466 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSGod and his people will rest following the collapse of the Mosaic covenant
and Israel's loss of nationhood in 586 B.C. This new relationship, which Yah-
weh himself will create, is anticipated in other terms by Jeremiah (24:7; 32:38-
40; 50:5) and also by Ezekiel (Ezek 16:60; 34:25; 36:27-28; 37:26), Second
Isaiah (Isa 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:1-5; 59:21; 61:8), and Malachi (Mal 3:1; cf.
2: 1-9). The new covenant forms the centerpiece of a larger hope that includes
a new act of salvation, a new Zion, and a new Davidic king.
Scholars have considered two related questions when discussing the concept
of a new covenant: 1) whether this covenant really is "new," and 2) whether the
Mosaic covenant over against which the new covenant stands continues to be
viable. Some think the new covenant is a renewal of the Mosaic(= Sinai) cove-
nant and nothing more (Duhm; Levin 1985: 140-41; Lohfink 199lb: 45;
Rendtorff 1993: 198; Holmgren 1999: 75-95), while others believe that Jere-
miah announces the end of the Mosaic covenant and presents here a covenant
that is really new (B. W. Anderson 1964: 232; Zimmerli l 965a: 80; von Rad
1965: 212-13; Wolff 1983: 53, 60). Von Rad agrees that the Mosaic covenant
really was broken and that there is no attempt here, as in Deuteronomy, to re-
establish it on the old bases; nevertheless, the revelation it contained is not nul-
lified in whole or in part. So far as content goes, the new covenant neither
alters nor expands the old. Marconcini ( 1993) says the new covenant renews
the old, but on entirely different grounds. What may certainly be said is that for
Jeremiah the gulf between the new covenant and the Mosaic covenant is
greater than for any who preceded him. In my view, the new covenant cannot
be reduced to a renewed Sinai covenant such as took place on the plains of
Moab (Deut 5:2-3; 28:69[Eng 29:1]), at Shechem (Joshua 24), or in Jerusalem
at the climax of the Josianic Reform (2 Kings 23). Although this new covenant
will have admitted continuity with the Sinai covenant, it will still be a genu-
inely new covenant, one that marks a new beginning in the divine-human
relationship because 1) it is given without conditions; 2) it will be written in
the hearts of people in a way the Sinai covenant was not ( v 3 3); and 3) it will be
grounded in a wholly new act of divine grace, i.e., the forgiveness of sins (v 34).
On the unconditional nature of the "eternal covenant" (berft <6fam), which is
another name for the new covenant, see Note for 32:40.
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Some commentators
and other scholars (Giesebrecht; Cornill; Peake; Streane; Volz; Rudolph;
Weiser; Hyatt; Bright; Wolff 1983: 50-51) want to eliminate "and with the
house of Judah" as a gloss, since "Judah" does not appear in v 3 3, but there is
no textual support for the deletion. Actually, a minority reading in v 3 3 has
bene yiira>e[ ("children of Israel") for bet yiira>e[ ("house of Israel"), which
would include both Israel and Judah (see below). Moreover, the Book of
Restoration prophecies - of which this is one -are intended for both Israel
and Judah (30:3-4). In the unit immediately preceding, Yahweh sows "the
house of Israel and the house of Judah" ( v 27). In v 3 3, then, "Israel" means
all Israel, including Judah. But there is nothing to suggest that this new cove-
nant will be made with an expanded Israel, including Gentiles. It was so in-