Matthew 2:18 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 2:18

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted, because they are not.

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.

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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420)

(In Hierem. 31:15.) This passage of Jeremiah has been quoted by Matthew neither according to the Hebrew nor the LXX version. This shows that the Evangelists and Apostles did not follow any one's translation, but according to the Hebrew manner expressed in their own words what they had read in Hebrew. By Ramah we need not suppose that the town of that name near Gibeah is meant; but take it as signifying 'high.' A voice was heard 'aloft,' that is, spread far and wide.' Rachel's son was Benjamin, in which tribe Bethlehem is not situated.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

She was buried near this place; and is here beautifully represented risen, as it were out of her grave, and bewailing her lost children. Because they are not - that is, are dead. The preservation of Jesus from this destruction, may be considered as a figure of God's care over his children in their greatest danger.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

In Rama was there a voice heard - These words, quoted from Jer 31:15, were originally spoken concerning the captivity of the ten tribes; but are here elegantly applied to the murder of the innocents at Bethlehem. As if he had said, Bethlehem at this time resembled Rama; for as Rachel might be said to weep over her children, which were slaughtered or gone into captivity; so in Bethlehem, the mothers lamented bitterly their children, because they were slain. The word θρηνος, lamentation is omitted by the Codd. Vatic.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
φωνὴ	phōnē	A voice	G5456 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
Ῥαμὰ	Rhama	Ramah	G4471 →
ἠκούσθη,	ēkousthē	was heard,	G191 →
κλαυθμὸς	klauthmos	weeping	G2805 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ὀδυρμὸς	odurmos	mourning	G3602 →
πολύς,	polus	great,	G4183 →
Ῥαχὴλ	Rhachēl	Rachel	G4478 →
κλαίουσα	klaiousa	weeping [for]	G2799 →
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
τέκνα	tekna	children	G5043 →
αὐτῆς,	autēs	of her,	G846 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἤθελεν	ēthelen	was willing	G2309 →
παρακληθῆναι	paraklēthēnai	to be comforted	G3870 →
ὅτι	hoti	because	G3754 →
οὐκ	ouk	no more	G3756 →
εἰσίν.¶	eisin	they are.	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jeremiah 31:15
This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
leads to
- Matthew 2:16–18
  When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years…
- Psalms 77:2
  In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.
- Jeremiah 40:1
  This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem…
- Isaiah 22:4
  Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Jeremiah 10:20
  My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.
Through
Jeremiah 4:31
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
leads to
- Lamentations 1:17
  Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed against Jacob that his neighbors become his foes. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
- Isaiah 1:15
  When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
Through
Ezekiel 2:10
which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.
leads to
- Revelation 8:13
  And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded…

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On Matthew 2:18

The Weeping Prophet — the Confessions of Jeremiah

“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet… Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted, because they are not.”

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