Bible Studies

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We'll continue with the verse-by-verse study of Jeremiah chapter 31.

(15) Thus says the LORD [Yahweh], 'A voice is heard in Ramah [[The Hebrew could also be translated, "on the height" instead of "in Ramah." ((I had a long footnote: William L. Holladay ("Jeremiah 2" [Fortress Press, 1989], pages 153, 186, 187) translates "on the height" and discusses this translation in some detail. He points out that the Jewish Targum and the Latin Vulgate have "height," not Ramah. He refers to 1 Sam. 22:6, which uses the same Hebrew preposition ("b") and noun ("ramah") that are used here in Jer. 31:15; the NASB translates "on the height" in 1 Sam. 22:6. Holladay also says, "Rachel's bewailing her childlessness on the height is reminiscent of Jephthah's daughter bewailing her virginity on the mountains (Judg. 11:37-38)...."

Ramah was a town some 5 miles north of Jerusalem (cf. Josh. 18:25; Judg. 4:5). Some assume Rachel was buried at Ramah, but the Bible doesn't say that (cf. 1 Sam. 10:2). Based on Gen. 35:16-20; 48:7 she could have been buried a few miles north of Jerusalem or a few miles south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem. Some believe Rachel was buried near Bethlehem, and Rachel's tomb in Israel today is near Bethlehem. There is no need to picture Rachel weeping from the place of her burial; she wasn't in the tomb. Ramah is mentioned in Jer. 40:1 as a staging area for the Babylonian's deportation of the Jews after Jerusalem fell in 587/586 BC.

Matthew 2:18 quotes Jer. 31:15, applying these prophetic words to King Herod's slaying all the male children from two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate the "King of the Jews" (Matt. 2:2). This application of Jeremiah's prophetic words was appropriate in that Rachel, the favored/chosen wife of Jacob/Israel and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin (Benjamin was part of the southern kingdom), would have been concerned about the people of the northern and southern kingdoms. Matthew's application of the prophetic words of Jer. 31:15 would have been all the more appropriate if Rachel was buried near Bethlehem.))]], Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted [cf. Gen. 37:35; Psalm 77:2] for her children, Because they are no more [cf. Jer. 10:20].' [[This verse, which takes a lot of poetic license, effectively communicates the low state of Rachel's children for whom she was weeping, who were bearing the penalty for their sins. ((I had a footnote: This verse (with verse 16) doesn't teach that Rachel's weeping, after her death, is the cause of the ultimate salvation of her children. As I mentioned this verse takes a lot of poetic license. J. A. Thompson equates Rachael with "personified Israel." Eventually the repentant, believing, end-time remnant of her children will be saved with new-covenant salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ.)) The next two verses (along with many other prophetic verses in Jeremiah and other books of the Bible) show that there was hope for her children. For one thing, (the remnant of) her children will be saved in the last days and return to the land that God gave them for an inheritance.

Most commentators believe Rachel's children here (as throughout verses 2-22) are limited to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, and (because of the use of "Ephraim" in verses 6, 9, 18, and 20 and other considerations - see under verse 2) I have to agree with them. Rachel was the mother of Joseph, and the grandmother of his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, which were dominant tribes in the northern kingdom. It should be understood though that verses 15-17 by themselves would fit just as well for the combined kingdoms of Israel/Ephraim and Judah in that Rachel was also the mother of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin was aligned with Judah in the southern kingdom (see, for example, 1 Kings 12:21, 23; 2 Chron. 11:1, 3; and Ezra 1:5). Rachel was the favored wife of Jacob (who was later named Israel), the wife he had chosen (cf. Gen. 28:1-5; 29:1-30).

I'll quote part of what Merrill F. Unger says under verses 15-17 ("Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament," Vol. II [Moody Press, 1981], pages 1421, 1422). His heading for these verses is "Divine Grace Assures Hope for Israel's Future." Under verse 15, he says, "In an imaginative poetic and prophetic touch, Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, from whom the leading tribes in the Northern Kingdom descended, is pictured as weeping in Ramah because of the captivity of Israel, that is, her children (descendants). Ramah, about five miles north of Jerusalem, was evidently the place where the captives [of the southern kingdom] were gathered before being carried away to Babylon (Jer. 40:1).

Rachel's lamentation, and bitter weeping presaged the chastenings of Israel through the centuries at the hands of her Gentile overlords and tyrants (cf. Matt. 2:17-18), culminating in the cruelties of the Antichrist in the nation's final time of supreme Tribulation preceding establishment of the Kingdom (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22)."

I'll also quote his first three sentences under verse 16, "Only at Christ's second advent...[For Unger Christ's second advent takes place at the end of Daniel's 70th week and the rapture takes place before that seven-year period begins.] will God's promise of comfort, eventuating in conversion and restoration, be fully realized.... Then the faith and work of the saved remnant, purged out of the apostate mass of the nation, will be rewarded (Ruth 2:12; Heb. 6:10), for at the Messiah's second advent His reward will be 'with him' (Isa. 40:10).

And they (the exiles) from Babylon (Ezra 1:5) [people of the southern kingdom], and ultimately from Israel's final worldwide scattering (Jer. 23:3; 29:14; Ezek. 11:17-18; Hos. 1:11), shall come again to their homeland from the land of the enemy...." Unger includes the salvation and return of the remnant of the southern kingdom here too. They certainly will return, but it's not clear to me that we can see the salvation and return of the remnant of the southern kingdom here in verses 15-17, which is part of verses 2-22. Unger commented (on page 1420) that "Verses 1[2]-22 concern principally the ten northern tribes, while verses 23-26 deal with the other two tribes (cf. Isa. 11:12; Ezek. 37:15-28)." Unger comments under verse 18 that Ephraim is "the representative of the ten tribes."]] (16) Thus says the LORD [Yahweh], 'Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears [cf. Isa. 30:19]; For your work will be rewarded [cf. Ruth 2:12],' declares the LORD [Yahweh], 'And they will return from the land of the enemy. [See under verses 7-9. Many of the people of the southern kingdom returned to Judah some seventy years after being taken captive by the Babylonians, but no such return is mentioned for the people of the northern kingdom. The primary return for the remnant of both kingdoms will take place at the end of this age.] (17) There is hope for your future' [still speaking to Rachel] declares the LORD [Yahweh], 'And your children will return to their own territory. [[I'll quote Jer. 29:11-14, " 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD [Yahweh], 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD [Yahweh], 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD [Yahweh], 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.' ]] (18) I have surely heard Ephraim grieving [The name Ephraim was also used in verses 6, 9, and 20, The grieving here goes with the people of Israel/Ephraim's bearing the penalty for their sin and the chastening of God that is mentioned later in this verse. The weeping of Rachel correlates with the weeping (and grieving) of her children.], "You have chastised me, and I was chastised [It must be recognized that God's chastening of the people of Israel was extremely severe and long lasting. For one thing, many of the sons of Israel were not part of God's true Israel (cf. Rom. 9:6).], Like an untrained calf [cf. Hos. 4:16]; Bring me back [The NIV translates "restore me

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