Jeremiah 8:14

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
still	יֹֽשְׁבִ֔ים yo.she.Vim	H3427	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
assemble	הֵֽאָסְפ֗וּ he.'a.se.Fu	H622	to gather for any purpose · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
enter	וְנָב֛וֹא ve.na.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common plural
defenced	הַמִּבְצָ֖ר ha.miv.Tzar	H4013	a fortification · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
cities	עָרֵ֥י 'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural construct
silent	וְנִדְּמָה ve.ni.de.mah-	H1826	to be dumb · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
LORD	יְהוָ֨ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהֵ֤ינוּ 'e.lo.Hei.nu	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
silence	הֲדִמָּ֙נוּ֙ ha.di.Ma.nu	H1826	to be dumb · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
water	מֵי mei-	H4325	water · noun, common masculine plural construct
gall	רֹ֔אשׁ Rosh	H7219	a poisonous plant · noun, common masculine singular absolute
drink	וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣נוּ vai.yash.Ke.nu	H8248	to quaff · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
sinned	חָטָ֖אנוּ cha.Ta.nu	H2398	properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural
LORD	לַיהוָֽה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gal…
Jeremiah 9:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of…
Psalms 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Jeremiah 35:11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of t…
Lamentations 3:19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
Deuteronomy 29:18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve…
Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
2 Samuel 20:6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue aft…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 8:13–end

In these verses we have, I. God threatening the destruction of a sinful people. He has borne long with them, but they are still more and more provoking, and therefore now their ruin is resolved on: I will surely consume them (Jer 8:13), consuming I will consume them, not only surely, but utterly, consume them, will follow them with one judgment after another, till they are quite consumed; it is a consumption determined, Isa 10:23. 1. They shall be quite stripped of all their comforts (Jer 8:13): There shall be no grapes on the vine. Some understand this as intimating their sin; God came looking for grapes from this vineyard, seeking fruit upon this fig-tree, but he found none (as Isa 5:2, Lu…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 8:14

assemble--for defense. let us be silent--not assault the enemy, but merely defend ourselves in quiet, until the storm blow over. put us to silence--brought us to that state that we can no longer resist the foe; implying silent despair. water of gall--literally, "water of the poisonous plant," perhaps the poppy (Jer 9:15; Jer 23:15).

John Gill on Jeremiah 8:14

Why 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. Assemble yourselves; this is the gathering together, in order to be consumed, before threatened, which they themselves were made to do: and let us enter into the defenced cities; such as Jerusalem, where they thought they should be safe from their enemies: and let us be silent there; either promising themselves rest, quietness, and security; or suggesting that it would be right in them to sa…

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John Calvin on Jeremiah 8:14

Jeremiah 8:14 14. 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. 14. Ut quid nos sedemus? congregate vos, et ingrediamur urbes munitas (urbes munitionis, ad verbum,) et quiescamus illic: certe Jehova Deus noster silere nos (vel, quiescere nos) fecit, et potavit nos a quis venenatis (vel, aquis fellis; nam r's, significat fel et venenum;) quia impie egimus contra Jehovam. This verse, and those which follow, are explained in different ways; but I will briefly shew the meaning of the Prophet. I have no dou…

The Church Fathers

(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 voice of the people responding is introduced, and confessing its own vices, and encouraging one another, to enter the fortified cities or walled city, or one city, Jerusalem: for the others had already been captured. And let us be silent there, he says, because our Lord has made us silent: for we do not have confidence in praying, whether we are cast there or expelled like refuse. He himself has given us a drink of bitter water: because we have turned sweet into bitterness against God. And the reason is clear why we drink such waters: For we have sinned against the Lord, and we have expected peace, even though we have done no good works: and we thought that the time of healing had come for us, when everything was filled with fear and terror. The change of persons, especially in the Prophets, makes understanding difficult: but if they are restored to their proper places, causes, and times, what seemed obscure will become clear.
— Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Gall — (1) Heb. mererah, meaning “bitterness” (Job 16:13); i.e., the bile secreted in the liver. This word is also used of the poison of asps (20:14), and of the vitals, the seat of life (25). (2.) Heb.…
Mahershalalhashbaz — (i.e. hasten-booty speedspoil), whose name was given by divine direction to indicate that Damascus and Samaria were soon to be plundered by the king of Assyria. (Jeremiah 8:14)
Poison — (1.) Heb. hemah, “heat,” the poison of certain venomous reptiles (Deut. 32:24, 33; Job 6:4; Ps. 58:4), causing inflammation. (2.) Heb. rosh, “a head,” a poisonous plant (Deut. 29:18), growing…
Cities · Afforded refuge in times of danger — Afforded refuge in times of danger
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Jeremiah 8:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 8:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 8:14

John Gill on Jeremiah 8:14

John Calvin on Jeremiah 8:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Jeremiah 8:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 8:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 8:14

John Gill on Jeremiah 8:14

John Calvin on Jeremiah 8:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Jeremiah 8:14–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Jeremiah 8:14-15

Rashi on Jeremiah 8:14