Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 415
Kim}:ii focus on the Exodus and translate it past: "went"). The Hebrew then is,
literally, "He is going to find his rest, i.e., Israel (is)." Some commentators
(Rashi; Kim}:ii; Calvin; Cheyne; Streane; Holladay; Mc Kane) and some an-
cient as well as modern Versions (Aq; Symm; T; AV; REB; NIV) make God the
subject and read a double accusative: "He (God) went to give Israel his rest." In
earlier biblical sources Yahweh promised a "rest" (m1ab H-stem) to Israel,
which meant settlement in the Promised Land and safety from enemies round
about (Exod 33:14; Deut 3:20; 12:9-10; 25:19; Josh 1:13; 21:43; cf. von Rad
1966). Now, however, reference is primarily, though not exclusively, to an an-
ticipated redemption of the ten Northern tribes from Assyrian exile and their
return to the land of Israel, their resting place (Abarbanel). On another occa-
sion, Jeremiah challenged the people of Judah to "find rest" by walking in "the
good way," but they rejected it ( 6: 16).
- From far off Yahweh appeared to me. Interpretation here turns on the trans-
lation of meraboq, which can mean either "from far off" or "from long ago,"
and on the translation of the indirect object as "to me" (MT) or "to him"
(LXX). We can probably dismiss "from long ago" at the outset (pace Rashi;
Kim}:ii; Holladay; T; AV; NEB [but not REB]; NJV; NIV), even though a di-
vine revelation-and a very important one-did occur at the time of the Exo-
dus, the reason being that the oracle goes on to say that again Yahweh will
build up Israel, again there will be drum-playing and dancing, and again vine-
yards will be planted and people will eat their fruit. This revelation is then a
current one, which must mean that Yahweh is offering it from some distant
location. A common interpretation among commentators (Peake; Cornill;
Streane; Rudolph; McKane) who see the revelation as current and accept also
the LXX's "to him" is that Yahweh is speaking from his dwelling place in Jeru-
salem to exiles afar off (cf. 30: 1 O; 51:50). But the problem with reading "to
him" is that the pronouns following are feminine, addressing "virgin Israel"
(Cornill). Thus MT's "to me" appears to be preferable (Giesebrecht; Volz).
Jeremiah, in any case, is the speaker, and he seems to be saying that Yahweh
appeared to him from "far off" with hopeful words for a languishing Israel, and
these now follow (cf. 31 :26). Whether this revelation be from high heaven or
some other distant location is not important. What does seem to be clear, at
least from 23:23-24, is that Yahweh is very much a God "far off" (meraboq).
With an eternal love I have loved you; therefore I draw you faithfully along. In
the second colon, besed is an adverbial accusative: "faithfully" (GKC § l 18m).
The LXX has eis oiktirema, "in compassion." God's "love" eahaba) for his
people is not as prominent a theme in the OT as it later becomes in the NT,
but it is present, mainly in Hosea, Deuteronomy, and Jeremiah (K. Gross 1931:
243-46; Moran l 963b ). See also Isa 43 :4. Here in the present verse this love is
said to stand behind Yahweh's "faithfulness" (besed), which is a very important
theological concept in the OT (see Note for 2:2) and nothing less than a divine
attribute according to Yahweh's self-asseveration in Exod 34:6-7. The AV trans-
lated besed as "lovingkindness"; the RSV translates as "steadfast love." The
present verse is also extraordinary in that it speaks of Yahweh loving Israel
