Jeremiah 33:22
in Jeremiah 33As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
KJV
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
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This verse in Jeremiah 33
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis is precisely what he also says about the priests and the Levites, noting that their line will be compared with the host of heaven and the sand of the sea. The facts confirm what is said: the whole land and sea are full of …
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
the sand on the seashore cannot be measured
The stars and sand repeat the promise of Genesis 22:17. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that here it is narrowed to David's house and the Levites, the two on whom the nation's welfare rested. Wesley reads the multiplied seed as the growth of Christians and faithful ministers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
Of David - Christ is himself called David, whose seed and whose Levites are multiplied in the multiplying of Christians and of faithful ministers under the gospel, which are the things here promised.
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.
): As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, so will I multiply the seed of David, so that there shall be no danger of the kingdom's being extinct, or extirpated, for want of heirs. The children are numerous; and, if children, then heirs. The covenant of priesthood shall be secured, and the promises of that also shall have their full accomplishment.
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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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
), that they shall be as numerous as the sand of the sea, the same that is promised concerning Israel in general ( Gen. xxii. 17 ); for all God's spiritual Israel are spiritual priests, Rev. v. 9, 10; vii. The covenant of peculiarity likewise shall be secured and the promises of that covenant shall have their full accomplishment in the gospel Israel.
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2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The blessing there promised belonged to all the tribes; here it is restricted to the family of David and the tribe of Levi, because it was on these that the welfare of the whole people rested. When the kingdom and priesthood flourish in the person of Messiah, the whole nation shall temporally and spiritually prosper.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסָּפֵר֙ | yisafer | it will be counted | H5608 → | 159 times |
| צְבָ֣א | tzeva' | [the] host of | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמַּ֖ד | yimad | it will be measured | H4058 → | |
| ח֣וֹל | chol | [the] sand of | H2344 → | 23 times |
| הַיָּ֑ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אַרְבֶּ֗ה | ʾarbeh | I will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶ֙רַע֙ | zera' | [the] offspring of | H2233 → | 229 times |
| דָּוִ֣ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| עַבְדִּ֔י | ʾavdi | servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֖ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| מְשָׁרְתֵ֥י | mesharetei | [the] servants of | H8334 → | 97 times |
| אֹתִֽי׃ ס | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִסָּפֵר֙it will be counted
yisaferH5608 →159 times
צְבָ֣א[the] host of
tzeva'H6635 →485 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִמַּ֖דit will be measured
yimadH4058 →
ח֣וֹל[the] sand of
cholH2344 →23 times
הַיָּ֑םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
אַרְבֶּ֗הI will increase
ʾarbehH7235 →227 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶ֙רַע֙[the] offspring of
zera'H2233 →229 times
דָּוִ֣דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
עַבְדִּ֔יservant my
ʾavdiH5650 →799 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַלְוִיִּ֖םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
מְשָׁרְתֵ֥י[the] servants of
meshareteiH8334 →97 times
אֹתִֽי׃ ס<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 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 11:12And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 22:17
Through
Genesis 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
it leads to
- Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 26:4
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 24:60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
- Numbers 24:17–19
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…
- Genesis 13:16
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Genesis 15:5
Through
Genesis 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:12
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Hebrews 11:12
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 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.