Jeremiah 31:20

[Is] Ephraim my dear son?.... Questions put in this form, in the Hebrew language, usually more vehemently deny; and then the sense must be, Ephraim is not my dear son: and agreeably to this all the

Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.

Interpreters run into a very great variety in their explications of this text; that which seemeth to be the cause of it is, that, amongst the Hebrews, affirmative interrogations are notes of the vehement denial of the thing as to which the question is propounded, which leads some to interpret these words into a denial that Ephraim was his dear son, or a pleasant child, and denying the truth of his professed repentance. But certainly this is quite contrary to the whole scope of the prophet. The reverend author of the English Annotations hath observed, that the affirmative interrogation sometimes in Scripture doth imply a negative, for the negative particle is suppressed, and h is put for alh so that, Is Ephraim my dear son? here, is the same with, Is not Ephraim my dear son? He gives for instances ,28, where did I? plainly is the same with did I not? So , where we have supplied not, Knowest thou not, &c.? So , where, Hast thou seen? is the same with, Hast thou not seen? So . So that though the particle prefixed h be an affirmative particle, yet it is often put for Nld and signifieth negatively, the negative being suppressed and to be understood. I have also sometimes thought that even here it may be fairly enough interpreted, Is Ephraim now become my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? Is his heart turned? So is mine. For since I spake against him, or with him, or of him, I do earnestly remember him, ydbd ydj Ar. Montanus translateth it, from the sufficiency of my speaking with him; the reason of the difference is, yd signifies to suffice, and it signifies time. I see no reason to vary from our translation, since, or from the time, as the same particle signifieth, , I spake against him by my threatenings, I do remember him with the affection and compassion of a father. My bowels are troubled for him, is as much as, I have pitied him; as the bowels of parents are turned and troubled for their children in calamities; therefore, saith God, I will certainly show him favour.

Jeremiah 31:20 [Is] Ephraim my dear son? [is he] a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.Ver. 20. Is Ephraim a dear son? is he a pleasant child?] q.d., Ay sure he is; and never more dear and pleasant than when thus beblubbered; like as some faces appear most oriently beautiful when they are most enstamped with sorrow. Heb., Is he a child of delight? q.d., He may seem to be otherwise by my hard dealing with him; but so he is assuredly - "Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still.] Or, So oft as I speak of him, I am mindful still of him. See Isaiah 49:14; Isaiah 49:16. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him.] Perstrepunt viscera mea. My bowels work, as that mother’ s did toward her child; as Croesus’ dumb son’ s did, when seeing a fellow ready to kill his father, he burst out into, Kill not king Croesus. See Hosea 11:8. Aνθρωπε, υηκτεινετον Kροισον. - Herod.

(20) Is Ephraim my dear son?—Literally, a child of delight—i.e., fondled and caressed. Is he a pleasant child?—We have to ask whether an affirmative or negative answer is implied to these questions. On the former view, the words express the yearning of a father’s heart towards the son whom he still loves in spite of all his faults. Jehovah wonders, as it were, at his affection for one who has been so rebellious. On the latter, they give prominence to the faults as having deprived him of all claim to love, even though the father’s heart yearned towards the prodigal in pity. The former gives, beyond all doubt, the best meaning. In every word, whether of reproof or invitation, there was implied a loving remembrance. For since I spake against him.—Better, As often as I speak to him. The preposition can hardly have the meaning of “against,” for which Jeremiah uses different words, and implies rather (as in the “communed with” of 1 Samuel 25:39; “When she shall be spoken for,” Song Son 8:8)—speaking with a view to win. By some commentators (Ewald) the word for “speak” is rendered “smite,” but the ordinary rendering gives an adequate meaning. The original gives both for “earnestly remember” and “surely have mercy” the Hebrew idiom of reduplication—Remembering, I remember; pitying, I pity. The thought expressed is that Jehovah could not bring himself to utter the sentence of rejection. His love turned to the penitent who turned to Him. We have something like a foreshadowing of the love of the father of the prodigal in Luke 15:20.

Verse 20. Is Ephraim my dear son?] It is impossible to conceive any thing more tenderly affectionate than this. Let us consider the whole account. The ten tribes, called here Ephraim, for the reason before alleged, are represented as acknowledging their sins. I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself; and in his lamentation he says, 1. Thou hast chastised me. 2. Though he at first rebelled against the chastisement, yet at last he submitted and acknowledged his offences. 3. He turned from all his offenses; he was converted. 4. After his conversion, (שובי shubi,) he repented; after conviction came contrition, as before stated. 5. Being in a state of godly sorrow, he was instructed, הודעי hivvadei, he got a thorough knowledge of the desperate wickedness of his heart and life. 6. Having received this instruction, he was filled with excessive grief; which is signified here by smiting on his thigh. See above. 7. He finds that from his youth up he had been sinning against God; and although his youthful sins had long passed from his memory, yet the light of God brought them back, and he was ashamed and confounded at the sight of them. 8. In this state of confusion and distress God sees him; and, commiserating his state, thus speaks: - 1. Is Ephraim my dear son? Bad as he is in his own sight, and in the sight of my justice, he is now a penitent, and to me is precious. 2. However loathsome and disfigured he may be with sin and sorrow, he is to me a pleasant child - a child of delights; one in whose conversion I delight, and my angels rejoice. 3. I did speak against him: כי מדי דברי בו ki middey dabberi bo, for "from the abundance of my speaking in him;" accusing, threatening, promising, exhorting, encouraging; "I do still earnestly remember him." God has taken much pains with him, and is unwilling to give him up; but now that he repents, he has not received the grace of God utterly in vain. 4. God feels a yearning desire towards him; המו מעי לו hamu meai lo, "my bowels are agitated for him." I feel nothing towards him but pity and love. When a sinner turns to God, God ceases to be angry with him. 5. God expresses his determination to save him; ארחמנו רחם rachem arachamennu, "I will be affectionately merciful to him, with tender mercy, saith the Lord." He shall find that I treat him as a father does a returning prodigal son. So every penitent is sure to find mercy at the hand of God.

20. God is represented as the speaker. He asks Himself whether Ephraim is still beloved by Him. The answer is contained in the words that follow. As often as He makes mention of him, His affection towards him is stirred. The picture is of course adapted to human modes of thought and feeling, and represents God as acting in the same way in which a man would, when thinking upon the ingratitude and rebellion of a son, whom he nevertheless cannot but continue to love. pleasant child] lit. a child of delights, a beloved child. as often as I speak against him] or, as often as I speak of him. my bowels are troubled] lit. as mg. sound. The meaning is, my heart yearns. See on Jeremiah 4:19.