Jeremiah 31:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 31:16
Thus saith the LORD; 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.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Refrain
מִנְעִ֤יmin.'I
H4513
to debar (negatively or positively) from benefit or inj… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
voice
קוֹלֵךְ֙ko.leKh
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
weeping
מִבֶּ֔כִיmi.Be.khi
H1065
a weeping · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eyes
וְעֵינַ֖יִךְve.'ei.Na.yikh
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
tears
מִדִּמְעָ֑הmi.dim.'Ah
H1832
weeping · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
work
לִפְעֻלָּתֵךְ֙lif.'u.la.teKh
H6468
(abstractly) work · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
be
יֵ֨שׁyesh
H3426
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
rewarded
שָׂכָ֤רsa.Khar
H7939
payment of contract · noun, common masculine singular absolute
saith
נְאֻםne.'um-
H5002
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
again
וְשָׁ֖בוּve.Sha.vu
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
land
מֵאֶ֥רֶץme.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
enemy
אוֹיֵֽב'o.Yev
H341
hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ruth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Jeremiah 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will caus…
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the s…
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that…
Jeremiah 33:7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
2 Chronicles 15:7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Jeremiah 30:18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 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 be a piece of news that will spread all the world over. it will look very great in history; let us see how it looks in prophecy.
It is foretold, 1. That those who are dispersed shall be brought together…
thy work--thy parental weeping for thy children [ROSENMULLER]. Thine affliction in the loss of thy children, murdered for Christ's sake, shall not be fruitless to thee, as was the case in thy giving birth to the "child of thy sorrow," Benjamin. Primarily, also, thy grief shall not be perpetual: the exiles shall return, and the land be inhabited again [CALVIN].
come again-- (Hos 1:11).
John Gill on 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 the world, and expressing such an affectionate and tender concern for them; signifying, that the trouble of bearing and bringing them into the world, and nursing them the time they did live, should not, as it m…
(Verse 16, 17.) Thus says the Lord: Let your voice be still from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord. And the enemies (or of the enemies) will return from the land, and there will be hope for your future, says the Lord: and the children will return to their borders. This has not yet happened literally, for we do not read of the ten tribes who were exiled in the cities of the Medes and Persians returning to the land of Judah: but it has been fulfilled according to the spirit, and in the passion of the Lord, and it continues to be fulfilled: when all Israel is saved from the whole world, and Rachel is said: Let your voice be still from weeping, and your eyes from tears. And there is a sense: Stop weeping, for the Lord has considered your previous works. And your children will return from the land of the enemy, so you may not be held back by present sorrow. For there is hope for your future, says the Lord. And your children will return to their borders, which their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had. But we understand better concerning little ones, that they shall receive the reward of shedding blood for Christ: and for the land of Herod's enemies, they shall hold the kingdom of heaven: and they shall return to their former dwelling place, when, for the body of humility, they shall receive a glorious body. This is the ultimate hope, when the just will shine like the sun (Wis. III), and once little infants and nursing babies, without any increase in age, and without injury or physical labor, will rise again as fully grown men, to the measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph. IV).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 31:15-16
15. 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.
15. Sic dicit Jehova, Vox in excelso audita est, lamentatio, fietus amaritudinum, Rachel plorans super filiis suis noluit (renuit, vel, non admisit) ad consolandum (hoc est, non admisit consolationum super filiis suis) quia non ipsi, (hoc est, quia non sunt)
16. Thus saith the LORD; 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.
16. Sic dicit Jehova, Prohibe vocem tuam a fletu et…
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…
Rachel should not weep, because the Lord promised to bring her exiled children out of captivity and back to their own land.
Rashi on Jeremiah 31:15
A voice is heard on high A voice is heard in the height of the world, the voice of the house of Israel weeping over Jeremiah the prophet when Nebuzaradan sent him from Ramah to return after the exiles to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, as is stated in this Book (below ch. 39).
Rachel weeping for her children The Midrash Aggadah states (see Lam. Rabbah Proem 24) that the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs went to appease the Holy One blessed be He concerning the sin of Manasseh who placed an image in the Temple but He was not appeased. Rachel entered and stated before Him “O Lord of the Universe, whose mercy is greater, Your mercy or the mercy of a flesh and blood person? You must admit that Your mercy i…
