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
Numbers 10:33 And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days…
Psalms 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Deuteronomy 1:33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, an…
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Isaiah 63:7-14 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the gr…
Exodus 1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: b…
Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Exodus 14:8-12 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out w…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 31:1-9
God here assures his people,
I. That he will again take them into a covenant relation to himself, from which they seemed to be cut off. At the same time, when God's anger breaks out against the wicked (Jer 30:24), his own people shall be owned by him as the children of his love: I will be the God (that is, I will show myself to be the God) of all the families of Israel (Jer 31:1), - not of the two tribes only, but of all the tribes, - not of the house of Aaron only, and the families of Levi, but of all their families; not only their state in general, but their particular families, and the interests of them, shall have the benefit of a special relation to God. Note, The families of good peopl…
Upon the grace manifested to Israel "in the wilderness" God grounds His argument for renewing His favors to them now in their exile; because His covenant is "everlasting" (Jer 31:3), and changes not. The same argument occurs in Hos 13:5, Hos 13:9-10; Hos 14:4-5, Hos 14:8. Babylon is fitly compared to the "wilderness," as in both alike Israel was as a stranger far from his appointed "rest" or home, and Babylon is in Isa 40:3 called a "desert" (compare Jer 50:12).
I went to cause him to rest--namely, in the pillar of cloud and fire, the symbol of God's presence, which went before Israel to search a resting-place (Num 10:33; Isa 63:14) for the people, both a temporary one at each halt in the…
Thus saith the Lord, the people which were left of the sword,.... Which were not consumed by the sword of Pharaoh, who perished not through his cruel edicts, and by his sword, when drawn at the Red sea; nor by the sword of the Amalekites and Amorites; or of their own brethren, who sometimes, for their sins, were ordered to slay many, as on account of the molten calf, and joining to Baalpeor: but there was a remnant that escaped, who
found grace in the wilderness; in the sight of God, who went before them, protected and defended them from their enemies; gave them his holy law, his statutes, and his judgments; fed them with manna and quails; clave the rocks, and gave them water to drink; and…
The Church Fathers
(Version 2.) Thus says the Lord: The people who remained with the sword found favor in the wilderness, let Israel go to their rest. LXX: Thus says the Lord: I have found warmth in the desert with those who have perished by the sword. Go, and do not kill Israel. The Latin texts in this place are laughed at for their ambiguity in the interpretation of the Greek word. Instead of warmth, they are interpreted as lupine: for the Greek word θερμὸν has both meanings, which is not found in Hebrew. For it is written that Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion translated χάριν as 'grace'. Only the Seventy translated it as 'heat', thinking that the last letter Mem was intended. For if we read Hen as Nun, it means 'grace'; if as Mem, it means 'heat'. But the sense according to the Hebrew is: The people of the Jews, who had remained under the Roman sword, or surely could have escaped the wrath of the Lord in fury, found grace in the desert of the Gentiles, so that they might be saved among the multitude of nations in the Church, to which they will both go and find their rest, Israel which they have always hoped for, as the prophecies of the prophets had promised them. Furthermore, according to the translation of the Septuagint, the understanding is this: the Lord found the chosen ones and living Apostles, and their companions in the desert of the gentiles, among those who had been killed by their own unfaithfulness, they did not possess the warmth of life. Therefore, it is commanded to the Angels and those who are in the service of God, not to kill all, lest Israel be completely destroyed, and it is said to them: Go, and do not kill Israel; otherwise there should be some who live, some who are warmed by the fervor of faith, some who escape the coldness of unfaithfulness and death, whom the Lord finds in the desert.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 31:1-2
1. At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
1. In tempore illo, dicit Jehova, ero in Deum cunctis cognationibus Israel; et ipsi mihi in populum.
2. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
2. Sic dicit Jehova, Invenit gratiam in deserto populus qui evaserant a gladio, proficiscendo donec quietem daret ipsi Israeli (vel profectus est Israel, donec se ad quietem conferret)
I omit here any remarks on the first verse; for it was explained in connection, with the 22d verse of the last chapter (Jeremiah 30:22)…
The Salvation for all the Families of Israel. - Ewald has well stated the connection of this chapter with the conclusion of the preceding, as follows: "In order that the old form of blessing, found in the books of Moses, and here given in Jer 31:22, may be fulfilled, the whirlwind of Jahveh, which must carry away all the unrighteous, will at last discharge itself, as has been already threatened, Jer 23:19; this must take place in order that there may be a fulfilment of that hope to all the tribes of Israel (both kingdoms)." Jer 31:1. announces deliverance for all the families of Israel, but afterwards it is promised to both divisions of the people separately - first, in vv. 2-22, to the ten…
The Lord directed his message to those who would survive the coming destruction at the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Rashi on Jeremiah 31:2
found favor The generation of the wilderness found favor in My eyes.
who had escaped the sword of the Egyptians the Amalekites and the Canaanites.
He [therefore] went to give Israel their resting place When He led them to take possession of the land of their rest.