Bible Strands
Jeremiah 31:22
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel as a "faithless daughter" immediately after commanding them to set up road markers and return to their cities (Jeremiah 31:21). The declaration occurs within a restoration oracle that follows a call to abandon stubborn self-direction (Jeremiah 7:24) and precedes a promise of renewed covenant blessing (Jeremiah 31:23).
The words — The Hebrew verb תִתְחַמַקִי (tit.cha.maqi) literally means "will you vacillate" or flee, paired with מָתַי (ma.tai) for "how long." The verb בָרָא (bara) denotes a definitive divine creation of a "new thing" in the land.
The thread — The designation "faithless daughter" recurs in Jeremiah 49:4 to describe misplaced trust in material security. The call to return mirrors the highway signposts of Jeremiah 31:21, while the surrounding context (Jeremiah 31:23) frames the promise within national restoration.
Why it lands — The text states prolonged spiritual wandering before declaring a divinely initiated reversal that inverts expected social order. Readers must acknowledge their own instability and accept an unmerited restoration that originates solely from God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 7:24 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Jeremiah 49:4 Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
- Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Luke 1:34 “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
- Jeremiah 2:18 Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
- Jeremiah 2:36 How impulsive you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- Jeremiah 3:6 Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
- Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
- Jeremiah 4:14 Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Hosea 4:16 For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?