Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 31:15-22

"Thus 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. Thus 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. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and [thy] children shall come again to their own border. I 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. Surely 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. Is 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. Set 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. How 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." — Jeremiah 31:15-22 (ASV)

The religious character of the restoration of the ten tribes. Chastisement brought repentance, and with it forgiveness; therefore God decrees their restoration.

(Jeremiah 31:15) Ramah, mentioned because of its nearness to Jerusalem, from which it was distant about five miles. As the mother of three tribes, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, Rachel is regarded as the mother of the whole ten. This passage is quoted by Matthew (as noted in a marginal reference) as a type. In Jeremiah it is a poetical figure representing in a dramatic form the miserable condition of the kingdom of Ephraim devastated by the sword of the Assyrians.

(Jeremiah 31:16) Rachel’s work had been that of bearing and bringing up children, and by their death she was deprived of the joy for which she had labored: but by their being restored to her, she will receive her wages.

(Jeremiah 31:17) In your end – that is, for your time to come (see the note on Jeremiah 29:11).

(Jeremiah 31:18) As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke – literally, like an untaught calf. Compare the note on Hosea 10:11. Ephraim, like an untrained steer, had resisted Yahweh’s will.

(Jeremiah 31:19) After that I was turned – that is, after I had turned away from You. In Jeremiah 31:18 it has the sense of turning to God.

Instructed – Brought to my senses by suffering. The striking upon the thigh is a sign of sorrow. .

The reproach of my youth – that is, the shame brought upon me by the sins of my youth.

(Jeremiah 31:20) Moved to compassion by Ephraim’s lamentation, Yahweh shows Himself as tender and ready to forgive as parents are their spoiled (rather, darling) child.

For ... him – Or, “that so often as I speak concerning him,” that is, his punishment.

My bowels are troubled – The metaphor expresses the most tender internal emotion.

(Jeremiah 31:21) Waymarks – See the note on 2 Kings 23:17.

High heaps – Or, signposts, pillars to point out the way.

Set your heart – Not set your affection, but turn your thoughts and attention (in Hebrew the heart is the seat of the intellect) to the highway, even the way by which you went.

(Jeremiah 31:22) Israel instead of setting itself to return hesitates, and goes here and there in a restless mood. To encourage it God gives the sign following.

A woman shall compass a man – that is, the female shall protect the strong man; the weaker nature that needs help will surround the stronger with loving and fostering care. This expresses a new relation of Israel to the Lord, a new covenant, which the Lord will make with His people (Jeremiah 31:31 and following). The fathers saw in these words a prophecy of the miraculous conception of our Lord by the Virgin.