Jeremiah 31:20

“[Is] Ephraim my dear son? etc.] Questions put in this form, in the Hebrew language, usually more vehemently deny; and then the sense must be, Ephraim is not my dear son: and agreeably to this all the following clauses must be interpreted; which seems quite contrary to the scope and design of the context: wherefore it seems better to render the words thus, “[Is not] Ephraim my dear son?”f600 yes, he is; and so is everyone that stands in the relation of children to the Lord, they are all of them his dear children, (<490501>Ephesians 5:1); his beloved ones, loved by him with an everlasting love; they are “precious” to him, as the word used signifies; they are dear to him as the apple of his…”

“Is Ephraim my dear son? &c.--The question implies that a negative answer was to be expected. Who would have thought that one so undutiful to His heavenly Father as Ephraim had been should still be regarded by God as a "pleasant child?" Certainly he was not so in respect to his sin. But by virtue of God's "everlasting love" (Jer 31:3) on Ephraim's being "turned" to God, he was immediately welcomed as God's "dear son." This verse sets forth God's readiness to welcome the penitent (Jer 31:18-19), anticipating his return with prevenient grace and love. Compare Luk 15:20 : "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion," &c. spake against--threatened him for his idolatry.…”

“The religious character of the restoration of the ten tribes. Chastisement brought repentance, and with it forgiveness; therefore God decrees their restoration. Jeremiah 31:15 Ramah, mentioned because of its nearness to Jerusalem, from which it was distant about five miles. As the mother of three tribes, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, Rachel is regarded as the mother of the whole ten. This passage is quoted by Matthew (marginal reference) as a type. In Jeremiah it is a poetical figure representing in a dramatic form the miserable condition of the kingdom of Ephraim devastated by the sword of the Assyrians. Jeremiah 31:16 Rachel’s work had been that of bearing and bringing up children, and…”

“For since - From the time I spake against him by my threatenings, I remember him with the affection and compassion of a father. Jeremiah 31:21”

“31:20 The exiled people had been in the Lord’s memory all along. God responded to his people’s repentance with a father’s love for his wayward children (cp. Luke 15:11-24).”

“Is Ephraim: Jer 31:9, Jer 3:19; Psa 103:13; Pro 3:12; Luk 15:24, Luk 15:32 for: Deu 32:36; Jdg 10:16; Isa 57:16-18; Lam 3:31, Lam 3:32; Hos 11:8, Hos 11:9 my bowels: Gen 43:30; Kg1 3:26; Sol 5:4; Phi 1:8 are troubled: Heb. sound, Jer 48:36; Isa 16:11, Isa 63:15 I will: Isa 55:7, Isa 57:18; Hos 14:4; Mic 7:18, Mic 7:19 Jeremiah 31:21”