Jeremiah 30:18
Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
Study Note
Study Note
The restoration oracle 'behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places' opens the 'Book of Consolation' (Jeremiah 30-33) with a decisive divine reversal of exile's fortunes. The language of 'tents' (plural) may evoke the pastoral simplicity of Israel's wilderness period — the Feast of Tabernacles tradition — suggesting a return to foundational covenant relationship. The city being 'builded upon her own heap' (tel) recalls Deuteronomy 13:16's judgment on apostasy by reversal: what was made a 'tel' (ruin mound) will be rebuilt from its own ruins without foreign blueprint. This oracle has been applied by Jewish interpreters to the return from Babylon and by Christian interpreters typologically to eschatological restoration.
Other Translations
Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner.
Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I turn back <FI>to<Fi> the captivity of the tents of Jacob, And his dwelling places I pity, And the city hath been built on its heap, And the palace according to its ordinance remaineth.
The Lord has said, See, I am changing the fate of the tents of Jacob, and I will have pity on his houses; the town will be put up on its hill, and the great houses will be living-places again.
Cross References
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And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the Lord.
But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee …
The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, …
And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as …
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of …
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of …
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land …