Jeremiah 33:2

Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or, Thus saith Yahweh the doer of it, Yahweh who formeth it, that He may establish it, Yahweh is His name. The word "it" means whatsoever Yahweh wills.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

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.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

Thus saith the LORD the {b} maker of this, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

(b) That is, of Jerusalem, who as he made it, so will he preserve it, read Isa 37:26.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Pulpit Commentary

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

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

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. To this prayer the prophet had received an answer, Jeremiah 32:36-44; but he is here admonished to approach the Lord more frequently with such a request. The God who has the power to execute as well as make decrees is quite prepared to give him an insight into His great thoughts regarding the future; and of this a proof is at once given. Thus, Jeremiah 33:1-3 must be viewed as the connecting link between Jeremiah 32; 33.

Yet these remarks are not sufficient to silence the objections set forth against the genuineness of Jeremiah 33:2, Jeremiah 33:3; for the specializing title of our chapter, in Jeremiah 33:1, is opposed to the close connection which Ngelsbach maintains between Jeremiah 32; 33. The fact that, in Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah addresses the Lord in prayer for further revelation regarding the purchase of the field, as commanded, and that he receives the information he desired regarding it, gives no occasion for warning to the prophet, to betake himself more frequently to God for disclosures regarding His purposes of salvation. And Ngelsbach has quite evaded the objection that Jeremiah does not obey the injunction. Moreover, the succeeding revelation made in vv. 4-26 is not of the nature of a "proof," for it does not contain a single great leading feature in God's purposes as regards the future. - Hengstenberg also points out the difficulty, "that the Scripture everywhere refuses to recognise a dead knowledge as true knowledge, and that the hope of restoration has an obstacle in the natural man, who strives to obscure and to extinguish it; that, consequently, the promise of restoration is always new, and the word of God always great and grand;" but what he adduces for the solution of the difficulty contained in the command, "Call on me, and I will show thee great and unknown things," is insufficient for his purpose. The objection which expositors have taken to these verses has arisen from an improper application of them; the words קרא אלי have been understood as referring to the request that God should give some revelation regarding the future, or His purposes of deliverance, and ענה as referring to the communication of His purposes for increasing our knowledge of them. But "to call on God" rather signifies to pray to God, i.e., to beseech Him for protection, or help, or deliverance in time of need, cf. Psalm 3:5; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 30:9; Psalm 55:17, etc.; and to "answer" is the reply of God made when He actually vouchsafes the aid sought for; cf. e.g., Psalm 55:17, "I call on God, and Jahveh answers me (saves me);" Psalm 4:2, Psalm 4:4; Psalm 18:7; Psalm 27:7, etc. Consequently, also, "to make known" (הגּיד) is no mere communication of knowledge regarding great and unknown things, no mere letting them be known, but a making known by deeds. The words עשׂהּ and יוצר אותהּ, ascribed to the Lord, suggest and require that the words should be thus understood. With the incorrect reference of these words to knowing and making known there is connected the further error, that the command, "Call unto me," is directed to the person of the prophet, and gives an admonition for his behaviour towards God, for which the text affords on foundation whatever; for it does not run: "Thus saith Jahveh to me" (אלי), and the insertion of this אלי is unwarranted, and inconsistent with the use of כּי which introduces the announcement. Hitzig, Graf, and others have passed by this כּי without remark; and what Ngelsbach says about it is connected with his view, already refuted, as to the essential unity of Jeremiah 32; 33. Lastly, Ewald has enclosed Jeremiah 33:3 within parentheses, and considers that the introductory formula of Jeremiah 33:2 is resumed in Jeremiah 33:4 : "Yea, thus saith Jahveh." This is a conclusion hastily formed by one who is in difficulty, for Jeremiah 33:3 has not the nature of a parenthesis. If we allow the arbitrary addition "to me" after the words, "Thus saith the Lord," Jeremiah 33:2, and if we take the words in their simplest sense - the invocation of the Lord as a call to God for help in need - then Jeremiah 33:2, Jeremiah 33:3 do not contain a mere prelude to the revelation which follows, but an exhortation to the people to betake themselves to the Lord their God in their calamity, when He will make known to them things unattainable by human discernment; for (כּי, Jeremiah 33:4) He announces, in reference to the ruined houses of the city, that He will repair their injuries.