Jeremiah 8:4-13

Yahweh Questions His People

4 "And you shall say to them, 'Thus asks Yahweh: "Do men fall and not stand up? If one turns away does he not return?

5 Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away [in] enduring apostasy? They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.

6 I have listened attentively, and I have listened. They do not speak honestly, there is no man [who] regrets his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' All of them [are] turning to their ways of running, like a horse plunging into battle.

7 Even [the] stork in heaven knows its appointed time, and [the] turtledove, and [the] swallow, and [the] song bird, they observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the ordinance of Yahweh.

8 How can you say, 'We [are] wise and the law of Yahweh [is] with us'? Look, surely {the lying stylus of the scribes} has made it a lie.

9 [The] wise will be put to shame, they will be dismayed, and they will get taken. Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, and what [is] wisdom to them?

10 Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from [the] smallest to [the] greatest, all of them make profit [for] unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.

11 And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, {saying}, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

12 Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse, they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

13 "{I will take away their harvest}," {declares} Yahweh. "There are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree, and the leaves wither, and [what] I gave to them passed over them." '"

Jeremiah 8:4-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 8

In this chapter the prophet goes on to denounce grievous calamities upon the people of the Jews; such as would make death more eligible than life; and that because of their idolatry, Jer 8:1-3 and also because of their heinous backslidings in other respects, and continuance in them, Jer 8:4,5 likewise their impenitence and stupidity, Jer 8:6,7 their vain conceit of themselves and their own wisdom; their false interpretation of Scripture, and their rejection of the word of God, Jer 8:8,9 their covetousness, for which it is said their wives and fields should be given to others, Jer 8:10, their flattery of the people, and their impudence, on account of which, ruin and consumption, and a blast on their vines and fig trees, are threatened, Jer 8:11-13, their consternation is described, by their fleeing to their defenced cities; by their sad disappointment in the expectation of peace and prosperity; and the near approach of their enemies; devouring their land, and all in it; who are compared to serpents and cockatrices that cannot be charmed, Jer 8:14-17 and the chapter is closed with the prophet's expressions of sorrow and concern for his people, because of their distress their idolatry had brought upon them; and because of their hopeless, and seemingly irrecoverable, state and condition, Jer 8:18-22.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "says"
• [b]. Or "repent"
• [c]. Or "law"
• [d]. Literally "stylus of lie of scribes"
• [e]. Literally "to say"
• [f]. Or "also"
• [g]. Literally "To thus"
• [h]. Literally "I will take away, I will make an end [to] them"
• [i]. Literally "a declaration of"