Bible Strands
Jeremiah 33:26
then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet Jeremiah to a post-exilic or exilic audience, extending the conditional argument initiated in verse 25 regarding the established covenant with day and night. The declaration addresses the perceived collapse of the Davidic monarchy and the Jacobite promises during the period of captivity.
The words — The text centers on אֶמְאַס ('em.'As), meaning "I will reject," and זֶרַע (Ze.ra'), meaning "offspring" or "descendants." These terms establish the conditional framework: God states He would reject Jacob and David's line only if He violated His cosmic order.
The thread — The linkage of divine compassion, restoration, and the Jacobite/Davidic promises runs through Jeremiah 31:37, Isaiah 14:1, and Hosea 2:23. These passages collectively anchor the guarantee of return in God's unchanging covenantal character rather than human merit.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to accept that God's commitment to David's line and Jacob's descendants is absolute and irreversible. It demands a factual acknowledgment that exile is temporary and restoration is guaranteed by the same covenant that governs creation.
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
Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Isaiah 14:1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
- Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
- Isaiah 54:8 In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
- Jeremiah 31:20 Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 39:25 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
- Hosea 1:7 Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”
- Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
- Romans 11:32 For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.
- Ezra 2:1 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,