Jeremiah 31:36
in Jeremiah 31“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
KJV
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
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This verse in Jeremiah 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIf those ordinances - As sure as the sun shall give light to the day, and the moon to the night, so surely shall the Jews continue to be a distinct people. The same thing is expressed in other words in the next verse. Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled; the Jews are still a distinct people from all the dwellers upon earth. Every attempt that has been made in any country to naturalize and unite them with the people of that country, has proved abortive.
This site's exposition
Thus says the LORD, who gives
on Jeremiah 31:35-37
The LORD who “gives the sun for light by day” ties Israel to the fixed order. Israel’s descendants cease to be “a nation before Me” only if “this fixed order departed from My presence.” The text attaches this guarantee to the named people, after the terms of the new covenant.
This site's exposition
this fixed order departed from My presence
The fixed order is the sun, moon, stars and sea of verse 35. Israel's life as a nation is tied to that order. Adam Clarke wrote that the Jews had remained a distinct people in his day, against every attempt to absorb them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 35, 36) Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day, the order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar: The Lord of hosts is his name.
"If laws of day and night cease to speak before my face, says the Lord, then the descendants of Israel cease to be a nation forever." It is impossible that the world order established from the beginning would change, that is, movement of stars, change …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But their preservation as a distinct people amidst violent persecutions, though scattered among all nations for eighteen centuries, unamalgamated, whereas all other peoples under such circumstances have become incorporated with the nations in which they have been dispersed, is a perpetual standing miracle (compare Jer 33:20;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If those - If these. From the uniformity of God’s operations in the material world, the prophet deduces the certainty of a similar uniformity in God’s dealings with man in things spiritual. A nation - A people. Israel has long ceased to be a nation, but it still exists as a numerous, influential, and distinct people. In Mat 28:19-20 Jeremiah’s prophecy receives its Christian application, and Israel becomes the Church, with the promise of perpetual existence. It has no national existence, but its members ought to be a strongly marked people, refusing to be merged in the world, while everywhere they pervade and influence it.
1 more voice on this verse
Modern Voices1 voice
Remember God's reputation is on the line if Jewish people become extinct. He promised in Jer. 31:35-37, as long as there will be a sun, moon, stars, and waves, the Jewish people will survive as a distinct people.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָמֻ֜שׁוּ | yamushu | they will depart | H4185 → | |
| הַחֻקִּ֥ים | hachukim | the fixed order<s> | H2706 → | 127 times |
| הָאֵ֛לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| מִלְּפָנַ֖י | milefanai | from to before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| גַּם֩ | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| זֶ֨רַע | zera' | [the] offspring of | H2233 → | 229 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| יִשְׁבְּת֗וּ | yishbetu | they will cease | H7673 → | 71 times |
| מִֽהְי֥וֹת | mihyot | from being | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| גּ֛וֹי | goy | a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| לְפָנַ֖י | lefanai | <to> before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיָּמִֽים׃ ס | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָמֻ֜שׁוּthey will depart
yamushuH4185 →
הַחֻקִּ֥יםthe fixed order<s>
hachukimH2706 →127 times
הָאֵ֛לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
מִלְּפָנַ֖יfrom to before me
milefanaiH6440 →2123 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
גַּם֩also
gamH1571 →769 times
זֶ֨רַע[the] offspring of
zera'H2233 →229 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
יִשְׁבְּת֗וּthey will cease
yishbetuH7673 →71 times
מִֽהְי֥וֹתfrom being
mihyotH1961 →3559 times
גּ֛וֹיa nation
goyH1471 →561 times
לְפָנַ֖י<to> before me
lefanaiH6440 →2123 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיָּמִֽים׃ סthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 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
Psalms 148:6He established them forever and ever; He issued a decree that will never pass away.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 33:25
This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,
- Jeremiah 31:35–36
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the…
- Psalms 89:37
like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
- Job 38:33
Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
- Psalms 119:90–91
Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.
- Jeremiah 33:25
Through
Psalms 102:28The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.”
it leads to
- Psalms 69:35–36
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.
- Psalms 45:16–17
Your sons will succeed your fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land.
- Isaiah 59:20–21
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 69:35–36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies27
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Major Prophets
- The Covenants
- Creation to New Creation
- Ephraim and Manasseh, the two tribes of Joseph
- Generational Curses
- Theological Words
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About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH 31:36; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Sid Roth, Messianic Vision Newsletter, February 2026.