Grow With MeBible
Grow With Me

Matthew 2:18

““A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning: Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.””

Matthew 2:18 · direct translation from the Greek
Study it in the app

With the Greek beneath

18

Quotation · Jeremiah 31:15

Go to Jeremiah 31:15

Matthew quotes Jeremiah with a fulfillment formula. In Jeremiah, Rachel weeps in Ramah for her children, and the following verse announces that they will return from the land of the enemy.

Formula: τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ Ἰερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος “then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, when he says” (Matthew 2:17)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: Φωνὴ ἐν Ῥαμὰ ἠκούσθη κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς Ῥαχὴλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακληθῆναι ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν

Hebrew (Masoretic text): כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה קוֹל בְּרָמָה נִשְׁמָע נְהִי בְּכִי תַמְרוּרִים רָחֵל מְבַכָּה עַל בָּנֶיהָ מֵאֲנָה לְהִנָּחֵם עַל בָּנֶיהָ כִּי אֵינֶנּוּ

This passage could not be located with certainty in the transcription of the Septuagint we use, so it is not compared.

Matthew 2:18, word by word

“A voiceΦωνὴPhōnē

voice

Someone's voice, or a shout.

Where else “Phōnē” appears
was heardἠκούσθηēkousthē

hear

To perceive a sound, a voice or words with the ears.

Where else “ēkousthē” appears
RamahῬαμὰRhama

Ramah

Ramah, a town of Benjamin north of Jerusalem.

Where else “Rhama” appears
weepingκλαυθμὸςklauthmos

weeping

Weeping, crying aloud.

Where else “klauthmos” appears
greatπολύςpolys

great

Of great size or strength, like a crowd or a lament.

Where else “polys” appears
mourningὀδυρμὸςodyrmos

lament, mourning

Lament, mourning, wailing.

Where else “odyrmos” appears
RachelῬαχὴλRhachēl

Rachel

Rachel, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

Where else “Rhachēl” appears
weeping forκλαίουσαklaiousa

weep

Weep, cry.

Where else “klaiousa” appears
her childrenτέκναtekna

child

Someone born of parents, or of a family or people.

Where else “tekna” appears
she would notἤθελενēthelen

want

To have the desire or the resolve for something.

Where else “ēthelen” appears
be comfortedπαρακληθῆναιparaklēthēnai

comfort

To bring relief to one who suffers.

Where else “paraklēthēnai” appears
they areεἰσίνeisin

exist

To have existence, to be alive.

Where else “eisin” appears

Translation note

Jeremiah 31:15: Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, weeps for her descendants carried off into exile (compare Jeremiah 40:1). Matthew applies those words to the weeping of the mothers of Bethlehem.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Jeremiah 31:15

Matthew quotes Jeremiah with a fulfillment formula. In Jeremiah, Rachel weeps in Ramah for her children, and the following verse announces that they will return from the land of the enemy.

See them side by side

Matthew 2:18

18“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning: Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.”

Jeremiah 31:15

15Thus says YHWH: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

The context

17Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, when he says:

18 · This verse (above)

19And when Herod had died, look, an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Read all of Matthew 2

To study Matthew 2 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What did the magi do when they found the child with Mary his mother (v. 11)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why was King Herod troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, when he heard about this child (v. 3)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Joseph obeyed even at night and without understanding everything (v. 14). What simple step of obedience is yours today?

How to use it