Jeremiah 8:4

4 Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?

Jeremiah 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:4

Moreover, thou shalt say unto them
The Jews, in Jeremiah's time, in order to leave them inexcusable, though the Lord had before assured that they would not hearken to him, ( Jeremiah 7:27 ) : thus saith the Lord, shall they fall, and not rise?
men, when they fall, endeavour to get up again, and generally they do: shall he turn away, and not return?
when a man turns out of the right way into a wrong one, as soon as he is sensible of his mistake, he returns back; this is usually done among men. This is generally the case in a natural sense, and might be expected in a moral sense; that whereas these people had fallen into sin, they would rise again by repentance; and, having turned from the good ways of God, would soon return again to them.

Jeremiah 8:4 In-Context

2 and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the eretz.

3 Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says the LORD of Hosts.

4 Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?

5 Why then is this people of Yerushalayim slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6 I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.