Matthew 2:18 (WEB)
“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Matthew 2:18 (KJV)
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Key words
- Ῥαχὴλ κλαίουσαRhachēl klaiousa · Greek
- 'Rachel weeping' — Matthew's rendering of Jeremiah 31:15.
- οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακληθῆναιouk ēthelen paraklēthēnai · Greek
- 'would not be comforted' — the inconsolable mother.
Why it matters
Matthew applies Jeremiah's picture of Rachel weeping for her children to the massacre at Bethlehem. Pitre reads this as the New Testament's cue for the New Rachel typology: the beloved mother of sorrows tied to Bethlehem is now Mary, whose weeping for her children, like Rachel's, is answered by God with hope (Jeremiah 31:16–17).