Jeremias 8:7

7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her time, the turtle-dove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but this my people knows not the judgments of the Lord.

Jeremias 8:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:7

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times
Of going and returning; for this is a bird of passage, as Pliny ^F4 and other naturalists observe; which goes away as winter approaches, and returns when that is over. The temperature of the air, as to heat and cold, and the natural propensity of such birds of passage to breed their young, are thought to be the incentives to change their habitation; and wonderful thing it is in nature, that they should know the proper time of their passage, what places to go to, and how to steer their course thither; and, as the above naturalist observes, they go and come in the night: and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of
their coming:
for these also are birds of passage; the turtle is absent in the winter, and its coming is a sign of spring, ( Song of Solomon 2:11 Song of Solomon 2:12 ) , the crane, according to Aelianus ^F5, goes away with the stork, and returns when winter is over; and the same is observable of the swallow; hence the common saying, one swallow does not make spring; so Horace ^F6 uses "hirundine prima" for the beginning of spring. Where these birds retire to is not known; some think the swallows fly into Egypt and Ethiopia; but Olaus Magnus ^F7 says they lurk in holes, and even under water, where they hang together, and are sometimes drawn out in clusters, and being brought to the fire, and thawed, will revive and fly about. But my people know not the judgment of the Lord;
meaning not the unsearchable judgments of God, or those providential dispensations of God which are a great deep, and are not clearly discerned and known by the best of men; but either his own judgments, which are inflicted upon wicked men as punishments for sin, which yet are not taken notice of, and duly attended to, as they should be; or rather the law of God, and his revealed word, which is the rule of judgment and justice, and a declaration of righteousness, showing what is just and good, and ought to be done, which they were willingly ignorant of; or else the final and future judgment of God after death, to which all men must come, and into which every thought, word, and work, will be brought, and which day wicked men put far from them; see ( Isaiah 1:3 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.
F5 De Animal. l. 3. c. 23.
F6 Ep. l. 1. Ep. 7.
F7 De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 19. c. 11.

Jeremias 8:7 In-Context

5 Wherefore has this my people turned away with a shameless revolting, and strengthened themselves in their willfulness, and refused to return?

6 Hearken, I pray you, and hear: will they not speak thus, There is no man that repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? the runner has failed from his course, as a tired horse in his neighing.

7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her time, the turtle-dove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but this my people knows not the judgments of the Lord.

8 How will ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? In vain have the scribes used a false pen.

9 The wise men are ashamed, and alarmed, and taken; because they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom is there in them?