Jeremiah 31:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 31:18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal infinitive absolute
heard
שָׁמַ֗עְתִּיsha.Ma'.ti
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
Ephraim
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙'ef.Ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
bemoaning
מִתְנוֹדֵ֔דmit.no.Ded
H5110
to nod · verb, hithpael active participle, masculine singular absolute
chastised
יִסַּרְתַּ֙נִי֙yi.sar.Ta.ni
H3256
to chastise · verb, piel perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
chastised
וָֽאִוָּסֵ֔רva.'i.va.Ser
H3256
to chastise · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
bullock
כְּעֵ֖גֶלke.'E.gel
H5695
a (male) calf (as frisking round) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
unaccustomed
לֹ֣אlo'
H3808
not (the simple or abs. negation) · negative particle
turn
הֲשִׁיבֵ֣נִיha.shi.Ve.ni
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
turned
וְאָשׁ֔וּבָהve.'a.Shu.vah
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
LORD
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהָֽי'e.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
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
Jeremiah 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way,…
Psalms 80:3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Isaiah 9:13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Jeremiah 3:21-22 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they hav…
Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jeremiah 50:4-5 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weepi…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 31:18-26
We have here,
I. Ephraim's repentance, and return to God. Not only Judah, but Ephraim the ten tribes, shall be restored, and therefore shall thus be prepared and qualified for it, Hos 14:8. Ephraim shall say, What have I do to any more with idols? Ephraim the people, is here spoken of as a single person to denote their unanimity; they shall be as one man in their repentance and shall glorify God in it with one mind and one mouth, one and all. it is likewise thus expressed that it might be the better accommodated to particular penitents, for whose direction and encouragement this passage is intended. Ephraim is here brought in weeping for sin, perhaps because Ephraim, the person from whom tha…
Ephraim--representing the ten tribes.
bemoaning himself--The spirit of penitent supplication shall at last be poured on Israel as the necessary forerunner of their restoration (Zac 12:10-14).
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised--In the first clause the chastisement itself is meant; in the second the beneficial effect of it in teaching the penitent true wisdom.
bullock unaccustomed to . . . yoke--A similar image occurs in Deu 32:15. Compare "stiff-necked," Act 7:51; Exo 32:9, an image from refractory oxen. Before my chastisement I needed the severe correction I received, as much as an untamed bullock needs the goad. Compare Act 9:5, where the same figure is used of Saul while un…
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus,.... Not Ephraim in person; though, as he was a very affectionate and tenderhearted man, as appears from 1 Chronicles 7:22; he is with like propriety introduced, as Rachel before; but Ephraim intends Israel, or the ten tribes, and even all the people of the Jews; and the prophecy seems to respect the conversion of them in the latter day, when they shall be in soul trouble, and bemoan their sins, and their sinful and wretched estate, and especially their rejection of the Messiah; when they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness, as one that mourns for his firstborn, and which the Lord will take notice of and…
The Church Fathers
Let us purify ourselves by tears, that the Lord our God may hear us when we lament, as he heard Ephraim when weeping, as it is written: "I have surely heard Ephraim weeping." He expressly repeats the words of Ephraim: "You have chastised me, and I was chastised; like a calf I was not trained." For a calf shows itself off and leaves its stall, and so Ephraim was untrained like a calf far away from the stall, because he had forsaken the stall of the Lord, followed Jeroboam and worshiped the calves, which future event was prophetically indicated through Aaron, namely, that the people of the Jews would fall after this manner. And so repenting, Ephraim says, "Turn me, and I shall be turned, for you are the Lord my God. Surely in the end of my captivity I repented, and after I learned I mourned over the days of confusion and subjected myself to you because I received reproach and made you known."
(Verse 18, 19.) Hearing, I heard Ephraim passing through (or lamenting); you chastised me, and I was instructed like an untamed heifer (or like a calf, and I did not learn); turn me, and I will be turned; for you are the Lord my God. For after you converted me (or I was captured), I repented. And after I knew (or you showed me), I struck my thigh (or I groaned), I was ashamed and embarrassed (or from the day of confusion, and I saw you), because I endured the reproach of my youth. God speaks, having heard Ephraim speaking and lamenting. There is no doubt that it signifies the ten tribes, over whom Jeroboam son of Nabath first ruled, who also made golden calves in Dan and Bethel, so that, deceived by this error, the people would cease to worship and adore the God of Israel. You have chastised me, he says, and I have been chastised. Every correction leads to salvation, which for the present seems to be sadness; and afterwards it brings forth peaceful fruits. And he says: 'Just as an untamed calf or a young bull, and I have not learned, this signifies that I have been trained with much labor and beatings in order to be converted, and I have not progressed. Convert me,' he says, 'and I will be converted.' Therefore, we cannot fulfill the same thing that we are doing penance for unless we rely on God's help. For after you have converted me and I have been converted to you, then I will know that you are the Lord my God, and my mistakes and sins will not destroy me. And after you converted me, I repented. See how great is the help of God, and how fragile is the human condition: that even this very thing, that we repent, we cannot accomplish unless the Lord converts us beforehand. And after, he says, you showed me, either repentance itself, or knowledge of you, or I recognized you, I struck my thigh. Which is an indication of one who is in pain and lamenting, and weeping over their previous error, that they would strike their thigh with their hand, and confess that they were foolish before. Confucius, he said, I am confused and embarrassed, or from the day of confusion. For what time is not our confusion, if we remember the ancient sins, and all the things we have done wrong, let us recapitulate them? And what LXX said, and I showed you, means that after he groaned and recognized his own sins, he has come to such progress that he has also shown God to others who…
Dictionary and topics
Bullock — (1.) The translation of a word which is a generic name for horned cattle (Isa. 65:25). It is also rendered “cow” (Ezek. 4:15), “ox” (Gen. 12:16). (2.) The translation of a word always meaning an…
Affliction, Prayer Under · That we may be turned to God — That we may be turned to God
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In leading us to seek God in prayer — In leading us to seek God in prayer
Anger Of God, The · Is averted upon confession of sin and repentance — Is averted upon confession of sin and repentance
Bullock · .For plowing — .For plowing
Chastisement · FROM GOD — FROM GOD
Conversion · Pray for — Pray for
Ox, The · Bull or bullock illustrative: (Unaccustomed to the yoke,) of intractable sinners — Bull or bullock illustrative: (Unaccustomed to the yoke,) of intractable sinners
Self-Will And Stubbornness · Illustrated — Illustrated
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 31:18
18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
18. Audiendo audivi Ephraim transmigrantem, (vel, cum transmigravit, vel, lamentantem, ut alii vertunt; dicemus postea de voce) Castigasti me, et castigatus sum tanquam vitulus non edotus; converte me et convertar, quia tu Jehova Deus meus.
The Prophet here speaks more distinctly of a blessed issue, and shews that the punishment by which God had already chastised the people, and by which he was prepared to chastise the tribe of Judah, was wholly necessary, which he would…
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…
Israel was now repenting of its sins and humbly asking for restoration; the people realized that they had no power to redeem themselves. They were turning away from idols and affirming that God alone is the Lord.
Rashi on Jeremiah 31:18
complaining (Konpljjet in O.F.), an expression of “who will lament for you (יָנוּד)?” (above 15:5).
“You have chastised me” With pains, You, the Holy One, blessed be He.
like an ungoaded calf (fut aiguillones in O.F.), was goaded, an expression of “an ox-goad (מַלְמַד הַבָּקָר)” (Judges 3:31). I was like an ungoaded calf in the beginning. Therefore, I sinned against You.
