536 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSthank offerings were earlier promised continuance if people kept the Sabbath
(17:26), but they did not. But in the restoration these will be resumed.
Yahweh of hosts. The LXX translates ~eba'ot ("of hosts") with pantokratori, as
it occasionally does in Jeremiah (see Appendix VI).
for Yahweh is good, for his steadfast love is eternal. A slightly altered refrain
lifted from the Psalms (cf. Pss 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 136:1), much used in Sec-
ond Temple worship (1Chr16:34; 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; Ezra 3:11), but one that
could nevertheless be ancient (Peake).
and those bringing. The LXX, S, and Vg translate a conjunctive waw on
mebi'fm, which MT does not have. Ehrlich ( 1912: 328) thinks the waw was lost
in the MT by haplography (double waw in succession), which is probably
right. But note the similar lack of a waw on ba'im ("those coming") in v 5 (see
Note there).
thank offering. Hebrew t8da. See Lev 7:11-15; 22:29. This offering was
highly esteemed in later Judaism. The Talmud states: "In the time to come all
sacrifices will cease, but the sacrifice of thanksgiving will not cease" (Kimqi;
H. Freedman).
to the house of Yahweh. The preposition "to" is omitted by ellipsis; see Note
for 24: 1.
for I will surely restore the fortunes of the land as at first. On the expression
"restore the fortunes," which occurs in vv 7 and 26 (Q) as an internal H-stem
as it does here, see Note for 29: 14. For its importance in the Book of Restora-
tion, see Rhetoric and Composition for 33:1-3.
- Yahweh of hosts. The LXX translates ~eba'ot ("of hosts") with ton dy-
nameon, which it does nowhere else in the book of Jeremiah (see Appendix VI).
Again there shall be ... pasture for shepherds resting the fiock. It is a sure sign
of peace when flocks and herds can be brought securely into pasture (Calvin).- In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the
cities of the Negeb, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the regions around Jeru-
salem, and in the cities of Judah. Compare the sweep in 17:26 and 32:44. On
the location of the various territories, see Note for 17:26.
again the fiock shall pass under the hands of the one who counts it. The shep-
herd counts the sheep as they pass under his rod, to make sure none is lost (Lev
27:32; Ezek 20:37). Virgil (Eclogues iii 34) too says: Bisque die numerant ambo
pecus, alter et haedos, "twice a day both count the flock, and one of them the
kids as well" (Loeb). The T substitutes "Messiah" for "the one who counts it."
MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
In Oracle I Yahweh says that in the place people now call a wasteland, devoid
of people and animals, glad sounds will again be heard-the voices of the
groom and the bride, and the voices of grateful worshipers bringing thank
offerings to the Temple, for Yahweh promises to restore the people's fortunes to
what they were in prior times. In Oracle II Yahweh says that in the present