Jeremiah 8:14

Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction

8:14 The people say,¹

“Why are we just sitting here?

Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.²

Let us at least die there fighting,³

since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.

He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment⁴

because we have sinned against him.⁵

Jeremiah 26:16

26:16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,⁶ “This man should not be condemned to die.⁷ For he has spoken to us under the authority of the Lord our God.”⁸

¹tn The words “The people say” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift of speakers between vv. 4-13 and vv. 14-16. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

²tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”

³tn Heb “Let us die there.” The words “at least” and “fighting” are intended to bring out the contrast of passive surrender to death in the open country and active resistance to the death implicit in the context.

⁴tn The words “of judgment” are not in the text but are intended to show that “poison water” is not literal but figurative of judgment at the hands of God through the agency of the enemy mentioned in v. 16.

⁵tn Heb “against the Lord.” The switch is for the sake of smoothness in English.

⁶tn Heb “Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets…”

⁷sn Contrast v. 11.

⁸tn Heb “For in the name of the Lord our God he has spoken to us.” The emphasis is on “in the name of…”

sn The priests and false prophets claimed that they were speaking in the Lord’s name (i.e., as his representatives and with his authority [see 1 Sam 25:9; 1 Kgs 21:8 and cf. the study note on Jer 23:27]) and felt that Jeremiah’s claims to be doing so were false (see v. 9). Jeremiah (and the Lord) charged that the opposite was the case (cf. 14:14-15; 23:21). The officials and the people, at least at this time, accepted his claims that the Lord had sent him (vv. 12, 15).