An Exegetical Paper on Jeremiah 31:26-34 (BHS)

In this paper, I aim to look the text from Jeremiah 31:26-34 (BHS), and understand the literary structure of the text, its intended audience and meaning through exegesis, and how the text applies to the present audience. The theological perspective of the text will also be dealt with, as this portion contains “…the famous prophecy of a “בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה, New Covenant” (Jer. 31:31-34),” which is significant to the present audience’ understanding of who Jesus in the New Testament.  Our text for exegesis, except for v. 26 contains declarations from the LORD for the salvation of Israel. The phrase “נְאֻם־יְהוָה, declares the LORD,” makes this passage an important text, which points to the LORD’s initiative according to His covenantal faithfulness to accomplish the salvation of Israel; and thus the portion is known as “an oracle of salvation.”  In this oracle, which contains striking similarities to the message found in the book of Ezekiel,  the LORD makes it clear that each person is responsible for his/ her own sin, and thus making the offer and accomplishment of salvation unique for each individual. Followed by the Introduction, in this paper, we shall look at translation with short explanatory notes wherever needed, in order to understand why a particular word has been translated in a certain way, along with references from sources on which we can build our understanding of the word or the phrase. Furthermore, we shall briefly mention about Date and Destination of the Book of Jeremiah, literary analysis of the text, and The Book of Consolation, as this will help us to understand in what context, situations and circumstances was the text spoken/ written. This is followed by an Pericope Exegetical Outline, which gives reader the framework of textual blocks discussing about a particular content of the text.  Then, we shall look at Pericope Exegetical Analysis of the outline. This portion will discuss about the literary contents of the text, and what it means, based on the sources from the works of other scholars, and also on the literary structure of the text, including topical notes on key ideas and other keywords. Finally, we shall look at how we can preach Christ from this text. This will be followed by conclusion that shall summarize the contents of the paper.