Jeremiah 31:21

21 "Set up for yourself roadmarks, Place for yourself guideposts; ¹Direct your mind to the highway, The way by which you went. ²Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

Jeremiah 31:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 31:21

Set thee up way marks, make thee high heaps
Of stones, raised up as pillars, or like pyramids; or upright, as palm trees, which signification the word ^F26 has; to be marks and signs, to know the way again upon a return. The Targum is,

``O congregation of Israel, remember the right works of thy fathers; pour out supplications; in bitterness set thy heart.''

And so the Vulgate Latin version interprets the last clause, "put on bitternesses", without any sense; so Cocceius. The design of the words is to put the Jews upon thoughts of returning to their own land, and to prepare for it; set thine heart towards the highway, [even] the way [which] thou
wentest;
from Judea to Babylon, or into other countries; think of going the same way back again; for, as there was a highway from Judea, there is one to it; let thine heart be upon returning that way. Jarchi reads, "the way which I went"; that is, the way in which the Lord went with the people; the right way in which he guided and directed them; and in which following him, they could not err; see ( Isaiah 35:8 ) . The Targum is,

``consider the works which thou hast done, whether they are fight, when thou goest in a way afar off;''

turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities;
an invitation and encouragement to the Jews to turn again to their own land; as from the Babylonish captivity, so from all lands in the latter day; which is yet to be fulfilled, and to which the prophecy more properly belongs.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Myrwrmt) "columnulas", Schmidt; "pyramidas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "palmulas", Tigurine version, "a (rmt) palma".

Jeremiah 31:21 In-Context

19 'For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the reproach of my youth.'

20 "Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him," declares the LORD .

21 "Set up for yourself roadmarks, Place for yourself guideposts; Direct your mind to the highway, The way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

22 "How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth - A woman will encompass a man."

23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes, 'The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness, O holy hill!'

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 50:5
• 2. Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 52:11

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "heart"