Jeremiah 8:17-22

8:17 The Lord says, ¹ 

“Yes indeed, ²  I am sending an enemy against you

that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. ³ 

And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.” ⁴ 

8:18 Then I said, ⁵ 

“There is no cure ⁶  for my grief!

I am sick at heart!

8:19 I hear my dear people ⁷  crying out ⁸ 

throughout the length and breadth of the land. ⁹ 

They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?

Is her divine King ¹⁰  no longer there?’”

The Lord answers, ¹¹ 

“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?” ¹² 

8:20 “They cry, ¹³  ‘Harvest time has come and gone, and the summer is over, ¹⁴ 

and still we have not been delivered.’

8:21 My heart is crushed because my dear people ¹⁵  are being crushed. ¹⁶ 

I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. ¹⁷ 

8:22 There is still medicinal ointment ¹⁸  available in Gilead!

There is still a physician there! ¹⁹ 

Why then have my dear people ²⁰ 

not been restored to health? ²¹ 

[8:17]  ¹ tn These words which are at the end of the Hebrew verse are brought forward to show at the outset the shift in speaker.

[8:17]  ² 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.

[8:17]  ³ 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.

[8:17]  ⁴ 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.

[8:18]  ⁵ 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.

[8:18]  ⁶ 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.”

[8:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”

[8:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.

[8:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

[8:19]  ¹¹ tn The words, “The Lord would answer” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. Another option would be to add “And I can just hear the Lord reply.”

[8:19]  ¹² sn The people’s cry and the Lord’s interruption reflect the same argument that was set forth in the preceding chapter. They have misguided confidence that the Lord is with them regardless of their actions and he responds that their actions have provoked him to the point of judging them. See especially 7:4 and 7:30.

[8:20]  ¹³ 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 Lord’s words in v. 19c.

[8:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Harvest time has passed, the summer is over.”

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Because of the crushing of the daughter of my people I am crushed.”

[8:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I go about in black [i.e., mourning clothes]. Dismay has seized me.”

[8:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”

[8:22]  ¹⁹ 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.

[8:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:22]  ²¹ tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”