Jeremiah 31

Jehovah

At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:1–3

Israel remembers that the LORD appeared to them long ago and declared an everlasting love. The Jehovah who appeared to Israel's fathers is the premortal Christ, whose love draws His people back.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4)

Father to Israel

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Jeremiah 31:9

Jehovah calls Himself a father to Israel. Latter-day Saints teach that Christ becomes the Father of those who make covenants with Him, which is why Isaiah calls the Messiah 'The everlasting Father.'

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · a Church study aid lists it

• the same title in Isaiah 9:6 — The child to be born is called The everlasting Father.

Shepherd of Israel

Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. Jeremiah 31:10

The God who scattered Israel will gather and keep them like a shepherd. Jesus claimed this very role: 'I am the good shepherd,' gathering other sheep into one fold.

How we know: the verse itself names Him

• the same title in Isaiah 40:11 — He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.
• the same title in Ezekiel 34:12 — As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, so will I seek out my sheep.
• the same title in John 10:14-16 — I am the good shepherd... one fold, and one shepherd.
• the same title in 1 Nephi 22:25 — He gathereth his children... and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

Redeemer

For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Jeremiah 31:11

Jeremiah speaks of the redemption as already done: the LORD pays the ransom and frees Jacob from a captor too strong for him. Christ is the Redeemer who gave Himself a ransom and frees us from sin and death, enemies stronger than we are.

• the same title in Isaiah 44:6 — The LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts.
• fulfilled by 1 Timothy 2:6 — Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all.

Birth of Christ — Rachel Weeping

Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Jeremiah 31:15

Rachel, mother of Israel, weeps for her lost children. Matthew quotes this verse as fulfilled when Herod killed the children of Bethlehem trying to destroy the newborn Jesus; the next verses promise the children will come again, a hope that rests on Christ.

• quoted by Matthew 2:17-18 — Matthew says Herod's slaughter fulfilled 'that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet.'

Jehovah's Mercy to the Repentant

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. Jeremiah 31:18–20

Ephraim confesses and asks the Lord to turn him, and the Lord's heart aches with longing for His wandering son. It is the tender mercy of the Savior toward the repentant, the same picture Jesus later painted of a father running to meet a returning son.

A New Thing — A Woman Shall Compass a Man

How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Jeremiah 31:22

The meaning of this line is debated. A long Christian tradition reads the 'new thing' as a woman enclosing a man in her womb without a man's part, a hint of the virgin birth of Christ; it may instead describe restored Israel embracing her Lord.

• fulfilled by Luke 1:34-35 — Traditional reading only: Mary conceives by the power of the Highest without knowing a man.

Mediator of the New Covenant

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Jeremiah 31:31–33

Jehovah promises a new covenant written on hearts instead of stone. Jesus introduced the sacrament as 'the new testament [covenant] in my blood,' and Hebrews quotes this passage to show Christ is the mediator of that better covenant.

• quoted by Hebrews 8:8-10 — Hebrews quotes the new-covenant promise in full.
• interpreted by Hebrews 8:6 — Christ is the mediator of a better covenant.
• fulfilled by Luke 22:20 — This cup is the new testament in my blood.

Husband of Israel

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: Jeremiah 31:32

Jehovah describes His covenant with Israel as a marriage in which He was a faithful husband. The New Testament and latter-day scripture call Christ the Bridegroom of His covenant people.

• the same title in Isaiah 54:5 — Thy Maker is thine husband... thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.
• the same title in Matthew 9:15 — Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom.
• the same title in D&C 133:10 — Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.

Sins Remembered No More

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:34

The new covenant's crowning promise is complete forgiveness: the Lord will remember sin no more. This is made possible by Christ's Atonement, and the Lord repeats the promise to repentant Saints in the latter days.

• quoted by Hebrews 10:16-17 — Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
• alluded to by D&C 58:42 — He who has repented... I, the Lord, remember them no more.

Lord of Hosts

LORD of hosts — Jehovah, commander of the armies of heaven

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: Jeremiah 31:35–37

The Creator who set the sun, moon, and stars and divides the sea swears that Israel will never be cast off. Latter-day Saints understand this Creator and Lord of Hosts to be the premortal Christ, by whom all things were made.

How we know: the verse itself names Him

• the same title in Isaiah 51:15 — The LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.