Jeremiah 8:4-10:25

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4-12

The prophet here is instructed to set before this people the folly of their impenitence, which was it that brought this ruin upon them. They are here represented as the most stupid senseless people in the world, that would not be made wise by all the methods that Infinite Wisdom took to bring them to themselves and their right mind, and so to prevent the ruin that was coming upon them. I. They would not attend to the dictates of reason. They would not act in the affairs of their souls with the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4

Moreover, thou shalt say unto them ,.... The Jews, in Jeremiah's time, in order to leave them inexcusable, though the Lord had before assured that they would not hearken to him, Jeremiah 7:27 , thus saith the Lord, shall they fall, and not rise ? men, when they fall, endeavour to get up again, and generally they do: shall he turn away, and not return ? when a man turns out of the right way into a wrong one, as soon as he is sensible of his mistake, he returns back; this is usually... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 8:4

Moreover thou shalt say - Dr. Blayney very properly observes, "In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to; the transition being quick and sudden, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people's incorrigibility; he charges their wise ones with folly, and threatens them with grievous calamities, Jeremiah 8:4-13 . In the three next verses he seems to apostrophize his countrymen in his own... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 8:4

Verse 4 Though God had reminded his Prophet of the event, yet he still invites the Jews to repentance; not that there was any hope of restoring them to a right mind, (for he had said that they were wholly irreclaimable,) but that their perverseness might be less excusable; and it was also his object to afford some relief to the small number of the godly who still remained; for they had not all fallen away into impiety, though the great body of the people had become corrupt. God then, partly to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4

Moreover thou shalt say , etc.; literally, and thou shalt say . The section is introduced by a formula which connects it with Jeremiah 7:2 , Jeremiah 7:28 . Shall they fall , etc.? rather, Do men fall … doth a man turn away? One of those appeals to common sense in which the prophets delight. Who ever sees a fallen man stay quietly on the ground without attempting to rise? or a man who has wandered out of the path persist in going in the wrong direction? read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4-6

Persistent depravity. I. PERSISTENT DEPRAVITY MUST BE DISTINGUISHED FROM A CASUAL LAPSE INTO SIN . 1. This is marked by a constant habit of sin, a falling without rising again. The best man is often guilty of mistakes, but he soon seeks to recover himself ( Psalms 37:24 ). His habit is upright, the direction he follows on the whole, though now and then he may lose ground for a short time, is right. But the man who is persistently depraved makes the wrong way... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4-7

Apostasy an anomalous and incalculable thing. I. THE ANALOGIES Or COMMON SENSE AND INSTINCT ARE FALSIFIED . ( Jeremiah 8:4-6 .) If a man fall, he will rise again to his feet; if he has made a mistake or gone in a wrong direction, and discovers it, he will turn again, unless he be absolutely bereft of his senses. One might expect similar behavior in spiritual matters. But in the wickedness and defection of Israel it was not so; their apostasy seemed perpetual. The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4-7

The unnatural conduct of Jerusalem. Still more humiliation for the proud, self-satisfied city. The prophet comes with a heavenly light, revealing the very foundations of her glory, and showing how unsubstantial they are, how easily exposed as contradicting truth and the highest propriety. What is aimed at here is to set before man, by the force of contrast, what he ought to be, in the sum of all his faculties made one by a will which acts according to the commandment of God. And so we see—... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:4-11

Backsliding in its worst forms. All departures from God are evil, but some are only temporary, and are quickly followed by repentance, return, and restoration. There are others, however, of a far more serious kind, and we have in these verses a great deal told us concerning them. We are told of some of— I. THEIR CHARACTERISTICS . 1. So contrary to men ' s wonted ways . For when men find that they have brought evil on themselves, they will at once seek to undo such evil ( ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 8:4

The prophet here resumes from Jeremiah 7:28 the main subject of his prophecy. He again invites the Jews to repentance.Shall they fall? - The argument is that when men fall, they do not lie upon the ground, but endeavor to get up again: and when a man loses his way, he does not persist in going on, but turns round, and retraces his steps. Israel then will be only following the dictates of comnon sense in desisting from that which she now knows to be her ruin. read more

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