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Jeremiah 8

KJV · Chapter 8/52

1At 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:

2And 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.

3And 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.

4Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

5Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6I 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.

7Yea, 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.

8How 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.

9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?

10Therefore 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.

11For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

12Were 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.

13I 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.

14Why 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.

15We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

16The 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.

17For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

18When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.

19Behold 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?

20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

21For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

📖 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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. Jeremiah 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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