Jeremiah 31:21

21 Set up road signs, erect guideposts, pay attention to the highway, the path on which you traveled. Come back, virgin Isra'el, come back to these cities 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 Yes, I turned away; but later I repented. When I had been made to understand, I struck my thigh in shame and remorse, bearing the weight of the disgrace acquired when I was young.'
20 "Isn't Efrayim my very dear son, a child who delights me so? I speak about him all the time, I can't help but recall him to mind. In sum, I deeply yearn for him; I will surely show him favor," says ADONAI.
21 Set up road signs, erect guideposts, pay attention to the highway, the path on which you traveled. Come back, virgin Isra'el, come back to these cities of yours!
22 How long will you hesitate, you unruly daughter? For ADONAI has created something new on earth: a woman with the strengths of a man.
23 Here is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el, says: "This expression will be used again in the land of Y'hudah and its cities after I have returned their exiles: 'May ADONAI bless you, home of justice, holy mountain!'
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.