Jeremiah 8:19

19 Listen to the sound of my people. They cry from a faraway land: "Isn't the Lord still in Jerusalem? But God says, "Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols, useless foreign idols?"

Jeremiah 8:19 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:19

Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people,
&c.] This was what made his heart faint, such was his sympathy with his countrymen, his people in distress, whom he affectionately calls the daughter of his people, whose cry was loud, and whose voice he heard lamenting their case: because of them that dwell in a far country;
because of the Chaldeans, who came from a far country; see ( Jeremiah 5:15 ) who were come into their land, and devoured it; through fear of them, and because of the devastation they made; hence the voice of their cry: or this is to be understood of the Jews in a far country, carried captive into Babylon, and the voice of their cry there, because of their captivity and oppression. So Abarbinel and the Targum,

``lo, the voice of the cry of the congregation of my people from a far country;''

and so read the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions. Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her King in her?
these are the words of the people, complaining of the Lord, calling in question whether he was in Zion, and whether he was King there; and if he was, how came it to pass that he did not protect it; that he suffered the city to be taken, and the inhabitants to be carried captive? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with
their strange vanities?
that is, with their idols, and their idolatrous worship; this is the Lord's answer to them, giving a reason why he suffered the enemy to come in among them, and prevail over them, namely, their idolatry. It may be rendered, "with the vanities of a stranger" ^F14; of a strange people, or of a strange god.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (rkn ylbhb) "in vanitatibus alienigenae", Montanus; "[sub.] populi", Vatablus; "dei alieni", Pagninus So Ben Melech.

Jeremiah 8:19 In-Context

17 "Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you. These snakes cannot be charmed, and they will bite you," says the Lord.

18 God, you are my comfort when I am very sad and when I am afraid.

19 Listen to the sound of my people. They cry from a faraway land: "Isn't the Lord still in Jerusalem? But God says, "Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols, useless foreign idols?"

20 And the people say, "Harvest time is over; summer has ended, and we have not been saved."

21 Because my people are crushed, I am crushed. I cry loudly and am afraid for them.