Jeremiah 8:18

18 I drown in grief. I'm heartsick.

Jeremiah 8:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:18

When I would comfort myself against terror
Either naturally, by eating and drinking, the necessary and lawful means of refreshment; or spiritually, by reading the word of God, and looking over the promises in it: my heart is faint in me;
at the consideration of the calamities which were coming upon his people, and which were made known to him by a spirit of prophecy, of which he had no room to doubt. So the Targum takes them to be the words of the prophet, paraphrasing them,

``for them, saith the prophet, my heart grieves.''

Jeremiah 8:18 In-Context

16 From Dan at the northern borders we hear the hooves of horses, Horses galloping, horses neighing. The ground shudders and quakes. They're going to swallow up the whole country. Towns and people alike - fodder for war.
17 "'What's more, I'm dispatching poisonous snakes among you, Snakes that can't be charmed, snakes that will bite you and kill you.'" God's Decree! Advancing from One Evil to the Next
18 I drown in grief. I'm heartsick.
19 Oh, listen! Please listen! It's the cry of my dear people reverberating through the country. Is God no longer in Zion? Has the King gone away? Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods, their silly, imported no-gods before me?
20 The crops are in, the summer is over, but for us nothing's changed. We're still waiting to be rescued.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.