Table of Contents
Jeremiah 8
Jeremiah 8
1 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 2
<html><b>And spread them before the sun</b> And the Chaldeans shall dwell when they besiege the city, in the graves of the princes, that were as beautiful as palaces. <b>for dung</b> For fertilizer.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>And death shall be preferable to life</b> Although they see the dead being subjected to disgrace, the distress of the living is worse than that, and they will choose death.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>Shall they fall and not rise</b> Is it good for them to cast themselves into a fall from which there is no rising? <b>if he repents, will He not return?</b> If they wish to repent of their wickedness, will the Holy One, blessed be He, not return from His decree? Another explanation: If they repent, the repentance will not be permanent, for they will quickly return to their wickedness, and in this manner Jonathan rendered it: If to repent, it is revealed before Me that they will not repent.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>a perpetual backsliding</b> Heb. משבה נצחת, a perpetual backsliding, like נצח, perpetual. <b>They have held</b> Heb. החזיקו. <b>to deceit</b> Heb. בתרמית.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>not…properly</b> Heb. לא כן, not right, cf. (Num. 27:7) “The daughters of Zelaphehad speak justly (כּן). <b>Each one turns away in his course</b> [lit. in their course.] In the first way. They sin and repeatedly sin. מרוצתם is korse in O.F. <b>like a frightening</b> effaye in French.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>Even the stork</b> (Cigogne in French). <b>her seasons</b> The time they pass to the islands of the sea because of the cold, and the time of their return. <b>await</b> Heb. שמרו. <b>and the turtledove and the crane and the swallow</b> Jonathan renders: ושפנינא וכורכיא וּסנוּניתא. כּורכיא is (grue in French), a crane. סנוּניתא is (hirondelle in French), a swallow.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>Verily, behold it is in vain</b> Behold your wisdom is in vain within you to heal you lightly. <b>he made a false scribes’ pen</b> i.e., your prophet.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>Wise men were ashamed</b> i.e., wise men like you. And what is the shame? Behold, they rejected the word of the Lord, now what wisdom have they?</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>And they healed</b> Heb. וירפו, similar to וירפאו.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>They shall be put to shame</b> Shame and embarrassment shall come upon them. <b>Neither are they ashamed</b> They are not ashamed of their evil deeds to take heart to repent.</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>I will utterly consume them</b> This is an expression of destruction. Comp. (Zeph. 1:2) “I will utterly consume (אסף אסף) everything from upon the face of the earth.” <b>There shall be no grapes on the vine</b> Nothing will be left over. <b>even the leaves will be withered</b> Heb. נבל, an expression of withering (fleirit in French). Comp. (Isa. 34:4) “and as a withered fig (וּכנבלת) from a fig tree.” Also (ibid. 1:30), “like an elm whose leaves are wilting (נבלת).” <b>for what I gave them they transgressed</b> All this shall befall them because I gave them statutes and they transgressed them.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>and there let us sit in silence</b> And let us be silent there. Let us sit there silent and mournful. <b>poisoned water</b> Jonathan renders: the cup of the curse, like the venom of serpents. The venom of the serpents is the poison that is in his teeth.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>From Dan is heard</b> Because they worshipped the calf that was in Dan. <b>the snorting of their horses</b> The sneezing of his nostrils. <b>the neighing of their stallions</b> The neighing of joy of his horses, and we find elsewhere that horses are called אבּירים (Jud. 5:22) by reason of the prancings, “the prancings of their mighty ones (אבּיריו),” an expression of (Nahum 3:2) “a prancing horse.” And Jonathan renders: from the sound of the steps of their mighty ones.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>serpents, adders</b> After seventy years, the snake becomes a צפע, which shuts its ear so that it will not hear the voice of the charmer who charms him, as it is stated (Psalms 58:5), “Like a deaf asp that shuts up its ear.” That is the meaning of “that cannot be charmed.”</html>
Verse 18
<html><b>Were I to suppress my grief</b> Heb. מבליגיתי, my suppression, and it is a noun, (mes estenimenc in O.F.). That is to say, if I said, I will suppress and keep in my grief. <b>my heart is sick within me</b> From the voice of the prophecies that are revealed to me of the coming retributions.</html>
Verse 19
<html><b>Hark the voice…the cry of the daughter of My people</b> I hear that eventually they will cry from a distant land, but why is all this necessary? Is not the Lord in Zion? If they return to Him, He will allow Himself to be found by them.</html>
Verse 20
<html><b>The harvest is past, the summer is ended</b> We looked forward to the aid of Egypt, but it did not come. We said, “Let the harvest pass, and they will be free, and they will come.” Now behold, the time of harvest has passed in Iyar, and the summer season in Tammuz, and they have not come.</html>
Verse 21
<html><b>I mourn</b> lit. I am darkened, an expression of blackness and darkness. <b>dismay</b> Heb. שמה, wonder. <b>has taken hold of me</b> Has held me.</html>
Verse 22
<html><b>Is there no balm in Gilead</b> For balm comes from there, as it is said (infra 46:11) “Go up to Gilead and take balm.” That is to say, Did they not have any righteous men from whom to learn so that they should improve their ways? <b>the health of</b> lit. the cure of, (emplatre in O.F.), plaster, dressing.</html>