But this will be the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord: I will give My law to their inner most being, and I will write it upon their heart. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jer 31:33)
כִּ֣י זֹ֣את הַבְּרִ֡ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶכְרֹת֩ אֶת־בֵּ֨ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אַחֲרֵ֨י הַיָּמִ֤ים הָהֵם֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה נָתַ֤תִּי אֶת־תֹּֽורָתִי֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔ם וְעַל־לִבָּ֖ם אֶכְתֲּבֶ֑נָּה וְהָיִ֤יתִי לָהֶם֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים וְהֵ֖מָּה יִֽהְיוּ־לִ֥י לְעָֽם׃
Sed hoc erit pactum, quod feriam cum domo Israel post dies illos, dicit Dominus: Dabo legem meam in visceribus eorum et in corde eorum scribam eam; et ero eis in Deum, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum.
ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ μετὰ τὰςἡμέρας ἐκείνας φησὶν κύριος διδοὺς δώσω νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαναὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς θεόν καὶαὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν.
Interior (קֶרֶב qereb), this noun also means: “entrails, body, heart, womb, among or between.” In ancient times, thoughts, feelings, tendencies, and other abstract human attributes were located in the “inside” of a person. In this case, the noun קֶרֶב (qereb) was a synonym for “heart.” Alternatively, it also indicated a person.
In today’s reading from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), God announces the conclusion of a new covenant with His people, different from the previous one related to Israel’s exit from Egyptian captivity. The need for a new covenant results from the people’s infidelity to God who, as He poetically says, “took Israel by the hand”, led them out of Egypt, and was like a Bridegroom to them. The characteristics of the new covenant will be a new law, a new Torah written inside, in the “innermost being” (קֶרֶב qereb), on the hearts of the Israelites. The law written inside a person is the ability to know God through one’s interior, without the need to be taught by someone from the outside.
In the same way, Jesus assures us in today’s Gospel (Jn 12:20-33) about what He will do for us and speaks about it in the face of approaching suffering and death. The fight that Jesus wages against the “ruler of this world” is expressed poetically by the metaphor of a seed thrown into the ground; if it does not die, it will not bring forth new life. Similarly, Jesus’ words that “when He has been lifted up from the earth, He will draw all things to Himself.” remind us of the concern of God, who took them by the hand to free His people from slavery. The road of Jesus is also our road, passing through the narrow gate, through the process of giving birth to a new life, which requires the gift of one’s own life. We are not alone on this journey if we allow ourselves to be drawn to Jesus.
