424 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSjudgment preaching to Judah, Yahweh says he will bring an enemy from the
land of the north (6:22) and like an east wind will scatter his people to faraway
places (9: l 5[Eng 9: 16]; 13:24; 18: 17). But later, to dispersed Judah, he promises
that he will gather them (3:18; 16:15; 23:3, 8; 29:14; 32:37; cf. Deut 30:3-4;
Ezek 11: 17; 20:34, 41; 28:25; Isa 41:9; 43:5-6).
from the land of the north. The LXX has just "from the north." 4QJer° sup-
ports MT.
And I will gather them. Hebrew weqibba$tfm. 4QJer° has an imperfect form
of the verb.
among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant and woman in labor to-
gether. Anyone and everyone will make this journey. God, says Rashi, will not
leave the staggering behind. Such people could not have made the walk to As-
syria, or (excepting poor blind Zedekiah) the later walk to Babylon (cf. Mark
13: 17-18). Calvin notes that the blind cannot take a step without stumbling or
falling; nor can the lame make progress on such a journey. But God promises
that both will be on the walk home, and such care will he provide the returning
band that even pregnant women and those in labor will be able to journey with
the rest. Calvin finds this a wonder, which is precisely the point. The promises
of God exceed what is thought humanly possible. God has the power to make
the blind see and the lame walk and enable the pregnant and those in labor to
undertake arduous journeys. In the NT, note the conditions under which Jesus
is born (Luke 2: 1-7). In place of the present words, the LXX has "to the feast of
the Passover, and they shall give birth" which is widely judged a corruption, al-
though Becking (1994a: 161) has argued that, with retroversion, the Old Greek
might be more original. This is doubtful. Jones thinks the LXX reading may
have been intentionally doctored. Noting that the LXX adds "sons of Levi" in
31: 14, he thinks that this reading along with the one here may represent a late
orthodox editing of MT. The T, Vg, and 4QJer° all support MT.
a great assembly shall return here. Hebrew qa.ha.l ga.d6l ya.suba henna. The
MT, LXX, T, and Vg all give the present reading; nevertheless, certain com-
mentators (Blayney; Duhm; Volz; Rudolph; Weiser; Bright; Thompson;
McKane) want to emend henna ("here") to hinneh ("Look"), placing the lat-
ter at the beginning of v 9. The idea is attractive, since v 8 begins with hinenf
("Look I"), but there is really no justification for the emendation, and none of
the modern Versions adopts it. The text reads perfectly well as is and should
be retained. Yahweh makes the statement as if speaking in Jerusalem.
shall return. Hebrew ya.subu. 4QJer^0 is written defective: ysbw.
- With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them. The
assembly appears to be genuinely repentant, unlike the Judahites making
"weeping supplications" to Baal in 3:21. Rashi says the people are coming
home in prayer and repentance (cf. 31:19). KimJ:ii says the weeping is for joy.
Repentance and joy may certainly occur simultaneously, so emotional will be
the return. The LXX, T, and Vg contrast the coming home with the ear1ier go-
ing away, presumably translating ya.bo'u "they shall go" rather than "they shall
come." The LXX: "In weeping they went out (exelthon), but in encouragement