What is this about? Is it about the words or is it about God's actions because Israel broke their covenant with him?
Jeremiah 31:30-31 from the Tanach says....
"Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will form a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant.
31Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says the Lord."
Jeremiah 31:32 NASB (Strongs) also reads...
"not like the covenant H1285 which H834 I made H3772 with their fathers H1 in the day H3117 I took H2388 them by the hand H3027 to bring H3318 them out of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 My covenant H1285 which H834 they broke, H6565 although I was a husband H1166 to them,” declares H5002 the LORD. H3068
The word translated "husband" is "
ba`al" which means "lord" so both are correct.
"bâʻal, baw-al'; a primitive root; also as denominative from H1167 to be master; hence, to marry:—have dominion (over), be husband, marry(-ried, × wife)."
Hebrews 8:9 according to Strongs....(NASB Capitals denoting a quotation from the Hebrew scriptures)
"NOT LIKE G2596 THE COVENANT G1242 WHICH G3739 I MADE G4160 WITH THEIR FATHERS G3962
ON THE DAY G2250 WHEN I TOOK G1949 THEM BY THE HAND G5495
TO LEAD G1806 THEM OUT OF THE LAND G1093 OF EGYPT G125;
FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE G1696 IN MY COVENANT G1242,
AND I DID NOT CARE G272 FOR THEM, SAYS G3004 THE LORD. G2962"
The word "care" in Greek here is "
ameleō" which means....
"to be careless of, to neglect"......Did God have reason to "neglect" or to cease "caring" for his people?
Why did he choose them as his special property in the first place? Because they were somehow superior to other nations? We know that they weren't. They were serial covenant breakers and rebellious complainers....but Yahweh wasn't a covenant breaker. He kept Israel as his own until his part of the agreement was complete....to produce the seed of promise made to faithful Abraham.
Why was there a need for a "new covenant"? Because, as Jeremiah said, Israel could not keep the old one.
Is the new covenant in force? Or is "Israel" still under the old covenant? Is fleshly Israel the one spoken of in Hebrews or Revelation? Therein lies the answer to the question. The apostle Paul mentions "the Israel of God" as both Jewish and Gentile disciples of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 6:16) These are spiritual Israelites, (Romans 2:28-29) who basically lose their nationality once they become Christians. (Acts 10:34-35) They all become part of God's new nation.
So from my perspective, as a Christian, regardless of the specific words, the meaning is the same. The "husband" obtained a scriptural "divorce" from his unfaithful wife. She does not recognize the fact that her husband has left their home.....she still speaks to him as though he was there, but he never answers. Does Israel never wonder why she is as plagued by violence and bloodshed as any other nation?
At Matthew 3:7-10, John the Baptist made it clear that being a 'son of Abraham' did not account for anything unless the Pharisees were 'producing the fruit of repentance'......which they never did.
Jesus said that their house was "abandoned". (Matthew 23:37-39)
This is a very old argument.....
and sadly, one that has divided us for centuries.