Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 425(paraklesei) I will direct them [home]." Calvin, in support of this interpreta-
tion, cites Ps 126:6: "He that surely goes forth with weeping ... shall surely
come in with a cry of joy." The exile, says Calvin, can be compared to sowing
and the return to a joyful harvest. Other commentators, too, express a prefer-
ence for this interpretation, but the MT rendering is more dynamic, with the re-
turning throng weeping and supplicating Yahweh as he leads them along. Also,
one should note that bo) in the perfect means "come (in)," not "go," in 31: 12.
I will bring them to streams of water. The successive verbs "I will lead them,
I will bring them" are sonorous in Hebrew: )obflem )olfkem. A naftal is a
"stream" or "brook" (Ar wadi), water flowing gently except in the rainy season
when it becomes a virtual torrent (cf. 47:2). The Promised Land is filled with
"streams of water" (Deut 8:7), and these will be a welcome sight to the return-
ees. For later Judahites coming home, these streams will contrast with the "riv-
ers of Babylon" alongside which they sat down and wept (Ps 137:1). In Second
Isaiah's "new Exodus," Yahweh's leading will bring the people to springs in the
desert (Isa 35:6-7; 41:18; 43:19-20; 44:3-4; 48:21; 49:10). In the NT Apoca-
lypse, the Lamb will lead survivors of the tribulation to springs of living water
(Rev 7:17).
to streams of water. 4QJerc has 'al for MT's )el. On the interchange of 'al and
)el in Jeremiah, see again v 12 and Note for 11:2.
on a level path, in which they will not stumble. 4QJerc has a waw prefixed to
lo) ("and they shall not stumble"). The homeward trek will be "on a level
path" (bederek yasar). The AV, RSV, and NRSV translate yasar as "straight" ("a
straight way/path"), which does not really suit the context. The path must be
"smooth" or "level" so that the blind and lame will not stumble and fall. The
lame run the added risk of suffering dislocation (cf. Heb 12:13). In Jeremiah's
judgment preaching, people are brought to stumbling either because of their
own perverse ways (18:15; 20:11) or because Yahweh brings it about in judg-
ment (6:15, 21; 8:12). For later Judahites returning from Babylon, the highway
will also be on level ground, with low places being built up (Isa 40:3-4; 42:16;
45:2, 13; 49:11; 57:14; 62:10).
For I am as a father to Israel, and Ephraim, my firstborn is he. These con-
cluding words are climactic, like the asseveration in 10: 16. For "father-son"
imagery elsewhere in Jeremiah (3:4, 19; 31:20) and its likely derivation from
Hosea (Hos 2:l[Eng 1:10]; 11:1), see K. Gross 1930: 7. The imagery is present
also in Deut 32:5-6. In 3:19, Yahweh expresses the desire to have treated his
daughter-people as one of the sons, giving her an inheritance. "Father" is not
a common designation for Yahweh in the OT, but it does occur (see Note for
3:4; cf. Muilenburg 1960). The declaration of ISrael as Yahweh's "firstborn"
(bekor) has roots in the Exodus tradition (Exod 4:22), but here in the present
verse the firstborn is Ephraim. Calvin says "Ephraim" is simply another
name for the whole people of Israel, but it seems, rather, that reference here
is only to Northern Israel (Hertzberg 1952: 597; pace McKane), as in Jere-
miah elsewhere (7:15; 31:9, 18, 20) and all through the book of Hosea.
Ephraim as Yahweh's "firstborn" finds biblical support in 1 Chr 5: 1-3, where