These verses are almost identical with Jeremiah 6:12-15.Jeremiah 8:10To them that shall inherit them - Rather, “to those that shall take possession of them, i. e., “to conquerors who shall take them by force. read more
Or, “I will gather and sweep them away, saith Jehovah: there are no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is dry: therefore will I appoint those that shall pass over them.” Judah is a vine which bears no fruit: a tree which makes even no profession of life, for her leaf is dry. Many explain the last words of an army sweeping over the land like a flood. read more
Jeremiah 8:4-6. Moreover, thou shalt say, &c. The prophet is here directed to set before the Jews the unreasonableness and folly of their impenitence, which was the thing that brought this ruin upon them. And he represents them as the most stupid and senseless people in the world, that would not be made wise by any of the methods which infinite wisdom took to bring them to a right mind. Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall and not arise? If men happen to make a false step and fall to... read more
Jeremiah 8:7. Yea, the stork knoweth her appointed times Of going and returning; the turtle and the crane, &c., the time of their coming The proper season for changing their climate. Taught by natural instinct, they change their quarters as the temper of the air alters, removing to a warmer climate when the winter approaches, and returning when the spring comes on; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord Understand neither their duty nor their happiness; they apprehend not... read more
Jeremiah 8:8. How do ye say, We are wise? As if he had said, These things considered, where is your wisdom? you see the very fowls of the air are not so stupid as you are. He speaks not merely to the princes and priests, but to the whole body of the people. And the law of the Lord is with us They were wont to boast much of the law, as well as of the temple, Jeremiah 18:18; Romans 2:17-23. Lo, certainly in vain made he it For any use you make of it, you might as well have been without it.... read more
Jeremiah 8:9. The wise men are ashamed That is, they have reason to be so, who have not made a better use of their wisdom, and reduced their knowledge to practice. They are confounded and taken All their wisdom has not served to keep them from those courses that will issue in their ruin. They shall be taken in the same snares that others of their neighbours, who have not pretended to so much wisdom, are taken in, and filled with the same confusion. Those that have more knowledge than... read more
Jeremiah 8:10-12. Therefore will I give their wives unto others See on Jeremiah 6:12; and their fields to them, that shall inherit, or possess, them For the word inherit is sometimes taken for any sort of possession. See Psalms 32:8. So Israel is called the Lord’s inheritance, chap. Jeremiah 10:16, and elsewhere. The expression, however, implies that their fields should not only be taken possession of by the victorious Chaldeans, should be ravaged and stripped of their crops and... read more
Jeremiah 8:13. There shall be no grapes on the vine A figurative expression, to signify that there should be none of them left. And the leaf shall fade, &c. As both leaves and fruit wither and fade when a tree is blasted or killed, so will I utterly deprive this people of all the blessings I had given them, of those which are for use, as well as those which are for ornament. read more
Sin and its punishment (8:4-17)It is natural for a person who falls to pick himself up again, but the people of Jerusalem who have fallen spiritually make no attempt to return to God (4-6). It is natural for a bird to obey the laws of instinct and know the time to migrate, but the people of Jerusalem do not know the laws of God or when to return to him (7).The teachers of the law, the wisdom teachers, the priests and the prophets have all led the people astray. Instead of denouncing wrongdoing,... read more
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Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 8:9
They have rejected the word of the Lord - It became in the hands of the Soferim or scribes a mere code of ceremonial observance. Compare Mark 7:13. read more