Jeremiah 31:21-22

C. A New Creation Jeremiah 31:21-22

TRANSLATION

(21) Erect for yourself road marks, set up guideposts! Set your heart toward the highway, the way you have walked! Return, O Virgin of Israel, return to these your cities! (22) How long will you dilly-dally, O backsliding daughter, for the LORD has created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall compass a man.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah 31:21-22 form a distinct unit within chapter 31. The certainty of restoration is indicated in Jeremiah 31:21 as Jeremiah urges those going into captivity to mark the road they travel into exile so that they might know the return route. They are to erect, as it were, waymarks (stone pillars) and high heaps or signposts to mark the way home. They are to turn their attention to that highway in order that they might be able to retrace their steps. Jeremiah calls upon the virgin of Israel, the nation, to return to Palestine (Jeremiah 31:21). How long, asks the prophet, will you hesitate to return to your land? The backsliding daughter is admonished to put away her rebellious reluctance.

In the last part of Jeremiah 31:22 the prophet holds out a wondrous sign as an incentive to the reluctant nation. The Lord has created a new thing in the earth (or land). These words introduce a miracle which completely reverses ordinary human experience. It is something entirely new, something that had never happened before. A woman shall compass (or surround) a man. Many interpretations of these words which have been proposed clearly do not satisfy the requirements of the context.[269] In order to set forth the marvelous prophecy of this verse three questions need to be asked.

[269] All of the following interpretations have been offered: (1) the woman will become manly in spirit; (2) the woman will keep close to the man; (3) the woman will seek protection from the man.

1. Who is the woman who is the subject of the prophecy? Most commentators assume that the woman is Israel. Support for this interpretation is gained from the allusion to the nation as the virgin of Israel in the previous verse and a backsliding daughter in the present verse. While this interpretation cannot be absolutely ruled out, another interpretation is altogether possible. Many years before the time of Jeremiah, Isaiah prophesied of a virgin who would miraculously give birth to a child who would be Immanuel (God with us). Is it possible that Jeremiah is referring to that same woman? Certainly a virgin giving birth to a child would fulfill the requirements of this passage which states that the Lord would create a new thing. This particular section of Jeremiah (Chapter s 30-31) contains several Messianic predictions and thus a reference to the virgin birth of Christ would not be out of place.

2. Who is the man who is the object of the sentence? The Hebrew word used here (gever) is not the ordinary word for a man as a frail being of clay. Rather it is the word for man par excellence, strong, virile, powerful. Commentators commonly reason that if Israel is the woman then the man must be the divine husband or the Lord. It is the view of the present writer that the Man here is none other than the Messiah. Certainly the use of the Hebrew word gever and related words for the Messiah is not without parallel (see Zechariah 13:7).

3. What is involved in the verb that is used here? The Hebrew verb translated compass literally means to surround. The verb could well describe the fact that a man-child is enfolded in the womb of a woman. It might be argued that this would not be anything new as the context demands. But if the woman mentioned here is the virgin and if the man is that holy thing which was born of her who was to be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35) then certainly this could be a new thing created by the Lord Himself.