Jeremiah 8:3

3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith 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, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves.

2 And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor be buried: they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.'

4 "Moreover thou shalt say unto them, `Thus saith the LORD: "`Shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return?

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