◄ Jeremiah 31:13 ►
Then 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.
Study Bible
Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing,

This phrase reflects a time of celebration and restoration. In ancient Israel, dancing was a common expression of joy and thanksgiving, often associated with religious festivals and victories (Exodus 15:20, 1 Samuel 18:6). The mention of "maidens" highlights the renewal of life and hope, as young women were often seen as symbols of the future and continuity of the community. This imagery contrasts with the earlier chapters of Jeremiah, where the people faced judgment and exile.

Jdg 21:21 and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh…
1Sa 18:6 As the troops were returning home after David had killed…
Psa 149:3 Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him…

young men and old as well.

The inclusion of both young men and the elderly signifies a comprehensive restoration affecting all generations. This reflects the communal nature of Israelite society, where the well-being of the entire community was interconnected. The joy of the young and old together suggests a return to peace and prosperity, reminiscent of the promises found in Isaiah 65:20-25, where long life and harmony are restored.

Psa 148:12-13 young men and maidens, old and young together.…
Jol 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.…
Zec 8:4-5 The LORD of Hosts says: “Old men and old women…”…

I will turn their mourning into joy,

This transformation from mourning to joy is a central theme in the prophetic literature, symbolizing God's redemptive power and faithfulness to His covenant people. Mourning was a common response to loss and exile (Lamentations 5:15), but God's promise to reverse this state is a testament to His mercy and the hope of restoration. This echoes the messianic hope found in Isaiah 61:3, where the Messiah is said to provide "a crown of beauty instead of ashes."

Est 9:22 as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies…
Isa 61:3 to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown…
Psa 30:11 You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off…

and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.

The promise of comfort and joy underscores God's role as a compassionate redeemer. Comfort in the Hebrew context often involves both emotional solace and physical restoration, as seen in Isaiah 40:1-2. The dual mention of comfort and joy emphasizes the completeness of God's restoration, addressing both the spiritual and material needs of His people. This foreshadows the ultimate comfort and joy found in Christ, who offers eternal peace and reconciliation (John 14:27, Revelation 21:4).

Isa 66:13 As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you,…
Psa 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
2Co 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Maidens
Young women who are often symbolic of purity and new beginnings. In this context, they represent a future generation filled with hope and joy.

2. Young Men and Old
This phrase encompasses all ages, indicating a universal experience of joy and restoration among God's people.

3. Mourning
A state of deep sorrow and lamentation, often due to loss or suffering. Here, it signifies the past hardships faced by the Israelites.

4. Joy and Comfort
Represents the divine transformation and restoration that God promises to His people, turning their previous sorrow into a state of happiness and peace.

5. Jeremiah
The prophet who conveyed God's messages to the people of Judah, often focusing on themes of judgment and restoration.
Teaching Points
God's Promise of Restoration
God is faithful to restore joy and comfort to His people, even after periods of deep sorrow and mourning.

Universal Joy
The promise of joy is for all generations, young and old, indicating that God's blessings are inclusive and comprehensive.

Transformation Through God
True transformation from sorrow to joy is possible only through God's intervention and grace.

Hope in Times of Mourning
Believers can find hope in God's promise to turn mourning into joy, trusting in His timing and faithfulness.

Celebration of God's Goodness
Rejoicing and dancing are appropriate responses to experiencing God's goodness and restoration in our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the promise of joy and comfort in Jeremiah 31:13 encourage you in your current circumstances?

2. In what ways can you relate the transformation from mourning to joy in Jeremiah 31:13 to your personal life experiences?

3. How do the themes of restoration and joy in Jeremiah 31:13 connect with the promises found in Isaiah 61:3 and Revelation 21:4?

4. What practical steps can you take to embrace God's promise of joy and comfort in your daily life?

5. How can you share the message of God's transformative joy with others who are experiencing mourning or sorrow?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 61:3
This verse speaks of God giving "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning," which parallels the transformation from mourning to joy in Jeremiah 31:13.

Psalm 30:11
The psalmist describes God turning mourning into dancing, similar to the joy and dancing mentioned in Jeremiah 31:13.

Revelation 21:4
This verse speaks of God wiping away every tear, a future promise of ultimate comfort and joy, echoing the transformation in Jeremiah 31:13.
Sermons
Transfigured TroublesT. L. Cuyler.Jeremiah 31:13
The Redemption of Israel a Great and Notable EventA.F. Muir Jeremiah 31:10-14
Praise Waiting for God in ZionD. Young Jeremiah 31:12-14
People
Gareb, Jacob, Jeremiah, Rachel, Rahel
Places
Corner Gate, Egypt, Gareb, Goah, Horse Gate, Kidron, Ramah, Samaria, Tower of Hananel, Zion
Topics
Chorus, Comfort, Comforted, Dance, Glad, Gladdened, Gladness, Instead, Joy, Maidens, Merry, Mourning, Rejoice, Sorrow, Turn, Virgin, Weeping
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 31:13

     1620   beatitudes, the
     5287   dance
     5797   bereavement, comfort in
     5805   comfort
     5952   sorrow

Jeremiah 31:12-13

     5970   unhappiness
     8288   joy, of Israel

Jeremiah 31:12-14

     8261   generosity, God's

Library
What the Stable Creation Teaches
'If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.'--JER. xxxi. 36. This is the seal of the new covenant, which is to be made in days future to the prophet and his contemporaries, with the house of Israel and of Judah. That new covenant is referred to in Hebrews as the fundamental law of Christ's kingdom. Therefore we have the right to take to ourselves the promises which it contains, and to think of 'the house …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What the Immense Creation Teaches
'If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.'--JER. xxxi. 37. In the former sermon we considered the previous verse as presenting the stability of creation as a guarantee of the firmness of God's gracious covenant. Now we have to consider these grand closing words which bring before us another aspect of the universe as a guarantee for another side of God's gracious …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Twenty-First Satisfaction
"My people shall be satisfied with My goodness." --JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14. And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast. Nothing but …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

God in the Covenant
But I have been thinking for the last two or three days, that the covenant of grace excels the other covenant most marvelously in the mighty blessings which it confers. What does the covenant of grace convey? I had thought this morning of preaching a sermon upon "The covenant of grace; what are the blessings it gives to God's children?" But when I began to think of it, there was so much in the covenant, that if I had only read a catalogue of the great and glorious blessings, wrapped up within its …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Two Covenants: their Relation
"It is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit, the one by the bondmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants." -GAL. iv. 22-24. THERE are two covenants, one called the Old, the other the New. God speaks of this very distinctly in Jeremiah, where He says: "The days come, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not after the …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

The New Covenant
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."--JER. xxxi. 33, 34. ISAIAH has often been called …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Conversion of all that Come.
"Turn Thou me and I shall be turned." --Jer. xxxi. 18. The elect, born again and effectually called, converts himself. To remain unconverted is impossible; but he inclines his ear, he turns his face to the blessed God, he is converted in the fullest sense of the word. In conversion the fact of cooperation on the part of the saved sinner assumes a clearly defined and perceptible character. In regeneration there was none; in the calling there was a beginning of it; in conversion proper it became a …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Old Things are Passed Away.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether the Active Life Remains after this Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that the active life remains after this life. For the acts of the moral virtues belong to the active life, as stated above [3738](A[1]). But the moral virtues endure after this life according to Augustine (De Trin. xiv, 9). Therefore the active life remains after this life. Objection 2: Further, teaching others belongs to the active life, as stated above [3739](A[3]). But in the life to come when "we shall be like the angels," teaching will be possible: even as apparently …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Waiting Faith Rewarded and Strengthened by New Revelations
'And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A vision of Judgement and Cleansing
'And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. 4. And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Perseverance in Holiness
May the King himself come near and feast his saints to-day! May the Comforter who convinced of sin now come to cheer us with the promise! We noticed concerning the fig tree, that it was confirmed in its barrenness: it had borne no fruit, though it made large professions of doing so, and it was made to abide as it was. Let us consider another form of confirmation: not the curse of continuance in the rooted habit of evil; but the blessing of perseverance in a settled way of grace. May the Lord show …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889

Appendix xiv. The Law in Messianic Times.
THE question as to the Rabbinic views in regard to the binding character of the Law, and its imposition on the Gentiles, in Messianic times, although, strictly speaking, not forming part of this history, is of such vital importance in connection with recent controversies as to demand special consideration. In the text to which this Appendix refers it has been indicated, that a new legislation was expected in Messianic days. The ultimate basis of this expectancy must be sought in the Old Testament …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Conversion --Varied Phenomena or Experience.
We have spoken of the meaning of this term, inquired into the nature of the change, and noted its essential elements. We have also learned that there are some who do not need it because they are in a converted state, and that all who are not in such a state of Grace, do need conversion, regardless of anything that may or may not have taken place in the past. We inquire now as to the agencies or means by which this change is brought about. For it is a change which man can certainly not effect by his …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The King in Exile
'And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. 14. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt; 15. And was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. "
1 John ii. 1.--"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." There is no settlement to the spirit of a sinner that is once touched with the sense of his sins, and apprehension of the justice and wrath of God, but in some clear and distinct understanding of the grounds of consolation in the gospel, and the method of salvation revealed in it. There is no solid peace giving answer to the challenges of the law and thy own conscience, but in the advocation of Jesus Christ, the Saviour …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord's Supper Instituted.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 26-29; ^B Mark XIV. 22-25; ^C Luke XXII. 19, 20; ^F I. Cor. XI. 23-26. ^a 26 And as they were eating, ^f the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24 and when he had given thanks, { ^b blessed,} ^f he brake it, ^a and he gave to the disciples, and said, ^b Take ye: ^a Take, eat; this is my body. ^f which is ^c given ^f for you: this do in remembrance of me. [As only unleavened bread was eaten during the paschal supper, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Sanctification.
I. I will remind you of some points that have been settled in this course of study. 1. The true intent and meaning of the law of God has been, as I trust, ascertained in the lectures on moral government. Let this point if need be, be examined by reference to those lectures. 2. We have also seen, in those lectures, what is not, and what is implied in entire obedience to the moral law. 3. In those lectures, and also in the lectures on justification and repentance, it has been shown that nothing is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

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