Jeremiah 24:7
in Jeremiah 24I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
KJV
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
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This verse in Jeremiah 24
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWITH what blindness has sin struck the heart of man, for man does not know his own Maker! It is implied in the text that in his heart he is ignorant of Jehovah, though in Him he lives, and moves, and has his being. What an impotence has sin brought upon the mind of man, since being ignorant of God he is also incapable of finding Him out! This, also, may be most readily gathered from the text.
This site's exposition
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Jeremiah 24:4-7
The good figs are identified as the captives already in Babylon, and the reversal is total: exile itself, the thing every earlier oracle names as judgment, is here called for their good, sent out for their own benefit rather than in spite of it. The promise recovers the exact verbs of the prophet's own call, I will build them, and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up, the watching over to build answering the watching to pluck up named at 1:10. Verse 7 completes the covenant formula, an heart to know me, they shall be my people, and I will be their God, and the commentators read the unit as the book's clearest statement that the exile itself, not merely the return from it, was the path chosen for the nation's healing.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, Those that have backslidden from God, if they do in sincerity return to him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges and comforts of the everlasting covenant, which is herein well-ordered, that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that afflictions are not only consistent with, but flowing from, covenant-love.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The source of their conversion is here stated to be God's prevenient grace. for they shall return--Repentance, though not the cause of pardon, is its invariable accompaniment: it is the effect of God's giving a heart to know Him.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתַתִּי֩ | venatati | and I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶ֨ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| לֵ֜ב | lev | a heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| לָדַ֣עַת | ladaat | to know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֹתִ֗י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְהָיוּ־ | vehayu- | and they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִ֣י | li | for <the> me | ||
| לְעָ֔ם | leam | <into> a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְאָ֣נֹכִ֔י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| אֶהְיֶ֥ה | ʾehyeh | I will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| לֵאלֹהִ֑ים | lelohim | <into> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָשֻׁ֥בוּ | yashuvu | they will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֵלַ֖י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לִבָּֽם׃ ס | libam | heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
וְנָתַתִּי֩and I will give
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
לָהֶ֨םto <the> them
lahem
לֵ֜בa heart
levH3820 →595 times
לָדַ֣עַתto know
ladaatH3045 →945 times
אֹתִ֗י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
כִּ֚יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֔ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְהָיוּ־and they will become
vehayu-H1961 →3559 times
לִ֣יfor <the> me
li
לְעָ֔ם<into> a people
leamH5971 →1873 times
וְאָ֣נֹכִ֔יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
אֶהְיֶ֥הI will become
ʾehyehH1961 →3559 times
לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them
lahem
לֵאלֹהִ֑ים<into> God
lelohimH430 →2601 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָשֻׁ֥בוּthey will return
yashuvuH7725 →1056 times
אֵלַ֖יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
בְּכָל־with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
לִבָּֽם׃ סheart their
libamH3820 →595 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 8:10For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:33
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 36:26–28
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on…
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Hebrews 10:16–17
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
- Jeremiah 31:33
Through
Zechariah 8:8I will bring them back to dwell in Jerusalem, where they will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:28
Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 11:20
so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
- Ezekiel 36:28
Through
Jeremiah 30:22“And you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
it leads to
- Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 21:3
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1206: “Heart-Knowledge of God” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
