Jeremiah 29:13
in Jeremiah 29You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
KJV
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
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This verse in Jeremiah 29
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNote, When God is about to give his people the expected good he pours out a spirit of prayer, and it is a good sign that he is coming towards them in mercy. Then, when you see the expected end approaching, then you shall call upon me. Note, Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer: and when deliverance is coming we must by prayer go forth to meet it.
This site's exposition
Then you will call upon Me
on Jeremiah 29:12-14
Restoration follows a turning: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart,” the language of Deuteronomy 4:29. The gathering reaches past Babylon, “from all the nations and places to which I have banished you,” a wider scattering than the captivity in view.
This site's exposition
search for Me with all your heart
Seeking with all the heart repeats Deuteronomy 4:29, a promise made to Israel scattered among the nations. Matthew Henry says to search is to take pains and keep on, in truth and in earnest prayer. Daniel 9 records one exile who did so.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We must continue seeking, and take pains in seeking, as those that search; and this we must do with our heart (that is, in sincerity and uprightness), and with our whole heart (that is, with vigour and fervency, putting forth all that is within us in prayer), and those who thus seek God shall find him, and shall find him their bountiful rewarder, Heb. xi.
And ye shall seek me, and find me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
LAST Sabbath morning [See Sermon No. 1312, "Good News for Seekers."] we gave forth words of good cheer to those who seek the Lord, dwelling upon those encouraging words of the Savior upon the Cross, "They shall praise the Lord that seek Him." We aimed only at the one point of encouraging seekers, for a single objective is always enough for one discourse and the impression made is more likely to be permanent. We had neither time nor desire to qualify our language with discriminating remarks which would help to show who are true seekers and who are not.
LAST Sabbath morning [See Sermon No. 1312, "Good News for Seekers."] we gave forth words of good cheer to those who seek the Lord, dwelling upon those encouraging words of the Savior upon the Cross, "They shall praise the Lord that seek Him." We aimed only at the one point of encouraging seekers, for a single objective is always enough for one discourse and the impression made is more likely to be permanent. We had neither time nor desire to qualify our language with discriminating remarks which would help to show who are true seekers and who are not. One cannot reap and winnow with the same machine. I think it is right, therefore, that we should follow up that discourse by another in which we shall discern between those who truly seek and those who only nominally seek the Lord. Such discrimination will be useful in many ways. Perhaps, dear Friend, after last Lord's-Day you said, "I do not understand this promise that seekers shall praise God, for I have been seeking for many months but I have not been able to praise Him. Surely the promise cannot be true for me." Rest assured, dear Friend, that the promise is true for you if you are true to it. The Word of the Lord is sure. There can be no question upon that point—the questions to be raised must deal with yourself and your searching—either you do not seek or else you seek amiss. Always conclude that if a general promise does not turn out to be true in your particular instance, there is something in you that hinders it. You must have fallen short of the character to which the promise is made—the promise, itself, cannot be suspect.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And you shall call Me and go In My ways. This is an ellipsis.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם | uvikashtem | and you will seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֹתִ֖י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וּמְצָאתֶ֑ם | umetzatem | and you will find [me] | H4672 → | 455 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִדְרְשֻׁ֖נִי | tidreshuni | you will seek me | H1875 → | 164 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לְבַבְכֶֽם׃ | levavkhem | heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥םand you will seek
uvikashtemH1245 →225 times
אֹתִ֖י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
וּמְצָאתֶ֑םand you will find [me]
umetzatemH4672 →455 times
כִּ֥יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תִדְרְשֻׁ֖נִיyou will seek me
tidreshuniH1875 →164 times
בְּכָל־with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
לְבַבְכֶֽם׃heart your
levavkhemH3824 →252 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
Matthew 7:7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
it leads to
- Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
- 1 John 3:22
and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
- John 15:7
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
- Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
- Psalms 145:18–19
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Matthew 21:22
Through
Psalms 119:2Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Psalms 119:10
With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.
- Deuteronomy 4:29
Through
Psalms 119:10With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:34
Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.
- Psalms 119:34
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1313: “A Second Word to Seekers” (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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.