Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ² 

Psalms 126:5-6

126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ³ 

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ⁴  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ⁵ 

Ecclesiastes 3:4

3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Isaiah 25:8

25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. ⁶ 

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,

and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

Indeed, the Lord has announced it! ⁷ 

Isaiah 30:19

30:19 For people will live in Zion;

in Jerusalem ⁸  you will weep no more. ⁹ 

When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;

when he hears it, he will respond to you. ¹⁰ 

Luke 6:21

6:21 “Blessed are you who hunger ¹¹  now, for you will be satisfied. ¹² 

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ¹³ 

Luke 6:25

6:25 “Woe to you who are well satisfied with food ¹⁴  now, for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you ¹⁵  who laugh ¹⁶  now, for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 16:25

16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, ¹⁷  remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. ¹⁸ 

John 16:22

16:22 So also you have sorrow ¹⁹  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ²⁰ 

Revelation 7:17

7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ²¹ 

Revelation 18:7

18:7 As much as ²²  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ²³  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ²⁴  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

¹ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

² tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

³ sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.

⁴ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

⁵ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

⁶ sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.

⁷ tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “For people in Zion will live, in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”

¹¹ sn You who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).

¹² sn The promise you will be satisfied is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.

¹³ sn You will laugh alludes to the joy that comes to God’s people in the salvation to come.

¹⁴ tn Grk “who are filled.” See L&N 23.18 for the translation “well satisfied with food.”

¹⁵ tc The wording “to you” (ὑμῖν, Jumin) is lacking in several witnesses (א B K L T W Θ Ξ 0147 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 1241 2542 al), though found in most (Ì⁷⁵ A D Q Ψ 33 Ï lat co). The longer reading looks to be a clarifying addition; nevertheless, “to you” is included in the translation because of English requirements.

¹⁶ sn That is, laugh with happiness and joy.

¹⁷ tn The Greek term here is τέκνον (teknon), which could be understood as a term of endearment.

¹⁸ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92). Here is the reversal Jesus mentioned in Luke 6:20-26.

¹⁹ tn Or “distress.”

²⁰ sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

²¹ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.

²² tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

²³ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

²⁴ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.