Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 2:17
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
17. Then was fulfilled ] This turn of expression may be regarded as identical with the more usual “that it might be fulfilled.”
by ] See note Mat 2:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then was fulfilled – The word fulfilled, here. is used evidently in the sense that the words in Jeremiah aptly express the event which Matthew was recording. Compare the notes at Mat 1:22.
That which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet – Jeremiah. This quotation is taken from Jer 31:15. The original design of the prophecy was to describe the sorrowful departure of the people of Israel into captivity after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan. The captives were assembled at Rama, Jeremiah himself being in chains, and there the fate of those who had escaped in the destruction of the city was decided at the will of the conqueror, Jer 40:1. The nobles had been slain; the sons of the king had been murdered in his presence; the eyes of the king had been put out, and the people were then gathered at Rama in chains, whence they were to start on their mournful journey, slaves to a cruel monarch, leaving behind them all that was dear in life. The sadness of such a scene is well expressed in the language of the prophet, and it no less beautifully and suitably applies to the melancholy event which the evangelist records, and there could be no impropriety in his using it as a quotation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The text quoted is Jer 31:15. This prophecy was literally fulfilled when Judah was carried into captivity; there was then a great mourning in the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, for their children that were slain and carried into captivity. It was now fulfilled, that is, verified, a second time. There is no need that Rama here should be taken appellatively, as it signifieth a high place, from whence a noise is most loudly and dolefully heard. There were several places so named, one near Bethlehem, (formerly called Ephrath, Gen 35:16, 19), Jdg 4:5, a city in the lot of Benjamin, Jos 18:25. The slaughter was in Bethlehem and the coasts thereof; the noise reached to Rama, which was close by. Both Benjamin and Judah made up the one kingdom of Judah.
Rachel was the mother of Benjamin, a woman passionately desirous of children, therefore the fittest person to have her name used to express the sorrow of all those mothers who had lost their children in this slaughter. The slaughter of these children caused a lamentable mourning by tender mothers throughout Benjamin and Judah, such as the former captivity caused to be mentioned, Jer 31:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. Then was fulfilled that whichwas spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying (Jer31:15, from which the quotation differs but verbally).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 17, 18. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken,…. By the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem was literally accomplished what had been predicted by
Jeremy the prophet, in Jer 31:15.
in Rama was there a voice heard, c. That this prophecy belongs not to the Babylonish captivity, but the times of the Messiah, appears from the whole context which manifestly speaks of the miraculous conception of Christ, of the blessings of his kingdom to be enjoyed by his people, and of the new covenant to be made with them, as I have shown in another place r. Rama was not in Arabia, as Justin Martyr says s, but a town in the tribe of Benjamin,
Jos 18:25 and very near to Bethlehem in the tribe of Juda: between these two places, and near to both of them, was the grave of Rachel,
Ge 35:19 for which reason, and also because Rama belonged to Benjamin, a son of hers, and where, no doubt, many children were destroyed in this massacre, as well as at Bethlehem, Rachel is introduced in the prophecy representing the sorrowful mothers of those parts,
weeping for their children; whose distress and grief are signified by several words, “lamentation, weeping and great mourning”, to express the excessiveness thereof, for they
would not be comforted; they refused to hear anything that might be suggested to them for their relief, because their children
were not, i.e. were dead, were not in the land of the living, and no more to be enjoyed by them in this world. I cannot forbear transcribing a remark made by a noted Jew t upon that passage in
Ge 35:20. “And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave”; to show, says he, that Jacob saw that this thing was of the Lord, and that it would be an help to her children, as it is written, “a voice was heard in Rama”, c. wherefore he set a pillar upon her and to show that the affair of her grave, that this “belonged to the time to come”, he says, “that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day”: he means,
, “the day of redemption”. And Rachel, in the passage of Jeremy, the Jews u themselves own, means the congregation of Israel.
r Prophecies of the Messiah, &c. p. 126, &c. s Dialog. cum Tryph. p. 304. t R. Abraham Seba Tzeror Hammor, fol. 47. 1. u Zohar in Exod. fol. 13. 1. & in Lev. fol. 8. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Then was fulfilled,” (tote eplerothe) “At that point (of Herod’s behavior) was fulfilled,” occurred or came to pass.
2) “That which was spoken,” (to hrethen) “The very thing that had been indicated, spoken, or disclosed,” in Old Testament prophecy.
3) “By Jeremy the prophet, saying,” (dia leremiou tou prophetou legontos) “Through Jeremiah the prophet who said;” Then the saying is quoted by Matthew. Thus it may be noted that fulfilled prophecy is one method of evidence by which the accuracy and trustworthy inspiration of the Scriptures is verified, Psa 119:160; 2Ti 3:16-17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying,’
Again this suffering was seen as adding to the ‘filling full’ of the warnings that Scripture had given. For Scripture regularly emphasises the sufferings that Israel had yet to face, in the same way as they had at the Exile. For there it had included the loss of their children to exile, and prior to that the deaths of children in their own land in the face of the merciless invading armies. Large numbers had been slaughtered. Large numbers had gone into exile. And now it was to happen again, even if on a smaller scale. But the scale did not matter. The grief would be the same for those involved. One of their children would disappear into exile in Egypt, and others would be slain in the land. It was all part of the expected ‘Messianic sufferings’, the birth pangs that would introduce the last days.
Note how Matthew uses a special formula for introducing Jeremiah’s prophecies, which is only used of them. It is probably only a technicality, but it demonstrates what thought he had put into composing these formulae, and interestingly the formulae that introduce Jeremiah are the ones that have no stress on ‘in order that’ (hina or hopows). Perhaps it was because they were in a savage context.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Here again there is the fulfillment, not of a literal, but of a typical prophecy:
v. 17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
v. 18. In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. The passage as penned by the prophet, Jer 31:15, is the narration of a vision with reference to the deportation of Israel into captivity, Rachel being the representative mother of the nation, and Ramah having been a fortress of Israel on the frontier where the captives were collected. This prophetic passage Matthew applies to the slaughter of the innocents. Rachel is represented as the mother of Bethlehem and its environs, because it was here that she died, in childbirth, Gen 35:16-20. Her sympathy for her children’s misfortunes would cause her to indulge in such bitter weeping and mourning as the mothers of Bethlehem doubtless gave themselves to at this exhibition of Revolting and senseless cruelty on the part of Herod. Consolation and comfort could avail but little when they were obliged to witness the murder of their children before their very eyes and could only wring their hands in helpless sorrow and agony.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 2:17-18. Then was fulfilled, &c. Then, &c.a cry heard, lamentation, and weeping, and bitter complaint. See, for an explanation of this text, the notes on Jer 31:15. Dr. Doddridge understands this also as an allusion. But the notes above referred to will convince the reader, that this passage may, with strict propriety, be understood as a prophesy of that event to which the sacred historian applies it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
Ver. 17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken ] Fulfilling of prophecies is a convincing argument of the divinity of the Scriptures. Moses had foretold that God should dwell between Benjamin’s shoulders, Deu 33:12 . This was fulfilled 440 years after, when the temple was set up in the tribe of Benjamin: so the prophecies of the coming of Christ and of Antichrist, and others in the Revelation, which we see daily accomplished.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. . . ] Apparently, an accommodation of the prophecy in Jer 31:15 , which was originally written of the Babylonish captivity. We must not draw any fanciful distinction between and , but rather seek our explanation in the acknowledged system of prophetic interpretation among the Jews, still extant in their Rabbinical books, and now sanctioned to us by N.T. usage; at the same time remembering, for our caution, how little even now we understand of the full bearing of prophetic and typical words and acts. None of the expressions of this prophecy must be closely and literally pressed. The link of connexion seems to be Rachel’s sepulchre , which (Gen 35:19 ; see also 1Sa 10:2 ) was ‘ in the way to Bethlehem; ’ and from that circumstance, perhaps, the inhabitants of that place are called her children . We must also take into account the close relation between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which had long subsisted. Ramah was six miles to the north of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin (Jer 40:1 ; “Er-Ram, marked by the village and green patch on its summit, the most conspicuous object from a distance in the approach to Jerusalem from the South, is certainly ‘Ramah of Benjamin.’ ” Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 213); so that neither must this part of the prophecy be strictly taken.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
spoken. As well as written.
by = by means of. Greek. hupo (App-104.), but all the critical texts read dia.
Jeremy = Jeremiah. Quoted from Jer 31:15. See App-107.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17. . .] Apparently, an accommodation of the prophecy in Jer 31:15, which was originally written of the Babylonish captivity. We must not draw any fanciful distinction between and , but rather seek our explanation in the acknowledged system of prophetic interpretation among the Jews, still extant in their Rabbinical books, and now sanctioned to us by N.T. usage; at the same time remembering, for our caution, how little even now we understand of the full bearing of prophetic and typical words and acts. None of the expressions of this prophecy must be closely and literally pressed. The link of connexion seems to be Rachels sepulchre, which (Gen 35:19; see also 1Sa 10:2) was in the way to Bethlehem; and from that circumstance, perhaps, the inhabitants of that place are called her children. We must also take into account the close relation between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which had long subsisted. Ramah was six miles to the north of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin (Jer 40:1; Er-Ram, marked by the village and green patch on its summit, the most conspicuous object from a distance in the approach to Jerusalem from the South, is certainly Ramah of Benjamin. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 213); so that neither must this part of the prophecy be strictly taken.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 2:15
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:17
Verse 17. When one inspired writer makes an application of another inspired statement. it leaves us with no uncertainty as to its meaning. Thus we know that Jeremiah had the “slaughter of the innocents” in mind when he wrote Jer 31:15.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 2:17. Jeremiah the prophet (Jer 32:15). Free quotation (from the Septuagint) of a typical prophecy. Not: that it might be fulfilled, but simply: was fulfilled.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, The loud and bitter cry which the mothers of Bethlehem make for the death of their innocent children which were barbarously slain by the sword if Herod; here was lamentation, weeping, and great mourning made by Rachel, that is, by the women inhabiting in and about Bethlehem, where Rachel’s sepulchre was: for the land about Bethlehem was called Rachel, from her sepulchre, so famous in those parts. Rachel here is not the name of a person, but of a place.
Observe, 2. The cause and reason of this cry and bitter lamentation: the mothers weep, not because the children are, but because they are not; they did not, with some wicked parents repine because they had lost them: mothers have the sharpest throes both in their children’s births and burials. As children in their births are their mothers’ Benjamins; so in their burial they are their mothers’ Benonis, sons of sorrow.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 2:17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy The words of Jeremiah here referred to (Jer 31:15, where see the notes) were primarily meant of the Jews carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, Ramah being the place where they were assembled to be led away to Babylon. But, as this cruel execution here related by the evangelist, extended itself to all the neighbouring places, and in particular to this same Ramah, a town of Benjamin, which lay near to Bethlehem, the prophets words are, with great propriety, applied to this melancholy event likewise, and are represented as receiving a second accomplishment in the bloody slaughter of these infants. And when it is considered that the Jews who were carried captive were not slain, but lived many of them to return again, as the Prophet Jeremiah foretold, to their own border, it must be allowed, that the prediction was much more literally fulfilled on this latter than on the former occasion. This application of the prophecy by the evangelist affords a sure proof that a passage of Scripture, whether prophetical, historical, or poetical, may, in the language of the New Testament, be said to be fulfilled, when an event happens to which it may with great propriety be accommodated.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 17
Jeremy; Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31:15.)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken {l} by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
(l) For God speaketh by the mouth of the prophets.