Jeremiah 8:9

9 The wise are put to shame, alarmed, entrapped. They have rejected the word of ADONAI, so what wisdom do they have?

Jeremiah 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:9

The wise men are ashamed
Of the wisdom of which they boasted, when it would appear to be folly, and unprofitable to them: they are dismayed and taken;
frightened at the calamities coming upon them, and taken as in a snare, as the wise sometimes are in their own craftiness, ( Job 5:13 ) . Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord;
sent by the prophets, which urged obedience to the law, and is the best explanation of it; but this they despised, and refused it: and what wisdom is in them?
to contemn that, which, if attended to, would have been profitable to them, and the means of making them wise unto salvation; let them therefore boast of their wisdom ever so much, it is certain there can be none in persons of such a spirit and conduct.

Jeremiah 8:9 In-Context

7 Storks in the sky know their seasons; doves, swallows and cranes their migration times; but my people do not know the rulings of ADONAI!
8 "'How can you say, "We are wise; ADONAI's Torah is with us," when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has turned it into falsehood?
9 The wise are put to shame, alarmed, entrapped. They have rejected the word of ADONAI, so what wisdom do they have?
10 "'Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who take them over; for from the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gains; prophets and cohanim alike all practice fraud
11 they dress the wound of the daughter of my people, but only superficially, saying, "There is perfect shalom," when there is no shalom.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.