John Calvin Commentary Matthew 2:18

"A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted, because they are not." — Matthew 2:18 (ASV)

A voice was heard in Ramah. It is certain that the prophet (Jeremiah 31:15) describes the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, which took place in his time, for he had foretold that the tribe of Judah would be cut off, to which was added half of the tribe of Benjamin. He puts the mourning into the mouth of Rachel, who had been long dead. This is a personification (προσωποποιϊα), which has a powerful influence in stirring the emotions.

It was not for the mere purpose of ornamenting his style that Jeremiah employed rhetorical embellishments. There was no other way of correcting the stubbornness and insensibility of the living than by arousing the dead, as it were, from their graves, to lament those divine chastisements, which were commonly treated with derision. The prediction of Jeremiah having been accomplished at that time, Matthew does not mean that it foretold what Herod would do, but that the coming of Christ occasioned a renewal of that mourning, which had been experienced many centuries before by the tribe of Benjamin.

He intended in this way to address a prejudice that might disturb and shake devout minds. It might be supposed that no salvation could be expected from Him, on whose account, as soon as He was born, infants were murdered. Furthermore, it might be seen as an unfavorable and disastrous omen that the birth of Christ kindled a stronger flame of cruelty than usually burns amidst the most bitter wars.

But as Jeremiah promises a restoration where a nation has been cut off, down to their little children, Matthew reminds his readers that this massacre would not prevent Christ from appearing shortly afterwards as the Redeemer of the whole nation. For we know that the whole chapter in Jeremiah, in which those words occur, is filled with the most delightful consolations. Immediately after the mournful complaint, he adds,

“Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to thine own border,” (Jeremiah 31:16, 17).

Such was the resemblance between the former calamity which the tribe of Benjamin had sustained, and the second calamity, which is here recorded. Both were a prelude to the salvation which was shortly to arrive.²¹⁷

²¹⁷ “C'est que l'une et l'autre a est, comme le message apportant les nouvelles du salut qui approchoit.” — “It is, that both were, as it were, the message bringing the tidings of the salvation which was approaching.”.” — “It is, that both were, as it were, the message bringing the tidings of the salvation which was approaching.”