Matthew 2:17fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:15 (ESV)
15 Thus says the Lord:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.”
- The mercy of God in the Old Testament: He saved His people by bringing miraculous deliverance from Egypt.
Commentary exposition
Matthew’s quotation of Hosea 11:1 in verse 15 sets the stage for the second quote from an Old Testament prophet in verses 17–18: “Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.” This quotation occurs right after Herod kills all of the infant boys in Bethlehem, and it’s taken from Jeremiah 31:15. The prophet is talking about the time when the people of God were taken into exile. The Babylonians came and attacked Jerusalem, razing people’s homes and destroying the entire city, and then they took all the people to Ramah, a place just north of Jerusalem. At Ramah the people were put into caravans and scattered apart from one another. This was a scene of unimaginable anguish.