Jeremias 8

ARC · Chapter 8/52

1N'aquelle tempo, diz o Senhor, tirarão os ossos dos reis de Judah, e os ossos dos seus principes, e os ossos dos sacerdotes, e os ossos dos prophetas, e os ossos dos habitantes de Jerusalem para fóra das suas sepulturas;

2E expôl-os-hão ao sol, e á lua, e a todo o exercito do céu, a quem tinham amado, e a quem tinham servido, e após quem tinham ido, e a quem tinham buscado e diante de quem se tinham prostrado: não serão recolhidos nem sepultados; serão por esterco sobre a face da terra.

3E escolher-se-ha antes a morte do que a vida de todo o resto dos que restarem d'esta raça maligna, em todos os logares dos que restam, onde os lancei, diz o Senhor dos Exercitos.

4Dize-lhes mais: Assim diz o Senhor: Porventura cairão e não se tornarão a levantar? desviar-se-hão, e não voltarão?

5Porque pois se desvia este povo de Jerusalem com uma apostasia tão continua? retem o engano, não quer voltar.

6Bem escutei e ouvi; não fallam o que é recto, ninguem ha que se arrependa da sua maldade, dizendo: Que fiz eu? Cada um se volta para a sua carreira, como um cavallo que arremette com impeto na batalha.

7Até a cegonha no céu conhece os seus tempos determinados; e a rola, e o grou e a andorinha attentam para o tempo da sua vida; mas o meu povo não conhece o juizo do Senhor.

8Como pois dizeis: Nós somos sabios, e a lei do Senhor está comnosco? eis que devéras em vão trabalha a falsa penna dos escribas.

9Os sabios foram envergonhados, foram espantados e presos: eis que rejeitaram a palavra do Senhor; que sabedoria pois teriam?

10Portanto darei suas mulheres a outros, e as suas herdades a quem as possua; porque desde o menor até ao maior cada um d'elles se dá á avareza: desde o propheta até ao sacerdote, cada um d'elles usa de falsidade.

11E curam a quebradura da filha de meu povo levianamente, dizendo: Paz, paz; e não ha paz.

12Porventura envergonham-se de fazerem abominação? antes de maneira nenhuma se envergonham, nem sabem que coisa é envergonhar-se; portanto cairão entre os que caem e tropeçarão no tempo da sua visitação, diz o Senhor.

13Certamente os apanharei, diz o Senhor: já não ha uvas na vide, nem figos na figueira, e até a folha caiu; e o que lhes dei passará d'elles.

14Porque nos assentamos aqui? juntae-vos e entremos nas cidades fortes, e ali nos calemos; pois já o Senhor nosso Deus nos fez calar e nos deu a beber agua de fel; porquanto peccámos contra o Senhor.

15Espera-se a paz, mas não ha bem: o tempo da cura, e eis o terror.

16Já desde Dan se ouve o ronco dos seus cavallos: toda a terra está tremendo á voz dos rinchos dos seus fortes; e veem, e devoram a terra, e a abundancia n'ella, a cidade e os que habitam n'ella.

17Porque eis que envio entre vós serpentes e basiliscos, contra os quaes não ha encantamento, e vos morderão, diz o Senhor.

18O meu refrigerio está em tristeza: o meu coração desfallece em mim.

19Eis que a voz do clamor da filha do meu povo já se ouve da terra mui remota; porventura não está o Senhor em Sião? ou não está o seu rei n'ella? porque me provocaram á ira com as suas imagens de esculptura, com as vaidades dos alheios.

20Já se passou a sega, já se acabou o verão, e nós não estamos salvos.

21Já estou quebrantado pela quebradura da filha do meu povo: já ando de preto: o espanto se apoderou de mim.

22Porventura não ha unguento em Gilead? ou não ha lá medico? porque pois não teve logar a cura da filha do meu povo?

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah laments that even migratory birds know the right time to act, but God's people do not recognize the time of judgment. The chapter ends with the prophet deeply grieved over the suffering to come.

Explanation

The comparison between migratory animals, which follow their natural instinct with precision, and the people, who ignore God's clear warnings, is a sharp criticism: even nature 'obeys' more than human beings do. The question 'is there no balm in Gilead?' became a classic expression (used even in hymns and later literature) symbolizing the search for healing amid deep pain — Gilead was a region famous for producing medicinal resins. Jeremiah's personal grief here, weeping alongside the people even while announcing judgment, shows that rebuking in love also hurts the one who rebukes.

Fun facts

  • Gilead, east of the Jordan River, was indeed known in the ancient world for its medicinal balm, a valued export product (also mentioned in Genesis 37:25).
  • The phrase 'is there no balm in Gilead?' later inspired the African-American spiritual 'There Is a Balm in Gilead,' one of the best-known hymns in the Christian tradition.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 8:1Announces an extreme desecration: the invaders will even dig up the bones of kings, religious leaders, and common people - not even the dead will escape the humiliation of the conquest.
  2. Jeremias 8:2Ironically, the bones will be left exposed to the very stars the people worshiped instead of God, sun, moon, and stars, called the ‘host of heaven’ - scattered on the ground like fertilizer.
  3. Jeremias 8:3The situation of the survivors scattered in exile will be so harsh that they will prefer to be dead rather than go on living under those conditions.
  4. Jeremias 8:4An obvious question about normal behavior: whoever falls gets up, whoever strays from the path turns back. The contrast comes in the next verse: the people do not even follow this basic logic.
  5. Jeremias 8:5Unlike the normal behavior described above, the people stray and do not turn back - they stubbornly persist in their error, with no real intention of correcting course.
  6. Jeremias 8:6No one stops to reflect on their own mistakes - everyone keeps chasing their own interests, like a war horse charging uncontrollably into battle.
  7. Jeremias 8:7Even migratory birds like the stork know the right time to come and go. An ironic contrast: the animals follow their instincts correctly, but the chosen people fail to recognize the moment to turn back to God.
  8. Jeremias 8:8The false pen of the scribes is a criticism of those who copied and interpreted the law professionally, but twisted its meaning to please whoever was paying. It is an accusation of institutionalized religious corruption, not just personal error.
  9. Jeremias 8:9Those who considered themselves wise will discover their wisdom is worthless, because they rejected the real source of wisdom: the word of God.
  10. Jeremias 8:10Repeats almost the same accusation as chapter 6: corruption reaches every level, from prophet to priest, and so the punishment will include losing even families and lands to the invaders.
  11. Jeremias 8:11Repeats the book's most striking phrase, already used in 6:14: the religious leaders treated the real problem with empty talk of peace, hiding the seriousness of the situation instead of facing it.
  12. Jeremias 8:12Repeats the accusation of 6:15: the people lost the ability to feel shame over their own mistakes, and so they will stumble without even noticing when the judgment arrives.
  13. Jeremias 8:13Uses the image of a harvest that failed completely, no fruit, no leaves, to describe how God will take back everything He had given the people.
  14. Jeremias 8:14It is the voice of the panicked people, deciding to take refuge in the fortified cities and acknowledging, even if too late, that their suffering came as a consequence of their own sin against God.
  15. Jeremias 8:15The disillusioned people's speech continues: they had expected peace and healing, but what truly arrived was terror - the opposite of what the false prophets had promised.
  16. Jeremias 8:16Dan lay at the far north of Israel: the noise of the enemy cavalry can already be heard coming from there, a sign that the invasion is advancing and about to devour everything in its path.
  17. Jeremias 8:17Compares the enemy army to venomous serpents against which no charming, a common practice at the time for neutralizing snake venom, will work - there is no way to protect oneself.
  18. Jeremias 8:18Here the voice shifts to Jeremiah, expressing his own personal grief in the face of the tragedy he is prophesying - even trying to comfort himself, he only finds more sorrow.
  19. Jeremias 8:19The people, already in distant exile, will desperately ask whether God is still in Zion - but God's answer reminds them that it was they themselves who provoked Him with carved idols.
  20. Jeremias 8:20An expression of the people's despair: the harvest seasons have passed, the opportunities for salvation have run out, and still there is no relief.
  21. Jeremias 8:21Jeremiah goes back to speaking in the first person, showing genuine grief over his own people's suffering - he is not a cold messenger, he suffers along with those who are about to be punished.
  22. Jeremias 8:22Gilead, a region east of the Jordan, was famous for producing a balm used as medicine and perfume - hence Jeremiah's ironic question: a cure exists somewhere, so why does the people remain sick? The phrase balm in Gilead became a classic way of describing a remedy that exists but goes unused.

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