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
10 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
Then the word of the LORD
on Jeremiah 24:4-7
The good figs are the exiles in Babylon: “so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place.” The promise takes up the verbs of Jeremiah's call at 1:10, “I will build them up and not tear them down.”
This site's exposition
I will give them a heart
The heart to know the LORD is His gift, and the return follows from it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see God's grace as the source and repentance as its fruit. Henry traces even the exile to covenant love.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Put away doubting from you and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord, saying to yourself, "How can I ask of the Lord and receive from Him, seeing I have sinned so much against Him?" Do not thus reason with yourself, but with all your heart turn to the Lord and ask of Him without doubting, and you will know the multitude of His tender mercies; that He will never leave you, but fulfil the request of your soul.
(Chapter XXIV. - Verse 1ff.) The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets (or baskets) full of figs, placed before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes, the craftsmen, and the captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that ripen early, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were bad. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord,.... God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin; the unchangeable Jehovah; the everlasting I AM; a covenant keeping God; faithful and true to his promises; able and willing to perform them; and does all things well and wisely; and was their Lord and God.
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
WITH 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. The fact that a promise is made in the Covenant that to the chosen shall be given hearts to know the Lord is a clear proof that without the Divine teaching and without the reception of a new heart from the Lord, man not only does not know, but cannot find out his God! You boast of your intellect, O vain Man, but your foolish heart is darkened so that you stumble in the noonday as at midnight. You have eyes, and you say, "I see," but your eyes are closed, your ears are dull of hearing and your heart has waxed gross. And your soul has become so dull that only He who formed the ear can make you hear. And only He who fashioned the eye can give you sight. How can we sufficiently admire the condescension of God, that He should stoop to instruct the heart of man? Man forgets his God, but God does not forget him. Though man knows not God, yet God knows him and, seeing that his powerlessness to grasp Divine knowledge lies in his heart, He visits him in Grace and renews the fountain of his strength and the center of his nature by giving him a new heart and a right spirit. The infinitely glorious God might have regarded it as a matter of indifference whether such an insignificant creature as man knew Him or not. He might well have said, and it had been consistent with the majesty of His justice to say it, "Seeing that you do not desire to know Me, you shall not perceive Me. And inasmuch as you close your eyes to Me, you shall continue in outer darkness.
They shall be my people - I will renew my covenant with them, for they will return to me with them whole heart.
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 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Shepherd of Hermas, Shepherd of Hermas, Commandment 9.