Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 3:14-18

"Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: and I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers." — Jeremiah 3:14-18 (ASV)

^3:14b And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion.

Here, the author takes up the response of those who have been called back:

1. First, concerning the two tribes, he promises them the restoration of their native land: one from a city, because they were scattered, or because not all of them returned. Indeed, I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from every land, and I will lead you to your own land (Ezekiel 36:24).

   He also promises the restoration of justice by the correction of their rulers: and I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and they will feed you with knowledge, regarding faith, and understanding, regarding morals. I will restore your judges as they were before, and your counsellors as they were of old (Isaiah 1:26).

   Furthermore, regarding the increase of glory, he signifies this by the forgetting of what came before: when you have multiplied . . . they shall not say anymore, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ This is as if to say they will consider what they now glory in as nothing, because the ark had been hidden and was not found, as it says in 2 Maccabees 1.

   This glory is also seen in the promise of future things: in that time they will call Jerusalem. This refers to a whole Jerusalem, completed by the reputation for holiness in which it was held, as it says in 1 Maccabees 3. The place of my throne, and the place of the prints of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever (Ezekiel 43:7).

   Finally, with regard to the increase of worship: and all nations shall be gathered together. This means some will come from all peoples, for they will come to pray in Jerusalem. Alternatively, it may be understood to speak of the conversion of the nations to the faith of Christ. All the nations, which you have made, will come and worship before you, O Lord (Psalms 85:9).

2. Second, he discusses the conversion of the ten tribes: in those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel, because those who returned were joined to the two tribes. This is alluded to when it says, together they shall come. As it is said later: in those days, and at that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, walking and weeping they shall make haste, and shall seek the LORD their God (Jeremiah 50:4).

   Some, however, interpret all this as referring to the end times.