Jeremiah 31:22

31:21-26 The way from the bondage of sin to the liberty of God's children, is a high-way. It is plain, it is safe; yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts towards it. They are encouraged by the promise of a new, unheard-of, extraordinary thing; a creation, a work of Almighty power; the human nature of Christ, formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost: and this is here mentioned as an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land. And a comfortable prospect is given them of a happy settlement there. Godliness and honesty God has joined: let no man think to put them asunder, or to make the one atone for the want of the other. In the love and favour of God the weary soul shall find rest, and the sorrowful shall find joy. And what can we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel?

Jeremiah 31:22 . How long wilt thou go about — Or, go out of the right way, or follow thine own imaginations, O thou backsliding daughter — Thou that didst formerly revolt from thy sovereign Lord, and decline from his worship and service, going after idols, and seeking help from foreign nations, instead of applying to him for it; and who now seemest to loiter when God calls thee to return homeward out of a strange country. The expression is often used of Israel, or the ten tribes: see Jeremiah 3:6-12 : and of Judah and Israel together, ibid., Jeremiah 31:14 ; Jeremiah 31:22 ; both being comprehended under the title of the virgin of Israel, in the foregoing verse. For the Lord hath created, or doth create, a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man — It is difficult to say, with any certainty, what this obscure passage means. Several ancient Jews expounded it of the Messiah, and most Christian interpreters understand it of the miraculous conception of the child Jesus in the womb of the virgin. “Taking the words in this sense they properly import,” as Lowth justly observes, “a new creation, and such as is the immediate work of God.

And that such a prophecy concerning the conception of Christ may not be thought to come in here abruptly, it is to be observed, that as the coming of the Messiah is the foundation of the promises, both of the first and second covenant; so it contains the most powerful arguments to persuade men to obedience: and the covenant, of which Christ was to be the Mediator is plainly foretold and described in the 31st and three following verses of this chapter.” Blaney, however, thinks the original words, נקבה תסיבב גבר , cannot by any construction be brought to imply any such thing as the miraculous conception above mentioned. “Admitting,” he says, “that the word תסובב may signify shall encompass, or, comprehend in the womb, and that גבר , instead of an adult, or, strong man, (which the word generally means,) may also signify a male child; yet the words, all taken together, still import no more than that a woman shall conceive, or contain, a male child: but this is nothing new or extraordinary, and therefore I presume it not the sense intended.” Being of opinion that the word, which we translate compass, or encompass, may signify to cause to turn about, or repulse, he renders the clause, “A woman shall put to the rout a strong man,” judging it to be a proverbial form of speech, denoting, “The weaker shall prevail over the stronger,” an expression equivalent to, one shall chase a thousand.

Verse 22. - How long wilt thou go about? We must suppose the Israelites to be hesitating whether to set out on their journey or not. They are now admonished to put away their rebellious reluctance, and a special reason for this is added. The Lord hath created - i.e. hath decreed to create - a new thing in the earth (or, in the land ); comp. Isaiah 43:19 which suggests that a complete reversal of ordinary experience is indicated, as indeed the word create of itself prepares us to expect. And what is this promise granted as a sign to reluctant Israel? A woman shall compass a man; i.e. instead of shyly keeping aloof, or worse (as hitherto), Israel, Jehovah's bride, shall, with eager affection, press around her Divine husband. The phrase, however, is extremely difficult. Of other explanations, the most plausible philologically is that of Schnurrer and Gesenius, "a woman shall protect a man" (comp. Deuteronomy 32:10 ). The part of a sentinel, pacing round and round his charge, seems most unfitted for a woman. When enemies are abroad, it is the men's natural duty to perform this part for the women. But in the coming age, the country shall be so free from danger that the places of men and women may safely be reversed. But would a paradox of this kind be likely to be uttered in this connection? Surely a clearer statement would be necessary to remove the reluctance of the Israelites. Vers. 19, 20 suggest that Ephraim needed reassurance as to the attitude of Jehovah towards him.

The promise of ver. 22, as explained above, would give precisely the needed strength and comfort. The exposition of St. Jerome and other Fathers, that the birth of Christ from a virgin is referred to, is altogether inadmissible, (1) because the nouns which form the subject and the predicate respectively indicate sex, not age, and the first in particular cannot be tortured so as to mean "virgin;" and (2) there is no article to confine the reference to any particular persons. Jeremiah 31:22

22 . How long wilt thou go hither and thither ] How long wilt thou hesitate to return? A sign follows, in order to induce Israel to complete her reconciliation with her offended God. backsliding ] lit. back-turning , i.e. recusant, apostate. the Lord hath created, etc .] No explanation that has been given of the latter part of the v . is quite satisfactory. But the sense clearly is that in some way the natural order of things shall be reversed. The best interpretation is perhaps that it shall be the bride that shall court her husband, i.e. “instead of shyly keeping aloof or worse (as hitherto), Israel, Jehovah’s bride, shall with eager affection press around her divine husband” (Cheyne). Another explanation is that such is the Lord’s condescension towards Israel, that He will for her glory allow the natural order to be reversed, and deign to accept protection (of His Temple, services, honour, etc.) at her hands. For this sense of cherishing, protecting, as belonging to the Heb. verb of the clause, we may compare Deuteronomy 32:10 , “He (the Lord) led him (Israel) about , he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye”; and Psalm 32:10 , “He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about .” Some commentators, by a very slight change in the Heb. vocalisation, obtain the rendering, a woman shall be turned into a man , i.e. shall be given the courage of a man, so that all fear and hesitation on her part may be at an end.

How long wilt thou wander about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created {d} a new thing in the earth, A woman shall encompass a man. (d) Because their deliverance from Babylon was a figure of their deliverance from sin, he shows how this would be procured that is, by Jesus Christ, whom a woman would conceive and bear in her womb. Which is a strange thing in earth, because he would be born of a virgin without man or he means that Jerusalem which was like a barren woman in her captivity would be fruitful as she that is joined in marriage and whom God blesses with children.

(22) How long wilt thou go about . . .? —The word describes the restless pacing to and fro of impatient, unsatisfied desire. The backsliding daughter— i.e., the adulterous yet now penitent wife—is described, like Gomer in the parable or history of Hosea 2:7 , as hesitating between her lovers and her husband. A woman shall compass a man.—The verse is obscure, and has received very different interpretations. It will be well to begin our inquiry with the meaning which the translators attached to it. On this point the following quotation from Shakespeare is decisive :— “If I can check my erring love, I will; If not, to compass her I’ll use my skill.” Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 4. To “compass” is to woo and win. And this gives, it is believed, the true meaning. The Hebrew verb (which presents a striking assonance with the word for “backsliding”) means literally “to go round about,” and this (as in Psalm 26:6; Psalm 32:7; Psalm 32:10) as an act of reverential tenderness and love. In the normal order of man’s life, the bridegroom woos the bride. In the spiritual relationship which the prophet has in view, this shall be inverted, and Israel, the erring but repentant wife, shall woo her Divine husband. The history of Gomer in Hosea 2:14-20 again presents a striking parallel. A like inversion of the normal order is indicated, though with a different meaning, in Isaiah 4:1, where the seven women might be said to “compass” the one man.

It may be noticed that the words used express the contrast of the two sexes in the strongest possible form. A female shall compass (i.e., woo) a male, possibly as emphasising the fact that what the prophet describes was an exception to the normal order, not of human society only, but of the whole animal society. By some interpreters (Ewald) the words are rendered “a woman shall be turned into a man;” meaning that the weak shall be made strong, as a kind of contrast to the opposite kind of transformation in Jeremiah 30:6; but this gives a far less satisfactory meaning, and the same may be said of such translations as “the woman shall protect the man,” and “a woman shall put a man to flight.” The notion that the words can in even the remotest degree be connected with the mystery of the Incarnation belongs to the region of dreams, and not of realities; and, lacking as it does the support of even any allusive reference to it in the New Testament, can only be regarded, in spite of the authority of the many Fathers and divines who have adopted it, as the outgrowth of a devout but uncritical imagination. The word used for “woman,” indeed, absolutely excludes the idea of the virgin-birth.

Israel instead of setting itself to return hesitates, and goes here and there in a restless mood. To encourage it God gives the sign following. A woman shall compass a man - i. e., the female shall protect the strong man; the weaker nature that needs help will surround the stronger with loving and fostering care. This expresses a new relation of Israel to the Lord, a new covenant, which the Lord will make with His people (Jeremiah 31:31 following). The fathers saw in these words a prophecy of the miraculous conception of our Lord by the Virgin.

That the Jews are here meant by the backsliding daughter is out of question; but what going about is here intended is not so plain. Some interpret it of their running after idols; some, of their seeking help from foreign nations, instead of applying themselves unto God; others, of their wandering up and down in captivity. But the greater difficulty is about this new thing, which the Lord saith he will create in the new earth, a woman compassing a man; some by women understanding feeble persons that should prevail against strong men. But the two interpretations of this difficult passage, which seem most reasonably to contend for preference, are, 1. The interpretation of those who think it contains a promise both of the Jewish church in its time, and of the gospel church after the Jewish church’s period, prevailing, over all its enemies, whether temporal or spiritual; though, considering the paucity of the church’s members, with the multitude of its enemies, and their power, it seemed as strange a thing as for a woman to prevail against a strong and mighty man. This the learned author of the English Annotations judgeth the true and genuine sense of these words. 2. Others interpret this woman to be the Virgin Mary, who was to enclose in her womb the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the converted Jews were to adhere; which sense neither Mr. Calvin nor our learned English Annotator approve of.