What Does Jeremiah 31:9 Mean?
They will come with weeping, and with pleading I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by channels of waters, on a straight path, where they will not stumble. For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.THE KEY
The word for “supplications” grows from the root for favor, so the plea itself is held inside the language of gracious reception.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now to a grieving person: tears and pleading can accompany being led toward life-giving water on a passable path. The father-child image grounds this movement in belonging rather than performance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that tears or pleading make you too weak or too far from belonging to be guided.
THE ROOT
תַּחֲנוּנִים
tachanunim
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
To show favor or be gracious; a plea seeks that favor.
“pleading” in this verse is tachanunim. “Supplications” carries the sense of asking for favor within its root. The plea is not separate from gracious reception: the verse joins it directly to being led.
ALSO GROWS
ḥen: Favor
חֵן
This noun shares the root and shows the gracious regard sought in a supplication.
ḥannun: Gracious, showing favor
חַנּוּן
This describes the quality of the one who receives the plea and leads the people onward.
יָשָׁר
yashar
GROWS FROM
ישר
y-sh-r
To be straight, level, or upright.
The way is described as straight and level, and the next words say they do not stumble on it. The promise holds together a path made passable and movement without collapse.
ALSO GROWS
mishor: A level place or plain
מִישׁוֹר
This branch makes the root’s sense of even ground concrete: the route is level enough to travel.
yosher: Uprightness, straightness
יֹשֶׁר
This branch carries the same image of what is aligned and not crooked.
THE PATTERN
Grief and need do not stop divine leading; the way toward provision is made passable through belonging.
He lays me down in green pastures; he leads me beside resting waters.He feeds his flock like a shepherd, gathers the lambs in his arm, carries them against his chest, and gently leads the ones who nurse.For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and guides them along the way to springs of living waters, and God wipes away every tear from their eyes.THE THREAD
For the people will settle in Zion, at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. At the sound of your cry, he will surely show you favor. When he hears and responds, he will answer you.Jeremiah’s “supplications” (תַּחֲנוּנִים, tachanunim) and Isaiah’s “be very gracious” (חָנוֹן יָחְנְךָ, ḥānōn yaḥənkā) grow from חנן (ḥ-n-n), the root of favor. Isaiah makes the link audible: the cry is met with favor, just as here the supplicant is led toward water and a steady path.
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