Jeremiah 31:4

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, 1 

so that you will once again be built up.

Once again you will take up the tambourine

and join in the happy throng of dancers. 2 

Jeremiah 31:13

31:13 The Lord says, 3  “At that time young women will dance and be glad.

Young men and old men will rejoice. 4 

I will turn their grief into gladness.

I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.

1 tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”

sn For the significance of this metaphor see the note on Jer 14:17. Here the emphasis appears on his special love and care for his people and the hint (further developed in vv. 21-22) that, though guilty of sin, he considers them like an innocent young virgin.

2 sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.

3 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” This phrase has been brought up to the beginning of v. 13 from the end of v. 14 to introduce the transition from third person description by Jeremiah to first person address by the Lord.

4 tc The translation follows the reading of the LXX (Greek version). The Hebrew reads “will dance and be glad, young men and old men together.” The Greek version presupposes a Qal imperfect of a rare verb (יַחְדּוּ [yakhdu] from the verb חָדָה [khadah]; see BDB 292 s.v. II חָדָה Qal) as opposed to the Hebrew text which reads a common adverb יַחְדָּו (yakhdav). The consonantal text is the same but the vocalization is different. There are no other examples of the syntax of the adverb used this way (i.e., of a compound subject added to a third subject) and the vocalization of the Hebrew text can be explained on the basis of a scribe misvocalizing the text based on his greater familiarity with the adverb.