Discovery BoxJeremiah 8:14--9:2 
Context“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 judgment 4
because we have sinned against him. 5
8:15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.
We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror. 6
8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is already being heard in the city of Dan.
The sound of the neighing of their stallions 7
causes the whole land to tremble with fear.
They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!
They are coming to destroy 8 the cities and everyone who lives in them!”
“Yes indeed, 10 I am sending an enemy against you
that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. 11
And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.” 12
“There is no cure 14 for my grief!
I am sick at heart!
8:19 I hear my dear people 15 crying out 16
throughout the length and breadth of the land. 17
They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her divine King 18 no longer there?’”
The Lord answers, 19
“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?” 20
8:20 “They cry, 21 ‘Harvest time has come and gone, and the summer is over, 22
and still we have not been delivered.’
8:21 My heart is crushed because my dear people 23 are being crushed. 24
I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. 25
8:22 There is still medicinal ointment 26 available in Gilead!
There is still a physician there! 27
Why then have my dear people 28
not been restored to health? 29
9:1 (8:23) 30 I wish that my head were a well full of water 31
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people 32 who have been killed.
9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 33
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 34 of people that has been disloyal to him. 35
1 tn 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.
2 tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”
3 tn 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.
4 tn 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.
5 tn Heb “against the
6 tn Heb “[We hoped] for a time of healing but behold terror.”
7 tn Heb “his stallions.”
8 tn The words “They are coming to destroy” are not in the text. They are inserted to break up a long sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.
9 tn These words which are at the end of the Hebrew verse are brought forward to show at the outset the shift in speaker.
10 tn Heb “Indeed [or For] behold!” The translation is intended to convey some of the connection that is suggested by the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the verse.
11 tn Heb “I am sending against you snakes, poisonous ones which cannot be charmed.” In the light of the context literal snakes are scarcely meant. So the metaphor is turned into a simile to prevent possible confusion. For a similar metaphorical use of animals for enemies see 5:6.
12 tn Heb “they will bite you.” There does not appear to be any way to avoid the possible confusion that literal snakes are meant here except to paraphrase. Possibly one could say “And they will attack you and ‘bite’ you,” but the enclosing of the word “bite” in quotations might lead to even further confusion.
13 tn The words, “Then I said” are not in the text but there is a general consensus that the words of vv. 18-19a are the words of Jeremiah. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The translation is based on the redivision and repointing of a word that occurs only here in the MT and whose pattern of formation is unparalleled in the Hebrew Bible. The MT reads מַבְלִיגִיתִי (mavligiti) which BDB provisionally derives from a verb root meaning “to gleam” or “to shine.” However, BDB notes that the text is dubious (cf. BDB 114 s.v. מַבְלִיגִית). The text is commonly emended to מִבְּלִי גְּהֹת (mibbÿli gÿhot) which is a Qal infinitive from a verb meaning “to heal” preceded by a compound negative “for lack of, to be at a loss for” (cf., e.g., HALOT 514 s.v. מַבְלִיגִית and 174 s.v. גּהה). This reading is supported by the Greek text which has an adjective meaning “incurable,” which is, however, connected with the preceding verse, i.e., “they will bite you incurably.”
15 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
16 tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”
17 tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.
18 tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.
19 tn The words, “The
20 sn The people’s cry and the
21 tn The words “They say” are not in the text; they are supplied in the translation to make clear that the lament of the people begun in v. 19b is continued here after the interruption of the
22 tn Heb “Harvest time has passed, the summer is over.”
sn This appears to be a proverbial statement for “time marches on.” The people appear to be expressing their frustration that the
23 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
24 tn Heb “Because of the crushing of the daughter of my people I am crushed.”
25 tn Heb “I go about in black [i.e., mourning clothes]. Dismay has seized me.”
26 tn Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”
sn This medicinal ointment (Heb “balm”) consisted of the gum or resin from a tree that grows in Egypt and Palestine and was thought to have medicinal value (see also Jer 46:11).
27 tn Heb “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” In this context the questions are rhetorical and expect a positive answer, which is made explicit in the translation.
sn The prophet means by this metaphor that there are still means available for healing the spiritual ills of his people, mainly repentance, obedience to the law, and sole allegiance to God, and still people available who will apply this medicine to them, namely prophets like himself.
28 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
29 tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”
sn Jeremiah is lamenting that though there is a remedy available for the recovery of his people they have not availed themselves of it.
30 sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
31 tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”
32 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
33 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
34 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
35 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
