232 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSwhole heart. Jeremiah is anticipating his "new covenant" prophecy, when Yah-
weh promises to write his Torah on the human heart (31:31-34). Von Rad
(1965: 212) says: "Here is [Jeremiah's] prophecy of the new covenant com-
pressed into one sentence." The language is closer, however, to the "eternal
covenant" passage of 32:38-40, also Ezekiel's oracle about Yahweh giving Is-
rael a new heart and spirit when the covenant bond is again in force (Ezek
11:19-20; 36:26-28). M. Greenberg (1997: 736-37) cites this verse as an ex-
ample of Jeremiah's oracles' vacillating between an affirmation that repen-
tance is initiated on the human level and precedes forgiveness (cf. 36:3) and an
affirmation that God's cooperation is required in the process of repentance. In
his view, the change in human nature is not an act of grace. Zimmerli ( 1982:
111-13 ), too, stresses the conditional element in God's promise of salvation,
saying that salvation here depends on the conversion of those exiled. But the
idea that repentance is initiated on the human level and is a precondition for
God's salvation comes from texts such as Ezek 18: 30-31 and Deut 30: 1-10, not
Jeremiah. In Ezek 18:30-31 Israel is told to repent, rid itself of all sin, and get
for itself a new heart and a new spirit. Nothing of that sort is implied here, nor
in the Jeremiah new covenant passages, where the giving of a new heart and
salvation for the covenant people are unconditional acts of divine grace.
Calvin goes so far as to say that even human repentance is a gift of God (Jer
31:18-20; cf. Rom 2:4). God, in Calvin's view, is not simply the helper in re-
pentance, he is the author of it and anticipates us by his grace. In giving people
a new heart, God will change them inwardly, which Calvin says is a more ex-
cellent grace than restoring them to the land. The word "heart" (Zeb), here as
elsewhere, includes the mind, will, and understanding.
to know me. "Knowing Yahweh" is another key theme in Jeremiah (see Note
on 4:22).
for I am Yahweh. Hebrew kf 'anf yhwh. The expression occurs also in
9:23 [Eng 9:24] and significantly in that context, as here, after a statement
about "knowing Yahweh." The deletion by Volz and Holladay is without ba-
sis. On the similar phrase, kf-semfyhwh ("that my name is Yahweh"), see Note
for 16:21.
and they will be a people to me, and I, I will be God to them. The same cove-
nant formula appears often in Jeremiah (7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1, 33;
32:38). See also Ezek 11:20 and 36:28.
for they shall return to me with their whole heart. If the initial kf were to be
translated as a conditional "if," then one would have the conditional grace ad-
vocated for the passage by Zimmerli. But the Versions ancient and modern all
render the particle "for" or "when," which is correct and is consistent with Jer-
emianic theology found elsewhere in the book. Jeremiah makes extensive use
of the verb sub ("turn, return, repent"). In the early chapters, calls for repen-
tance are repeatedly made but go unheeded (5:3; 8:4-5). Foreseen here is a
complete turnabout for the covenant people, with repentance taking place be-
cause of the new heart Yahweh promises to give them. The present phrase is
deleted by Volz and Holladay but without textual support. It balances "and I