John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 31:17

"And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and [thy] children shall come again to their own border." — Jeremiah 31:17 (ASV)

He indeed explains in a few words, but with sufficient plainness, what he had said. We must always bear in mind the order which I have pointed out—that he first placed before the Jews their calamity, so that they might humble themselves before God; and then he gave them the hope of return, so that they might feel assured that God would be propitious to them.

He now includes both in these few words, there shall be hope in your end; for they embrace the two clauses—that the whole country would lament for a time, and then that their tears would be turned to laughter and their sorrow to joy. For if the happiness of the people had flowed in one unbroken stream, the word “end” would not have been suitable, as it refers to what terminates.

A contrast between the end and the beginning is then to be understood. In short, Jeremiah teaches here that the grievous time, during which God would afflict his people, was to be borne patiently. But after having instructed them to continue in a state of suspense, he sets before them a happy outcome.

Now this passage contains a useful doctrine—that we are not to measure God’s favor by present appearances, but learn to keep our minds and thoughts in suspense, while the Lord seems to be angry with us, and only disheartening terrors meet us, so that we may cherish in our hearts the hope that the Prophet exhorts us to entertain, and distinguish between our present state and the end.

And for this reason, the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, while exhorting the faithful to patience, says that the rod is always grievous to children at the time, but that correction appears useful when the end is regarded (Hebrews 12:11). So when we perceive that God is displeased with us, we cannot help but feel dread, and at the same time, we desire to escape from his chastening hand. But, as I have just said, we ought to direct our thoughts to the end or the outcome, according to what we are taught here: there shall then be hope in your end.

But a question may be raised here: Was there no hope for the intermediate time while God was punishing the Jews? The answer is obvious—the Prophet understands “hope” here as hope accomplished. If anyone calls it actual hope or hope realized, I do not object. But he doubtless intimates that all the calamities that the Jews would have to endure would at last end in their deliverance and be for their good. We thus see that “hope” here, as we have said, is to be understood as hope accomplished. And the Prophet explains himself: they shall return to their own border. Here, by stating a part for the whole, he mentions border for the whole country, as though he had said, “You are now far off from your country, but you shall return again to that land that has been marked out by certain limits, even by Euphrates, Egypt, the sea, and Arabia;” for these were the four borders.