440 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSNOTES
31:16. Restrain your voice from weeping. The verb mn<, occurring often in Jere-
miah, means "to hold back, restrain" (2:25; 3:3; 5:25; 42:4; 48:10). Yahweh is
speaking here to Rachel, addressing the weeping heard in v 15. Since Rachel is
dead, this is a case of apostrophe (see Appendix XII).
and your eyes from tears. Hebrew dim<a is a collective noun meaning "tears."
a reward for your labor. Bearing children is likened to the receiving of wages
(sakar); it is the woman's reward (Gen 30:18; Ps 127:3). Leah says that with six
sons she now has a good dowry (Gen 30:20). Here Yahweh tells Rachel that
with the return of her sons her labor is rewarded.
and they shall return from the land of the enemy. It is made plain both here
and in v l 7b that Rachel's tears are for her sons in exile. But they shall return
(cf. 24:6; 29:10-14; 30:3; 31:8-9).- And there is hope for your future-oracle of Yahweh. Hebrew weyes-tiqwa
le>abarftek ne\im-yhwh. The LXX omits the colon along with the messenger
formula, which can be attributed to haplography (homoeoarcton: w ... w).
The term > abarft, "(latter) end, future," suggests posterity (cf. Ps 109: 13 ). In
Jeremiah's letter to the exiles (29: 11 ), Yahweh says to the seeming unfortu-
nates that he is planning for them "a future and a hope."
and sons shall return to their territory. I.e., the land of Israel. Hebrew gebill
more accurately means "border" but can denote territory within a border.
Calvin says the part is taken for the whole, i.e., the whole country is meant.
The LXX has monimon tois sois teknois, "an abiding (place) for your children,"
which may be translating Heb ysb ("to dwell") rather than silb ("return"). But
without the previous colon, its Hebrew Vorlage is defective. Aquila and Theod
translate the present colon in line with MT
MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
In these oracles Yahweh addresses Rachel with the comforting words that her
weeping can stop, for her labor will be rewarded now that her sons are prom-
ised a return from enemy hands. There is hope for her future; the return will
be to the land of Israel. All three oracles speak directly to the exiles of Northern
Israel, and together with the companion oracle in v 15 may be early J eremianic
preaching. The oracles will also have an immediate impact on Judahite exiles
who are leaving for exile in 597 and again 586. Like Jeremiah's letter to the ex-
iles, these oracles will give them a hope of returning one day to the land that
they have left.
1) Ephraim Heard Rockin' in Grief (31:18-19)
31 18 I can indeed hear
Ephraim rockin' in grief
'You disciplined me and I was disciplined
like a young bull not trained