Bible Strands
Jeremiah 33:22
As 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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Jeremiah to confirm that His covenant with David and the Levites will not be broken.
The words — The Hebrew employs יִסָּפֵר (yi.sa.Fer, "it will be counted") and יִמַּד (yi.Mad, "it will be measured") to describe the inaccessibility of the heavenly hosts and the seashore sand.
The thread — This comparison to uncountable stars and immeasurable sand originates in Genesis 15:5 and Genesis 22:17 to promise Abraham physical offspring, and is later applied in Hebrews 11:12 to the countless natural descendants of one man.
Why it lands — The text declares God’s ability to multiply David’s royal line and Levitical ministers beyond human calculation, requiring the reader to acknowledge His unbreakable commitment to these specific covenants.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- Isaiah 66:21 “And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
- Jeremiah 31:37 This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 37:24 My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.
- 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 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
- Psalms 22:30 Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
- Psalms 89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: