Jeremiah 8:3

3 Death will be chosen over life^[a] by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them." [This is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Jeremiah 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:3

And death shall be chosen rather than life
By them that should be alive in those times, who would be carried captive into other lands, and be used very hardly, and suffer greatly, by the nations among whom they should dwell; see ( Revelation 9:6 ) . The Septuagint version, and those that follow it, make this to be a reason of the former, reading the words thus, "because they have chosen death rather than life"; see ( Deuteronomy 30:19 ) , but the other sense is best, which is confirmed by what follows: by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family;
the nation of the Jews, become very corrupt and degenerate; so the people of Israel are called the whole family of Israel, ( Amos 3:1 ) , now it is foretold, that those which remained of that people, who died not by famine, or were not slain by the sword, yet should be in such a miserable condition, as that death would be more eligible to them than life: even which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith
the Lord of hosts:
for, though they were carried captive by men, yet the thing was of the Lord, and a just punishment upon them for their sins.

Jeremiah 8:3 In-Context

1 "At that time"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.

2 They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly host, which they have loved, served, followed, pursued, and worshiped. [Their bones] will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the surface of the soil.

3 Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them." [This is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

4 You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do [people] fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return?

5 Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit; they refuse to return.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 30:11-20