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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 31:15 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 31:15	Strong Concordance	Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; A voice [06963] was heard [08085] in Ramah [07414], lamentation [05092], and bitter [08563] weeping [01065]; Rahel [07354] weeping [01058] for her children [01121] refused [03985] to be comforted [05162] for her children [01121], because they were not.
	King James	Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Ramah--In Benjamin, east of the great northern road, two hours' journey from Jerusalem. Rachel, who all her life had pined for children (Gen 30:1), and who died with "sorrow" in giving birth to Benjamin (Gen 35:18-19, Margin; Sa1 10:2), and was buried at Ramah, near Beth-lehem, is represented as raising her head from the tomb, and as breaking forth into "weeping" at seeing the whole land depopulated of her sons, the Ephraimites. Ramah was the place where Nebuzara-dan collected all the Jews in chains, previous to their removal to Babylon (Jer 40:1). God therefore consoles her with the promise of their restoration. Mat 2:17-18 quotes this as fulfilled in the massacre of the innocents under Herod. "A lesser and a greater event, of different times, may answer to the single sense of one passage of Scripture, until the prophecy is exhausted" [BENGEL]. Besides the temporary reference to the exiles in Babylon, the Holy Spirit foreshadowed ultimately Messiah's exile in Egypt, and the desolation caused in the neighborhood of Rachel's tomb by Herod's massacre of the children, whose mothers had "sons of sorrow" (Ben-oni), just as Rachel had. The return of Messiah (the representative of Israel) from Egypt, and the future restoration of Israel, both the literal and the spiritual (including the innocents), at the Lord's second advent, are antitypical of the restoration of Israel from Babylon, which is the ground of consolation held out here by Jeremiah. The clause, "They were not," that is, were dead (Gen 42:13), does not apply so strictly to the exiles in Babylon as it does to the history of Messiah and His people--past, present, and future. So the words, "There is hope in thine end," are to be fulfilled ultimately, when Rachel shall meet her murdered children at the resurrection, at the same time that literal Israel is to be restored. "They were not," in Hebrew, is singular; each was not: each mother at the Beth-lehem massacre had but one child to lament, as the limitation of age in Herod's order, "two years and under," implies; this use of the singular distributively (the mothers weeping severally, each for her own child), is a coincidence between the prophecy of the Beth-lehem massacre and the event, the more remarkable as not being obvious: the singular, too, is appropriate as to Messiah in His Egyptian exile, who was to be a leading object of Rachel's lamentation.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Ramah--In Benjamin, east of the great northern road, two hours' journey from Jerusalem. Rachel, who all her life had pined for children (Gen 30:1), and who died with "sorrow" in giving birth to Benjamin (Gen 35:18-19, Margin; Sa1 10:2), and was buried at Ramah, near Beth-lehem, is represented as raising her head from the tomb, and as breaking forth into "weeping" at seeing the whole land depopulated of her sons, the Ephraimites. Ramah was the place where Nebuzara-dan collected all the Jews in chains, previous to their removal to Babylon (Jer 40:1). God therefore consoles her with the promise of their restoration. Mat 2:17-18 quotes this as fulfilled in the massacre of the innocents under Herod. "A lesser and a greater event, of different times, may answer to the single sense of one passage of Scripture, until the prophecy is exhausted" [BENGEL]. Besides the temporary reference to the exiles in Babylon, the Holy Spirit foreshadowed ultimately Messiah's exile in Egypt, and the desolation caused in the neighborhood of Rachel's tomb by Herod's massacre of the children, whose mothers had "sons of sorrow" (Ben-oni), just as Rachel had. The return of Messiah (the representative of Israel) from Egypt, and the future restoration of Israel, both the literal and the spiritual (including the innocents), at the Lord's second advent, are antitypical of the restoration of Israel from Babylon, which is the ground of consolation held out here by Jeremiah. The clause, "They were not," that is, were dead (Gen 42:13), does not apply so strictly to the exiles in Babylon as it does to the history of Messiah and His people--past, present, and future. So the words, "There is hope in thine end," are to be fulfilled ultimately, when Rachel shall meet her murdered children at the resurrection, at the same time that literal Israel is to be restored. "They were not," in Hebrew, is singular; each was not: each mother at the Beth-lehem massacre had but one child to lament, as the limitation of age in Herod's order, "two years and under," implies; this use of the singular distributively (the mothers weeping severally, each for her own child), is a coincidence between the prophecy of the Beth-lehem massacre and the event, the more remarkable as not being obvious: the singular, too, is appropriate as to Messiah in His Egyptian exile, who was to be a leading object of Rachel's lamentation.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The religious character of the restoration of the ten tribes. Chastisement brought repentance, and with it forgiveness; therefore God decrees their restoration. Jer 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 (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. Jer 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. Jer 31:17 In thine end - i. e., for thy time to come (see the Jer 29:11 note). Jer 31:18 As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke - literally, like an untaught calf. Compare the Hos 10:11 note. Ephraim, like an untrained steer, had resisted Yahweh's will. Jer 31:19 After that I was turned - i. e., after I had turned away from Thee. In Jer 31:18 it has the sense of turning to God. Instructed - Brought to my senses by suffering. The smiting upon the thigh is a sign of sorrow. Compare Eze 21:17. The reproach of my youth - i. e., the shame brought upon me by sins of my youth. Jer 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," i. e., his punishment. My bowels are troubled - The metaphor expresses the most tender internal emotion. Jer 31:21 Waymarks - See Kg2 23:17 note. High heaps - Or, signposts, pillars to point out the way. Set thine heart - Not set thy affection, but turn thy thoughts and attention (in Hebrew the heart is the seat of the intellect) to the highway, even the way by which thou wentest. Jer 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 - i. e., 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 (Jer 31:31 following). The fathers saw in these words a prophecy of the miraculous conception of our Lord by the Virgin.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Changing of sorrow into joy, because Ephraim will turn to the Lord, and the Lord will lead him back. - Jer 31:15. "Thus saith Jahveh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not. Jer 31:16. Thus saith Jahveh: Restrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for there is a reward for thy work, saith Jahveh, and they shall return from the land of the enemy. Jer 31:17. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jahveh, that children shall return to thy border. Jer 31:18. I have certainly heard Ephraim complaining, Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised, like a calf not tamed. Turn me that I may turn, for Thou, O Jahveh, art my God. Jer 31:19. For, after I return I repent, and after I have been taught I smite upon [my] thigh; I am ashamed, yea, and confounded, because I bear the reproach of my youth. Jer 31:20. Is Ephraim a son dear to me, or a child of delight, that, as often as I speak against him, I do yet certainly remember him? Therefore my bowels move for him; I shall surely pity him, saith Jahveh. Jer 31:21. Set thee up way-marks, put up posts for thyself; set thine heart to the highway, the road [by which] thou camest: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these cities of thine. Jer 31:22. How long wilt thou wander about, O backsliding daughter? For Jahveh hath created a new [thing] in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man." In this strophe the promise is further confirmed by carrying out the thought, that Israel's release from his captivity shall certainly take place, however little prospect there is of it at present. For Israel will come to an acknowledgment of his sins, and the Lord will then once more show him His love. The hopeless condition of Israel is dramatically set forth in Jer 31:15.: Rachel, the mother of Joseph, and thus the ancestress of Ephraim, the chief tribe of the Israelites who had revolted from the royal house of David, weeps bitterly over the loss of her children, the ten tribes who have been carried away into exile; and the Lord addresses consolation to her, with the promise that they shall return out of the land of the enemy. "A voice is heard" (נשׁמע, participle, to show duration). The "voice" is more fully treated of in the second part of the verse: loud lamentation and bitter weeping. There is a difficulty connected with בּרמה. The lxx took it to be the name of the city Ramah, now called er-Râm, in the tribe of Benjamin, five English miles north from Jerusalem, on the borders of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (Kg1 15:17), although this city is elsewhere written with the article (הרמה), not only in the historical notices found in Jer 40:1, Jos 18:25; Jdg 4:5, etc., but also in prophetical addresses, as in Hos 6:8; Isa 10:29. In this passage it cannot be a mere appellative ("on a height"), as in Sa1 22:6; Eze 16:24; nor can we think of Ramah in Naphtali (Jos 19:36, also הרמה), for this latter city never figures in history like the Ramah of Samuel, not far from Gibeah; see on Jos 18:25 and Sa1 1:1. But why is the lamentation of Rachel heard at Ramah? Most expositors reply, because the tomb of Rachel was in the divinity of Ramah; in support of this they cite Sa1 10:2. Ngelsbach, who is one of these, still maintains this view with the utmost confidence. But this assumption is opposed to Gen 35:16 and Gen 35:19, where it is stated that Rachel died and was buried on the way to Bethlehem, and not far from the town (see on Genesis, l.c.), which is about five miles south from Jerusalem, and thus far from Ramah. Nor is any support for this view to be got from Sa1 10:2, except by making the groundless assumption, that Saul, while seeking for the asses of his father, came to Samuel in his native town; whereas, in the account given in that chapter, he is merely said to have sought for Samuel in a certain town, of which nothing more is stated, and to have inquired at him; see on Sa1 10:2. We must therefore reject, as arbitrary and groundless, all attempts to fix the locality of Rachel's sepulchre in the neighbourhood of Ramah (Ngelsbach); in the same way we must treat the assertion of Thenius, Knobel, Graf, etc., that the Ephratah of Gen 35:16, Gen 35:19, is the same as the Ephron of Ch2 13:19, which was situated near Bethel; so, too, must we deal with the statements, that Ephratah, i.e., Bethlehem, is to be expunged from the text of Gen 35:9 and 48 as a false gloss, and that the tradition, attested in Mat 2:18, as to the situation of Rachel's sepulchre in the vicinity of Bethlehem, is incorrect. Nor does the passage of Jeremiah now before us imply that Rachel's sepulchre was near Ramah. Rachel does not weep at Ramah over her lost children, either because she had been buried there, or because it was in Ramah of Benjamin that the exiles were assembled, according to Jer 40:1 (Hitzig, and also Delitzsch on Gen 35:20). For it was the Jews who were to be carried away captive that were gathered together at Ramah, whereas it was over Israelites or Ephraimites that had been carried into exile that Rachel weeps. The lamentation of Rachel is heard at Ramah, as the most loftily situated border-town of the two kingdoms, whence the wailing that had arisen sounded far and near, and could be heard in Judah. Nor does she weep because she has learned something in her tomb of the carrying away of the people, but as their common mother, as the beloved spouse of Jacob, who in her married life so earnestly desired children. Just as the people are often included under the notion of the "daughter of Zion," as their ideal representative, so the great ancestress of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh is here named as the representative of the maternal love shown by Israel in the pain felt when the people are lost. The sing. כּי איננּוּ signifies, "for not one of them is left." - This verse is quoted by Matthew (Mat 2:18), after relating the story of the murder of the children at Bethlehem, with the introductory formula, τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ ̓Ιερεμίου: from this the older theologians (cf. Calovii Bibl. illustr. ad Jer. l.c.) conclude that Jeremiah directly prophesied that massacre of the children committed by Herod. But this inference cannot be allowed; it will not fit in with the context of the prophecy. The expression ἐπληρώθη, used by Matthew, only shows that the prophecy of Jeremiah received a new fulfilment through that act of Herod. Of course, we must not reduce the typical reference of the prophecy to that event at Bethlehem simply to this, that the wailing of the mothers of Bethlehem over their murdered children was as great as the lamentation made when the people were carried into exile. Typology rather assumes a causal connection between the two events. The destruction of the people of Israel by the Assyrians and Chaldeans is a type of the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem, in so far as the sin which brought the children of Israel into exile laid a foundation for the fact that Herod the Idumean became king over the Jews, and wished to destroy the true King and Saviour of Israel that he might strengthen his own dominion. Cf. Fr. Kleinschmidt, die typolog. Citate der vier Evangelien, 1861, S. 10ff.; Fairbairn's Typology, fifth edition, vol. i. pp. 452-3.] The Lord will put an end to this wailing. "Cease thy weeping," He cries to the sorrowing ones, "for there is a reward for thy labour" (almost identical with Ch2 15:7). פּעלּה is the maternal labour of birth and rearing of children. The reward consists in this, that the children shall return out of the land of the enemy into their own land. Jer 31:17 states the same thing in parallel clauses, to confirm the promise. On the expression "hope for thy latter end," cf. Jer 29:11. בּנים without the article, as in Hos 11:10, etc.; cf. Ewald, 277, b. This hope is grounded on the circumstance that Israel will become aware, through suffering, that he is punished for his sins, and, repenting of these sins, will beseech his God for favour. The Lord already perceives this repentant spirit and acknowledgment of sin. ואוּסר does not mean "I had myself chastised," or "I learned chastisement" (Hitzig), but "I was chastised," like an untamed calf, i.e., one not trained to bear the yoke and to endure labour. On this figure, cf. Hos 10:11. The recognition of suffering as chastisement by God excites a desire after amelioration and amendment. But since man cannot accomplish these through his own powers, Israel prays, "Lead me back," sc. from my evil way, i.e., turn me. He finds himself constrained to this request, because he feels regret for his apostasy from God. אחרי שׁוּבי in this connection can only mean, "after I turned," sc. from Thee, O Lord my God; on this meaning of שׁוּב, cf. Jer 8:4. הוּדע, to be brought to understanding through punishment, i.e., to become wise. To smite the thighs is a token of terror and horror; cf. Eze 21:17. On בּשׁתּי וגם נכלמתּי cf. Isa 45:16. "The shame of my youth" is that which I brought on myself in my youth through the sins I then committed. On this confession generally, cf. the similar one in Jer 3:21. - Thereafter the Lord replies, Jer 31:20, with the question, whether Ephraim is so dear a son to Him that, as often as He has spoken against him, i.e., uttered hard words of condemnation, He still, or again, thinks of him. ילד שׁעשׁעים, "a child of delight," whom one fondles; cf. Isa 5:7. The clause explanatory of the question, "for as often as," etc., is taken in different ways. דּבּר may signify, "to speak about one," or "to speak against one," or "to pay addresses to one," i.e., to court him: Sa1 25:39; Sol 8:8. Hitzig applies the last meaning to the expression, and translates, "as often as I have paid my suit to him;" according to this view, the basis of the representation of Jahveh's relation to the people is that of a husband to his wife. But this meaning of the verb does not by any means suit the present context, well established though it is by the passages that have been adduced. Ephraim is here represented as a son, not a virgin to whom Jahveh could pay suit. Hence we must take the expression in the sense of "speaking against" some one. But what Jahveh says against Ephraim is no mere threatening by words, but a reprimand by deeds of judgment. The answer to the question is to be inferred from the context: If the Lord, whenever He is constrained to punish Ephraim, still thinks of him, then Ephraim must be a son dear to Him. But this is not because of his conduct, as if he caused Him joy by obedience and faithful attachment, but in consequence of the unchangeable love of God, who cannot leave His son, however much grief he causes his Father. "Therefore," i.e., because he is a son to whom Jahveh shows the fulness of His paternal love, all His kindly feelings towards him are now excited, and He desires to show compassion on him. On המוּ מעי cf. Isa 16:11 and Isa 63:15. Under "bowels" are included especially the heart, liver, reins, the noblest organs of the soul. The expression is strongly anthropopathic, and denotes the most heartfelt sympathy. This fellow-feeling manifests itself in the form of pity, and actually as deliverance from misery. The Lord desires to execute this purpose of His everlasting love. Jer 31:21. Israel is required to prepare himself for return, and to go home again into his own cities. "Set thee up way marks." ציּוּן, in Kg2 23:17 and Eze 39:15, "a tombstone," probably a stone pillar, which could also serve as a way-mark. תּמרוּרים is not from מרר as in Jer 31:15, but from תּמר, and has the same meaning as תּימרה, Joe 3:3, Talm. תּמּוּר, a pillar, Arab. t̀âmîrun, pl., cippi, signa in desertis. "Set thy heart," i.e., turn thy mind to the road, the way you have gone (on הלכתּי see Jer 2:20), not, that you may not miss it, but because it leads thee home. "Return to these cities of thine." "These" implies that the summons issues from Palestine. Moreover, the separate clauses of this verse are merely a poetic individualization of the thought that Israel is to think seriously of returning; and, inasmuch as this return to Palestine presupposes return to the Lord, Israel must first turn with the heart to his God. Then, in Jer 31:22, follows the exhortation not to delay. The meaning of התחמּק is educed from Sol 5:6, where חמק signifies to turn one's self round; hence the Hithpael means to wander about here and there, uncertain what to do. This exhortation is finally enforced by the statement, "Jahveh creates a new thing on earth" (cf. Isa 43:19). This novelty is, "a woman will encompass a man." With regard to the meaning of these words, about which there is great dispute, this much is evident from the context, that they indicate a transformation of things, a new arrangement of the relations of life. This new arrangement of things which Jahveh brings about is mentioned as a motive which should rouse Ephraim (= Israel) to return without delay to the Lord and to his cities. If we keep this in mind, we shall at once set aside as untenable such interpretations as that of Luther in his first translation of 1532-38, "those who formerly behaved like women shall be men," which Ewald has revived in his rendering, "a woman changing into a man," or that of Schnurrer, Rosenmller, Gesenius, Maurer, "the woman shall protect the man," or that of Ngelsbach, "the woman shall turn the man to herself." The above-mentioned general consideration, we repeat, is sufficient to set aside these explanations, quite apart from the fact that none of them can be lexically substantiated; for סובב neither means to "turn one's self, vertere," nor to "protect," nor to "cause to return" (as if סובב were used for שׁובב). Deu 32:10 is adduced to prove the meaning of protection; but the word there means to go about fondling and cherishing. Neither the transmutation of the female into a male, or of a weak woman into a strong man, nor the protection of the man by a woman, nor the notion that the strong succumbs to the weak, forms an effectual motive for the summons to Israel to return; nor can we call any of them a new creative act effected by Jahveh, or a new arrangement of things. But we must utterly reject the meaning of the words given by Castle, le Clerc, and Hitzig, who apply them to the unnatural circumstance, that a woman makes her suit to a man, even where by the woman is understood the virgin of Israel, and by the man, Jahveh. Luther gave the correct rendering in his editions of 1543 and 1545, "the woman shall encompass the man," - only, "embrace" (Ger. umfangen) might express the sense better than "encompass" (Ger. umgeben). נקבה is nomen sexus, "femella, a female;" גּבר, a "man," also "proles mascula," not according to the sexual relation (=זכר), but with the idea of strength. Both in the choice of these words and by the omission of the article, the relation is set forth in its widest generality; the attention is thereby steadily directed to its fundamental nature. The woman, the weak and tender being, shall lovingly embrace the man, the strong one. Hengstenberg reverses the meaning of the words when he renders them, "the strong one shall again take the weak into his closest intercourse, under his protection, loving care." Many expositors, including Hengstenberg and Hitzig of moderns, have rightly perceived that the general idea has been set forth with special reference to the relation between the woman, Israel, and the man, Jahveh. Starting with this view, which is suggested by the context, the older expositors explained the words of the conception and birth of Christ by a virgin; cf. Corn. a Lapide, Calovii Bibl. ill., Cocceius, and Pfeiffer, dubia vex. p. 758ff. Thus, for example, the Berleburger Bibel gives the following explanation: "A woman or virgin - not a married woman - will encompass, i.e., carry and contain in her body, the man who is to be a vanquisher of all and to surpass all in strength." This explanation cannot be set aside by the simple remark, "that here there would be set forth the very feature in the birth of Christ by a virgin which is not peculiar to it as compared with others;" for this "superficial remark" does not in the least touch the real point to be explained. But it may very properly be objected, that סובב has not the special meaning of conceiving in a mother's womb. On this ground we can also set down as incorrect the other explanation of the words in the Berleburger Bibel, that the text rather speaks of "the woman who is the Jewish Church, and who, in the spirit of faith, is to bear Christ as the mighty God, Isa 9:6, in the likeness of a man, Rev 12:1-2." However, these explanations are nearer the truth than any that have been offered since. The general statement, "a woman shall encompass (the) man," i.e., lovingly embrace him - this new relation which Jahveh will bring about in place of the old, that the man encompasses the wife, loving, providing for, protecting her - can only be referred, agreeably to the context, to change of relation between Israel and the Lord. סובב, "to encompass," is used tropically, not merely of the mode of dealing on the part of the Lord to His people, the faithful, - of the protection, the grace, and the aid which He grants to the pious ones, as in Psa 32:7, Psa 32:10; Deu 32:10, - but also of the dealings of men with divine things. אסובבה מזבּחך, Psa 26:6, does not mean, "I will go round Thine altar," in a circle or semicircle as it were, but, "I will keep to Thine altar," instead of keeping company with the wicked; or more correctly, "I will surround Thine altar," making it the object of my care, of all my dealings, - I will make mine own the favours shown to the faithful at Thine altar. In the verse now before us, סובב signifies to encompass with love and care, to surround lovingly and carefully, - the natural and fitting dealing on the part of the stronger to the weak and those who need assistance. And the new thing that God creates consists in this, that the woman, the weaker nature that needs help, will lovingly and solicitously surround the man, the stronger. Herein is expressed a new relation of Israel to the Lord, a reference to a new covenant which the Lord, Jer 31:31., will conclude with His people, and in which He deals so condescendingly towards them that they can lovingly embrace Him. This is the substance of the Messianic meaning in the words. The conception of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary is not expressed in them either directly or indirectly, even though we were allowed to take סובב in the meaning of "embrace." This new creation of the Lord is intended to be, and can be, for Israel, a powerful motive to their immediate return to their God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Changing of sorrow into joy, because Ephraim will turn to the Lord, and the Lord will lead him back. - Jer 31:15. "Thus saith Jahveh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not. Jer 31:16. Thus saith Jahveh: Restrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for there is a reward for thy work, saith Jahveh, and they shall return from the land of the enemy. Jer 31:17. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jahveh, that children shall return to thy border. Jer 31:18. I have certainly heard Ephraim complaining, Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised, like a calf not tamed. Turn me that I may turn, for Thou, O Jahveh, art my God. Jer 31:19. For, after I return I repent, and after I have been taught I smite upon [my] thigh; I am ashamed, yea, and confounded, because I bear the reproach of my youth. Jer 31:20. Is Ephraim a son dear to me, or a child of delight, that, as often as I speak against him, I do yet certainly remember him? Therefore my bowels move for him; I shall surely pity him, saith Jahveh. Jer 31:21. Set thee up way-marks, put up posts for thyself; set thine heart to the highway, the road [by which] thou camest: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these cities of thine. Jer 31:22. How long wilt thou wander about, O backsliding daughter? For Jahveh hath created a new [thing] in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."

In this strophe the promise is further confirmed by carrying out the thought, that Israel's release from his captivity shall certainly take place, however little prospect there is of it at present. For Israel will come to an acknowledgment of his sins, and the Lord will then once more show him His love. The hopeless condition of Israel is dramatically set forth in Jer 31:15.: Rachel, the mother of Joseph, and thus the ancestress of Ephraim, the chief tribe of the Israelites who had revolted from the royal house of David, weeps bitterly over the loss of her children, the ten tribes who have been carried away into exile; and the Lord addresses consolation to her, with the promise that they shall return out of the land of the enemy. "A voice is heard" (נשׁמע, participle, to show duration). The "voice" is more fully treated of in the second part of the verse: loud lamentation and bitter weeping. There is a difficulty connected with בּרמה. The lxx took it to be the name of the city Ramah, now called er-Râm, in the tribe of Benjamin, five English miles north from Jerusalem, on the borders of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (Kg1 15:17), although this city is elsewhere written with the article (הרמה), not only in the historical notices found in Jer 40:1, Jos 18:25; Jdg 4:5, etc., but also in prophetical addresses, as in Hos 6:8; Isa 10:29. In this passage it cannot be a mere appellative ("on a height"), as in Sa1 22:6; Eze 16:24; nor can we think of Ramah in Naphtali (Jos 19:36, also הרמה), for this latter city never figures in history like the Ramah of Samuel, not far from Gibeah; see on Jos 18:25 and Sa1 1:1. But why is the lamentation of Rachel heard at Ramah? Most expositors reply, because the tomb of Rachel was in the divinity of Ramah; in support of this they cite Sa1 10:2. Ngelsbach, who is one of these, still maintains this view with the utmost confidence. But this assumption is opposed to Gen 35:16 and Gen 35:19, where it is stated that Rachel died and was buried on the way to Bethlehem, and not far from the town (see on Genesis, l.c.), which is about five miles south from Jerusalem, and thus far from Ramah. Nor is any support for this view to be got from Sa1 10:2, except by making the groundless assumption, that Saul, while seeking for the asses of his father, came to Samuel in his native town; whereas, in the account given in that chapter, he is merely said to have sought for Samuel in a certain town, of which nothing more is stated, and to have inquired at him; see on Sa1 10:2. We must therefore reject, as arbitrary and groundless, all attempts to fix the locality of Rachel's sepulchre in the neighbourhood of Ramah (Ngelsbach); in the same way we must treat the assertion of Thenius, Knobel, Graf, etc., that the Ephratah of Gen 35:16, Gen 35:19, is the same as the Ephron of Ch2 13:19, which was situated near Bethel; so, too, must we deal with the statements, that Ephratah, i.e., Bethlehem, is to be expunged from the text of Gen 35:9 and 48 as a false gloss, and that the tradition, attested in Mat 2:18, as to the situation of Rachel's sepulchre in the vicinity of Bethlehem, is incorrect. Nor does the passage of Jeremiah now before us imply that Rachel's sepulchre was near Ramah. Rachel does not weep at Ramah over her lost children, either because she had been buried there, or because it was in Ramah of Benjamin that the exiles were assembled, according to Jer 40:1 (Hitzig, and also Delitzsch on Gen 35:20). For it was the Jews who were to be carried away captive that were gathered together at Ramah, whereas it was over Israelites or Ephraimites that had been carried into exile that Rachel weeps. The lamentation of Rachel is heard at Ramah, as the most loftily situated border-town of the two kingdoms, whence the wailing that had arisen sounded far and near, and could be heard in Judah. Nor does she weep because she has learned something in her tomb of the carrying away of the people, but as their common mother, as the beloved spouse of Jacob, who in her married life so earnestly desired children. Just as the people are often included under the notion of the "daughter of Zion," as their ideal representative, so the great ancestress of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh is here named as the representative of the maternal love shown by Israel in the pain felt when the people are lost. The sing. כּי איננּוּ signifies, "for not one of them is left." - This verse is quoted by Matthew (Mat 2:18), after relating the story of the murder of the children at Bethlehem, with the introductory formula, τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ ̓Ιερεμίου: from this the older theologians (cf. Calovii Bibl. illustr. ad Jer. l.c.) conclude that Jeremiah directly prophesied that massacre of the children committed by Herod. But this inference cannot be allowed; it will not fit in with the context of the prophecy. The expression ἐπληρώθη, used by Matthew, only shows that the prophecy of Jeremiah received a new fulfilment through that act of Herod. Of course, we must not reduce the typical reference of the prophecy to that event at Bethlehem simply to this, that the wailing of the mothers of Bethlehem over their murdered children was as great as the lamentation made when the people were carried into exile. Typology rather assumes a causal connection between the two events. The destruction of the people of Israel by the Assyrians and Chaldeans is a type of the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem, in so far as the sin which brought the children of Israel into exile laid a foundation for the fact that Herod the Idumean became king over the Jews, and wished to destroy the true King and Saviour of Israel that he might strengthen his own dominion. Cf. Fr. Kleinschmidt, die typolog. Citate der vier Evangelien, 1861, S. 10ff.; Fairbairn's Typology, fifth edition, vol. i. pp. 452-3.]

The Lord will put an end to this wailing. "Cease thy weeping," He cries to the sorrowing ones, "for there is a reward for thy labour" (almost identical with Ch2 15:7). פּעלּה is the maternal labour of birth and rearing of children. The reward consists in this, that the children shall return out of the land of the enemy into their own land. Jer 31:17 states the same thing in parallel clauses, to confirm the promise. On the expression "hope for thy latter end," cf. Jer 29:11. בּנים without the article, as in Hos 11:10, etc.; cf. Ewald, 277, b. This hope is grounded on the circumstance that Israel will become aware, through suffering, that he is punished for his sins, and, repenting of these sins, will beseech his God for favour. The Lord already perceives this repentant spirit and acknowledgment of sin. ואוּסר does not mean "I had myself chastised," or "I learned chastisement" (Hitzig), but "I was chastised," like an untamed calf, i.e., one not trained to bear the yoke and to endure labour. On this figure, cf. Hos 10:11. The recognition of suffering as chastisement by God excites a desire after amelioration and amendment. But since man cannot accomplish these through his own powers, Israel prays, "Lead me back," sc. from my evil way, i.e., turn me. He finds himself constrained to this request, because he feels regret for his apostasy from God. אחרי שׁוּבי in this connection can only mean, "after I turned," sc. from Thee, O Lord my God; on this meaning of שׁוּב, cf. Jer 8:4. הוּדע, to be brought to understanding through punishment, i.e., to become wise. To smite the thighs is a token of terror and horror; cf. Eze 21:17. On בּשׁתּי וגם נכלמתּי cf. Isa 45:16. "The shame of my youth" is that which I brought on myself in my youth through the sins I then committed. On this confession generally, cf. the similar one in Jer 3:21. - Thereafter the Lord replies, Jer 31:20, with the question, whether Ephraim is so dear a son to Him that, as often as He has spoken against him, i.e., uttered hard words of condemnation, He still, or again, thinks of him. ילד שׁעשׁעים, "a child of delight," whom one fondles; cf. Isa 5:7. The clause explanatory of the question, "for as often as," etc., is taken in different ways. דּבּר may signify, "to speak about one," or "to speak against one," or "to pay addresses to one," i.e., to court him: Sa1 25:39; Sol 8:8. Hitzig applies the last meaning to the expression, and translates, "as often as I have paid my suit to him;" according to this view, the basis of the representation of Jahveh's relation to the people is that of a husband to his wife. But this meaning of the verb does not by any means suit the present context, well established though it is by the passages that have been adduced. Ephraim is here represented as a son, not a virgin to whom Jahveh could pay suit. Hence we must take the expression in the sense of "speaking against" some one. But what Jahveh says against Ephraim is no mere threatening by words, but a reprimand by deeds of judgment. The answer to the question is to be inferred from the context: If the Lord, whenever He is constrained to punish Ephraim, still thinks of him, then Ephraim must be a son dear to Him. But this is not because of his conduct, as if he caused Him joy by obedience and faithful attachment, but in consequence of the unchangeable love of God, who cannot leave His son, however much grief he causes his Father. "Therefore," i.e., because he is a son to whom Jahveh shows the fulness of His paternal love, all His kindly feelings towards him are now excited, and He desires to show compassion on him. On המוּ מעי cf. Isa 16:11 and Isa 63:15. Under "bowels" are included especially the heart, liver, reins, the noblest organs of the soul. The expression is strongly anthropopathic, and denotes the most heartfelt sympathy. This fellow-feeling manifests itself in the form of pity, and actually as deliverance from misery.

The Lord desires to execute this purpose of His everlasting love. Jer 31:21. Israel is required to prepare himself for return, and to go home again into his own cities. "Set thee up way marks." ציּוּן, in Kg2 23:17 and Eze 39:15, "a tombstone," probably a stone pillar, which could also serve as a way-mark. תּמרוּרים is not from מרר as in Jer 31:15, but from תּמר, and has the same meaning as תּימרה, Joe 3:3, Talm. תּמּוּר, a pillar, Arab. t̀âmîrun, pl., cippi, signa in desertis. "Set thy heart," i.e., turn thy mind to the road, the way you have gone (on הלכתּי see Jer 2:20), not, that you may not miss it, but because it leads thee home. "Return to these cities of thine." "These" implies that the summons issues from Palestine. Moreover, the separate clauses of this verse are merely a poetic individualization of the thought that Israel is to think seriously of returning; and, inasmuch as this return to Palestine presupposes return to the Lord, Israel must first turn with the heart to his God. Then, in Jer 31:22, follows the exhortation not to delay. The meaning of התחמּק is educed from Sol 5:6, where חמק signifies to turn one's self round; hence the Hithpael means to wander about here and there, uncertain what to do. This exhortation is finally enforced by the statement, "Jahveh creates a new thing on earth" (cf. Isa 43:19). This novelty is, "a woman will encompass a man." With regard to the meaning of these words, about which there is great dispute, this much is evident from the context, that they indicate a transformation of things, a new arrangement of the relations of life. This new arrangement of things which Jahveh brings about is mentioned as a motive which should rouse Ephraim (= Israel) to return without delay to the Lord and to his cities. If we keep this in mind, we shall at once set aside as untenable such interpretations as that of Luther in his first translation of 1532-38, "those who formerly behaved like women shall be men," which Ewald has revived in his rendering, "a woman changing into a man," or that of Schnurrer, Rosenmller, Gesenius, Maurer, "the woman shall protect the man," or that of Ngelsbach, "the woman shall turn the man to herself." The above-mentioned general consideration, we repeat, is sufficient to set aside these explanations, quite apart from the fact that none of them can be lexically substantiated; for סובב neither means to "turn one's self, vertere," nor to "protect," nor to "cause to return" (as if סובב were used for שׁובב). Deu 32:10 is adduced to prove the meaning of protection; but the word there means to go about fondling and cherishing. Neither the transmutation of the female into a male, or of a weak woman into a strong man, nor the protection of the man by a woman, nor the notion that the strong succumbs to the weak, forms an effectual motive for the summons to Israel to return; nor can we call any of them a new creative act effected by Jahveh, or a new arrangement of things. But we must utterly reject the meaning of the words given by Castle, le Clerc, and Hitzig, who apply them to the unnatural circumstance, that a woman makes her suit to a man, even where by the woman is understood the virgin of Israel, and by the man, Jahveh. Luther gave the correct rendering in his editions of 1543 and 1545, "the woman shall encompass the man," - only, "embrace" (Ger. umfangen) might express the sense better than "encompass" (Ger. umgeben). נקבה is nomen sexus, "femella, a female;" גּבר, a "man," also "proles mascula," not according to the sexual relation (=זכר), but with the idea of strength. Both in the choice of these words and by the omission of the article, the relation is set forth in its widest generality; the attention is thereby steadily directed to its fundamental nature. The woman, the weak and tender being, shall lovingly embrace the man, the strong one. Hengstenberg reverses the meaning of the words when he renders them, "the strong one shall again take the weak into his closest intercourse, under his protection, loving care." Many expositors, including Hengstenberg and Hitzig of moderns, have rightly perceived that the general idea has been set forth with special reference to the relation between the woman, Israel, and the man, Jahveh.

Starting with this view, which is suggested by the context, the older expositors explained the words of the conception and birth of Christ by a virgin; cf. Corn. a Lapide, Calovii Bibl. ill., Cocceius, and Pfeiffer, dubia vex. p. 758ff. Thus, for example, the Berleburger Bibel gives the following explanation: "A woman or virgin - not a married woman - will encompass, i.e., carry and contain in her body, the man who is to be a vanquisher of all and to surpass all in strength." This explanation cannot be set aside by the simple remark, "that here there would be set forth the very feature in the birth of Christ by a virgin which is not peculiar to it as compared with others;" for this "superficial remark" does not in the least touch the real point to be explained. But it may very properly be objected, that סובב has not the special meaning of conceiving in a mother's womb. On this ground we can also set down as incorrect the other explanation of the words in the Berleburger Bibel, that the text rather speaks of "the woman who is the Jewish Church, and who, in the spirit of faith, is to bear Christ as the mighty God, Isa 9:6, in the likeness of a man, Rev 12:1-2." However, these explanations are nearer the truth than any that have been offered since. The general statement, "a woman shall encompass (the) man," i.e., lovingly embrace him - this new relation which Jahveh will bring about in place of the old, that the man encompasses the wife, loving, providing for, protecting her - can only be referred, agreeably to the context, to change of relation between Israel and the Lord. סובב, "to encompass," is used tropically, not merely of the mode of dealing on the part of the Lord to His people, the faithful, - of the protection, the grace, and the aid which He grants to the pious ones, as in Psa 32:7, Psa 32:10; Deu 32:10, - but also of the dealings of men with divine things. אסובבה מזבּחך, Psa 26:6, does not mean, "I will go round Thine altar," in a circle or semicircle as it were, but, "I will keep to Thine altar," instead of keeping company with the wicked; or more correctly, "I will surround Thine altar," making it the object of my care, of all my dealings, - I will make mine own the favours shown to the faithful at Thine altar. In the verse now before us, סובב signifies to encompass with love and care, to surround lovingly and carefully, - the natural and fitting dealing on the part of the stronger to the weak and those who need assistance. And the new thing that God creates consists in this, that the woman, the weaker nature that needs help, will lovingly and solicitously surround the man, the stronger. Herein is expressed a new relation of Israel to the Lord, a reference to a new covenant which the Lord, Jer 31:31., will conclude with His people, and in which He deals so condescendingly towards them that they can lovingly embrace Him. This is the substance of the Messianic meaning in the words. The conception of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary is not expressed in them either directly or indirectly, even though we were allowed to take סובב in the meaning of "embrace." This new creation of the Lord is intended to be, and can be, for Israel, a powerful motive to their immediate return to their God.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
In Ramah - That is, in Canaan, and particularly in Ramah, where Nebuzar - adan, Jer 40:1, disposed of the prisoners he had taken, setting some at liberty, ordering others to death, and carrying the rest away to Babylon, which caused a bitter weeping and lamentation. Rachel - Rachel is here brought in, having been buried near that place, as if she were risen up from the grave, and lamented the Jewish nation which came out of her loins (for so Benjamin did, which was one of the two tribes that made the kingdom of Judah.) Were not - Because her children either were not absolutely, being slain by the pestilence, the famine, and the sword of the king of Babylon, or were no longer her children, being transplanted into Babylon. And there was a lamentation like this, when Herod caused the infants of two years old to be slain in Bethlehem, and in the coasts round about Bethlehem, of which Ramah was one.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
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, represented as coming out of her grave, and lamenting bitterly for the loss of her children, none of whom presented themselves to her view, all being slain or gone into exile. St. Matthew, who is ever fond of accommodation, applies these words, Mat 2:17, Mat 2:18, to the massacre of the children at Bethlehem. That is, they were suitable to that occasion, and therefore he so applied them; but they are not a prediction of that event.

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¹³ And they said [0559], Thy servants [05650] are twelve [08147] [06240] brethren [0251], the sons [01121] of one [0259] man [0376] in the land [0776] of Canaan [03667]; and, behold, the youngest [06996] is this day [03117] with our father [01], and one [0259] is not.

¹⁷ Then [5119] was fulfilled [4137] that which [3588] was spoken [4483] by [5259] Jeremy [2408] the prophet [4396], saying [3004],
¹⁸ In [1722] Rama [4471] was there [191] a voice [5456] heard [191], lamentation [2355], and [2532] weeping [2805], and [2532] great [4183] mourning [3602], Rachel [4478] weeping [2799] for her [846] children [5043], and [2532] would [2309] not [3756] be comforted [3870], because [3754] they are [1526] not [3756].

¹ The word [01697] that came to Jeremiah [03414] from the LORD [03068], after [0310] that Nebuzaradan [05018] the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] had let him go [07971] from Ramah [07414], when he had taken [03947] him being bound [0631] in chains [0246] among [08432] all that were carried away captive [01546] of Jerusalem [03389] and Judah [03063], which were carried away captive [01540] unto Babylon [0894].

² When thou art departed [03212] from me [05978] to day [03117], then thou shalt find [04672] two [08147] men [0582] by Rachel's [07354] sepulchre [06900] in the border [01366] of Benjamin [01144] at Zelzah [06766]; and they will say [0559] unto thee, The asses [0860] which thou wentest [01980] to seek [01245] are found [04672]: and, lo, thy father [01] hath left [05203] the care [01697] of the asses [0860], and sorroweth [01672] for you, saying [0559], What shall I do [06213] for my son [01121]?

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as her soul [05315] was in departing [03318], (for she died [04191] that she called [07121] his name [08034] Benoni [01126]: but his father [01] called [07121] him Benjamin [01144].
¹⁹ And Rachel [07354] died [04191], and was buried [06912] in the way [01870] to Ephrath [0672], which is Bethlehem [01035].

¹ And when Rachel [07354] saw [07200] that she bare [03205] Jacob [03290] no children, Rachel [07354] envied [07065] her sister [0269]; and said [0559] unto Jacob [03290], Give [03051] me children [01121], or else [0369] I die [04191].

³¹ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will make [03772] a new [02319] covenant [01285] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and with the house [01004] of Judah [03063]:

²² How long wilt thou go about [02559], O thou backsliding [07728] daughter [01323]? for the LORD [03068] hath created [01254] a new thing [02319] in the earth [0776], A woman [05347] shall compass [05437] a man [01397].

¹⁷ Then he said [0559], What title [06725] is that [01975] that I see [07200]? And the men [0582] of the city [05892] told [0559] him, It is the sepulchre [06913] of the man [0376] of God [0430], which came [0935] from Judah [03063], and proclaimed [07121] these things [01697] that thou hast done [06213] against the altar [04196] of Bethel [01008].

²¹ Set thee up [05324] waymarks [06725], make [07760] thee high heaps [08564]: set [07896] thine heart [03820] toward the highway [04546], even the way [01870] which thou wentest [01980]: turn again [07725], O virgin [01330] of Israel [03478], turn again [07725] to these thy cities [05892].

²⁰ Is Ephraim [0669] my dear [03357] son [01121]? is he a pleasant [08191] child [03206]? for since [01767] I spake [01696] against him, I do earnestly [02142] remember [02142] him still: therefore my bowels [04578] are troubled [01993] for him; I will surely [07355] have mercy [07355] upon him, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

¹⁷ I will also smite [05221] mine hands [03709] together [03709], and I will cause my fury [02534] to rest [05117]: I the LORD [03068] have said [01696] it.

¹⁸ I have surely [08085] heard [08085] Ephraim [0669] bemoaning [05110] himself thus; Thou hast chastised [03256] me, and I was chastised [03256], as a bullock [05695] unaccustomed [03808] [03925] to the yoke: turn [07725] thou me, and I shall be turned [07725]; for thou art the LORD [03068] my God [0430].

¹⁹ Surely after [0310] that I was turned [07725], I repented [05162]; and after [0310] that I was instructed [03045], I smote [05606] upon my thigh [03409]: I was ashamed [0954], yea, even confounded [03637], because I did bear [05375] the reproach [02781] of my youth [05271].

¹¹ And Ephraim [0669] is as an heifer [05697] that is taught [03925], and loveth [0157] to tread out [01758] the corn; but I passed over [05674] upon her fair [02898] neck [06677]: I will make Ephraim [0669] to ride [07392]; Judah [03063] shall plow [02790], and Jacob [03290] shall break his clods [07702].

¹¹ For I know [03045] the thoughts [04284] that I think [02803] toward you, saith [05002] the LORD [03068], thoughts [04284] of peace [07965], and not of evil [07451], to give [05414] you an expected [08615] end [0319].

¹⁷ And there is [03426] hope [08615] in thine end [0319], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that thy children [01121] shall come again [07725] to their own border [01366].

¹⁶ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Refrain [04513] thy voice [06963] from weeping [01065], and thine eyes [05869] from tears [01832]: for thy work [06468] shall be [03426] rewarded [07939], saith [05002] the LORD [03068]; and they shall come again [07725] from the land [0776] of the enemy [0341].

¹⁵ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; A voice [06963] was heard [08085] in Ramah [07414], lamentation [05092], and bitter [08563] weeping [01065]; Rahel [07354] weeping [01058] for her children [01121] refused [03985] to be comforted [05162] for her children [01121], because they were not.

⁶ I will wash [07364] mine hands [03709] in innocency [05356]: so will I compass [05437] thine altar [04196], O LORD [03068]:

¹⁰ He found [04672] him in a desert [04057] land [0776], and in the waste [08414] howling [03214] wilderness [03452]; he led him about [05437], he instructed [0995] him, he kept [05341] him as the apple [0380] of his eye [05869].

¹⁰ Many [07227] sorrows [04341] shall be to the wicked [07563]: but he that trusteth [0982] in the LORD [03068], mercy [02617] shall compass [05437] him about.

⁷ Thou art my hiding place [05643]; thou shalt preserve [05341] me from trouble [06862]; thou shalt compass [05437] me about with songs [07438] of deliverance [06405]. Selah [05542].

¹ And [2532] there appeared [3700] a great [3173] wonder [4592] in [1722] heaven [3772]; a woman [1135] clothed [4016] with the sun [2246], and [2532] the moon [4582] under [5270] her [846] feet [4228], and [2532] upon [1909] her [846] head [2776] a crown [4735] of twelve [1427] stars [792]:
² And [2532] she being [2192] with [1722] child [1064] cried [2896], travailing in birth [5605], and [2532] pained [928] to be delivered [5088].

⁶ For unto us a child [03206] is born [03205], unto us a son [01121] is given [05414]: and the government [04951] shall be upon his shoulder [07926]: and his name [08034] shall be called [07121] Wonderful [06382], Counsellor [03289], The mighty [01368] God [0410], The everlasting [05703] Father [01], The Prince [08269] of Peace [07965].

¹⁹ Behold, I will do [06213] a new thing [02319]; now it shall spring forth [06779]; shall ye not know [03045] it? I will even make [07760] a way [01870] in the wilderness [04057], and rivers [05104] in the desert [03452].

⁶ I opened [06605] to my beloved [01730]; but my beloved [01730] had withdrawn [02559] himself, and was gone [05674]: my soul [05315] failed [03318] when he spake [01696]: I sought [01245] him, but I could not find [04672] him; I called [07121] him, but he gave me no answer [06030].

²⁰ For of old time [05769] I have broken [07665] thy yoke [05923], and burst [05423] thy bands [04147]; and thou saidst [0559], I will not transgress [05674] [05647]; when upon every high [01364] hill [01389] and under every green [07488] tree [06086] thou wanderest [06808], playing the harlot [02181].

³ And they have cast [03032] lots [01486] for my people [05971]; and have given [05414] a boy [03206] for an harlot [02181], and sold [04376] a girl [03207] for wine [03196], that they might drink [08354].

¹⁵ And the passengers [05674] that pass through [05674] the land [0776], when any seeth [07200] a man's [0120] bone [06106], then shall he set up [01129] a sign [06725] by [0681] it, till the buriers [06912] have buried [06912] it in the valley [01516] of Hamongog [01996].

¹⁵ Look down [05027] from heaven [08064], and behold [07200] from the habitation [02073] of thy holiness [06944] and of thy glory [08597]: where is thy zeal [07068] and thy strength [01369], the sounding [01995] of thy bowels [04578] and of thy mercies [07356] toward me? are they restrained [0662]?

¹¹ Wherefore my bowels [04578] shall sound [01993] like an harp [03658] for Moab [04124], and mine inward parts [07130] for Kirharesh [07025].

⁸ We have a little [06996] sister [0269], and she hath no breasts [07699]: what shall we do [06213] for our sister [0269] in the day [03117] when she shall be spoken for [01696]?

³⁹ And when David [01732] heard [08085] that Nabal [05037] was dead [04191], he said [0559], Blessed [01288] be the LORD [03068], that hath pleaded [07378] the cause [07379] of my reproach [02781] from the hand [03027] of Nabal [05037], and hath kept [02820] his servant [05650] from evil [07451]: for the LORD [03068] hath returned [07725] the wickedness [07451] of Nabal [05037] upon his own head [07218]. And David [01732] sent [07971] and communed [01696] with Abigail [026], to take [03947] her to him to wife [0802].

⁷ For the vineyard [03754] of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] is the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and the men [0376] of Judah [03063] his pleasant [08191] plant [05194]: and he looked [06960] for judgment [04941], but behold oppression [04939]; for righteousness [06666], but behold a cry [06818].

²¹ A voice [06963] was heard [08085] upon the high places [08205], weeping [01065] and supplications [08469] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478]: for they have perverted [05753] their way [01870], and they have forgotten [07911] the LORD [03068] their God [0430].

¹⁶ They shall be ashamed [0954], and also confounded [03637], all of them: they shall go [01980] to confusion [03639] together [03162] that are makers [02796] of idols [06736].

¹⁷ I will also smite [05221] mine hands [03709] together [03709], and I will cause my fury [02534] to rest [05117]: I the LORD [03068] have said [01696] it.

⁴ Moreover thou shalt say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Shall they fall [05307], and not arise [06965]? shall he turn away [07725], and not return [07725]?

¹⁰ They shall walk [03212] after [0310] the LORD [03068]: he shall roar [07580] like a lion [0738]: when he shall roar [07580], then the children [01121] shall tremble [02729] from the west [03220].

¹⁷ And there is [03426] hope [08615] in thine end [0319], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that thy children [01121] shall come again [07725] to their own border [01366].

⁷ Be ye strong [02388] therefore, and let not your hands [03027] be weak [07503]: for your work [06468] shall be [03426] rewarded [07939].

¹⁸ In [1722] Rama [4471] was there [191] a voice [5456] heard [191], lamentation [2355], and [2532] weeping [2805], and [2532] great [4183] mourning [3602], Rachel [4478] weeping [2799] for her [846] children [5043], and [2532] would [2309] not [3756] be comforted [3870], because [3754] they are [1526] not [3756].

²⁰ And Jacob [03290] set [05324] a pillar [04676] upon her grave [06900]: that is the pillar [04678] of Rachel's [07354] grave [06900] unto this day [03117].

⁹ And God [0430] appeared [07200] unto Jacob [03290] again, when he came [0935] out of Padanaram [06307], and blessed [01288] him.

¹⁹ And Abijah [029] pursued [07291] after [0310] Jeroboam [03379], and took [03920] cities [05892] from him, Bethel [01008] with the towns [01323] thereof, and Jeshanah [03466] with the towns [01323] thereof, and Ephrain [06085] with the towns [01323] thereof.

¹⁹ And Rachel [07354] died [04191], and was buried [06912] in the way [01870] to Ephrath [0672], which is Bethlehem [01035].

¹⁶ And they journeyed [05265] from Bethel [01008]; and there was but [05750] a little [03530] way [0776] to come [0935] to Ephrath [0672]: and Rachel [07354] travailed [03205], and she had hard [07185] labour [03205].

¹⁹ And Rachel [07354] died [04191], and was buried [06912] in the way [01870] to Ephrath [0672], which is Bethlehem [01035].

¹ Now there was a certain [0259] man [0376] of Ramathaimzophim [07436], of mount [02022] Ephraim [0669], and his name [08034] was Elkanah [0511], the son [01121] of Jeroham [03395], the son [01121] of Elihu [0453], the son [01121] of Tohu [08459], the son [01121] of Zuph [06689], an Ephrathite [0673]:

²⁵ Gibeon [01391], and Ramah [07414], and Beeroth [0881],

³⁶ And Adamah [0128], and Ramah [07414], and Hazor [02674],

²⁴ That thou hast also built [01129] unto thee an eminent place [01354], and hast made [06213] thee an high place [07413] in every street [07339].

⁶ When Saul [07586] heard [08085] that David [01732] was discovered [03045], and the men [0582] that were with him, (now Saul [07586] abode [03427] in Gibeah [01390] under a tree [0815] in Ramah [07414], having his spear [02595] in his hand [03027], and all his servants [05650] were standing [05324] about him;)

²⁹ They are gone over [05674] the passage [04569]: they have taken up their lodging [04411] at Geba [01387]; Ramah [07414] is afraid [02729]; Gibeah [01390] of Saul [07586] is fled [05127].

⁸ Gilead [01568] is a city [07151] of them that work [06466] iniquity [0205], and is polluted [06121] with blood [01818].

⁵ And she dwelt [03427] under the palm tree [08560] of Deborah [01683] between Ramah [07414] and Bethel [01008] in mount [02022] Ephraim [0669]: and the children [01121] of Israel [03478] came up [05927] to her for judgment [04941].

²⁵ Gibeon [01391], and Ramah [07414], and Beeroth [0881],

¹⁷ And Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478] went up [05927] against Judah [03063], and built [01129] Ramah [07414], that he might not suffer [05414] any to go out [03318] or come in [0935] to Asa [0609] king [04428] of Judah [03063].

¹⁷ And there is [03426] hope [08615] in thine end [0319], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that thy children [01121] shall come again [07725] to their own border [01366].

¹⁷ Then [5119] was fulfilled [4137] that which [3588] was spoken [4483] by [5259] Jeremy [2408] the prophet [4396], saying [3004],