Jeremiah 8:3

3 And the people of this evil nation who survive, who live in the places where I have scattered them, will prefer to die rather than to go on living. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."

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 the bones of the kings and of the officials of Judah, as well as the bones of the priests, of the prophets, and of the other people who lived in Jerusalem, will be taken out of their graves.

2 Instead of being gathered and buried, their bones will be like manure lying on the ground. They will be spread out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, which these people have loved and served, and which they have consulted and worshiped.

3 And the people of this evil nation who survive, who live in the places where I have scattered them, will prefer to die rather than to go on living. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."

4 The Lord told me to say to his people, "When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back?

5 Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me.