“And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 24:7 Mean?
God promises to give the one thing no human effort can produce: a heart that knows Him. "And I will give them an heart to know me" — the verb is natan, to give. The heart is a gift. The knowing (da'at) is intimate, relational knowledge — the kind used for the deepest human relationships. God doesn't say "I will teach them about me." He says I will give them the capacity to know me. The organ of knowing is redesigned by divine gift.
"That I am the LORD" — the content of the knowing is identity: YHWH. Not a generic deity. The covenant God. The personal name. The heart God gives doesn't produce general religious awareness. It produces specific, personal knowledge of the God who revealed Himself to Moses, who led Israel through the wilderness, who is speaking through Jeremiah. The knowing is particular.
"And they shall be my people, and I will be their God" — the covenant formula. The most foundational statement of biblical relationship: my people, their God. The formula appears throughout Scripture (Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 36:28, Revelation 21:3). Every time it appears, it's the summary of everything God wants: belonging. Mutual possession. I have them. They have me.
"For they shall return unto me with their whole heart" — the return (shuvu) is wholehearted (bekhol libbam). Not partial. Not hedged. The heart God gave them to know Him is the same heart that returns to Him completely. The gift produces the return. The new heart creates the capacity for whole devotion that the old heart couldn't sustain.
The verse is pure grace: God gives the heart. The heart knows God. The knowing produces return. The return is wholehearted. Every step in the sequence is initiated and sustained by God's giving.
Reflection Questions
- 1.God gives the heart that knows Him. Have you been trying to know God with a heart that needs to be replaced rather than improved?
- 2.The knowing is specific — 'that I am the LORD.' Is your knowledge of God personal and particular, or general and abstract?
- 3.The covenant formula: 'my people, their God.' Do you experience mutual belonging with God — or does it feel one-directional?
- 4.The return is 'with their whole heart.' Where is your heart divided — and what would it take to receive the wholehearted capacity God offers?
Devotional
God gives you the heart. The heart knows Him. The knowing produces the return. Every step is grace.
Jeremiah 24:7 is one of the clearest statements of sovereign grace in the Old Testament. God doesn't say: if they decide to know me, I'll accept them. He says: I will give them a heart to know me. The knowing starts with the giving. The capacity to know God isn't natural. It's donated. The heart you need to know Him is the heart He provides.
"An heart to know me, that I am the LORD." The knowing isn't academic. It's da'at — the intimate, face-to-face, name-knowing kind. And the content is YHWH — not religion in general, not spirituality in the abstract, but the specific, personal, covenant-keeping God who has a name and uses it. The heart God gives doesn't produce generic faith. It produces specific, personal, name-level knowledge of the living God.
"They shall be my people, and I will be their God." The covenant formula — the Bible's most concise statement of belonging. Six words that summarize the point of everything: God possesses a people. The people possess God. The relationship is mutual and total. My people. Their God. The formula is the destination. The given heart is the vehicle.
"They shall return unto me with their whole heart." The return is wholehearted — not because the people finally got serious, but because the heart God gave them is capable of whole devotion. The old heart couldn't sustain it. The old heart was divided, calloused, incapable of wholehearted return. The new heart — the given heart — can. The gift enables the devotion the demand always required.
If your heart toward God feels divided, calloused, or incapable of the wholeheartedness you know He wants — this verse says the solution isn't trying harder with the heart you have. It's receiving the heart He gives. The giving starts with Him. The knowing flows from the giving. And the return flows from the knowing. Grace all the way down.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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an heart to know me They shall be restored in a spiritual sense also, purified in heart by their adversity.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture