The Meaning of Jeremiah 3:18 Explained

Jeremiah 3:18

KJV: 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 have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

YLT: In those days do the house of Judah Go unto the house of Israel, And they come together from the land of the south, unto the land That I caused your fathers to inherit.

Darby: 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 which I caused your fathers to inherit.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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 have given for an inheritance  unto your fathers. 

What does Jeremiah 3:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jews from both Israel and Judah would return to the Promised Land from their various places of captivity "in those days" (cf. Hosea 3:5; Micah 2:12). The Israelites had gone off to the north to Assyria, and the Judahites would go off to the north to Babylon, and they would return from that direction. The "north," here, represents wherever the Israelites had gone following the Lord"s disbursal of them. The ten tribes of Israel are not, and never were, "lost," but scattered, awaiting their repentance and regathering in faith to the land. Some of them returned to the Promised Land at the end of the Exile, but Titus scattered the Jews again-in all directions-when he destroyed Jerusalem in A.D70.
"Since there is no indication that the ten tribes ever repented, the projected union must point to the Messianic age of grace, when Jew and Gentile alike will do honour before the enthroned Lord in Zion." [1]

Context Summary

Jeremiah 3:11-25 - Pleading With Faithless Children
The people of the northern kingdom, to whom this appeal is especially addressed, were more excusable than Judah, because their privileges had been less. God judges us according to our opportunities. How precious the invitation and promise of Jeremiah 3:12! Confession is an essential condition that must be fulfilled by us. See 1 John 1:7. Zion shall yet be the center of a restored Israel, Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 3:18. In Jeremiah 3:21-25 the voices of the people in confession and prayer mingle with Jehovah's encouraging their return. When we lie down in broken-hearted shame and penitence, we are very near to being lifted to the bosom of God. Compare Jeremiah 3:25 with Jeremiah 4:1. The return of the Chosen People to the God of their fathers will be the cause of revival and quickening throughout the earth. Compare Jeremiah 4:2 with Romans 11:12. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 3

1  God's great mercy to Judah the polluted land
6  Judah is worse than Israel
12  The promises of the gospel to the penitent
20  Israel reproved, and called by God, makes a solemn confession of their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 3:18 mean?

In days those shall walk the house of Judah with the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance - to your fathers
בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔מָּה יֵלְכ֥וּ בֵית־ יְהוּדָ֖ה עַל־ בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְיָבֹ֤אוּ יַחְדָּו֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ צָפ֔וֹן עַל־ הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִנְחַ֖לְתִּי אֶת־ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם

בַּיָּמִ֣ים  In  days 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הָהֵ֔מָּה  those 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
יֵלְכ֥וּ  shall  walk 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
בֵית־  the  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יְהוּדָ֖ה  of  Judah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהוּדָה  
Sense: the son of Jacob by Leah.
בֵּ֣ית  the  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וְיָבֹ֤אוּ  and  they  shall  come 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
יַחְדָּו֙  together 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יַחַד 
Sense: union, unitedness adv.
מֵאֶ֣רֶץ  out  of  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
צָפ֔וֹן  of  the  north 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: צָפֹון  
Sense: north (of direction), northward.
הָאָ֕רֶץ  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
הִנְחַ֖לְתִּי  I  have  given  as  an  inheritance 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: נָחַל  
Sense: to get as a possession, acquire, inherit, possess.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶֽם  to  your  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.