Jeremiah 8:9

9 The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what manner of wisdom is in them?

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 Yes, the khasidah in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don't know the law of the LORD.

8 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the Sofrim has worked falsely.

9 The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what manner of wisdom is in them?

10 Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the Kohen every one deals falsely.

11 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Shalom, shalom; when there is no shalom.