Jeremiah31
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2Thus saith Jehovah, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3Jehovah appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit thereof.
6For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.
7For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither.
9They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.
10Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off; and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah.
15Thus saith Jehovah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not.
16Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith Jehovah; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and thy children shall come again to their own border.
18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God.
19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.
21Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway, even the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man.
23Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness.
24And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks.
25For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished.
26Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah.
29In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah.
33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
35Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name:
36If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37Thus saith Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Jehovah.
38Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner.
39And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward unto the hill Gareb, and shall turn about unto Goah.
40And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto Jehovah; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Jeremiah 31.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The restoration of Israel. (1-9). Promises of guidance and happiness; Rachel lamenting. (10-17). Ephraim laments his errors. (18-20). The promised Saviour. (21-26). God's care over the church. (27-34). Peace and prosperity in gospel time. (35-40).
vv1-9
God assures his people that he will again take them into covenant relation to himself. When brought very low, and difficulties appear, it is good to remember that it has been so with the church formerly. But it is hard under present frowns to take comfort from former smiles; yet it is the happiness of those who, through grace, are interested in the love of God, that it is an everlasting love, from everlasting in the counsels, to everlasting in the continuance. Those whom God loves with this love, he will draw to himself, by the influences of his Spirit upon their souls. When praising God for what he has done, we must call upon him for the favours his church needs and expects. When the Lord calls, we must not plead that we cannot come; for he that calls us, will help us, will strengthen us. The goodness of God shall lead them to repentance. And they shall weep for sin with more bitterness, and more tenderness, when delivered out of their captivity, than when groaning under it. If we take God for our Father, and join the church of the first-born, we shall want nothing that is good for us. These predictions doubtless refer also to a future gathering of the Israelites from all quarters of the globe. And they figuratively describe the conversion of sinners to Christ, and the plain and safe way in which they are led.
vv10-17
He that scattered Israel, knows where to find them. It is comfortable to observe the goodness of the Lord in the gifts of providence. But our souls are never valuable as gardens, unless watered with the dews of God's Spirit and grace. A precious promise follows, which will not have full accomplishment except in the heavenly Zion. Let them be satisfied of God's loving-kindness, and they will be satisfied with it, and desire no more to make them happy. Rachel is represented as rising from her grave, and refusing to be comforted, supposing her offspring rooted out. The murder of the children at Bethlehem, by Herod, Matt. 2:16-18, in some degree fulfilled this prediction, but could not be its full meaning. If we have hope in the end, concerning an eternal inheritance, for ourselves and those belonging to us, all temporal afflictions may be borne, and will be for our good.
vv18-20
Ephraim (the ten tribes) is weeping for sin. He is angry at himself for his sin, and folly, and frowardness. He finds he cannot, by his own power, keep himself close with God, much less bring himself back when he is revolted. Therefore he prays, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned. His will was bowed to the will of God. When the teaching of God's Spirit went with the corrections of his providence, then the work was done. This is our comfort in affliction, that the Lord thinks upon us. God has mercy in store, rich mercy, sure mercy, suitable mercy, for all who seek him in sincerity.
Key Words
עֵת: time, especially (adverb with preposition) now, when, etc.
נְאֻם: an oracle
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
מִשְׁפָּחָה: a family, i.e. circle of relatives; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extension a tribe or people
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׂרִיד: a survivor
Cross References
Jeremiah 31Herod's slaughter of the Bethlehem infants explicitly fulfills Rachel weeping for her children in Ramah.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Explicitly quotes Jeremiah 31:31 to introduce the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Quotes the promise of the law written on the heart under the New Covenant.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrast: The curse of planting vines and not eating them is reversed here as common food.
Supported by JFB
Direct parallel regarding the proverb of children's teeth set on edge by fathers eating sour grapes.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Quotes verse 32 contrasting the New Covenant with the broken Sinai covenant.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Quotes verse 34, declaring that all shall know the Lord without needing external teaching.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Quotes the vital New Covenant guarantee that God will remember their sins no more.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Repeats the foundational covenant formula: 'ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.'
Supported by John Calvin
The Lord drawing Israel with bands of love and cords of a man.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Miriam and the virgins going forth with tabrets/timbrels and dances celebrating redemption.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The law of planting trees; in the fifth year fruit is eaten as a common thing.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Thematic link to the 'new thing' of a virgin conceiving, related to the incarnation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reverses the commission given to Jeremiah to pluck up, throw down, build, and plant.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Applies the salvation and covenant of Israel to the ultimate eschatological gathering.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the unbreakable covenant with day and night to establish Israel's permanent preservation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
God promising His presence will go before Israel to cause him to rest in wilderness.
Supported by JFB
The ark going before them in the wilderness to search out a resting place.
Supported by JFB
Chaldea/exile is metaphorically described as a desert or wilderness where God prepares a way.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Virgins coming out with tabrets and joy to celebrate victories of Israel's king.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The sounding/troubling of God's bowels and mercies toward His rebellious but beloved children.
Supported by JFB
God's heart turning within Him, refusing to execute fierce anger against Ephraim.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reflects God drawing His backsliding people with cords of love and mercy.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explains the law of eating fruit of newly planted vines as common things.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels putting the Spirit within believers to enable walking in God's statutes.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Demonstrates that God has not permanently cast off His people Israel.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the ultimate consecration where even common places become holy to the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The ultimate fulfillment of the covenant formula under the New Covenant in Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Remembering the days of old and God's former wonders to sustain hope in current distress.
Supported by John Calvin
God declares His sovereign, electing love to Jacob: 'I have loved you, saith the Lord.'
Supported by JFB
Jephthah's daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dances.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Christ's invitation to the weary and heavy laden to find rest echoes verse 25.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Mosaic law establishing that fathers shall not be put to death for children.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reinforces personal accountability; the soul who sins is the one who will die.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Echoes the symbolic action of the measuring line being stretched out over Jerusalem.
Supported by JFB
Mentions the actual rebuilding of the Tower of Hananeel during the restoration.
Supported by Matthew Poole