Jeremiah 31:18

I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God narrates Ephraim's (Israel's) cry of repentance, positioned between the promise of return (v.17) and the confession of shame (v.19).

The words — יִסַּרְתַּ/נִי (yi.sar.Ta./ni, H3256) appears twice in the verse — "you disciplined me / I was disciplined" — from the root יסר, "to correct, discipline," and is the hinge on which the plea for restoration turns.

The thread — The petition "Restore me" echoes Psalm 80:3; the framing of discipline as the road to repentance parallels Job 5:17; the weeping-and-return motif appears in Jeremiah 31:9.

Why it lands — It presents suffering under God's hand as the precondition for genuine repentance, not its opposite. The reader is asked to hold that being corrected and being owned are the same act.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

שָׁמ֣וֹעַsha.Mo.a'certainly <to hear>שָׁמַ֗עְתִּיsha.Ma'.tiI have heard אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙'ef.Ra.yimEphraim מִתְנוֹדֵ֔דmit.no.Dedbemoaning itself יִסַּרְתַּ֙נִי֙yi.sar.Ta./niyou have disciplined/ me וָֽאִוָּסֵ֔רva./'i.va.Serand/ I was disciplined כְּעֵ֖גֶלke./'E.gellike/ a calf לֹ֣אlo'[which] not לֻמָּ֑דlu.Madit had been trained הֲשִׁיבֵ֣נִיha.shi.Ve./nirestore/ me וְאָשׁ֔וּבָהve./'a.Shu.vahso/ let me return כִּ֥יkifor אַתָּ֖ה'a.Tahyou יְהוָ֥הYah.weh[are] Yahweh אֱלֹהָֽי׃'e.lo.Ha/iGod/ my

King James Version

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 31:9 They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
Psalms 80:3 Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Job 5:17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
Isaiah 9:13 But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
Jeremiah 3:21 A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
Jeremiah 50:4 “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
Lamentations 3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
Lamentations 5:21 Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
Hosea 5:15 Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”