Jeremiah 8:14
in Jeremiah 8Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.
KJV
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhy do we sit still?.... In the country, where were barrenness and want of provisions; in the villages and unwalled towns, where they were exposed to the spoils and ravages of the enemy. These words, with what follow, are the words of the prophet, in the language of the Israelites, as Kimchi observes.
This site's exposition
There will be no grapes on the vine
on Jeremiah 8:13-14
The LORD pictures judgment as a failed harvest, “no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither”. The people answer with a call to flee to the fortified cities. The crowd supplies the cause itself, “because we have sinned against the LORD”.
This site's exposition
Why are we just sitting here
Gill, following Kimchi, hears the prophet speaking here in the people's voice. Barnes notes that perish renders a word meaning to be silenced, and that the poisoned water may be drawn from a plant like nightshade. The crowd now admits its sin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 14, 15.) Why are we sitting? Come together, and let us enter the fortified city or cities, and let us remain silent there or be cast out there, for our Lord has made us silent and has given us the drink of gall water. For we have sinned against the Lord, we have waited for peace, and it was not good: a time of healing, and behold, fear.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Because we have sinned against the Lord, therefore we are brought to the plunge." This may be taken as the language, (1.) Of their indignation. They seem to quarrel with God as if he had dealt hardly with them in putting them to silence, not permitting them to speak for themselves, and then telling them that it was because they had sinned against him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The people rouse one another to exertion. “Why,” they ask, “do we remain here to be overwhelmed?” They are ready now to follow the command given (see the marginal reference), but with the conviction that all hope is over. Let us be silent there - Rather, let us perish there, literally “be put to silence.” Water of gall - i. e., poison. The word rendered “gall” was probably the belladonna, or night-shade, to the “berries” of which the grapes of Israel were compared.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will utterly consume them This is an expression of destruction. Comp. (Zeph.:2) “I will utterly consume (אסף אסף) everything from upon the face of the earth.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | concerning | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מָה֙ | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֲנַ֣חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | [are] we | H587 → | 120 times |
| יֹֽשְׁבִ֔ים | yoshevim | sitting | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הֵֽאָסְפ֗וּ | heasefu | gather yourselves | H622 → | 200 times |
| וְנָב֛וֹא | venavo' | so we may go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עָרֵ֥י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַמִּבְצָ֖ר | hamivtzar | <the> fortification | H4013 → | 37 times |
| וְנִדְּמָה־ | venidemah- | so we may perish | H1826 → | 30 times |
| שָּׁ֑ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֤ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הֲדִמָּ֙נוּ֙ | hadimanu | he has silenced us | H1826 → | 30 times |
| וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣נוּ | vaiyashkenu | and he has given to drink us | H8248 → | 61 times |
| מֵי־ | mei- | water of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| רֹ֔אשׁ | rosh | poison | H7219 → | 12 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חָטָ֖אנוּ | chatanu | we have sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| לַיהוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
עַל־concerning
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מָה֙what?
mahH4100 →752 times
אֲנַ֣חְנוּ[are] we
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
יֹֽשְׁבִ֔יםsitting
yoshevimH3427 →1079 times
הֵֽאָסְפ֗וּgather yourselves
heasefuH622 →200 times
וְנָב֛וֹאso we may go
venavo'H935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
הַמִּבְצָ֖ר<the> fortification
hamivtzarH4013 →37 times
וְנִדְּמָה־so we may perish
venidemah-H1826 →30 times
שָּׁ֑םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֤ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
הֲדִמָּ֙נוּ֙he has silenced us
hadimanuH1826 →30 times
וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣נוּand he has given to drink us
vaiyashkenuH8248 →61 times
מֵי־water of
mei-H4325 →581 times
רֹ֔אשׁpoison
roshH7219 →12 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
חָטָ֖אנוּwe have sinned
chatanuH2398 →238 times
לַיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 69:21They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
it leads to
- Matthew 27:34
they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 23:36
The soldiers also mocked Him and came up to offer Him sour wine.
- Mark 15:23
There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
- Matthew 27:48
One of them quickly ran and brought a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus to drink.
- Mark 15:36
And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes…
- Matthew 27:34
Through
Lamentations 3:19Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:15
He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 3:5
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 3:15
Through
Jeremiah 23:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:15
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- Jeremiah 9:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.