Jeremiah 8:4

4 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back?

Jeremiah 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:4

Moreover, thou shalt say unto them
The Jews, in Jeremiah's time, in order to leave them inexcusable, though the Lord had before assured that they would not hearken to him, ( Jeremiah 7:27 ) : thus saith the Lord, shall they fall, and not rise?
men, when they fall, endeavour to get up again, and generally they do: shall he turn away, and not return?
when a man turns out of the right way into a wrong one, as soon as he is sensible of his mistake, he returns back; this is usually done among men. This is generally the case in a natural sense, and might be expected in a moral sense; that whereas these people had fallen into sin, they would rise again by repentance; and, having turned from the good ways of God, would soon return again to them.

Jeremiah 8:4 In-Context

2 and they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have followed, and which they have inquired of and worshiped; and they shall not be gathered or buried; they shall be like dung on the surface of the ground.

3 Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, says the Lord of hosts.

4 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back?

5 Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They have held fast to deceit, they have refused to return.

6 I have given heed and listened, but they do not speak honestly; no one repents of wickedness, saying, "What have I done!" All of them turn to their own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle.