Jeremiah 8:8

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 8:8

How do ye say, we are wise ,.... Which they were continually boasting of, though they were ignorant of the judgment of the Lord, and were more stupid than the stork, turtle, crane, and swallow: and the law of the Lord is with us ? this was the foundation of their boast, because the law was given to them, and not to the nations of the world, which knew not God, and therefore they must be a wise and understanding people; and this law continued with them, they had it in their synagogues,... read more

Adam Clarke

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

The pen of the scribes is in vain - The deceitful pen of the scribes. They have written falsely, though they had the truth before them. It is too bold an assertion to say that "the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;" they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such. read more

John Calvin

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

Verse 8 Interpreters think that the Prophet here directs his words to the priests, and the false prophets, and the other chiefs of the people, because they proudly arrogated to themselves the knowledge of the law: but what is said may be no less extended to the whole people; for, as we shall presently see, all of them, from the least to the greatest, no doubt boasted that they were sufficiently wise. I hence think that the Prophet here inveighs against the whole body of the people; for all,... 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

How do ye say, We are wise ? Jeremiah is evidently addressing the priests and the prophets, whom he so constantly described as among the chief causes of Judah's ruin (comp. verse 10; Jeremiah 2:8 , Jeremiah 2:26 ; Jeremiah 4:9 ; Jeremiah 5:31 ), and who, in Isaiah's day, regarded it as an unwarrantable assumption on the part of that prophet to pretend to instruct them in their duty ( Isaiah 28:9 ). The law of the Lord is with us . "With us;" i . e . in our hands and mouths.... 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

Albert Barnes

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

The law of the Lord - The “Torah,” or written law, the possession of which made the priests and prophets so boastfully exclaim, “We are wise.”Lo, certainly ... - Rather, Verily, lo! the lying pen “of the scribes” hath made it - the Law - into a lie. The mention of “scribes” in this place is a crucial point in the argument whether or not the Pentateuch or Torah is the old law-book of the Jews, or a fabrication which gradually grew up, but was not received as authoritative until after the return... read more

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