These verses, Jeremiah 33:15-22, promise the full restoration of the Davidic dynasty and the Levitical priesthood. The Words of God recorded here came to Jeremiah in 587 BC during the final months of the Babylonian siege that will result in the 586 destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. According
to Jeremiah 33:1 the prophet was still confined to the courtyard of the guard, but his message has moved from words of warning and judgment to words of comfort with promises of restoration and a greater day in the future.
The reference to the “branch” clearly has the Messiah in view. This continues in verses in Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12 in 520 BC when Israel returns and King Jehoiachin’s grandson Zerubbabel is serving as governor of Judah for the recently risen Persian Empire. Jehoiachin and Zerubbabel will be in the genealogical record of Jesus in Luke 3:27 and Matthew 1:11-13.
A “branch” would be a technical term for the rightful heir, or the one who has grown out of the original tree or stump. In this case the branch is from the root of Jesse and makes connection with the Lord’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7. The use of “branch” or “righteous branch” (also in Jer. 23:5) to refer to the rightful heir or the legitimate heir is not unique with Israel. The term is also found in use in a Phoenician inscription from around 250 BC found in Cyprus. Similarily the phrase “righteous branch” or “rightful shoot” is used in multiple texts from Mesopotamia and in an Assyrian inscription from around 730 BC.
Isaiah speaks of this branch as “a shoot” (Hb. choter) when he says in Isaiah 11:1,
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch
(Hb. netser, or “sprout”) will bear fruit.”
Isaiah then goes on to describe Jesus, the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1-10 as in 2 Sam. 23:5).
While the people of Jeremiah's generation watched their lives, culture and city crumble, Jeremiah provided comfort with words that spoke of the coming Messiah who would deliver people from their sinful hearts and from the oppression that was part of this dark world. Those with faith could hear and receive the comfort offered by Jeremiah. But, those who had rejected Jeremiah's previous words of warning and continued to live in a state of rebellion towards the Lord, could not be comforted with Jeremiah's words of promise and hope. |
