“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 31:3 Mean?
God speaks through Jeremiah to a heartbroken people with one of the most tender declarations in the Old Testament: I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Not a seasonal love, not a conditional love. Everlasting — olam, meaning perpetual, without end.
"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me" places this in memory — God's love is not new. It reaches back to the beginning and extends forward without terminus.
"With lovingkindness have I drawn thee" reveals how God's love operates. It draws — attracts, pulls gently toward himself. The Hebrew word for lovingkindness (chesed) is one of the richest words in the Old Testament, meaning loyal love, covenant faithfulness, steadfast mercy.
The context is restoration after exile. Jeremiah is prophesying to people who have been devastated by judgment. And the message is not "I told you so" but "I have loved you with an everlasting love." The judgment was real. The love was never interrupted.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does 'everlasting love' mean for a season where you feel unlovable?
- 2.How have you experienced God drawing you — not forcing you — with lovingkindness?
- 3.How does this verse land differently knowing it was spoken to people in exile and devastation?
- 4.What would change if you truly believed God's love for you has no end point?
Devotional
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Everlasting. Not a love that started when you got your act together. Not a love that will end when you fail again. A love without beginning and without end.
With lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Drawn — not forced, not dragged, not manipulated. Drawn. The way beauty draws your eyes. The way music draws you closer. God's love is magnetic, not coercive.
This was spoken to people who had been through devastation. They had experienced the consequences of their own choices. They were in ruins. And God's word to them was not rejection. It was this: my love for you has not changed. It is everlasting. And I am drawing you back.
If you are in ruins right now — if your choices have led you somewhere you never wanted to be — this verse is for you. The love did not stop. It was there before the failure, during the failure, and it is here now, drawing you back with a kindness that does not give up.
You are loved with an everlasting love. Let that be the truest thing about you today.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying,.... Either to the prophet, bidding him say to the church what follows, so…
Of old - From afar (margin). See Jer 30:10. To the Jew God was enthroned in Zion, and thus when His mercy was shown unto…
God here assures his people,
I. That he will again take them into a covenant relation to himself, from which they seemed…
The Lord appeared of old unto me It is best to take this as put in the mouth of the people themselves.
of old rather, as…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture