Jeremiah 8:9

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 8:9

The wise men are ashamed ,.... Of the wisdom of which they boasted, when it would appear to be folly, and unprofitable to them: they are dismayed and taken ; frightened at the calamities coming upon them, and taken as in a snare, as the wise sometimes are in their own craftiness, Job 5:13 . Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord ; sent by the prophets, which urged obedience to the law, and is the best explanation of it; but this they despised, and refused it: and what... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 8:9

Verse 9 He says now that the wise were ashamed, and astonished, and ensnared By which words he means, that the Jews gained nothing by their craftiness, while they arrogated to themselves wisdom, and under this pretense rejected all admonitions, and sought to be spared. “This wisdom, “he says, “avails you nothing, for God, as it is said in another place, will take you unawares.” (Isaiah 29:14; 1 Corinthians 1:19.) Ashamed, then, he says, are they; not that they were then ashamed; for be said... 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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:8-9

Untrustworthy literature. I. LITERATURE MAY HAVE MANY ATTRACTIONS AND YET BE UNTRUSTWORTHY . 1. Authority . They were official prophets and teachers whom Jeremiah opposed. Errors gain power when they are pronounced ex cathedra . The belief in papal infallibility is but one instance of a common human weakness. 2. Pretentiousness . The self-styled wise men of Jeremiah's age were confident and boastful. The world is too ready to take a man at his own... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:8-12

Peace, peace; when there is no peace. The present condition of the country, the evils that lowered upon the horizon,—these alike bore their message even to the natural conscience. If Israel was in the right way, and really understood the will of the Lord to do it, why these scandals, miseries, and impending evils? Again, the better to reach the perception of those who were thus unable to draw the inference for themselves, the condemnation was to be in kind—a sort of elementary lesson in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:8-12

The exposure of pseudo-wisdom. I. THE CLAIM MADE . Those on whom Jeremiah presses his appeals for a change of purpose reply, if not by plain words, at all events by equally plain actions, that they are so wise in their own conceits as to need no guidance from an outsider. A profound belief in one's own insight and skill may of course be justified by results; such a belief has been a very important factor in many great achievements. But it is also to be noticed that to have this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 8:9

The wise men are ashamed . It is the perfect of prophetic certitude, equivalent to "the wise men shall certainly be ashamed." And why? Evidently because they have not foreseen the calamities impending ever their nation. They have preached, "Peace, peace; when there was no peace" ( Jeremiah 8:11 ); and hence they find themselves "taken" in the grip of a relentless power from which there is no escape. What wisdom ; literally, wisdom of what? i . e . in respect of what? read more

Albert Barnes

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

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 8:9

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

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