Jeremiah 31:21

21 Set up markers, put up signs; think about the road you have traveled, the path you have taken. Return, virgin Israel; return to these towns of yours.

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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 31:21 In-Context

19 After I turned away from you, I regretted it; I realized what I had done, and I have hit myself— I was humiliated and disgraced, and I have carried this disgrace since I was young."

20 Isn't Ephraim my much-loved child? Don't I utterly adore him? Even when I scold him, I still hold him dear. I yearn for him and love him deeply, declares the LORD.

21 Set up markers, put up signs; think about the road you have traveled, the path you have taken. Return, virgin Israel; return to these towns of yours.

22 How long will you hem and haw, my rebellious daughter? The LORD has created something new on earth: Virgin Israel will once again embrace her God!

23 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: When I bring my people back from captivity, they will once again utter these words in the land and towns of Judah: The LORD bless you, righteous dwelling place, holy mountain.