10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess 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.
And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, `and' to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered `mortar', seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.
for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah. They say continually unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. Come ye, `say they', I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, `a day' great beyond measure.
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand.
But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 8
Commentary on Jeremiah 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
Jer 8:1-22. The Jew's Coming Punishment; Their Universal and Incurable Impenitence.
1. The victorious Babylonians were about to violate the sanctuaries of the dead in search of plunder; for ornaments, treasures, and insignia of royalty were usually buried with kings. Or rather, their purpose was to do the greatest dishonor to the dead (Isa 14:19).
2. spread … before the sun, &c.—retribution in kind. The very objects which received their idolatries shall unconcernedly witness their dishonor.
loved … served … after … walked … sought … worshipped—Words are accumulated, as if enough could not be said fully to express the mad fervor of their idolatry to the heavenly host (2Ki 23:5).
nor … buried—(Jer 22:19).
dung—(Jer 9:22; Ps 83:10).
3. The survivors shall be still worse off than the dead (Job 3:21, 22; Re 9:6).
which remain in all the places—"in all places of them that remain, whither I … that is, in all places whither I have driven them that remain [Maurer].
4. "Is it not a natural instinct, that if one falls, he rises again; if one turns away (that is, wanders from the way), he will return to the point from which he wandered? Why then does not Jerusalem do so?" He plays on the double sense of return; literal and metaphorical (Jer 3:12; 4:1).
5. slidden … backsliding—rather, as the Hebrew is the same as in Jer 8:4, to which this verse refers, "turned away with a perpetual turning away."
perpetual—in contrast to the "arise" ("rise again," Jer 8:4).
refuse to return—in contrast to, "shall he … not return" (Jer 8:4; Jer 5:3).
6. spake not aright—that is, not so as penitently to confess that they acted wrong. Compare what follows.
every one … his course—The Keri reads "course," but the Chetib, "courses." "They persevere in the courses whatever they have once entered on." Their wicked ways were diversified.
horse rusheth—literally, "pours himself forth," as water that has burst its embankment. The mad rapidity of the war horse is the point of comparison (Job 39:19-25).
7. The instinct of the migratory birds leads them with unfailing regularity to return every spring from their winter abodes in summer climes (So 2:12); but God's people will not return to Him even when the winter of His wrath is past, and He invites them back to the spring of His favor.
in the heaven—emphatical. The birds whose very element is the air, in which they are never at rest, yet show a steady sagacity, which God's people do not.
times—namely, of migrating, and of returning.
my people—This honorable title aggravates the unnatural perversity of the Jews towards their God.
know not, &c.—(Jer 5:4, 5; Isa 1:3).
8. law … with us—(Ro 2:17). Possessing the law, on which they prided themselves, the Jews might have become the wisest of nations; but by their neglecting its precepts, the law became given "in vain," as far as they were concerned.
scribes—copyists. "In vain" copies were multiplied. Maurer translates, "The false pen of the scribes hath converted it [the law] into a lie." See Margin, which agrees with Vulgate.
9. dismayed—confounded.
what wisdom—literally, "the wisdom of what?" that is, "wisdom in what respect?" the Word of the Lord being the only true source of wisdom (Ps 119:98-100; Pr 1:7; 9:10).
10-12. Repeated from Jer 6:12-15. See a similar repetition, Jer 8:15; Jer 14:19.
inherit—succeed to the possession of them.
11. (Eze 13:10).
13. surely consume—literally, "gathering I will gather," or "consuming I will consume."
no grapes … nor figs—(Joe 1:7; Mt 21:19).
things that I have given … shall pass away—rather, "I will appoint to them those who shall overwhelm (pass over) them," that is, I will send the enemy upon them [Maurer]. English Version accords well with the context; Though their grapes and figs ripen, they shall not be allowed to enjoy them.
14. assemble—for defense.
let us be silent—not assault the enemy, but merely defend ourselves in quiet, until the storm blow over.
put us to silence—brought us to that state that we can no longer resist the foe; implying silent despair.
water of gall—literally, "water of the poisonous plant," perhaps the poppy (Jer 9:15; 23:15).
15. Repeated (Jer 14:19).
We looked for—owing to the expectations held out by the false prophets.
health—healing; that is, restoration from adversity.
16. his horses—the Chaldean's.
was heard—the prophetical past for the future.
from Dan—bordering on Phœnicia. This was to be Nebuchadnezzar's route in invading Israel; the cavalry in advance of the infantry would scour the country.
strong ones—a poetical phrase for steeds, peculiar to Jeremiah (Jer 47:3; compare Jer 4:13, 29; 6:23).
17. I—Jehovah.
cockatrices—basilisks (Isa 11:8), that is, enemies whose destructive power no means, by persuasion or otherwise, can counteract. Serpent-charmers in the East entice serpents by music, and by a particular pressure on the neck render them incapable of darting (Ps 58:4, 5).
18. (Isa 22:4). The lamentation of the prophet for the impending calamity of his country.
against sorrow—or, with respect to sorrow. Maurer translates, "Oh, my exhilaration as to sorrow!" that is, "Oh, that exhilaration ('comfort', from an Arabic root, to shine as the rising sun) would shine upon me as to my sorrow!"
in me—within me.
19. The prophet in vision hears the cry of the exiled Jews, wondering that God should have delivered them up to the enemy, seeing that He is Zion's king, dwelling in her (Mic 3:11). In the latter half of the verse God replies that their own idolatry, not want of faithfulness on His part, is the cause.
because of them that dwell in a far country—rather, "from a land of distances," that is, a distant land (Isa 39:3). English Version understands the cry to be of the Jews in their own land, because of the enemy coming from their far-off country.
strange vanities—foreign gods.
20. Proverbial. Meaning: One season of hope after another has passed, but the looked-for deliverance never came, and now all hope is gone.
21. black—sad in visage with grief (Joe 2:6).
22. balm—balsam; to be applied to the wounds of my people. Brought into Judea first from Arabia Felix, by the queen of Sheba, in Solomon's time [Josephus, Antiquities, 8.2]. The opobalsamum of Pliny; or else [Bochart] the resin drawn from the terebinth. It abounded in Gilead, east of Jordan, where, in consequence, many "physicians" established themselves (Jer 46:11; 51:8; Ge 37:25; 43:11).
health … recovered—The Hebrew is literally, "lengthening out … gone up"; hence, the long bandage applied to bind up a wound. So the Arabic also [Gesenius].