(8) For it shall come to pass in that day . . .—Better, And it shall come. Here there comes in the ground of the hope uttered in the words “he shall be saved out of it,” which keeps the prophet from sinking under the burden of his sorrow. The second and third person are strangely mingled. Jehovah speaks to Israel, “thy bonds,” “thy yoke,” and “his yoke” is that of the oppressor, i.e., of the Babylonian ruler, and then, the person changing, “strangers shall no more get service done for them by him” i.e., by Israel. The prophet echoes the words of Isaiah 10:27.

Jeremiah 30:8-9. It shall come to pass in that day — In the day when Jacob shall be saved out of all his troubles, Jeremiah 30:7. The phrase that day often denotes an extraordinary or remarkable time for some signal events of Providence: see Isaiah 4:2. That I will break his yoke from off thy neck — This promise was in part fulfilled when Cyrus set the Jews free from the Babylonish yoke, and gave them liberty to return to their own country. And strangers shall no more serve themselves of him — In this latter part of the sentence the Jewish state, or rather that of Israel and Judah, is spoken of in the third person, him; in the foregoing part in the second person, thy neck. But they shall serve the Lord their God — They shall live in subjection and obedience to the one living and true God, and to David their king — That is, the Messiah, who is often called by the name of David in the prophets, as the person in whom all the promises made to David were to be fulfilled. See the margin. Here it is promised that, after this restoration, the Jews and Israelites “should no more fall under the dominion of foreigners, but be governed by princes and magistrates of their own nation, independent of any but God and David their king. But this was not the case with the Jews that returned from Babylon. They then indeed had a leader, Zerubbabel, one of their own nation, and also of the family of David. But both the nation and their leader continued still in a state of vassalage and the most servile dependance upon the Persian monarchy. And when the Grecian monarchy succeeded, they changed their masters only, but not their condition; till, at length, under the Asmonæan princes, they had, for a while, an independent government of their own, but without any title to the name of David. At last they fell under the Roman yoke, since which time their situation has been such as not to afford the least ground to pretend that the promised restoration has yet taken place. It remains, therefore, to be brought about, in future, under the reign of the Messiah, emphatically distinguished by the name of David; when every particular circumstance predicted concerning it will, no doubt, be verified by a distinct and unequivocal accomplishment.” — Blaney. Whom I will raise up unto them — An expression elsewhere used by the holy writers when they speak of the coming of Christ. See the margin. Hence this prophecy must be considered as implying the conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, God, according to his promises, having constituted Christ the Prince and the Saviour to whom every knee must bow, and whom every tongue must confess.

30:1-11 Jeremiah is to write what God had spoken to him. The very words are such as the Holy Ghost teaches. These are the words God ordered to be written; and promises written by his order, are truly his word. He must write a description of the trouble the people were now in, and were likely to be in. A happy end should be put to these calamities. Though the afflictions of the church may last long, they shall not last always. The Jews shall be restored again. They shall obey, or hearken to the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of David, their King. The deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, is pointed out in the prophecy, but the restoration and happy state of Israel and Judah, when converted to Christ their King, are foretold; also the miseries of the nations before the coming of Christ. All men must honour the Son as they honour the Father, and come into the service and worship of God by him. Our gracious Lord pardons the sins of the believer, and breaks off the yoke of sin and Satan, that he may serve God without fear, in righteousness and true holiness before him all the remainder of his days, as the redeemed subject of Christ our King.Bonds - See Jeremiah 27:2 note.

Shall no more serve themselves - i. e., shall no more exact forced labor of him Jeremiah 22:13.

8. his yoke … thy neck—his, that is, Jacob's (Jer 30:7), the yoke imposed on him. The transition to the second person is frequent, God speaking of Jacob or Israel, at the same time addressing him directly. So "him" rightly follows; "foreigners shall no more make him their servant" (Jer 25:14). After the deliverance by Cyrus, Persia, Alexander, Antiochus, and Rome made Judah their servant. The full of deliverance meant must, therefore, be still future. In that day; not in that great day before mentioned, but in the day when God should deliver the seed of Jacob out of trouble. God threatens to break the yoke of the king of Babylon, that is, to break that power of his which for seventy years he should exercise in keeping the Jews under; and he would break the bonds in which they should be kept, and foreign nations should no more serve themselves upon the Jews.

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts,.... When the time is come for Jacob to be saved out of his trouble:

that I will break his yoke from off thy neck; not the yoke of the king of Babylon, but of antichrist, and of all the antichristian states, by whom the people of God have been oppressed; so the Targum,

"I will break the yoke of the peoples (the antichristian nations) from off your necks.''

Jarchi interprets it of the yoke of the nations of the world from off Israel; and Kimchi of the yoke of Gog and Magog, or of every nation:

and will burst thy bonds; by which they were kept in bondage, both with respect to civil and religious things; but now he that led into captivity shall go into captivity himself, Revelation 13:10;

and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him; this shows that this prophecy cannot be understood of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; because, after this, strangers did serve themselves of the Jews, and they were servants unto them; as to the Persians, and Grecians, and especially the Romans, by whom they were entirely subdued and ruined; and to this day all nations almost serve themselves of them; but when they shall be called and converted, as they shall be free from the yoke of sin and Satan, and from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and the traditions of their elders, in a religious sense; so from the yoke of the nations of the world, in a civil sense.

{d} For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break {e} his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more {f} bring him into subjection:

(d) When I will visit Babylon.

(e) Of the king of Babylon.

(f) That is, of Jacob.