Jeremiah 8:22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 8:13-22

In these verses we have, I. God threatening the destruction of a sinful people. He has borne long with them, but they are still more and more provoking, and therefore now their ruin is resolved on: I will surely consume them (Jer. 8:13), consuming I will consume them, not only surely, but utterly, consume them, will follow them with one judgment after another, till they are quite consumed; it is a consumption determined, Isa. 10:23. 1. They shall be quite stripped of all their comforts (Jer.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

Is there no balm in Gilead ?.... Which was famous for it; see Genesis 37:25 , or rather turpentine or rosin, a gum which drops from pine trees and the like; since balm or balsam grew on this side Jordan, near Jericho and Engedi, and not beyond Jordan, in the land of Gilead; and rosin is good for healing. Some render it "treacle", but very wrongly, since, as Calvin observes, that is a composition of many things, Is there no physician there ? or surgeon, anyone that heals wounds and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 8:22

Is there no balm in Gilead? - Yes, the most excellent in the world. "Is there no physician there?" Yes, persons well skilled to apply it. "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Because ye have not applied to the physician, nor used the balm. Ye die because ye will not use the remedy. But to apply this metaphor: - The Israelites are represented as a man dying through disease; and a disease for the cure of which the balm of Gilead was well known to be a specific,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 8:22

Verse 22 The Prophet intimates in these words that the slaughter of the people would be so fatal that they would in vain seek remedies; as though he had said, that the disease would be incurable, and altogether deadly. The people, no doubt, ever devised for themselves many kinds of aids, according to what is commonly done; for ungodly men, when any danger appears, look around them on all sides; and when they think that they can be protected by any kind of assistance, or by any of the means they... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:21-22

Why the hurt of Israel is not healed. I. IT IS NOT FOR WANT OF EARNESTLY CALLING ATTENTION TO THE HURT . Jeremiah had wearied and vexed his fellow-countrymen by his persistent warnings. In Verse 21 he insists on how the hurt of Israel had become his hurt. In one sense he was not hurt, for he had kept clear of all idolatrous and unjust ways; he was in a different service and different kind of occupation. But though separated thus, he was also united even as a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

No hope or remedy is left; again a proverbial expression. No balm in Gilead . Gilead appears to have been celebrated in early times for its balsam, which was expected by Ishmaelites to Egypt ( Genesis 37:25 ) and by Jewish merchants to Tyro ( Ezekiel 27:17 ). It was one of the most costly products of Palestine ( Genesis 43:11 ), and was prized for its medicinal properties in cases of wounds (comp. Jeremiah 46:11 ; Jeremiah 51:8 ). Josephus mentions this balsam several times, but... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

Balm in Gilead. I. THE WORLD NEEDS REMEDIES FOR MORAL AND SOCIAL HEALING . Jeremiah regarded the Jews as wounded by the cruel calamities which were to overwhelm them; but beneath the wounds he detected an unhealthy national condition which equally needed healing. Men suffer thus from the external wounds of adversity and from the internal disease of sin. How small a part of mankind can be considered in a thoroughly healthy condition! Men are not only imperfectly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

Physician, heal thyself. Gilead, an outlying district of Palestine, was celebrated for its aromatic balsam, of great virtue for wounds, sores, etc. The natives of the place doubtless became expert in the application of their famous herb. By virtue of its possession, Israel might be said to be the healer of the surrounding nations. Even more so in a spiritual sense it was the physician of men's souls, holding for others and for all time the saving truth of God. But the evils which came upon... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

Christ and the Holy Ghost realities after all. "Is there no balm in Gilead?" etc. One of the commonest taunts of ungodly men—and it has been so in all ages—against the believer in God and in his redeeming grace, has been their apparent utter absence amongst such vast multitudes of people for so many centuries, and this though the conditions were such as needed, and that in most distressing manner, both their presence and their power. And one of the subtlest and saddest temptations to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:22

The balm of Gilead. There were those who treated the crimes and miseries of the nation as a trifling matter; they sought to "heal the hurt slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there was no peace" ( Jeremiah 8:11 ). Not so the prophet. He is keenly alive to the dreadful evils of the time. He takes the sins and sorrows of the people on himself, makes them his own. Tender human sympathy, as well as Divine compassion, breathes in the words, "For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I... read more

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