CHAPTER XXXI _This chapter continues the subject of the preceding in a_ _beautiful vision represented at a distant period. God is_ _introduced expressing his continual regard for Israel, and_ _promising to restore them to their land and liberty_, 1-5. _Immediately heralds appear, proclaiming on... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:2. _THE PEOPLE_ WHICH WERE _LEFT OF THE SWORD_] Those of the _ten tribes_ that had escaped death by the sword of the Assyrians. _FOUND GRACE IN THE WILDERNESS_] The place of their exile; a _wilderness_, compared to their own land.-_Dahler_. See Isaiah 40:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:3. _I HAVE LOVED THEE WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE_] ואהבת עולם אהבתיך _veahabath olam ahabtich_, "and with the old love I have loved thee." "Also, with a love of long standing have I loved thee." - _Blayney_. "But I love thee always." - _Dahler_. I still bear to the Jewish people tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:4. _O VIRGIN OF ISRAEL_] Israelites in general; now called _virgin_, because restored to their ancient _purity_. _WITH THY TABRETS_] Women in general played on these; they were used in times of _rejoicing_, and accompanied with _dancing_. To these customs, still preserved, the pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:5. _THOU SHALT YET PLANT VINES UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF_ _SAMARIA_] This was the regal city of the Israelites, as _Jerusalem_ was of the Jews. _SHALL EAT_ THEM _AS COMMON THINGS._] By the law of Moses no man was permitted to eat of the fruit of his vineyard till the fifth year after... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:6. _FOR THERE SHALL BE A DAY_] Literally, _for this is the_ _day_, or _the day is come_. The _watchmen_-the prophets. _ARISE YE, AND LET US GO UP TO ZION_] Let both _Israelites_ and _Jews_ join together in the worship of the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:7. _THE CHIEF OF THE NATIONS_] The same as Jacob or Israel; for most certainly this people was once the _most honourable_ on the face of the earth. _O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE_] Let the Jews earnestly intercede in behalf of their Israelitish brethren; or let them rejoice and praise t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:8. _I WILL BRING THEM FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY_] From Babylon. _FROM THE COASTS OF THE EARTH_] The ten tribes were carried away partly into Assyria by Tiglath-pileser, and partly into Mesopotamia and Media by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6. Assyria and Media, being very di... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:9. _THEY SHALL COME WITH WEEPING_] Duly penetrated with a sense of their sins, they shall deeply deplore them; and, while weeping for them, earnestly _supplicate_ God to have mercy upon them. _BY THE RIVERS OF WATERS_] I will so guide and provide for them in the arid deserts, that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:12. _AND SHALL FLOW TOGETHER_] Perhaps this may refer to their assembling at the _three_ great national feasts, the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles. _THEIR SOUL SHALL BE AS A WATERED GARDEN_] Full of the light, life, and power of God; so that they shall rejoice evermore, pray... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:14. _AND I WILL SATIATE THE SOUL OF THE PRIESTS_] The worship of God being restored, they shall have their proper share of the victims brought to the temple.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:15. _A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH_] The Ramah mentioned here, (for there were several towns of this name,) was situated in the tribe of Benjamin, about _six_ or _seven_ miles from Jerusalem. Near this place _Rachel_ was buried; who is here, in a beautiful figure of poetry, represente... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 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_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:18. _I HAVE SURELY HEARD EPHRAIM BEMOANING HIMSELF_] The exiled Israelites are in a state of deep repentance. _THOU HAST CHASTISED ME, AND I WAS CHASTISED_] I was at first like an unbroken and untoward steer, the more I was chastised the more I rebelled; but now I have benefited b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:19. _AFTER THAT I WAS TURNED_] Converted from my sin, folly, and idolatry. _I REPENTED_] To _conviction of sin_, I now added _contrition for_ _sin_. Conviction, in this sense of the word, must precede contrition or repentance. As soon as a man sees himself lost and undone, he is _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:20. Is _EPHRAIM MY DEAR SON?_] It is impossible to conceive any thing more _tenderly affectionate_ than this. Let us consider the whole account. The _ten tribes_, called here _Ephraim_, for the reason before alleged, are represented as acknowledging their sins. I have heard Ephraim... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:21. _SET THEE UP WAYMARKS_] Alluding to stones, or _heaps of_ _stones_, which travellers in the desert set up to ascertain the way, that they may know how to return. Mark the way to Babylon: thither _ye shall certainly go_; but _from it_ ye shall as certainly _return_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:22. _A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN_] נקבה תסובב גבר _nekebah_ _tesobeb gaber_, "A weak woman shall compass or circumvent a strong man." This place has given much trouble to Biblical critics. By many Christian writers it is considered a prophecy of the _miraculous conception of the h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:23. _THE LORD BLESS THEE, O HABITATION OF JUSTICE_] After their return they shall be remarkably prosperous. _Piety_ and _industry_ shall go hand in hand; they shall have their _husbandmen_, their _shepherds_, and _neatherds_, Jeremiah 31:24. And Jerusalem shall become a _righteous... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:26. _UPON THIS I AWAKED_] It appears that the prophecy, commencing with Jeremiah 30:2 and ending with Jeremiah 31:25 of this chapter, was delivered to the prophet in a dream. _Dahler_ supposes it to be a _wish_; that the prophet, though he could not hope to live to that time, might... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:27. _I WILL SOW - WITH THE SEED OF MAN AND WITH THE SEED OF_ _BEAST._] I will multiply both men and cattle.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:29. _THE FATHERS HAVE EATEN A SOUR GRAPE_] A proverbial expression for, "The children suffer for the offences of their parents." This is explained in the next verse: "Every one shall die for his own iniquity." No child shall suffer Divine punition for the sin of his father; only so... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:31. _A NEW COVENANT_] The Christian dispensation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:33. _AFTER THOSE DAYS_] When vision and prophecy shall be sealed up, and Jesus have assumed that _body which was prepared for_ _him_, and have laid down his life for the redemption of a lost world, and, having ascended on high, shall have obtained the gift of the Holy Spirit to pur... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:34. _AND THEY SHALL TEACH NO MORE_] It shall be a time of universal _light_ and _knowledge_; all shall _know God in Christ, from_ _the least to the greatest_; the _children_ shall be taught to _read_ _the New Covenant_, and to _understand_ the _terms_ of their salvation. _I WILL F... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:36. _IF THOSE ORDINANCES_] As sure as the _sun_ shall give light to the _day_, and the _moon_ to the _night_, so surely shall the Jews continue to be a distinct people. The same thing is expressed in other words in the next verse. Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:38. _THE CITY SHALL BE BUILT TO THE LORD_] This cannot mean the city built after the return from Babylon, for two reasons: 1. This is to be much _greater_ in _extent_; 2. It is to be _permanent_, never to be _thrown down_, Jeremiah 31:40. It must therefore mean, if taken literall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:39. _UPON THE HILL GAREB_] _Gareb_ and _Goath_ are out of the limits of this city. The latter is supposed to be _Golgotha_; that is, the _heap of Gotha_, which, being the place where our Lord was crucified, was _without the city_. These hills were a little to the north-west of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 31:40. _THE WHOLE VALLEY OF THE DEAD BODIES_] The valley of the son of _Hinnom_. _AND ALL THE FIELDS UNTO THE BROOK OF KIDRON, UNTO THE CORNER OF_ _THE HORSE-GATE TOWARD THE EAST_] All these places, the _fuller's_ _field_, c., shall be consecrated to the Lord, and become a part of th... [ Continue Reading ]