Jeremiah 8:4
in Jeremiah 8So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?
KJV
Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
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This verse in Jeremiah 8
Commentary
3 notes on this verse(Verse 4.) And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Shall the one who falls not rise up again? And the one who turns away not return? After so many evils, it provokes those who were able to remain to repentance. Before the things that were threatened come, it exhorts to conversion, and gives place to repentance.
This site's exposition
Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
on Jeremiah 8:4-7
Shall they fall, and not arise, shall he turn away, and not return, describes the ordinary law of gravity and repentance that Judah alone seems to have suspended, a perpetual backsliding that holds fast deceit and refuses to return. The stork, turtle, crane and swallow keep their appointed migrations by instinct while my people know not the judgment of the Lord, an argument from creation's obedience against the one creature made to know better, which the older writers read as the sharpest of the book's nature comparisons. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done, pictures a nation that has stopped even asking the question.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Moreover thou shalt say - Dr. Blayney very properly observes, “In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to; the transition being quick and sudden, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people’s incorrigibility; he charges their wise ones with folly, and threatens them with grievous calamities, Jer 8:4-
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֲיִפְּל֖וּ | hayipelu | ¿ do people fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָק֑וּמוּ | yakumu | do they stand up? | H6965 → | 628 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָשׁ֖וּב | yashuv | does anyone turn away | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשֽׁוּב׃ | yashuv | does he return? | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֗םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֲיִפְּל֖וּ¿ do people fall
hayipeluH5307 →435 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָק֑וּמוּdo they stand up?
yakumuH6965 →628 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָשׁ֖וּבdoes anyone turn away
yashuvH7725 →1056 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָשֽׁוּב׃does he return?
yashuvH7725 →1056 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
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- James 4:8–10
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Ezekiel 18:21–23
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Proverbs 28:13
Through
Proverbs 24:16For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- Psalms 37:24
Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.
- Micah 7:8–10
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Job 5:19
He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
- Psalms 34:19
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah and Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah.