Commentary on Jeremiah 33:14-16

In all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary, the first readings for the first three Sundays of Advent are taken from the Prophets. In year A, we read from First Isaiah, and in year B from Second and Third Isaiah. In year C, we encounter Jeremiah, Malachi (or Baruch, in traditions that preach from the Apocrypha), Zephaniah, and Micah. This season is thus a fruitful time for preachers to reflect deeply on their understandings of the prophetic books and the ethical implications of their proclamation. 

The Christian church has a long history of reading the Prophets as having predicted the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This interpretive framework is evident not only in the New Testament and the early church, but also in the beloved hymns and beautiful artwork that accompany our Advent journey today. In our practices, we are explicitly and implicitly encouraged to hear the prophets’ stirring words as ancient promises that were only fulfilled in the unfolding of the Christian story. And yet, by reading the Prophets as pointing only to Jesus, what—and whom—do we ignore? 

In the first of the four Old Testament lections for Advent C that promise the coming of a saving figure, Jeremiah 33:14–16 envisions the rise of a leader from the line of David (evoked in year A by Isaiah 7 and in year B by 2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16). He is called a Branch, echoing the imagery of Isaiah 11:1–16. The triple repetition of the word “righteous/righteousness” (in Hebrew, tzedek) underscores Jeremiah’s claim that in the future, both this leader and the redeemed city will model justice. In these verses, hope abounds. 

Yet, the small size of this lection downplays the radical claims of Jeremiah’s larger message. The dominant theme of the book is judgment. Chapter after chapter lobs scathing criticism at Jerusalem and its leaders, insistent that God is orchestrating the fall of the city to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar as punishment for its sins. Any attempt to resist the Babylonian onslaught is defined as rebellion against divine judgment: “If any nation or kingdom will not serve this king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the LORD, until I have completed its destruction by his hand” (Jeremiah 27:8).

Jeremiah 33:14–16 appears in a small section of the book devoted to hope, the so-called Book of Consolation in chapters 30–33. But even in this chapter, judgment is the grounding for hope. Verse 5 reiterates God’s accusations and divine responsibility for the Babylonian destruction, suggesting that only after the people have faced the consequences of their failures to love God and neighbor will an alternative future be possible.

By focusing solely on the hopeful message of this Advent reading, Christian preachers run the risk of (even if inadvertently) promoting anti-Jewish readings of the Bible, in which judgment is for “them” (ancient Israelites or modern Jews), while future hope is the exclusive inheritance of those who believe in Jesus. Preachers also miss the opportunity to help congregations acknowledge the lack of righteousness in their own settings, the need to judge systems and traditions that deny justice. What in our own society deserves critique and change before we can expect a hopeful future? 

This hope for a just society is also underscored by the ways in which this passage reframes earlier verses in the book. Jeremiah 23:5–6 promises that the coming Davidic king will be called “The LORD is our righteousness”; here, in Jeremiah 33:16, Judah and Jerusalem instead receive that name. While both passages evoke the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7, our text for Advent focuses not on the leader himself but on the purpose of his coming: the creation of a more just society. In this way, it invites us to expand our preaching this season beyond the simple theme that Jesus’ coming was predicted, and instead to challenge us toward becoming a more righteous people. 

For further reading

Levine, Amy-Jill and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Bible with and without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. New York: HarperOne, 2020. 

 O’Connor, Kathleen. Jeremiah: Pain and Promise. Philadelphia: Fortress,  2011.