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NASB | Jeremiah 31:22 "How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth-- A woman will encompass a man." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Jeremiah 31:22 "How long will you hesitate [to return], O you faithless and renegade daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land [of Israel]: A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man." |
Subject: New covnant w/ Isrl or proph on Christ? |
Bible Note: Dear Sister Azure, The more I look at it, the more uncertain I am that it necessarily means conception. The word sebab is used 148 times in the OT. But an examination of each of those instances never look anything like what we see here in Jeremiah 31:22. Consequently I'm uncertain of my own interpretation. So, after spending about 30 minutes on it now... I'm going to cheat and go see what the Reformers had to say about it. :-) Okay... Of all the various commentaries and discussions, John Calvin seems to have what looks like the strongest argument. In hindsight, it brings clarity to what I was seeing as I looked at all those instances of the word sebab. I will paste the pertinent comments from Calvin this verse. (Note: I'm given to understand that the translations of Calvin's works into English come out sounding pretty cumbersome. From what I've read, it isn't so much the fault of the way he wrote, as it is the fault of the translators. I have to take the word of those who can read Latin and French -- Calvin rendered his commentaries in both languages.) I hope it helps. In Him, Doc "[The phrase] 'a woman shall surround a man' Christians, almost with one consent, explain this of the virgin Mary; and the 'new thing,' leads them to this opinion, and probably, also, they were anxious to lay hold on whatever might seem to refer to the mystery of our salvation. They, therefore, say that the new thing of which the Prophet [Jeremiah] speaks is the virgin carrying the infant Christ in her womb, and that He is called man, because He was full of divine power, though He increased according to the flesh in stature, wisdom, and strength. All this is deservedly laughed at by the Jews; yet they themselves, as I think, do not rightly understand the meaning of the Prophet. They apply it to the people of Israel, because they were like a woman divorced from her husband. They then say, 'A woman shall embrace a man after having been alienated from him, and prostituted herself to many adulterers.' The Jews seem to think that they give the meaning of the Prophet; but I think otherwise, for there is here a comparison made between a woman and a man, which they do not consider. For the Prophet does not speak here simply of a man, but of a strong man; for the word geber, means a man who is brave or courageous. When, therefore, he compares a woman to a man, I doubt not but the Prophet means that the Israelites, who were like women, without strength, were destitute of any means of help; but then he says, that they would be superior in strength to their enemies, whose power filled the whole world with terror. We, indeed, know what sort of monarchy Babylon was when the Jews were led into exile. If then we consider what the Jews at that time were, we must say that they were like weak women, while their enemies were strong and warlike... "The word sebab, means not to embrace, but oftentimes to besiege; and it is taken in many places of Scripture in a bad sense, 'Enemies have surrounded me.' When, therefore, a siege is mentioned, the Scripture uses this word. It is then the same as though the Prophet had said, 'Women shall bring men into such straits that they shall hold them captive.' But he uses the singular number, as though he had said, 'One woman shall be superior to many men, or each Jew shall exceed in valor a Chaldean; so the Jews shall gain the upper hand, though the strength of their enemies be great and terrible.' This is what I regard as the meaning of the Prophet; and justly does he set forth this as a wonderful thing, for it, was a sort of revolution in the world when God thus raised up His servants, so that they who had enslaved them should become far unequal to them." |