Jeremiah 31:4
in Jeremiah 31Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
KJV
Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
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This verse in Jeremiah 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseO virgin of Israel - Israelites in general; now called virgin, because restored to their ancient purity. With thy tabrets - Women in general played on these; they were used in times of rejoicing, and accompanied with dancing. To these customs, still preserved, the prophet alludes.
This site's exposition
the God of all the families of Israel
on Jeremiah 31:1-6
The promise widens to “all the families of Israel,” north and south together, and rests on an old fact: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Favor “in the wilderness” reaches back to the exodus, love given before any performance, so the rebuilding verbs are certainties: “Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt.” Watchmen on the hills of Ephraim, the north Jeroboam cut off from Jerusalem's feasts, call, “Arise, let us go up to Zion.”
This site's exposition
Again I will build you
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the pairing of build and be rebuilt, which marks the outcome as certain. Tambourines and joyful dancing belong to victory, as in 1 Samuel 18:6. Virgin Israel is restored to her first purity, as Adam Clarke reads the name.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4) And again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel: you shall again be adorned (or crowned) with your timbrels, and you shall go forth in the dance of them that make merry. And he says again: I will build you up, and you will be built up, O virgin Israel. Let us understand this specifically in the Church. For those who long for golden and jeweled Jerusalem are mad, consecrating their greed for the mystery of the city of the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Our mirth is then indeed an ornament to us when we serve God and honour him with it. Is the joy of the city maintained by the products of the country? It is so; and therefore it is promised (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Again, I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I will build . . . thou shalt be built--The combination of the active and passive to express the same fact implies the infallible certainty of its accomplishment. "Build," that is, establish in prosperity (Jer 33:7). adorned with . . . tabrets-- (1Sa 18:6).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
O virgin of Israel - i. e., the whole people (compare Jer 14:17 note).
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ע֤וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| אֶבְנֵךְ֙ | ʾevnekh | I will build you | H1129 → | 376 times |
| וְֽנִבְנֵ֔ית | venivneit | and you will be rebuilt | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בְּתוּלַ֖ת | betulat | O virgin of | H1330 → | 50 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| ע֚וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| תַּעְדִּ֣י | ta'di | you will ornament yourself | H5710 → | |
| תֻפַּ֔יִךְ | tupayikh | tambourines your | H8596 → | |
| וְיָצָ֖את | veyatzat | and you will go forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| בִּמְח֥וֹל | bimchol | in [the] dancing of | H4234 → | |
| מְשַׂחֲקִֽים׃ | mesachakim | merry makers | H7832 → | 36 times |
ע֤וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
אֶבְנֵךְ֙I will build you
ʾevnekhH1129 →376 times
וְֽנִבְנֵ֔יתand you will be rebuilt
venivneitH1129 →376 times
בְּתוּלַ֖תO virgin of
betulatH1330 →50 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
ע֚וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
תַּעְדִּ֣יyou will ornament yourself
ta'diH5710 →
תֻפַּ֔יִךְtambourines your
tupayikhH8596 →
וְיָצָ֖אתand you will go forth
veyatzatH3318 →1067 times
בִּמְח֥וֹלin [the] dancing of
bimcholH4234 →
מְשַׂחֲקִֽים׃merry makers
mesachakimH7832 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 15:16‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
it leads to
- Amos 9:11–12
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
- Amos 9:11–12
Through
Jeremiah 31:13Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
it leads to
- Psalms 30:11
You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
- Isaiah 61:3
to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be…
- Isaiah 51:11
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Esther 9:22
as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to…
- Psalms 30:11
Through
Jeremiah 33:7I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
it leads to
- Amos 9:14–15
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Jeremiah 30:3
For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to…
- Amos 9:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
On this verse
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.