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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 8

Jeremiah 8: bones before the sun, the failed harvest and the balm in Gilead

General context

The Lord says the bones of Judah's kings, princes, priests, prophets and inhabitants will be brought out of their graves and spread before the sun, moon and host of heaven that they served, never gathered or buried. Those who remain will choose death rather than life. The Lord asks whether people fall and do not rise, and why Jerusalem is slidden back by a perpetual backsliding. He heard no one repent; each rushed to his course like a horse into battle. The stork and swallow know their times, but his people do not know his judgment. They claim wisdom and the law, but the pen of the scribes is in vain. Their wives and fields will go to others, because all are covetous, prophet and priest deal falsely, they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying Peace, peace, when there is no peace, and they could not blush. The Lord will consume them: no grapes, no figs, fading leaf. A plural voice asks why they sit still and calls for silence in the defenced cities, because the Lord has given water of gall for their sin; they looked for peace and found trouble. The snorting of horses is heard from Dan as the enemy devours the city. The Lord will send serpents that cannot be charmed. A speaker whose heart is faint hears the cry of the daughter of his people because of them that dwell in a far country, asking whether the Lord is in Zion, and the Lord asks why they provoked him with graven images. The harvest is past, the summer ended, and they are not saved. The speaker is hurt for the hurt of his people and asks whether there is no balm in Gilead and no physician.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 8:1, Jeremiah 8:2, Jeremiah 8:3, Jeremiah 8:4, Jeremiah 8:5, Jeremiah 8:6, Jeremiah 8:7, Jeremiah 8:8, Jeremiah 8:9, Jeremiah 8:10, Jeremiah 8:11, Jeremiah 8:12, Jeremiah 8:13, Jeremiah 8:14, Jeremiah 8:15, Jeremiah 8:16, Jeremiah 8:17, Jeremiah 8:18, Jeremiah 8:19, Jeremiah 8:20, Jeremiah 8:21, Jeremiah 8:22

Jeremiah 8 (KJV)

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?

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Verse 1 continues from the end of chapter 7 with "At that time," tying the exhumed bones to the valley of slaughter. The bones belong to five named groups, the kings of Judah, princes, priests, prophets and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the objects of their worship are the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven. Verse 3 speaks of a residue driven to "all the places whither I have driven them," without naming those places. The text says the people claim "We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us," and it mentions "the pen of the scribes" as made in vain; the chapter does not say which law or which scribes. Verses 10 through 12 repeat 6:13 through 15 almost word for word, the charge of covetousness, false healing and inability to blush. The voices shift without labels. Verses 14 and 15 are a plural "we" who have sinned and looked for peace. Verse 16 reports horses heard from Dan, as 4:15 reported a voice from Dan. Verses 18 through 22 are in the first person, hurt for the daughter of my people, and inside them verse 19 sets the people's question, "Is not the Lord in Zion?" beside the Lord's own, "Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images?" The text does not say who speaks the closing questions about Gilead's balm and physician; it presents them as a lament that receives no answer here. Gilead is named only in that question.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 8:1, Jeremiah 8:2, Jeremiah 8:3, Jeremiah 8:8, Jeremiah 8:10, Jeremiah 8:11, Jeremiah 8:12, Jeremiah 8:14, Jeremiah 8:16, Jeremiah 8:18, Jeremiah 8:19, Jeremiah 8:21, Jeremiah 8:22

Literary context

The chapter moves from the grave to the field to the sickbed. It opens with bones exposed to the very lights they worshipped, a reversal in which the objects of devotion look down on the unburied dead. The Lord's questions in verses 4 and 5 set nature's expected pattern, falling and rising, turning and returning, against a backsliding that does not turn back, and the birds of verse 7 press the same contrast: creatures keep their appointed times, the people do not know the Lord's judgment. The repeated block from chapter 6, false healing and the words Peace, peace, appears again and is answered at once by a harvest with no grapes and no figs. The plural cry of verses 14 and 15, "We looked for peace, but no good came," and the line "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" turn the failed harvest into a figure for a hope that has run out of time. The closing image of balm and physician in Gilead leaves the hurt of the daughter of my people as a wound without a healer, in contrast to the slight healing of verse 11. The last word of the chapter is a question, not a verdict.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 8:1, Jeremiah 8:2, Jeremiah 8:4, Jeremiah 8:5, Jeremiah 8:7, Jeremiah 8:11, Jeremiah 8:13, Jeremiah 8:15, Jeremiah 8:20, Jeremiah 8:21, Jeremiah 8:22

Key moments

  1. Bones before the sun (Jeremiah 8:2). The bones of kings, priests and people are spread before the host of heaven they served.
  2. No man repented (Jeremiah 8:6). The Lord listens and hears no one ask, What have I done?
  3. The stork knows her times (Jeremiah 8:7). Birds keep their appointed seasons, but the people do not know the Lord's judgment.
  4. The pen of the scribes in vain (Jeremiah 8:8). The claim to wisdom and possession of the law is rejected.
  5. No grapes on the vine (Jeremiah 8:13). The Lord will consume them and the things he gave will pass away.
  6. The summer is ended (Jeremiah 8:20). A voice says the harvest is past and they are not saved.
  7. Is there no balm in Gilead? (Jeremiah 8:22). The speaker asks why the daughter of his people is not healed.

For reflection

The people ask, Is not the Lord in Zion? and the chapter answers with another question about why they provoked him. What does the closing question about balm in Gilead leave unresolved for a reader who wants a healer to arrive?

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