4 And thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah, Do they fall, and not rise? Doth he turn back, and not return? 5 Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem Turned back—a perpetual backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, They have refused to turn back. 6 I have given attention, yea, I hearken, They do not speak right, No man hath repented of his wickedness, Saying, What have I done? Every one hath turned to his courses, As a horse is rushing into battle. 7 Even a stork in the heavens hath known her seasons, And turtle, and swallow, and crane, Have watched the time of their coming, And—My people have not known the judgment of Jehovah. 8 How do ye say, We 'are' wise, And the law of Jehovah 'is' with us? Surely, lo, falsely it hath wrought, The false pen of scribes. 9 Ashamed have been the wise, They have been affrighted, and are captured, Lo, against a word of Jehovah they kicked, And the wisdom of what—have they? 10 Therefore, I give their wives to others, Their fields to dispossessors, For from the least even unto the greatest, Every one is gaining dishonest gain, From prophet even unto priest, every one is dealing falsely. 11 And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, Saying, Peace, peace! and there is no peace. 12 They were ashamed when they did abomination! Yea, they are not at all ashamed, And blushing they have not known, Therefore, they do fall among falling ones, In the time of their inspection they stumble, said Jehovah.
13 I utterly consume them, an affirmation of Jehovah, There are no grapes in the vine, Yea, there are no figs in the fig-tree, And the leaf hath faded, And the strength they have passeth from them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 8:4-13
Commentary on Jeremiah 8:4-13
(Read Jeremiah 8:4-13)
What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have done amiss. 3. They would not attend to the ways of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, verse 7. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace, which God affords. Many boast of their religious knowledge, yet, unless taught by the Spirit of God, the instinct of brutes is a more sure guide than their supposed wisdom. 4. They would not attend to the written word. Many enjoy abundance of the means of grace, have Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain. They will soon be ashamed of their devices. The pretenders to wisdom were the priests and the false prophets. They flattered people in sin, and so flattered them into destruction, silencing their fears and complaints with, All is well. Selfish teachers may promise peace when there is no peace; and thus men encourage each other in committing evil; but in the day of visitation they will have no refuge to flee unto.