Matthew 2:17

Then was fulfilled - The word "fulfilled," here. is used evidently in the sense that the words in Jeremiah aptly express the event which Matthew was recording. Compare the notes at Matthew 1:22.

That which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet - Jeremiah. This quotation is taken from Jeremiah 31:15. The original design of the prophecy was to describe the sorrowful departure of the people of Israel into captivity after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan. The captives were assembled at Rama, Jeremiah himself being in chains, and there the fate of those who had escaped in the destruction of the city was decided at the will of the conqueror, Jeremiah 40:1. The nobles had been slain; the sons of the king had been murdered in his presence; the eyes of the king had been put out, and the people were then gathered at Rama in chains, whence they were to start on their mournful journey, slaves to a cruel monarch, leaving behind them all that was dear in life. The sadness of such a scene is well expressed in the language of the prophet, and it no less beautifully and suitably applies to the melancholy event which the evangelist records, and there could be no impropriety in his using it as a quotation.

2:17 Then was fulfilled - A passage of Scripture, whether prophetic, historical, or poetical, is in the language of the New Testament fulfilled, when an event happens to which it may with great propriety be accommodated.