Jeremiah 33:20
in Jeremiah 33“This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
KJV
Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
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This verse in Jeremiah 33
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAs it is impossible for day to become night, so it is impossible for the Davidic monarchy to be destroyed. The fulfillment of this prophecy is also clear: Christ, who is of David according to the flesh, does not occupy the throne here below. He …
This site's exposition
And the word of the LORD
on Jeremiah 33:19-22
“If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night,” then the covenant with David can be broken. Verse 22 reaches for the largest images, “the sand on the seashore cannot be measured,” to promise the growth of David's line and the Levites.
This site's exposition
My covenant with the day
Wesley ties this to the fixed order of Jeremiah 31:35. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that covenant with the day is built to match covenant with David in verse 21. Theodoret of Cyrus draws the conclusion: day cannot become night, and the throne of David cannot be destroyed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
My covenant - The same with the ordinances mentioned, chap. xxxi, 35. God's law established in the course of natural causes, by virtue of which the day and night, orderly succeed one another. The succession of the gospel ministry in the church of God to abide for ever, shall be as certain as the succession of darkness and light.
God speaketh once, yea, twice, for the encouragement of his people. We are not only so disobedient that we have need of precept upon precept to bring us to our duty, but so distrustful that we have need of promise upon promise to bring us to our comfort. This word, as the former, came to Jeremiah when he was in prison.
22 ), and has continued ever since, Ps. xix. The morning and the evening have both of them their regular outgoings ( Ps. lxv. 8 ); the day-spring knows its place, knows its time, and keeps both, so do the shadows of the evening; and, while the world stands, this course shall not be altered, this covenant shall not be broken.
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Thus saith the Lord, if you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
covenant of the day--that is, covenant with the day: answering to "covenant with David" (Jer 33:21, also Jer 33:25, "with day"; compare Jer 31:35, 36;
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
If ye can break my covenant of the day - See the note on Jer 31:36.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תָּפֵ֙רוּ֙ | taferu | you will break | H6565 → | 50 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִ֣י | beriti | covenant of my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| הַיּ֔וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִ֖י | beriti | covenant of my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| הַלָּ֑יְלָה | halayelah | the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וּלְבִלְתִּ֛י | ulevilti | and to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| הֱי֥וֹת | heyot | to be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| יֽוֹמָם־ | yomom- | daytime | H3119 → | 50 times |
| וָלַ֖יְלָה | valaylah | and night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| בְּעִתָּֽם׃ | beitam | at appropriate time their | H6256 → | 296 times |
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תָּפֵ֙רוּ֙you will break
taferuH6565 →50 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִ֣יcovenant of my
beritiH1285 →284 times
הַיּ֔וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִ֖יcovenant of my
beritiH1285 →284 times
הַלָּ֑יְלָהthe night
halayelahH3915 →233 times
וּלְבִלְתִּ֛יand to not
uleviltiH1115 →112 times
הֱי֥וֹתto be
heyotH1961 →3559 times
יֽוֹמָם־daytime
yomom-H3119 →50 times
וָלַ֖יְלָהand night
valaylahH3915 →233 times
בְּעִתָּֽם׃at appropriate time their
beitamH6256 →296 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
Genesis 8:22As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
it leads to
- James 5:7
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- Jeremiah 5:24
They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
- Psalms 74:16–17
The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
- Jeremiah 31:35
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…
- Song of Solomon 2:11–12
For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
- James 5:7
Through
Psalms 89:37like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
it leads to
- 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…
- Genesis 1:14–18
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
- Psalms 104:19
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
- Jeremiah 31:35–36
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 7:33.18.
