Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn.
9. with weeping ] tears of contrition, cp. Jer 3:21. But LXX, “They went forth with weeping, but with consolation will I bring them back,” though giving quite a different turn to the passage, may well be correct. As Peake points out, the LXX are supported by the great prominence given in 2 Isaiah to the comforting of Israel.
by rivers ] to rivers. Neither thirst nor roughness of the road shall trouble them as they traverse the desert homewards. Cp. Isa 41:18; Isa 43:19 f., Jer 48:21, Jer 49:10; so Isa 40:4 (mg.), Jer 42:16. Cp. also Isaiah 35.
Ephraim is my firstborn ] It is remarkable, if this passage be not Jeremianic, that Ephraim should be granted by the writer the title of firstborn. But cp. 1Ch 5:1-3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Weeping – For joy, not for sorrow.
Supplications – The conviction that God is guiding them, encourages them to pray.
Ephraim is My firstborn – The house of Joseph is thus to be restored to its old preeminence.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 31:9
They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them.
The penitent sinner returning to his God
I. Some of the first steps by which a sinner returns to his offended God.
1. Contrition; a heartfelt sorrow and grief on account of his sins. Many causes may conspire to awaken the sinner; but, as soon as the natural blindness of his heart begins to be removed, fear and alarm will be among the earliest effects. The apprehension of Gods future judgment stops him in his course; fills his heart with terror, and his eyes with tears. He has also a more immediate cause of alarm, in the state of his own mind and heart. Beginning now, for the first time, to abhor iniquity, he is confounded on discovering its power and dominion within him. Something more than this is required, in order to make a true and lasting penitent. After trembling under the condemnation of the law, and mourning over your corrupt nature, you must look upon Christ, and behold in Him the effects of your guilt.
2. From penitent tears, the next step is to fervent prayer.
II. Abundant aid is promised to those who are setting out on their return to God.
1. God will help the repenting sinner by holy influences; by inspiring him with holy desires, and restraining the corrupt inclinations of the natural mind.
2. He will come to your aid with His refreshing consolations. These are the rivers of waters, by which He will cause you to walk.
3. The repentant sinner is assured of instruction, sufficient to guide him on his way, and easy to be comprehended and followed.
4. He, who leads the sinner into the way of light and consolation, will also uphold him therein. (J. Jowett, M. A.)
Christian pilgrims
I. Their character.
1. There is no discouragement which God will not enable us to surmount.
2. God has chosen those who arc in the most discouraging circumstances on purpose that His own power may be the more displayed and glorified.
II. Their journey.
1. Its commencement
2. Its progress. Address–
(1) Those who yet are in a state of bondage.
(2) Those who are travelling towards Zion. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
In a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble.
A beaten track
Here there is a well-beaten track under our feet. Let us keep it. It may not be quite the shortest way; it may not take us through all the grandeur and sublimity which bolder pedestrians might see: we may miss a picturesque waterfall, a remarkable glacier, a charming view: but the track will bring us safe to our quarters for the night. (R. W. Dale, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. They shall come with weeping] Duly penetrated with a sense of their sins, they shall deeply deplore them; and, while weeping for them, earnestly supplicate God to have mercy upon them.
By the rivers of waters] I will so guide and provide for them in the arid deserts, that they shall find streams of water whenever necessary. Every one knows of how much consequence water is to travellers in the eastern deserts.
Ephraim is my first-born.] Ephraim, being the most considerable, is often put for the whole of the ten tribes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They shall come with weeping; some think that it had been better translated, They went weeping; for though the verb be the future tense in the Hebrew, yet that tense hath often the signification of the preterperfect tense; thus it answereth, Psa 126:5,6, He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, &c.; but there is no need of it here, for there is a weeping for joy, as well as for sorrow, as we have it in the instances both of Jacob and Joseph, Gen 29:11; 43:30; and thus the text correspondeth with that, Zec 12:10, I will pour upon them the Spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn. Weeping also here may be understood for their past sins. I will cause them to walk, by the rivers of waters; and they shall have no want as they had when they came out of Egypt, through the wilderness, where they often wanted water.
In a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; neither shall they have any rough ways, nor turn backward and forward, as God made them to do in their passage through the wilderness.
For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born; for as I have the affection of a father for all Israel, so will I show the care and kindness of a father to them, and use them as a man useth his first-born; so God anciently called the Jews, Exo 4:22, they being the first of all nations, whom God owned and took into covenant, and who owned God, and worshipped the true and living God only.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. weepingfor their past sinswhich caused their exile (Psa 126:5;Psa 126:6). Although they comewith weeping, they shall return with joy (Jer 50:4;Jer 50:5).
supplications(CompareJer 31:18; Jer 31:19;Jer 3:21-25; Zec 12:10).Margin translates “favors,” as in Jos 11:20;Ezr 9:8; thus God’s favorsor compassions are put in opposition to the people’s weeping;their tears shall be turned into joy. But English Versionsuits the parellelism best.
I will cause . . . to walk by. . . waters . . . straight way (Isa 35:6-8;Isa 43:19; Isa 49:10;Isa 49:11). God will give themwaters to satisfy their thirst as in the wilderness journey fromEgypt. So spiritually (Mat 5:6;Joh 7:37).
Ephraimthe ten tribesno longer severed from Judah, but forming one people with it.
my first-born (Exo 4:22;Hos 11:1; Rom 9:4).So the elect Church (2Co 6:18;Jas 1:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They shall come with weeping,…. For joy, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; of which there are instances, Ge 29:11; so the Jews will come to Christ, and to the Gospel church, as well as into their own land, with joy that they have found the Messiah, and are brought under his government, and into the enjoyment of the privileges of the Gospel, and the possession of their own land; or with tears of repentance for all their sins, original and actual, especially for their sin of unbelief, and rejection of the Messiah; they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn, when a spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon them, Zec 12:10; with which agrees what follows:
and with supplications will I lead them; to Christ, and his church; and being drawn by the Father, and led by the Spirit, they will come to him with supplications and entreaties for mercy to be showed unto them; particularly for pardoning grace and mercy, and for salvation by him, which they will now see they stand in need of. Some render it, “with favours” n, or mercies; blessings of grace bestowed on them; as a justifying righteousness; remission of sins; adoption; sanctifying grace; a right and title and meetness for eternal life; which are all owing to the free favour and grace of God:
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters; or, “to rivers of waters” o; to God himself, the fountain of living waters; and his everlasting love, that river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God; and to Christ, the fountain of gardens, and well of living waters; and to those wells of salvation, and fulness of grace, that are in him; and to the Gospel, its doctrines and ordinances, which are the still waters to it, by which the great Shepherd leads his flock. These rivers of waters may denote the blessings of grace which spring from the love of God, and flow through Christ in his word and ordinances, in great abundance; and it is very pleasant and profitable walking by these:
in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; in a direct way to Christ, without going round about, by works of righteousness done by them, to render them acceptable to him; but they shall go directly to him as they are; or in a plain way, as it is to them that understand it, and in which men, though fools, shall not err: or in a righteous way, a way of righteousness; in a way that leads to Christ for righteousness; and in which men are taught to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and in which, though they may stumble and fall into sin, for “in many things we all offend”, Jas 3:2; yet not stumble at the word, as some do; or at the stumbling stone, Christ, as the Jews’ forefathers did; or so as to fall, be broken, and perish, Isa 8:14;
for am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn; and so very dear to him, as in Jer 31:20. So the Targum,
“and Ephraim is beloved before me;”
all the blessings of grace which God bestows upon men, whether Jews or Gentiles, all flow from a prior relation he stands in to them; he first takes them into the relation of children, is a father to them in covenant; and then bestows children’s blessings and covenant mercies on them. The allusion, perhaps, is to Joseph’s having the birthright, and whose younger son, Ephraim, was preferred to Manasseh the elder, 1Ch 5:2. Ephraim intends the same as Israel, the ten tribes, and includes the whole body of the Jewish nation.
n “cum beneficientiis”, Tigurine version, Gataker; so Kimchi and Ben Melech. o “ad torrentes, vel fluvios aquarum”, Munster, Tigurine version, Calvin, Cocceius; “ad fontes aquarum”, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet still pursues the same subject; but he adds, that though they went with weeping into exile, yet that would be no impediment, that God should not restore them again to their own country: for I take the beginning of this verse, in weeping shall they come, in an adversative sense. Some explain weeping as the effect of joy; for joy as well as grief sometimes brings tears. Some then think the meaning of the Prophet to be, that so great would be the joy on their return, that tears would flow from their eyes. But I, on the contrary, think, that the Prophet means what was afterwards repeated in one of the Psalms,
“
Going forth they went forth and wept; but coming they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves.” (Psa 126:6)
For the Prophet compares the exile of the people to sowing; for except the seed cast on the earth dies, it remains dry and barren, and does not germinate: the death then of the seed is the cause of production. So also it was necessary for the people to be by exile thus cast on the ground, that their calamity might be a kind of death to them. But he says that the Jews when cast forth as a seed, that is, when driven into exile to be put to death by the chastening rod of God, “had come with weeping;” but that afterwards they returned with joy as in harvest, that is, when liberty to return was granted them. So also the Prophet here speaks, as I think, in an adversative sense, of the Jews; the particle though is to be understood.
It afterwards follows, With prayers, or mercies, will I lead them The word תחנונים , techenunim, which is found mostly in the plural number, means prayers; and I know not whether this sense is suitable here. In Zechariah, the word being connected with grace, it cannot be otherwise explained than of mercy, (Zec 7:9) and I am inclined to adopt this meaning here, even that the weeping of the people would be no hinderance, that God should not at last shew mercy to them, and turn their weeping and tears into laughter and joy. But if any one prefers to render the word, prayers, the sense would not be improper; that is, that when they began suppliantly to confess their sins, and to flee to God’s mercy, there would then come the time of joy. But weeping then must be applied to blind grief, for the Jews were not as yet subdued so as to submit to God, to be humbled and to repent. Hence weeping is to be taken in a bad sense, even for grief, mixed with perverseness, when they murmured against God; and the Prophet must have taken prayers as tokens of repentance, that is, when the Jews, having been truly convinced of their sins by many and continual evils, would begin to flee to God’s mercy. But he seems rather to set God’s mercies in opposition to the sorrow in which the Jews were involved when God hid his favor from them. (26)
He adds, I will lead them to fountains of waters, according to what is said in the book of Psalms, that they would find fountains and wells on their journey. (Psa 84:6) For the Jews had to travel through deserts and sterile sands; so they thought that they lived in another world while they were in Chaldea: they remembered how vast was the solitude through which they had passed. Hence then was their despair, so that they refused every comfort when the Prophets exhorted them to entertain good hope. God therefore promises to be their leader on their journey, so that they should not want water in the lonely and barren desert. And we see that the Prophet, by the various figures he uses, means one and the same thing, even that whatever obstacles may meet us, to prevent us from tasting of God’s goodness, and to embrace the promises of salvation, they will all vanish away, if we bear in mind the infinite power of God. I will then lead them by fountains of water
Then he says, through a straight way, in which they shall not stumble, according to what is said in Isa 40:3,
“
A voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight the paths of our God; let every valley be raised and mountain be made low, so that rough places may become plain, and the crooked (or tortuous) become straight ways.”
We thus see how these prophecies harmonize, and ought to be regarded as teaching the same thing, — that God surmounts all obstacles when it is his purpose to save his Church; for how much soever all the elements may unite against the salvation of the godly, God can by one breath dissipate them all, and cast down the loftiest mountains that may be in his way, and give rivers in deserts and dry lands; and thus he can constrain to obey him whatever may seem opposed to the salvation of his Church.
He afterwards adds, for I shall be a Father to Israel, Ephraim my first-born he, or shall be; for הוא, eua, as it is well known, is taken in the place of a verb. Here Jeremiah points out the cause, and as it were the fountain of the deliverance of which he has been hitherto speaking, even because God would become reconciled to his people. He intimates also the cause of the exile and of all the evils that had been and would be, because they had provoked God by their sins. God had indeed adopted them as his people in the person of Abraham; but the Prophet intimates an interruption when he says, I will be, though the covenant of God had never been annulled. He was then ever the Father of the Church, but the benefit of adoption did not appear; as to outward appearance the people seemed as rejected, as it has been said in other places: and on this subject Hosea also speaks in these words,
“
I will say to her who obtained not mercy, Thou shalt obtain mercy; I will say to the not beloved, Thou art a beloved people.” (Hos 2:23)
For nothing could have been said of the Jews when expelled from their inheritance, but that they were wholly alienated from God. He was therefore no Father to them at that time, that is, he did not appear to be so, although he did prove himself to be a Father really and effectually. He then began to be a Father when the people returned into their own country, because God’s favor then shone forth, which for a time had been as it were extinct. (27)
(26) The Targ. and the Versions, excepting the Vulg., give a similar meaning to these two clauses. They give the sense of “departing” to the first verb, while it commonly has the sense of “coming.” It is also in the future tense, and therefore cannot refer to the departing of the Israelites, who are meant here, for they had already gone into exile. Their return is no doubt what is spoken of, which would be attended with “weeping,” not for joy, but for their sins, as it is distinctly expressed in verses 18 and 19 (Jer 31:18); and also with entreaties or supplications. And it is better with Venema to join the two words with “coming,” —
With weeping shall they come and with supplications; I will bring them, I will lead them, By streams of water, in a straight way; They shall not stumble in it.
He promises two things, to “bring” and to “lead;” then the leading refers to the streams of water, and the bringing to the straight way; which is a kind of arrangement that is often to be met with in Scripture. Two things, especially necessary for travelers, are promised, water and a good road. “Straight” seems to apply to the surface of the road as well as to its sides; hence some render it “smooth” or even, such as would have nothing that might cause one to stumble. — Ed.
(27) What is here said is no doubt true: but the auxiliary verb is, “I was,” not “I shall be;” and so it is rendered by the Sept., Vulg., and Targ.; and by the Syr., I am. Then the Versions, very incorrectly, give the next clause, in which there is no verb, in the present tense, while it ought to be in the past tense, like the foregoing. The words literally are, —
For I was (or, have been) to Jacob a Father, And Ephraim, my first-born he (i.e. was he.)
And to this purpose has Blayney rendered the passage. Whenever the auxiliary verb is understood, its tense must be regulated by the context. On “first-born,” see Exo 4:22, and 1Ch 5:1. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) They shall come with weeping . . .The present version agrees with the Hebrew punctuation, but a slight change would give, They shall come with weeping and with supplications; I will lead them; I will cause them to walk . . . The procession of those whom the prophet sees with his mental eye is that of those who weep tears of sorrow for the past, of joy for the present, and pour out prayers for the future. Of this we have a partial fulfilment in the memorable and touching scene brought before us in Ezr. 3:12-13. A hand which they do not see shall lead them by the rivers of waters, both literally and figuratively. (Comp. Isa. 35:7-8; Isa. 43:19; Isa. 48:21; Isa. 49:10-11, for like promises.)
Ephraim is my firstborn.Ephraim stands here, as often elsewhere (e.g., Hos. 11:3; Hos. 11:12; Hos. 13:1; Hos. 13:12) for the whole northern kingdom of the Ten Tribes, of which it was the most conspicuous member. The term firstborn is used, as an echo of Exo. 4:22, as marking out Ephraim as the object of the special favour of Jehovah, the birthright of Reuben having been transferred to the sons of Joseph (1Ch. 5:1). The prominence of Ephraim over the other tribes is conspicuous throughout the whole history (Jdg. 12:1-3). The prophet apparently recognised it as taking its place once more in the restored unity of the people, when the king should be of the house of David, Jerusalem the centre of worship, Ephraim the leading tribe. (Comp. the contemporary prophecy of Eze. 37:19.) It is not without interest to note how the northern prophet looks to Judah as more faithful than Ephraim (Hos. 11:12), while Jeremiah turns from the sins of the princes and priests of Judah to look with hope on the remnant of Israel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Weeping For joy, indeed, in view of God’s wonderful goodness in permitting their return; and yet this weeping suggests the dark background of their great sin and sorrow. The rivers of waters represent God’s gracious supply of their need in this desert land.
Ephraim is my first-born The family of Joseph, as we are told in 1Ch 5:2, was selected for the honour of primogeniture. They were among those who went first into captivity, and are compensated by this distinction in the return. But no disparagement of Judah is intended.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 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, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn.
Ver. 9. They shall come with weeping. ] Prae gaudio, inquit, flebunt, before happiness, it is said, they were weeping, they shall weep for joy, having first soaked themselves in godly sorrow by the spirit of grace and of supplications or deprecations poured upon them, Zec 12:10 being solicitous about their salvation.
And I will make them to walk by the rivers of waters.
For I am a Father to Israel.
Ephraim is my firstborn.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
rivers = streams. Hebrew nahal = a wady.
Ephraim is My firstborn. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 4:22). App-92. “My firstborn” occurs nowhere else. Compare Psa 89:27. Ephraim is put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), for all the ten tribes.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
come: Jer 3:4, Jer 50:4, Psa 126:5, Psa 126:6, Hos 12:4, Zec 12:10, Dan 9:17, Dan 9:18, Mat 5:4, Luk 6:21, Rom 8:26, 2Co 7:9-11, Heb 5:7
supplications: or, favours
I will: Psa 23:2, Isa 35:6-8, Isa 41:17-19, Isa 43:16-19, Isa 49:9-11, Rev 7:17
in a: Isa 40:3, Isa 40:4, Isa 57:14, Isa 63:13, Mat 3:3, Luk 3:4-6, Heb 12:13
for I: Jer 31:20, Jer 3:4, Jer 3:19, Exo 4:22, Deu 32:6, 1Ch 29:10, Isa 63:16, Isa 64:8, Mat 6:9, 2Co 6:18, Heb 12:23
Ephraim: Eze 34:12-14
Reciprocal: Lev 23:29 – that shall Num 10:33 – went before Jdg 2:4 – the people 1Sa 7:2 – lamented Ezr 3:12 – wept Ezr 8:21 – afflict ourselves Job 9:15 – I would Psa 25:5 – Lead Psa 51:12 – Restore Psa 103:13 – Like Psa 107:7 – he led Pro 4:12 – thou shalt Ecc 7:3 – is better Isa 1:2 – I have Isa 30:19 – thou shalt Isa 42:16 – I will bring Isa 43:5 – I will Isa 43:20 – to give Isa 45:11 – concerning my sons Isa 48:21 – they thirsted Isa 49:10 – he that Jer 3:21 – A voice Jer 29:12 – General Jer 31:18 – Ephraim Eze 7:16 – mourning Eze 47:8 – and go down Hos 11:10 – walk Zep 3:18 – gather Mal 1:6 – if then Mal 4:2 – ye shall Luk 7:38 – weeping Joh 10:3 – and leadeth Joh 11:9 – he stumbleth not Joh 16:20 – your Rom 9:4 – the adoption 2Co 7:10 – repentance 1Th 3:11 – God Jam 4:9 – afflicted
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 31:9, Weeping was fulfilled in Ezr 3:12 when the older men observed the reduced appearance of the temple as compared with the original one. This view of the case is made clear by Hag 2:3. Supplications is rendered “favors in the margin, and the context as well as the lexicon agrees with it. The meaning is that their supplications or desires were granted as to the favors of rebuilding the house. (See Ezr 1:1-4.) Ephraim, once meant the 10 tribes separate from the other tribes, but after the captivity all the tribes were to be together. Hence Israel (as a whole)’ and Ephraim are referred to in the same relation to God. Firstborn Is used In a complimentary sense meaning chief,’ also as the first nation to be formed by the Lord to be his own peculiar (or purchased) people.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
31:9 They shall come with {m} weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of {n} waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] {o} my firstborn.
(m) That is, lamenting their sins which had not given ear to the prophets and therefore it follows that God received them to mercy, Jer 50:4 . Some take it that they should weep for joy.
(n) Where they found no impediments, but abundance of all things.
(o) That is, my dearly beloved as the first child is to the father.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
They would return, weeping tears of repentance and praying for the Lord’s favor. He would lead them back tenderly, as a father deals with his firstborn son (cf. Exo 4:22; Deu 32:6; Luk 15:11-32), and would make the trip refreshing, pleasant, and safe.
"The designation of Ephraim as the first-born of Jahveh simply shows that, in the deliverance of the people, Ephraim is in no respect to be behind Judah,-that they are to receive their full share in the Messianic salvation of the whole people; in other words, that the love which the Lord once displayed towards Israel, when He delivered them out of the power of Pharaoh, is also to be, in the future, displayed towards the ten tribes, who were looked on as lost." [Note: Keil, 2:21-22.]