Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together,.... Not any particular virgin, but all virgins, as Kimchi interprets it. The Targum is,
"then shall the congregation of Israel rejoice as in dances;''
it may very well be understood of the church of Christ, espoused to him as a chaste virgin, and of her spiritual joy in him, in allusion to the joy expressed by such persons in dancing, both upon civil and religious accounts; and it denotes that the joy should be very general and extensive, that persons of every age and sex should partake of it; see Zechariah 9:17;
for I will turn their mourning into joy: their mourning for sin, and for want of the divine presence, into joy, on account of the goodness of the Lord to them, and the large provisions made for them; though they come weeping to Zion, yet, when come thither, sing in the height of it, Jeremiah 31:9; their fasts, as elsewhere, are turned into festivals; sometimes the joy of the saints is suddenly turned into grief, and again their sorrow turned into joy; see Psalms 30:5;
and will comfort them; with the discoveries of love, with the divine Presence, and views of pardoning grace:
and make them rejoice from their sorrow; cause their sorrow to break off through joy: or, "after their sorrow" p; that being ended, joy shall succeed.
p מיגונם "post moerorem suum", Cataker.