Jeremiah 8:5

5 Why then does this people, rebellious Jerusalem, persistently turn away from me? They cling to deceit and refuse to return.

Jeremiah 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:5

Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
perpetual backsliding?
&c.] These people fill into sin, and rise not again by repentance; they turn out of the good ways of God and religion, and return not again; they backslide and revolt from the Lord, and they continue in their revolt and rebellion; their backsliding is an everlasting one; there is no hope of their repentance and recovery: it is a vehement and passionate expostulation about the people of the Jews, founded upon the former general observation, showing them to be the worst of all people: it is a common saying, "it is a long lane that has no turning"; but these people, having departed from the Lord, return no more. A very learned man renders the words, "why does Jerusalem turn away this people with an obstinate aversion?" ^F2 that is, the rulers and governors of Jerusalem, as in ( Matthew 23:37 ) or rather thus, "why does a stubborn aversion turn away this people, O Jerusalem?" and so they are an address to the magistrates and inhabitants of Jerusalem. They hold fast deceit;
practise it, and continue in the practice of it, both with God and man: they refuse to return:
to the Lord, to his worship, and to the right ways of holiness and truth, from whence they had erred; see ( Jeremiah 5:3 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (txun hbvm Mlvwry hzh Meh hbbwv ewdm) "quare avertit hunc populum Hierosolyma aversione pertinaci? [vel] quare avertit populum hunc", O Jerusalem, "aversio pertinax?" De Dieu.

Jeremiah 8:5 In-Context

3 The survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, wherever I have scattered them, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.

4 Say to them, The LORD proclaims: When people fall down, don't they get up? When they turn aside, don't they turn back?

5 Why then does this people, rebellious Jerusalem, persistently turn away from me? They cling to deceit and refuse to return.

6 I have listened carefully but haven't heard a word of truth from them. No one regrets their wrongdoing; no one says, "What have I done?" Everyone turns to their own course, like a stallion dashing into the thick of battle.

7 Even the stork in the sky knows the seasons, and the dove, swallow, and crane return in due time. But my people don't know the LORD's ways.