Jeremiah 31:39 Commentary: The Measuring Line of Restoration

Jeremiah 31 belongs to a collection of promises written during Judah's final years, likely around 594, 588 BC, when the Babylonian siege loomed. The prophet assures exiles that their nation will not only return but be reconstituted under a new covenant. Verses 38, 40 shift to the physical city of Jerusalem, describing its future reconstruction from the Tower of Hananel (northeast wall) to the Corner Gate (northwest), then further out.

In the ancient Near East, a measuring line was a builder's tool for establishing foundations and boundaries. Prophets used it to depict God surveying and securing his people's inheritance (Zechariah 2:1). The names Gareb and Goah appear only here in Scripture. Commentators speculate: Gareb comes from a root meaning “to scrape” or “scab,” possibly referring to a leper colony outside the city (Barnes). Goah may derive from a root meaning “to toil,” perhaps a steep ascent on the southwest side (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown). The Valley of Hinnom (valley of dead bodies and ashes) and the Kidron brook (v.40) are places of judgment and impurity. By marking them as holy, God declares that no part of the landscape is beyond redemption.

Calvin admits the locations are unknown, but stresses the essential meaning: the city would be larger than before, growing beyond its ancient limits. The Cambridge Bible suggests these verses reflect post-exilic concerns, when exact boundaries mattered for the rebuilding community. The verb “go out further” (יָצָא) with “again” (עוֹד) implies a return to pre-exilic extent, but now sanctified.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Jeremiah 31:39. The Hebrew Masoretic Text is consistent across the cited translations. The LXX (Septuagint) rendering differs slightly in surrounding verses but not materially here.

Post-exilic readers understood this verse as a concrete promise that Jerusalem would be rebuilt and even enlarged, encouraging the returning exiles under Nehemiah. Jewish interpretation (Targum) glossed Gareb and Goah with interpretive names, indicating continued interest in their meaning. Early Christian writers, particularly in the patristic period, saw the expanded city as a type of the Church, a holy city encompassing Gentiles and formerly unclean peoples. Calvin focused on God's sovereignty in the rebuilding, while later Reformed commentators (Matthew Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) emphasized the permanence of God's covenant. In modern study, the geographical obscurity has led to an emphasis on the theological point: no place is too defiled for God to redeem.

Three-point outline

1. God marks out the future. The measuring line is in his hand, not a human surveyor. He determines where his people will dwell.
2. Nothing is left outside. Gareb (the leprous hill) and Goah (the steep, toilsome ascent) become part of the holy city. The most excluded places are included.
3. Holiness spreads outward. The new covenant does not just change hearts (v.33); it transforms the physical spaces where people live, work, and remember their dead.

Five-point outline

1. The line of promise: The measuring line assures that restoration is deliberate and complete, not random.
2. “Further” than before: God’s plans are not smaller after exile; they expand.
3. Straight on to Gareb: The places of sickness and exclusion are directly in the path of rebuilding.
4. Turning toward Goah: The line bends to include even the difficult, steep patches of land.
5. Holy forever: Verse 40 seals it: “It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”

Illustration hooks

• A neighborhood known for crime and neglect is marked for redevelopment, not demolition, but full renewal with new parks, homes, and hope.
• A family heirloom, a torn, stained quilt, is carefully mended and given a place of honor. The stitches represent the measuring line, covering every tear.
• When a city expands its official limits to include a blighted area, it suddenly receives services and resources. God expands his holy city to include what was abandoned.

Questions your congregation is asking

• “Does God really care about my messy, embarrassing past? Is there room for me in his kingdom?”
• “What does it mean for a place or a life to become holy? Is that a one-time event or a process?”
• “How can I trust that God’s promises for my future are as solid as a measured line?”

Jeremiah 31:39 appears in a passage that moves from the inner transformation of a new covenant (v.31, 34) to the outer transformation of a restored city. This verse reminds us that God's salvation touches every corner of life, even the places that seem irredeemable. As you discuss, hold both the spiritual and the physical together: God writes his law on hearts, and he also stretches measuring lines over land.

Discussion questions

1. Read Jeremiah 31:31, 40. How do the promises about the heart (v.33) relate to the promises about buildings and land (v.38, 40)?
2. In this verse, the measuring line goes “further straight onward.” What does this direction imply about God's intentions for Jerusalem after exile?
3. Gareb and Goah are obscure locations, but the root meanings suggest “scabby” and “toil.” Why might God include places that sound negative or difficult?
4. How does the inclusion of the valley of dead bodies and ashes (v.40) reshape your understanding of what God considers holy?
5. Calvin and other commentators emphasize that the measuring line is “before him”, before God. What difference does it make that God himself is holding the line?
6. Where in your own life or community do you see a “Gareb” or “Goah”, a place that seems excluded or too hard to restore? How does this verse speak to that?
7. The verse ends with the promise that the city “shall not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.” How does this eternal security shape your hope for the future?