. Isaiah 45:18 .

The maker thereof, that is, say some, of Jerusalem, (so Mr. Calvin,) or the maker of these promises, (so others interpret it,) his name is Jehovah ; so as he hath a sufficiency in himself to make good his word to establish Jerusalem, or to establish the word spoken by him for the establishment of it.

2. maker thereof—rather, "the doer of it," namely, that which Jeremiah is about to prophesy, the restoration of Israel, an act which is thought now impossible, but which the Almighty will effect. formed it—namely, Jerusalem (Jer 32:44) [Calvin]. Rather, "that formed," that is, moulds His purpose into due shape for execution (Isa 37:26). Lord … his name—(Ex 3:14, 15).

Introduction. - Jeremiah 33:2 . "Thus saith Jahveh who makes it, Jahveh who forms it in order to establish it, Jahveh is His name: Jeremiah 33:3 . Call on me and I will answer thee, and tell thee great and hidden things which thou knowest not." The reference of the suffixes in עשׂהּ, אותהּ, and הכינהּ is evident from the contents of the propositions: the Lord does what He says, and forms what He wants to make, in order to accomplish it, i.e., He completes what He has spoken and determined on. יצר, to frame, namely, in the mind, as if to think out, just as in Jeremiah 18:11 : the expression is parallel with חשׁב; in this sense also we find Isaiah 46:11 . הכין, to establish, realize what has been determined on, prepare, is also found in Isaiah 9:6 ; Isaiah 40:20 , but more frequently in Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 10:12 ; Jeremiah 51:12 , Jeremiah 51:15 ), and pretty often in the Old Testament generally. On the phrase "Jahveh is His name," cf. Jeremiah 31:35 . The idea contained in Jeremiah 33:2 reminds us of similar expressions of Isaiah, as in Isaiah 22:11 ; Isaiah 37:26 ; Isaiah 46:11 , etc.; but this similarity offers no foundation for the doubts of Movers and Hitzig regarding the genuineness of this verse. The same holds as regards Jeremiah 33:3 . The first proposition occurs frequently in the Psalms, e.g., Jeremiah 4:4 ; Jeremiah 28:1 ; Jeremiah 30:9 , also in Jeremiah 7:27 ; Jeremiah 11:14 ; but קתא with אל is unusual in Isaiah.

The words בּצרות לא are certainly an imitation of נצרות ולא ידעתּם, Isaiah 48:6 ; but they are modified, in the manner peculiar to Jeremiah, by the change of נצרות into בצרות. The combination גּדלות וּבצרות noit is elsewhere used only of the strong cities of the Canaanites, Deuteronomy 1:28 ; Deuteronomy 9:1 ; Joshua 14:12 , cf. Numbers 13:28 ; here בּצרות is transferred to things which lie beyond the limits of human power to discover, and become known to men only through divine revelation. There is no good reason for Ewald's change of בצרות in accordance with Isaiah 48:6 . - On the contents of these verses Hengstenberg remarks: "It may seem strange that, though in the opening part the prophet is promised a revelation of greater, unknown things, for which he is to call on God, yet the succeeding announcement contains scarcely anything remarkable or peculiar." Graf also adds the remark of Hitzig, that the command to pray, addressed to Jeremiah, cannot have the effect of keeping us from the conclusion that the verses are an addition by a later hand. Ngelsbach replies that the mode of expression presents nothing specially unlike Jeremiah, and that what is most calculated to give the impression of being unlike Jeremiah's, namely, this introduction in itself, and especially the peculiar turn of Jeremiah 33:3 , "Call unto me," etc., is occasioned by the prayer of the prophet, Jeremiah 32:16-25 .