The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
What does Jeremiah 31:3 mean?
God assures his people that he will again take them into covenant relation to himself. When brought very low, and difficulties appear, it is good to remember that it has been so with the church formerly.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 31:3-4 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Of old - From afar (margin). See Jeremiah 30:10 . To the Jew God was enthroned in Zion, and thus when His mercy was shown unto the exiles in Assyria it came from a distant region 2 Chronicles 6:20 , 2 Chronicles 6:38 . With lovingkindness ... - Rather, I have continued lovingkindness unto thee.
Key words
- appeared
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The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
- saying
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The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
- loved
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The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Context in Jeremiah 31
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Jeremiah 31 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as book of consolation and new covenant. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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