Jeremiah 8:17
in Jeremiah 8“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.
KJV
For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verse(Verse 17) Behold, I will send you serpents, rulers (or as the Septuagint translated, deadly ones) with whom there is no enchantment. And they will bite you, says the Lord, incurably, and you will fail with the pain of your heart. Those who come from Dan, whose noise has been heard and who have turned the whole land into a wilderness, are the same ones that the prophetic word indicates under a different figure, calling them deadly serpents or rulers as the Hebrew word Saphphonim ().
This site's exposition
We looked for peace, but no good came
on Jeremiah 8:15-17
We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! answers the false prophets of 6:14 and 8:11 directly, the peace they promised failing to arrive on schedule. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan announces the invasion from the north by its sound before its sight, Dan marking Israel's northernmost point and the direction every threat in the book approaches from. Serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed pictures an enemy immune to the usual remedies, the snake charmer's art itself defeated, which the bench reads as judgment beyond any human counter-measure.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you,.... The Chaldeans, comparable to these noxious and hurtful creatures, because of the mischief they should do unto them. The Targum is, "for, lo, I will raise up against you people that kill as the destroying serpents.'' These were raised up by the Lord, and sent by him, just as he sent fiery serpents among the Israelites in the wilderness, when they sinned against him; there literally, here metaphorically.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will send - Or, am sending. No prophet changes his metaphors so suddenly as Jeremiah. The invading army is now compared to snakes, whom no charming can soothe, and whose bite is fatal. Compare Num 21:5-6. Cockatrices - “Vipers.” See Isa 11:8 note.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I--Jehovah. cockatrices--basilisks (Isa 11:8), that is, enemies whose destructive power no means, by persuasion or otherwise, can counteract. Serpent-charmers in the East entice serpents by music, and by a particular pressure on the neck render them incapable of darting (Ps 58:4, 5).
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| מְשַׁלֵּ֜חַ | meshaleach | [am] about to send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בָּכֶ֗ם | bakhem | among <the> you | ||
| נְחָשִׁים֙ | nechashim | snakes | H5175 → | |
| צִפְעֹנִ֔ים | tzifonim | vipers | H6848 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| לָ֑חַשׁ | lachash | [is] a charm | H3908 → | |
| וְנִשְּׁכ֥וּ | venishekhu | and they will bite | H5391 → | |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
מְשַׁלֵּ֜חַ[am] about to send
meshaleachH7971 →845 times
בָּכֶ֗םamong <the> you
bakhem
נְחָשִׁים֙snakes
nechashimH5175 →
צִפְעֹנִ֔יםvipers
tzifonimH6848 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them
lahem
לָ֑חַשׁ[is] a charm
lachashH3908 →
וְנִשְּׁכ֥וּand they will bite
venishekhuH5391 →
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3068 →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
Numbers 21:6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Amos 9:3–4
Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite…
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
Through
Isaiah 14:29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:6
This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 11:8
The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
- 2 Chronicles 26:6
Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.
- Isaiah 30:6
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:11If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
it leads to
- Psalms 58:4–5
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
- Psalms 58:4–5
Through
Deuteronomy 32:24They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:22
I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
- Leviticus 26:22
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
