December 30th, 2024

116. The LORD Our Righteousness

In Jeremiah 33:15-16 why does the EHV say “she” in verse 16?
“This is what she will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”
When I compare that to Jeremiah 23:6, that passage says “he.”
“This is his name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”
Why is one “he” and the other one “she”?

First, let’s read Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Jeremiah 33:15-16 in the Bible (EHV). Then we will read the EHV Study Bible notes for a helpful explanation of the name.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

⁵Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

who will reign wisely as king

and establish justice and righteousness on earth.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved

and Israel will dwell securely.

This is his name by which he will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness.

The EHV Study Bible has this note on Jeremiah 23:6:

Jesus the Messiah is properly called the Lord Our Righteousness because our righteousness before God’s judgment is Jesus’ righteousness which is credited to us through faith (Romans 3:23-28 and Philippians 3:8-9).

The note goes on to mention that: “The name of the evil king Zedekiah means the Lord our righteousness, but Zedekiah was horribly misnamed. He could provide no righteousness for anyone, and he did not trust God’s righteousness for himself.”

Jeremiah 33:15-16

¹⁵In those days and at that time,

I will cause a righteous Branch to grow up from David's line.

He will establish justice and righteousness on earth.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved,

and Jerusalem will dwell securely.

This is what she^[] will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness.

The EHV Study Bible has this note on Jeremiah 33:16:

The Righteous Branch (the Messiah, the Son of David) has already appeared in 23:5-6. The difference between that passage and this one is that in 23:5-6 it is the Messiah himself who receives the name the Lord our Righteousness, because he provides our righteousness (Romans 3:23-28 and Philippians 3:8-9). Here it is his people who receive the name the Lord our Righteousness as their confession of what the Messiah means to them. (The feminine pronoun she in verse 16 refers to Jerusalem, which here is the spiritual Jerusalem of all believers.)

So, briefly, in Jeremiah 23 the name is applied directly to the Messiah, Jesus. And, in Jeremiah 33 his name is put on his believers (she = spiritual Jerusalem, the church of all true believers).

Some pastors have raised concerns with the NIV 2011 changing the name from “the Lord our Righteousness” to “the Lord our Righteous Savior.” The Hebrew does not have the word “Savior” here, and some pastors noted that this translation takes away some of the comfort for us here by obscuring the truth that Christ’s righteousness is transferred to his people.

In May 2018, the WELS Translation Liaison Committee noted that:

Generations of preachers have found in the translation “The Lord Our Righteousness” an opportunity to proclaim the good news of righteousness imputed to us through the Branch whom the Lord raised up for David (2 Cor 5:21 etc.). “The Lord Our Righteousness” conveys the thought of the Hebrew that the “righteousness” referred to is… “ours.” The point is diluted, to say the least, by the rendering “The Lord, Our Righteous Savior.”…

It may be true that an English-speaking reader needs to linger over and ponder “the Lord Our Righteousness” a bit longer than “the Lord Our Righteous Savior.” We are hard put to see this as a bad thing.

That committee suggested that the name be restored to what it was in NIV 1984, “the Lord our Righteousness.”

The EHV notes help the reader recognize this significance of this name.

Here is how a number of translations handle the issue:

The feminine she refers to Jerusalem.

The addition of the word is, which is not in the Hebrew, does not change the meaning of the name, but the supplying of the word is is less natural in a name than it is in a sentence. We would say, “Jesus is the King of Kings,” but it is more natural to say “We praise Jesus, the King of Kings.”

A number of translations say, “It will be called.” It is the natural English pronoun to refer to a city. She is more literal to the Hebrew.