Jeremiah 31:17

Jer 31:17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.

Ver. 17. And there is hope in the end.] Or, For thy posterity. Tribulation causeth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; lively hope, such as maketh not ashamed, is not disappointed, Spes in fundo. Hope in the depths. God can recompense his people’s patience and obedience, in their heirs and executors.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

hope in . . . end--All thy calamities shall have a prosperous issue.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He indeed explains in a few words, but with sufficient plainness, what he had said. We must always bear in mind the order which I have pointed out, — that he first placed before the Jews their calamity, that they might humble themselves before God; and then he gave them the hope of return, that they might feel assured that God would be propitious to them. He now includes both in these few words, there shall be hope in thine end; for they embrace the two clauses, — that the whole country would lament for a time, and then that their tears would be turned to laughter and their sorrow to joy: for had the happiness of the people flowed in one unbroken stream, the word, “end,” would not have been suitable; for it refers to what terminates. There is then to be understood a contrast between the end and the beginning. In short, Jeremiah teaches here, that the grievous time, during which God would afflict his people, was to be borne patiently. But after having bidden them to continue in a state of suspense, he sets before them a happy issue.

Now this passage contains a useful doctrine, — that we are not to measure God’s favor by present appearances, but learn to keep our minds and thoughts in suspense, while the Lord seems to be angry with us, and only disheartening terrors meet us, so that we may cherish in our hearts the hope which the Prophet exhorts us to entertain, and distinguish between our present state and the end. And on this account it is that the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, while exhorting the faithful to patience, says that the rod is always at the time grievous to children, but that correction appears useful, when the end is regarded. (Hebrews 12:11) So when we perceive that God is displeased with us, we cannot but feel a dread, and we desire at the same time to escape from his chastening hand; but, as I have just said, we ought to direct our thoughts to the end or the issue, according to what we are taught here: there shall then be hope in thine end

But a question may be here moved, Was there no hope for the intermediate time, while God was punishing the Jews? the answer is obvious, — the Prophet takes hope here for hope accomplished. If any one calls it actual hope or hope effected, I do not object. But he doubtless intimates that all the calamities which the Jews would have to endure would at last end in their deliverance, and would be for their good. We thus see that hope here, as we have said, is to be taken for hope accomplished. And the Prophet explains himself, they shall return to their own border Here by stating a part for the whole he mentions border for the whole country, as though he had said, “Ye are now far off from your country, but you shall again return to that land which has been marked out by certain limits, even by Euphrates, Egypt, the sea and Arabia;” for these were the four borders. It afterwards follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(17) And there is hope in thine end . . .—Better, There is hope for thy future. The words are the same as in Jer_29:11, where the English version has “an expected end.” The hope here is defined as that of the return of Rachel’s children to their own border—the return, that is, of the Ten Tribes from their captivity.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord,.... Or, "hope for thy posterity" (r); for their children that had been massacred, that these should rise again, and enjoy a blessed immortality, as the next clause seems to explain and confirm it:

that thy children shall come again to their own border: either to the border of the land of Israel, as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did, Mat 2:21; or rather to the borders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, where this cruel murder was committed; and so the intimation is, that they shall rise again, and stand upon that very spot of ground where their blood was split; and not only so, but enter into and dwell upon the new earth in the Jerusalem state; and also enter into the heavenly Canaan, and dwell with Christ for evermore, on whose account their lives were taken away.

(r) "posteris tuis", Gataker; "posteritati tuae", Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And again here, where, by

end, is meant the end of the seventy years, and the words are but a repetition of the promise of the return of the Jews out of the captivity of Babylon, of which the prophet had often before assured them, and here only repeats it as an argument why they should not be immoderately afflicted; for their affliction was not endless, nor their captivity for ever; they should return again into their own land.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hope in thine end; rather, hope for thy future. (comp. on Jer_29:11) There is no occasion to render, with the Septuagint and Rosenmuller, "for thy posterity"; (comp. Psa_119:13, Hebrew) for Rachel identifies herself by sympathy with her descendants.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.