Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again {f} be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

(f) You will still have opportunity to rejoice which is meant by tabrets and dancing as their custom was after notable victories, Ex 15:20, Jud 11:34.

King James Translators' Notes

tabrets: or, timbrels

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. I will build . thou shalt be built-The combination of the active and passive to express the same fact implies the infallible certainty of its accomplishment. "Build," that is, establish in prosperity (Jer 33:7).

adorned with . tabrets-(1Sa 18:6). Or, "adorn thyself with thy timbrels"; used by damsels on occasions of public rejoicings (Ex 15:20; Jud 11:34). Israel had cast away all instruments of joy in her exile (Ps 137:4).

dances-holy joy, not carnal mirth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

31:1-9 God assures his people that he will again take them into covenant relation to himself. When brought very low, and difficulties appear, it is good to remember that it has been so with the church formerly. But it is hard under present frowns to take comfort from former smiles; yet it is the happiness of those who, through grace, are interested in the love of God, that it is an everlasting love, from everlasting in the counsels, to everlasting in the continuance. Those whom God loves with this love, he will draw to himself, by the influences of his Spirit upon their souls. When praising God for what he has done, we must call upon him for the favours his church needs and expects. When the Lord calls, we must not plead that we cannot come; for he that calls us, will help us, will strengthen us. The goodness of God shall lead them to repentance. And they shall weep for sin with more bitterness, and more tenderness, when delivered out of their captivity, than when groaning under it. If we take God for our Father, and join the church of the first-born, we shall want nothing that is good for us. These predictions doubtless refer also to a future gathering of the Israelites from all quarters of the globe. And they figuratively describe the conversion of sinners to Christ, and the plain and safe way in which they are led.