Jeremiah 8

Jeremiah Chapter Eight Verse 1 Jeremiah 8THE HARVEST IS ENDED; AND THE SUMMER IS PAST. The title given here comes from Jeremiah 8:20; and it symbolizes the approach of the Chaldean invasion and the hopelessness of any deliverance of the people. All opportunities for repentance and return to God hav been spurned; and the nation is rushing headlong into destruction. Divisions of the chapter, as made by Feinberg,[1] are as follows; the invaders desecrate the graves (Jeremiah 8:1-3); Israel stubbornly continues in idolatry (Jeremiah 8:4-7); God describes the penalty of their apostasy (Jeremiah 8:8-13); the invaders approach (Jeremiah 8:14-17); the sorrow of the prophet is recorded (Jeremiah 8:18-22). Jeremiah 8:1-3“At that time, saith Jehovah, 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; and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped; they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residents that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith Jehovah of hosts.“These verses are actually a continuation of the previous chapter and are so treated by some writers. The desecration of the graves of defeated peoples was widely practiced in antiquity; and there were excellent reasons for it in the case of Judah. Josephus tells us that: “Solomon buried David with great wealth; … and 1,300 years afterward, Hyrcanus the high priest, when besieged by Antiochus, opened one of the rooms of David’s sepulchre and took out 3,000 talents of gold with which he bribed Antiochus to lift the siege… Also, Herod the king opened another room and took out a great deal of money… But neither of them came near the coffins of the kings themselves, for their bodies were buried under the earth so artfully, that they did not appear even to those entering their monuments.[2]Dummelow expressed doubts as to the genuine motivation for such wholesale desecration of the Jewish graves, supposing that it might have been, “either from pure wantonness, or in the hope of finding treasures or ornaments of value."[3] There was more than enough motivation either way. Since the bones of the dead were held in such reverence by the Hebrew people, the Chaldeans would have delighted in the desecration, even if merely for spite to a despised enemy. The great thing in this paragraph, however, appears in Jeremiah 8:2, where the five-fold engagement of the Jews with “the hosts of heaven,” in their (1) loving them, (2) serving them, (3) walking after them, (4) seeking them, and (5) worshipping them is stressed. Very well, the people through their false leaders have been betrayed into paganism in this worship of the sun, moon, and stars; therefore, the bones of those worshippers are exposed to the sun, moon, and stars, which were utterly helpless to afford any prevention or assistance. Indeed, the sun would only hasten the disintegration and decay of the bones. What an exposition is this of the futility of worshipping the hosts of heaven. Henderson’s comment on this is: “The objects of idolatrous worship are here introduced as the unconcerned spectators of the indignities offered to the bones of their worshippers!"[4] The five-fold repetition of the word “bones” helps to add a funeral impression to the whole passage. “Death shall be chosen rather than life …” (Jeremiah 8:3). Thompson believed that, “This refers (1) either to the unbearable conditions endured in the captivity, or (2) to the memory of the last days in Judah which were too much to bear."[5]“All the residue that remain of this evil family …” (Jeremiah 8:3). “Jeremiah here uses the word family' for the whole Jewish race."[6]Verse 4 "Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? shall one turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turneth to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle. Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the law of Jehovah.""Turn away ... and not return ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/8/4" class="green-link">Jeremiah 8:4</a>). "Five times in this and the following verse the text uses variations of the Hebrew term [~shuwb]: turn away, return’ in Jeremiah 8:4, `turned away, backsliding, and return’ in Jeremiah 8:5."[7]“Perpetual backsliding …” (Jeremiah 8:5) The meaning here is that, “It is too late for Israel to repent. The nation is incorrigible in her apostasy. Judah shows no desire to repent but holds tenaciously to her deceitful idolatry."[8]“The stork … the turtle-dove … crane … etc. …” (Jeremiah 8:7).

In these lines, the prophet appeals to the example afforded by the birds of the heavens. They know their appointed times. All migratory birds are strict observers of times and seasons, when to fly north, or south, when to leave an area, and when to return again; but Israel seemed to know nothing of the times and seasons God appointed for them, thus showing a stupidity that could not be matched, even among the sub-human creations. As Jesus expressed it, “O, if thou hadst known the time of thy visitation!” “They spake not aright …” (Jeremiah 8:6). “Not only did the people refuse to do right; they would not even so much as speak right. God could not get a single good word out of them, not a thing upon which to ground any favor to them or any hope of recovering them."[9]“My people know not the Law of Jehovah …” (Jeremiah 8:7). This is one of the most important statements in Jeremiah. The complaint is not that God’s people did not possess the Law of Jehovah. They had possessed that from the days of Moses and Joshua. The critical myth that there was no Law of Jehovah until the high priest discovered that book during the renovation of the temple is merely a clever, convenient falsehood which only the gullible could believe. The problem was not the Jewish People’s lack of the Law of Jehovah, but it was their failure to know it, study it, meditate upon it, or obey it. We shall return in the next verse for a more thorough exploration of this very important revelation in Jeremiah. Verse 8 “How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.“The existence of the order of The Scribes in the days of Jeremiah proves conclusively that the Law of Jehovah, not a single book, such as Deuteronomy, but all of it, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, commonly referred to as the Pentateuch, did exist in those days, else there could not possibly have been such an order as that of the Scribes whose duty it was to copy, study, distribute, and expound the teachings of that very law. Any person with ordinary intelligence needs no scholar to explain this to him. In addition to the incontrovertible evidence we have in this very chapter, there are countless references throughout Jeremiah to every single one of the man-made divisions in the Law of Moses, that law, from the beginning, not being five books but only one, the Book of Moses. We consider the meaning of this verse to be so important that we would like to support the position which we have taken with the opinion of a number of dependable, able scholars, who are honest enough and conservative enough to point out what is really said here. “The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) must have existed in writing before there could have been an order of men whose special business it was to study it.[10] … The presence of scribes demands that there must have been a law by this time, contrary to the view of some Old Testament scholars.[11] … Behold the false pen of the scribes … (Jeremiah 8:8) The scribes studied and copied the Law; this is the first mention of them in the Bible. Already, they were beginning to make the Law of God void by their tradition (Matthew 15:6).[12] … These verses are a strong argument in favor of the belief that the Book of the Law even at that time had well-grounded claims to antiquity.[13] … These verses teach that “The written law is with us,” This is the Law of Jahweh recorded in the Pentateuch; and this is not to be understood as merely the outward possession of it, but also as the inwardly appropriated knowledge and mastery of it.[14] …

Jeremiah’s whole argument here depends upon the fact that there existed in his day men who claimed to be wise on account of their study of the Pentateuch; and this is utterly inconsistent with assumptions that Jeremiah wrote Deuteronomy.[15] … Ash identified the “law” mentioned in Jeremiah 8:7 as “the Torah."[16] … Kuist noted that, “The scribes interpreting the Law (Torah or `instructions’) found sanctions for their actions in false interpretations."[17] … Even Wheeler Robinson in Peake’s Commentary, while accepting the usual critical view, which he asserted “might be correct,” he also stated that, “A strong case can be made out,” for the view which we take here.[18] … This teaches that in the seventh century B.C. Israel possessed a written Torah which it was the ostensible duty of the scribes to study and expound."[19]Verse 9 “The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet, even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely. And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abominations? 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 Jehovah. I will utterly consume them, saith Jehovah,: 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.““The word of Jehovah …” (Jeremiah 8:9). This is a reference to the Torah, which is the subject ofJeremiah 8:7 and Jeremiah 8:8. The scribes, self-styled “wise men,” as they claimed to be, had rejected the Word of God, namely, the Law of Moses, by their false interpretations of it. “Jeremiah 8:10-12 are a repetition of what Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 6:12-15."[20] See my comment under those verses, above. “No grapes … nor figs …” (Jeremiah 8:13) The failure of all crops and agricultural benefits were common metaphors in the Old Testament, used to express God’s judgment upon sinful people. Christ himself took up the figure of the barren fig-tree, which he made a figure of apostate Israel in his cursing of the barren fig-tree (Matthew 21:19). Verse 14 “Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay! The snorting of the horses is heard from Dan; and the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembleth; for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein. For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.“Note that in Jeremiah 8:14, the outlying communities surrounding Jerusalem have decided to flee to the fortified cities, realizing that all hope is lost and thinking, perhaps, to survive a little longer there; but even there they expect only to be “put to silence,” a euphemism for “put to death.” Note too that in this verse the betrayal of the people by their false prophets was at last recognized by the people. What has opened the eyes of the people? “The war horses of the Chaldeans can be heard snorting already in Dan!"[21]“I will send serpents, adders among you …” (Jeremiah 8:17). Jeremiah loved to change his metaphors; and here we have another example of it. The invading Babylonians are symbolized by poisonous serpents that could not be charmed. “The invading army, sent to execute God’s sentence, is now compared to snakes, which no charming can soothe, and the bite of which is fatal."[22]Verse 18 “Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me. Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: Is not Jehovah in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?““The daughter of my people …” (Jeremiah 8:19). Note the triple repetition of these pathetic words in these last verses of Jeremiah 8. These verses represent the people as asking why they must suffer. What has become of God? Is not their Davidic King in the city? How can they be defeated and carried away? God’s answer comes in Jeremiah 8:19 b, “Why have ye provoked me to anger …”? Verse 20 “The harvest is past, and the summer is ended, and we are not saved.“We selected this verse as the title of the whole chapter. It simply means that the last opportunity for Israel to repent and turn to the Lord has already slipped away. The harvest mentioned here is the one that came in the early summer in the months of April through June. The summer’s being ended is a reference to the approach of autumn and the end of the final harvest of the year. There will be nothing more for another year. This stands as a metaphor for the termination of all of Israel’s lost opportunities. In the meanwhile, the winter of God’s judgment was coming swiftly upon them. Verse 21 “For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?“From these verses, and especially from the very next verse as it appears in the KJV (Jeremiah 9:1), “A tragic misrepresentation of Jeremiah is based."[23] Green defended this observation as follows: “Jeremiah has been termed “the weeping prophet.” This is one of ironies of Biblical interpretation; and one should avoid this gross error. We may call him the reluctant prophet, or the praying prophet, or the suffering prophet, or the preaching prophet, but not the weeping prophet. He never wasted time weeping when there was work to be done. He loved greatly and suffered deeply; and he was one of the greatest minds and spirits of all time.” Jeremiah 8:22 in our American Standard Version does not reveal the meaning as does the KJV, which indicates that the Hebrew text merely has, “No balm in Gilead; no physician there!” And, the interpretation of Matthew Henry fits such a rendition. “There is no balm in Gilead that can cure the disease of sin; and there is no physician there who can heal a nation in rebellion against the Lord."[24] However, Matthew Henry pointed out that it is also possible to understand the verse as rendered in our version (American Standard Version), with the meaning: certainly, there is balm in Gilead, and yes, there is a true physician there; but all of the blame for Israel’s sorrows must rest upon themselves for not applying the wonderful remedy which God has provided. It is of great interest that the “balm in Gilead” has come to stand as a metaphor of the salvation in Jesus Christ, as memorialized in many hymns and anthems. “There is a balm in Gilead, that heals the sin-sick soul. There is a balm in Gilead that makes the sinner whole”!

Jeremiah 8:1

Jeremiah 8:1. That time means the time of the Babylonian invasion referred to in the close of the preceding chapter. It was known that kings and other men of importance had their personal belongings buried with their bodies. The looting of these tombs would hence have the motive of material gain as well as that of showing dishonor toward the persons whose land the victorious Babylonians will have taken over.

Jeremiah 8:2

Jeremiah 8:2. The pronouns in this verse have three antecedents implied and I shall express the passage as follows: “And then (the Babylonians) shall spread them (the bones) before the sun . . . whom they (kings and other idolaters) have loved, etc.” The dishonor will be further shown after having dragged the bones from the tombs, by refusing to reinter them even after having secured the valuables that had been buried with them. Shall be for dung is used figuratively here and in many other passages in the Bible. Dung is and has been regarded as a valuable substance, both as fuel and fertilizer. Its use in a bad sense, therefore, is due to its being the refuse of other articles or bodies of living beings, and to the further fact that it is scattered out and made to disappear from view.

Jeremiah 8:3

Jeremiah 8:3. There are some things worse than death such as physical or mental torture. The Babylonians were a harsh people (Jeremiah 6:23) and their cruel treatment of the people of Judah would cause them to wish for death.

Jeremiah 8:4

Jeremiah 8:4. The Lord bids Jeremiah remind his people of their persistence in wrong doing. It is reasonably expected that though a man falls he will rise again, at least on behalf of his own interests. The men of Judah were “challenged” to make amends for their evil record and return to the right way of living.

Jeremiah 8:5

Jeremiah 8:5. This verse is another which seems to exhort the people to reform so as to avert the calamity of the captivity, and this in spite of the decree that nothing could be done about it. The explanation lies in the distinction between the nation as a whole and certain individuals in it. (See the note at 2 Kings 22:17 in Vol. 2 of this Commentary regarding this apparent contradiction.)

Jeremiah 8:6

Jeremiah 8:6. This is another comment on the persistence of the people in rejecting the Lord’s counsels and warning of the dangers ahead.

Jeremiah 8:7

Jeremiah 8:7. In the beginning of the book of Isaiah the ignorance of God’ s people was emphasized by reference to some dumb beasts (Jeremiah 1:3). In our verse the same thing is done by referring to some smaller dumb creatures. Stork knoweth her appointed times might be misunderstood because of a popular notion connecting this bird with the birth of children. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says the following about this creature: “It was believed that the young [of the stork] repaid the care of their parents by attaching themselves to them for life, and tending them in old age. That the parental attachment of the stork is very strong has been proved on many occasions.

Few migratory [wandering] birds are more punctual to the time of their appearance than the white stork.’ * The word appointed is from MOWADAH, which Strong defines, “ Properly an appointment, i.e., a fixed time or season.” The idea is that although the stork is a roving sort of bird, yet because it is permanently committed to the care of its parents, it does not forget when it is time to return to the home nest to see after the welfare of the parents. The illustration is that this dumb creature is more thoughtful and aware of its obligation to its parents than Judah was of the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:8

Jeremiah 8:8. The Law of the Lord is with us means they assumed that they could be a law unto themselves; that the writing of the scribes was worthless and not binding.

Jeremiah 8:9

Jeremiah 8:9. The wise men refers to these corrupt leaders who considered themselves wise enough not to need the word of the Lord. Such self-assumed wise men were destined to be brought to shame for their rejection of the word of the Ik>rd.

Jeremiah 8:10

Jeremiah 8:10. This verse specifies the particular classes among the people of Judah whom God was condemning. The prophets and priests thought they were above being dependent on the word of the Lord. Their motive in turning away from the divine law was their desire to increase their own gains by false dealing with the common people.

Jeremiah 8:11

Jeremiah 8:11. This verse takes the same comments as ch. 6: 11 which the reader is requested to read again very carefully.

Jeremiah 8:12

Jeremiah 8:12. Sin is always to be condemned but it is worse when done brazenly and when the doers of it show no regret. Fall among them that fall means the leaders will fall when the people in general are taken captive out. of the land; their position as leaders will not save them from the downfall.

Jeremiah 8:13

Jeremiah 8:13. No grapes and no figs might suggest that not even a remnant will be left after the great calamity is over that is being predicted. Yet the promise has already been made that a remnant would be saved and we are sure the Bible does not contradict itself. The matter will be clear if we observe that God is here talking about the wicked leaders who lmve brought the nation into such an evil state by their corrupt teaching, it was true that all such characters were expelled; not a “grape’* or “ fig” survived when the flood of God’ s wrath was poured out upon the nation.

Jeremiah 8:14

Jeremiah 8:14. Why do we sit still is the language of the people. They have been Informed by the prophet that nothing they can do will stop the enemy from invading the land. Therefore they seek to bestir themselves to “ make the best of it” by entering Into fenced (walled) cities and there be sile7it; that is. make no active resistance but await, as calmly as the bitterness of their situation will permit, the attack of the foe. They now seem to realize that their bitter state is because of their sins.

Jeremiah 8:15

Jeremiah 8:15. We looked for peace was because they listened to the false prophets who cried “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). Now they are aware of the false nature of the assurances because instead of peace they are having trouble,

Jeremiah 8:16

Jeremiah 8:16. Was heard Is prophecy and means the snorting will be heard. Dan was a city at the northern boundary of Palestine, and the language means the horses drawing the war charioLs of the Babylonians will cause their snorting to be heard as they enter the country. Are come and have devoured is still in the future, being predictions of the calamity soon to come upon the nation. The City means Jerusalem which was the capital of the kingdom of Judah.

Jeremiah 8:17

Jeremiah 8:17. The pronoun I means the Lord who is going to use the Babylonian army to chastise the unfaithful people. This army is represented by the figures of poisonous reptiles in order to make use of the additional figure of not being charmed, as was believed that serpents could sometimes be. The literal meaning of the prediction is that nothing can be done to persuade the Babylonians to lift the siege.

Jeremiah 8:18

Jeremiah 8:18. The words of the prophet may always be regarded as those of the Lord also, but sometimes the prophet expresses the passages as Ills personal view as well as that of God. Such is the case in this verse and so on to the end of the chapter.

Jeremiah 8:19

Jeremiah 8:19. Daughter of my people is an affectionate way of referring to the citizens of Judah. Their cry is became of them that dwell in a far country which means the Babylonians who were abouL to come against the city of Jerusalem. The Lord is In Zion, the capital of the kingdom, and yet the nation has a king on the throne. This leaves them without any pretext for needing the assistance ol man-made gods.

Jeremiah 8:20

Jeremiah 8:20. But it is too late now to expect further leniency from God. He has pleaded and instructed and warned them for many years but all of the offered instruction has been rejected. In just a few more years the nation will be overthrown and given into the hands of a foreign power. All these facts and truths bring the guilty people to make the noted statement of this verse. I say noted because it has long been a favorite quotation in the mouths of public speakers when exhorting sinners to make preparation to meet God before it is too late.

Such an exhortation is proper and it is proper also to refer to such instances as the one before us as a lesson. Further than that the verse lias nothing to do with individual responsibility to God today. It was written as a picture of Judah at the time of her national downfall which was near. The figures of the passage very impressively illustrate the long continued neglect of the nation to correct itself before the Lord made his decree to reject it. The harvest and summer means the period of Judah’ s reign in Jerusalem, during which time she could have developed a national character of religious devotion to God that would have been a sure protection against all enemies. But now it is too late; all of the time for such a work is gone and the nation is not saved but must suffer national death in Babylon.

Jeremiah 8:21

Jeremiah 8:21. Jeremiah is again “taking it to heart” about the sad prospect of his countrymen. I am hlack is figurative and means he is in mourning for his people.

Jeremiah 8:22

Jeremiah 8:22. Gilead was an extensive region just east of the Jordan and opposite the northern part of Palestine. Gilead was specially noted for its balm from “balm of Gilead” trees, which was worth twice its weight in silver. Funk and Wagnalls Bible Dictionary says of this balm that it was “used for the treatment of wounds.” Jeremiah uses the word figuratively and in a plaintive strain asks if there is no physician in Gilead who could heal his people.