Jeremiah 31:6
in Jeremiah 31For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.
KJV
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.
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This verse in Jeremiah 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor there shall be a day - Literally, for this is the day, or the day is come. The watchmen - the prophets. Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion - Let both Israelites and Jews join together in the worship of the Lord.
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,” 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 performance. Watchmen on the hills of Ephraim call, “Arise, let us go up to Zion.”
This site's exposition
on the hills of Ephraim
Ephraim's hills had held the rival shrines Jeroboam set up to keep the north away from Jerusalem. Now its watchmen call the people up to Zion. Adam Clarke reads this as Israel and Judah joining in one worship of the Lord.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6) For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on mount Ephraim shall call to the shepherds: Arise, and let us go up to Sion to our Lord God. Then it was the day of the Lord, on which the custodians of the Apostolic faith, and apostolic men on the mountain of Samaria, and on the mountain of Ephraim, of which one signifies guardianship, the other abundance. But what do the custodians of Samaria say, or rather, what do they cry out on the mountain of Ephraim?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): There shall be a day, and a glorious day it will be, when the watchmen upon Mount Ephraim, that are set to stand sentinel there, to give notice of the approach of the enemy, finding that all is very quiet and that there is no appearance of danger, shall desire for a time to be discharged from their post, that they may go up to Zion, to praise God for the public peace.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For there shall be a day,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Mount Ephraim--not one single mountain, but the whole mountainous region of the ten tribes. our God--from whom we formerly revolted, but who is now our God. An earnest of that good time to come is given in the partial success of the gospel in its first preaching in Samaria (Joh 4:1-42;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
This verse anticipates a time when the schism caused by Jeroboam is over. Ephraimite watchmen equally with the tribe of Judah watch for the new moon that they may go up to Jerusalem to keep the appointed Feasts.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֶשׁ־ | yesh- | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| י֔וֹם | yom | [will be] a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קָרְא֥וּ | kareu | [when] they will call out | H7121 → | 733 times |
| נֹצְרִ֖ים | notzerim | watchmen | H5341 → | |
| בְּהַ֣ר | behar | in [the] hill country of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| אֶפְרָ֑יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| ק֚וּמוּ | kumu | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה | venaaleh | so we may go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ פ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יֶשׁ־there
yesh-H3426 →140 times
י֔וֹם[will be] a day
yomH3117 →2304 times
קָרְא֥וּ[when] they will call out
kareuH7121 →733 times
נֹצְרִ֖יםwatchmen
notzerimH5341 →
בְּהַ֣רin [the] hill country of
beharH2022 →546 times
אֶפְרָ֑יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
ק֚וּמוּarise
kumuH6965 →628 times
וְנַעֲלֶ֣הso we may go up
venaalehH5927 →890 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ פGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies27
On this verse
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
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.