Jeremiah 31:16-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 31:10-17

This paragraph is much to the same purport with the last, publishing to the world, as well as to the church, the purposes of God's love concerning his people. This is a word of the Lord which the nations must hear, for it is a prophecy of a work of the Lord which the nations cannot but take notice of. Let them hear the prophecy, that they may the better understand and improve the performance; and let those that hear it themselves declare it to others, declare it in the isles afar off. It will... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 31:16

Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears ,.... Though sorrow on such an occasion may be lawfully indulged, yet it ought to be moderated; and attention should be given to those things which may serve to relieve under it, and especially when they come from the Lord himself; then a stop is to be put to the mournful voice, and wet eyes are to be dried up: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord ; in bearing these children, and bringing them into... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 31:17

And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord ,.... Or, "hope for thy posterity" F18 לאחריתך "posteris tuis", Gataker; "posteritati tuae", Schmidt. ; for their children that had been massacred, that these should rise again, and enjoy a blessed immortality, as the next clause seems to explain and confirm it: that thy children shall come again to their own border : either to the border of the land of Israel, as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did, Matthew 2:21 ; or rather to the borders... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 31:16

They shall come again from the land of the enemy - This could not be said of the murdered innocents at Bethlehem; they never came again; but the Jews, who had gone into captivity, did come again from the land of their enemy to their own border. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 31:16

Verse 16 Refrain, he says, thy voice from weeping The word is בכה beke: as he had mentioned this word before in the second place, “lamentation, the weeping of bitterness,” so he now repeats the same here, “Refrain thy voice from weeping,” that is, cease to complain and to bewail the death of thy children, and thine eyes from tears The meaning is, that the lamentation of Rachel would not be perpetual. We have said that a dead woman is introduced, but that this is done for the sake of solemnity... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 31:17

Verse 17 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, that they might humble themselves before God; and then he gave them the hope of return, 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 thine end; for they embrace the two clauses, — that the whole... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 31:15-17

Rachel weeping for her children. I. RACHEL HAS NATURAL CAUSE NOR HER GRIEF . Sword, pestilence, and famine ravage the land. The invasion by Nebuchadnezzar desolates the old home of the family of Rachel, bringing death to those who cling to it and scattering the survivors in exile. Such a calamity was in itself most mournful; but the disappointment it brought to the cherished hopes of Israel in a golden future deepened the distress to despair. It looked as though it were the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 31:15-17

Rahel weeping for her children The great mother of Israel and Judah is represented by a figure as mourning over the desolation of the land. God comforts the sorrow thus occasioned by a promise greater than could be fulfilled in the return of the Babylonian captivity. Rahel was an ancestress of the Old Testament Church whose spirit she might be said to personify The Church of Christ may still be said to weep for her children, and to be comforted by the promises of God. Matthew's reference... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 31:15-17

Strong consolation. In this touching passage let us note— I. THE SCENE . The exiles, with bowed heads and many tears, are being hurried away from their beloved land. Fierce soldiery urge them on. The smoking ruins of their towns, cities, homes, and, above all, of the greatly beloved city of God, Jerusalem, are behind them. A wail of distress goes up from these broken-hearted captives as they stand on the frontier Mils of their land, and have to say farewell to it forever. The whole... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 31:15-17

Sorrowing mothers and their consolation. I. THE GRIEFS OF BEREAVED MOTHERS . There is an innumerable company of women who have seen the children die in whom they themselves had given birth, and Rachel is their great representative. She stands before us here as the mother of a nation; for surely it only spoils a grand poetical idea to attach her to some tribes rather than others. She sees the nation which sprang from her husband Jacob going from the land of promise into captivity,... read more

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