Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
Is Ephraim my dear son? ... The question implies that a negative answer was to be expected. Who would have thought that one so undutiful to His heavenly Father as Ephraim had been should still be regarded by God as a "pleasant child." Certainly he was not so in respect to his sin. But by virtue of God's "everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3), on Ephraim's being "turned" to God, he was immediately welcomed as God's "dear son." This 20th verse sets forth God's readiness to welcome the penitent (Jeremiah 31:18-19), anticipating his return with prevenient grace and love. (Compare Luke 15:20, "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion," etc.)
Since I spake against him - threatened him idolatry.
I do earnestly remember him still - with favour and concern, as in Genesis 8:1; Genesis 30:22.
My bowels are troubled for him - (Deuteronomy 32:36; Isaiah 63:15; Hosea 11:8) namely, with the yearnings of compassionate love. "The "bowels" include the region of the heart, the seat of the affections.