6 I hearkened and heard: they speak not what is right; there is no man who repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turneth to his course, like a horse rushing into the battle.
Jehovah looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
[The] Lord does not delay his promise, as some account of delay, but is longsuffering towards you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The godly [man] hath perished out of the land, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with a net.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
Hast thou given strength to the horse? hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane? Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength; he goeth forth to meet the armed host. He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from before the sword. The quiver rattleth upon him, the glittering spear and the javelin. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, and cannot contain himself at the sound of the trumpet: At the noise of the trumpets he saith, Aha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
And the rest of men who were not killed with these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the golden and silver and brazen and stone and wooden idols, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
And coming to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have abundance of bread, and *I* perish here by famine. I will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
I will say unto +God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me.
And now thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider your ways.
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broadways thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be [any] that doeth justice, that seeketh fidelity; and I will pardon it.
-- a wild ass, used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire! In her ardour, who shall turn her away? All they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, There is no hope; no, for I love strangers, and after them will I go.
And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 8
Commentary on Jeremiah 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
The prophet proceeds, in this chapter, both to magnify and to justify the destruction that God was bringing upon this people, to show how grievous it would be and yet how righteous.
Jer 8:1-3
These verses might fitly have been joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, as giving a further description of the dreadful desolation which the army of the Chaldeans should make in the land. It shall strangely alter the property of death itself, and for the worse too.
Jer 8:4-12
The prophet here is instructed to set before this people the folly of their impenitence, which was it that brought this ruin upon them. They are here represented as the most stupid senseless people in the world, that would not be made wise by all the methods that Infinite Wisdom took to bring them to themselves and their right mind, and so to prevent the ruin that was coming upon them.
Jer 8:13-22
In these verses we have,