Jeremiah 31:22
New International Version
How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The LORD will create a new thing on earth— the woman will return to the man.”

New Living Translation
How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the LORD will cause something new to happen— Israel will embrace her God.”

English Standard Version
How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.”

Berean Standard Bible
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

King James Bible
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

New King James Version
How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.”

New American Standard Bible
“How long will you waver, You rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: A woman will shelter a man.”

NASB 1995
“How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman will encompass a man.”

NASB 1977
“How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman will encompass a man.”

Legacy Standard Bible
How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth— A woman will encompass a man.”

Amplified Bible
“How long will you hesitate [to return], O you faithless and renegade daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land [of Israel]: A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man.”

Christian Standard Bible
How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the LORD creates something new in the land — a female will shelter a man.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the LORD creates something new in the land— a female will shelter a man.

American Standard Version
How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
How long are you doubting, backsliding daughter? For LORD JEHOVAH has created a new thing in the earth: a female shall passionately love a husband

Brenton Septuagint Translation
How long, O disgraced daughter, wilt thou turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety.

Contemporary English Version
Will you ever decide to be faithful? I will make sure that someday things will be different, as different as a woman protecting a man.

Douay-Rheims Bible
How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN.

English Revised Version
How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall encompass a man.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How long will you wander around, you unfaithful people? The LORD will create something new on earth: A woman will protect a man.

Good News Translation
How long will you hesitate, faithless people? I have created something new and different, as different as a woman protecting a man."

International Standard Version
How long will you go this way and that, rebellious daughter? Indeed, the LORD will create a new thing on the earth; a woman will protect a man.

JPS Tanakh 1917
How long wilt thou turn away coyly, O thou backsliding daughter? For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall court a man.

Literal Standard Version
Until when do you withdraw yourself, O backsliding daughter? For YHWH has prepared a new thing in the land, | Woman surrounds man.”

Majority Standard Bible
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

New American Bible
How long will you continue to hesitate, rebellious daughter? The LORD has created a new thing upon the earth: woman encompasses man.

NET Bible
How long will you vacillate, you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? For I, the LORD, promise to bring about something new on the earth, something as unique as a woman protecting a man!'"

New Revised Standard Version
How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encompasses a man.

New Heart English Bible
How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."

Webster's Bible Translation
How long wilt thou wander about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

World English Bible
How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”

Young's Literal Translation
Till when dost thou withdraw thyself, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath prepared a new thing in the land, Woman doth compass man.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Mourning Turned to Joy
21“Set up the roadmarks, establish the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours. 22How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land— a woman will shelter a man.” 23This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’…

Cross References
Jeremiah 2:23
"How can you say, 'I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals'? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,

Jeremiah 2:36
How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.

Jeremiah 3:6
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.

Jeremiah 49:4
Why do you boast of your valleys--your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, 'Who can come against me?'


Treasury of Scripture

How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

How.

Jeremiah 2:18,23,36
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? …

Jeremiah 4:14
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

Jeremiah 13:27
I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

backsliding.

Jeremiah 3:6,8,11,12,14,22
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot…

Jeremiah 7:24
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 8:4-6
Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? …

created.

Numbers 16:30
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

a woman.

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Jump to Previous
Backsliding Changed Compass Court Create Created Daughter Earth Encompass Faithless Hither New Prepared Protects Surround Turn Turning Unfaithful Wander Waver Way Wilt Withdraw
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Backsliding Changed Compass Court Create Created Daughter Earth Encompass Faithless Hither New Prepared Protects Surround Turn Turning Unfaithful Wander Waver Way Wilt Withdraw
Jeremiah 31
1. The restoration of Israel.
10. The publication thereof.
15. Rahel mourning is comforted.
18. Ephraim repenting is brought home again.
22. Christ is promised.
27. His care over the church.
31. His new covenant.
35. The stability,
38. and amplitude of the church.














(22) How long wilt thou go about . . .?--The word describes the restless pacing to and fro of impatient, unsatisfied desire. The backsliding daughter--i.e., the adulterous yet now penitent wife--is described, like Gomer in the parable or history of Hosea 2:7, as hesitating between her lovers and her husband.

A woman shall compass a man.--The verse is obscure, and has received very different interpretations. It will be well to begin our inquiry with the meaning which the translators attached to it. On this point the following quotation from Shakespeare is decisive :--

"If I can check my erring love, I will;

If not, to compass her I'll use my skill."

Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 4.

To "compass" is to woo and win. And this gives, it is believed, the true meaning. The Hebrew verb (which presents a striking assonance with the word for "backsliding") means literally "to go round about," and this (as in Psalm 26:6; Psalm 32:7; Psalm 32:10) as an act of reverential tenderness and love. In the normal order of man's life, the bridegroom woos the bride. In the spiritual relationship which the prophet has in view, this shall be inverted, and Israel, the erring but repentant wife, shall woo her Divine husband. The history of Gomer in Hosea 2:14-20 again presents a striking parallel. A like inversion of the normal order is indicated, though with a different meaning, in Isaiah 4:1, where the seven women might be said to "compass" the one man. It may be noticed that the words used express the contrast of the two sexes in the strongest possible form. A female shall compass (i.e., woo) a male, possibly as emphasising the fact that what the prophet describes was an exception to the normal order, not of human society only, but of the whole animal society. By some interpreters (Ewald) the words are rendered "a woman shall be turned into a man;" meaning that the weak shall be made strong, as a kind of contrast to the opposite kind of transformation in Jeremiah 30:6; but this gives a far less satisfactory meaning, and the same may be said of such translations as "the woman shall protect the man," and "a woman shall put a man to flight." The notion that the words can in even the remotest degree be connected with the mystery of the Incarnation belongs to the region of dreams, and not of realities; and, lacking as it does the support of even any allusive reference to it in the New Testament, can only be regarded, in spite of the authority of the many Fathers and divines who have adopted it, as the outgrowth of a devout but uncritical imagination. The word used for "woman," indeed, absolutely excludes the idea of the virgin-birth. . . .

Verse 22. - How long wilt thou go about? We must suppose the Israelites to be hesitating whether to set out on their journey or not. They are now admonished to put away their rebellious reluctance, and a special reason for this is added. The Lord hath created - i.e. hath decreed to create - a new thing in the earth (or, in the land); comp. Isaiah 43:19 which suggests that a complete reversal of ordinary experience is indicated, as indeed the word create of itself prepares us to expect. And what is this promise granted as a sign to reluctant Israel? A woman shall compass a man; i.e. instead of shyly keeping aloof, or worse (as hitherto), Israel, Jehovah's bride, shall, with eager affection, press around her Divine husband. The phrase, however, is extremely difficult. Of other explanations, the most plausible philologically is that of Schnurrer and Gesenius, "a woman shall protect a man" (comp. Deuteronomy 32:10). The part of a sentinel, pacing round and round his charge, seems most unfitted for a woman. When enemies are abroad, it is the men's natural duty to perform this part for the women. But in the coming age, the country shall be so free from danger that the places of men and women may safely be reversed. But would a paradox of this kind be likely to be uttered in this connection? Surely a clearer statement would be necessary to remove the reluctance of the Israelites. Vers. 19, 20 suggest that Ephraim needed reassurance as to the attitude of Jehovah towards him. The promise of ver. 22, as explained above, would give precisely the needed strength and comfort. The exposition of St. Jerome and other Fathers, that the birth of Christ from a virgin is referred to, is altogether inadmissible,

(1) because the nouns which form the subject and the predicate respectively indicate sex, not age, and the first in particular cannot be tortured so as to mean "virgin;" and

(2) there is no article to confine the reference to any particular persons.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How long
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

will you wander,
תִּתְחַמָּקִ֔ין (tiṯ·ḥam·mā·qîn)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - second person feminine singular | Paragogic nun
Strong's 2559: To wrap, to depart

O faithless
הַשּֽׁוֹבֵבָ֑ה (haš·šō·w·ḇê·ḇāh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7728: Apostate, heathenish, heathen

daughter?
הַבַּ֖ת (hab·baṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1323: A daughter

For
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the LORD
יְהוָ֤ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

has created
בָרָ֨א (ḇā·rā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1254: To create, to cut down, select, feed

a new thing
חֲדָשָׁה֙ (ḥă·ḏā·šāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 2319: New

in the land—
בָּאָ֔רֶץ (bā·’ā·reṣ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

a woman
נְקֵבָ֖ה (nə·qê·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5347: A female

will surround
תְּס֥וֹבֵֽב (tə·sō·w·ḇêḇ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5437: To turn about, go around, surround

a man.”
גָּֽבֶר׃ (gā·ḇer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1397: A valiant man, warrior, a person simply


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 31:22 How long will you go here (Jer.)
Jeremiah 31:21
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