Jeremiah 31:28

See on Jeremiah 1:10.

29-34. The new covenant between Jehovah and His people.

29, 30. The proverb here quoted, which was common among the Jews, induced them to throw upon their predecessors the responsibility for their own misdeeds. Accordingly the prophet restates in an amended form the truth which it embodies. It was true that their fathers had sinned, but the children had repeated their sins and they were suffering the consequences of their own acts. The prophet emphasises individual responsibility for sin.

31-34. The new covenant is to be of a spiritual, personal character, rather than external and national. It shall supersede that of the exodus, and shall differ from the older Law both in permanence and in the spring of action. Under it the sense of forgiveness (Jeremiah 31:34) ensures a willing service based on love, not on fear. 'God comes to man as giving and not as requiring': so Bp. Westcott on Hebrews 8:8, which reproduces this passage, applying it to the Christian dispensation.