Jeremiah 8:7
in Jeremiah 8Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the law of Jehovah.
KJV
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 7) The kite in the sky knows its time: the turtledove and the swallow and the stork keep the time of their arrival. But my people do not know the judgment of the Lord. Regarding the kite, which Symmachus interpreted, the Septuagint and Theodotion used the Hebrew word 'Asida' (). Aquila translated it as 'herodium'. Again, for the swallow, Symmachus translated it as 'cicada', which is called 'Sis' in Hebrew (). But for the stork that we have translated, both Aquila and Symmachus translated it as it is written in Hebrew, 'Agur' ().
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is an instance of their sottishness that, though they are God's people, and therefore should readily understand his mind upon every intimation of it, yet they know not the judgment of the Lord; they apprehend not the meaning either of a mercy or an affliction, not how to accommodate themselves to either, nor to answer God's intention in either.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jeremiah appeals to the obedience which migratory birds render to the law of their natures. The “stork” arrives in Palestine about March 21, and after a six weeks’ halt departs for the north of Europe. It takes its flight by day, at a vast height in the air (“in the heaven”). The appearance of the “turtle-dove” is one of the pleasant signs of the approach of spring. The crane and the swallow - Rather, “the swift and the crane.”
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| חֲסִידָ֣ה | chasidah | a stork | H2624 → | |
| בַשָּׁמַ֗יִם | vashamayim | in the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| יָֽדְעָה֙ | yadeah | it knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מֽוֹעֲדֶ֔יהָ | moadeiha | appointed times its | H4150 → | |
| וְתֹ֤ר | vetor | and a turtle-dove | H8449 → | |
| וְסִיס֙ | vesus | and a swift | H5483 → | 140 times |
| וְעָג֔וּר | veagur | and a crane | H5693 → | |
| שָׁמְר֖וּ | shameru | they keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵ֣ת | ʾet | [the] time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| בֹּאָ֑נָה | boanah | coming they | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְעַמִּ֕י | veami | and people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָֽדְע֔וּ | yadeu | they know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפַּ֥ט | mishpat | [the] ordinance of | H4941 → | 422 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
חֲסִידָ֣הa stork
chasidahH2624 →
בַשָּׁמַ֗יִםin the heavens
vashamayimH8064 →421 times
יָֽדְעָה֙it knows
yadeahH3045 →945 times
מֽוֹעֲדֶ֔יהָappointed times its
moadeihaH4150 →
וְתֹ֤רand a turtle-dove
vetorH8449 →
וְסִיס֙and a swift
vesusH5483 →140 times
וְעָג֔וּרand a crane
veagurH5693 →
שָׁמְר֖וּthey keep
shameruH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֵ֣ת[the] time of
ʾetH6256 →296 times
בֹּאָ֑נָהcoming they
boanahH935 →2568 times
וְעַמִּ֕יand people my
veamiH5971 →1873 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָֽדְע֔וּthey know
yadeuH3045 →945 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפַּ֥ט[the] ordinance of
mishpatH4941 →422 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
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
Isaiah 1:3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:22
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Isaiah 5:12
At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Matthew 13:13–15
This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Psalms 94:8
Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?
- Jeremiah 4:22
Through
Isaiah 5:12At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
it leads to
- Psalms 28:5
Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them.
- Job 34:27
because they turned aside from Him and had no regard for any of His ways.
- Job 21:11–14
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
- Psalms 28:5
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.