Jeremiah 30:21-24

21-24. Their nobles, etc. The real thought in this text is much obscured in the translation. Keil renders the passage thus: And his leader shall spring from himself; and his ruler shall go forth from his midst; and I will bring him near, so that he shall approach to me: for who is he that became surety for his life in drawing near to me? saith Jehovah. This text had but a partial fulfilment in the partial independency which the Jews enjoyed subsequent to the captivity; its complete fulfilment comes only in the Messianic reign. “Out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.” The language, I will cause him to draw near, etc., has a technical sense, involving the priestly idea. It implies that the King from among themselves will be also their Priest, thus uniting in himself all that is profoundly representative of the people’s life. The phrase performed (or pledged) the intents of his heart, looks primarily to the terrors which were made to surround the person of an oriental monarch, (see Esther 4:11,) but really to the necessity of entering into the holy of holies in behalf of sinners only by blood, by offering up the life of an acceptable victim. The full and ultimate reference, then, is to the vicarious death of the true Israel’s divine King.