Jeremiah 31:16 (WEB)
The LORD says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” says the LORD. “They will come again from the land of the enemy.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Jeremiah 31:16 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
Key words
- יֵשׁ שָׂכָר לִפְעֻלָּתֵךְyesh sakhar lif'ullatekh · Hebrew
- 'thy work shall be rewarded' — Rachel's weeping is treated as labour on behalf of her children.
- יֵשׁ־תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְyesh-tiqvah le'acharitekh · Hebrew
- 'there is hope in thine end' (v. 17) — God's reply to the mother's tears.
Why it matters
God tells Rachel to stop weeping because her 'work' will be rewarded: her children will come back from the land of the enemy. Pitre stresses that Rachel's intercession is heard and answered. This is the pattern for Mary as the New Rachel: a mother whose sorrow for her children becomes effective intercession before God.
Fathers and councils · 1
- John Cassian, Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7Conference XX
“…be vouchsafed to him to hear these words: “Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for there is a reward for thy labour, saith the Lord;” and these words also may be uttered of him by the voice of the Lord: “I have blotted out as a cloud thine iniquities, and as a mist thy sins:” and again: “I…” — editor's note: Ps. xxxi. (xxxii.) 5; xli. (xlii.) 4; Jer. xxxi. 16.
Read the whole comment
Cross-references · 9
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.
Cited together in Conferences XVIII–XXIV XX.7.