Jeremiah 8:17

Jeremiah 8:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)“See, I will send venomous snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you," declares the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For behold, I will send serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And they shall bite you,” says the Lord.

Context of Jeremiah 8:17

15We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror. 16The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who dwell in it. “For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD. 18My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me. 19Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”

Jeremiah 8:17 word by word

כִּי֩ הִנְנִ֨י מְשַׁלֵּ֜חַ בָּכֶ֗ם נְחָשִׁים֙ צִפְעֹנִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵין־לָהֶ֖ם לָ֑חַשׁ וְנִשְּׁכ֥וּ אֶתְכֶ֖ם נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

• Forכִּיkîy · forH3588
• beholdהֵןhên · look!H2005
• I will sendשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• snakesנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
• vipersצִפְעוֹנִיtsepha‛ tsiph‛ônîy · serpentH6848
• thatאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• cannotאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• be charmedלַ֫חַשׁlachash · charmH3908
• and they will biteנָשַׁךְnâshak · to biteH5391
• youאֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• declaresנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Jeremiah 8:17

• Deuteronomy 32:24They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
• Isaiah 14:29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
• Amos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
• Amos 9:3Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
• Revelation 9:19For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.
• Psalms 58:4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
• Ecclesiastes 10:11If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17I will send serpents - These were symbols of the enemies that were coming against them; a foe that would rather slay them and destroy the land than get booty and ransom.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17I will send - Or, am sending. No prophet changes his metaphors so suddenly as Jeremiah. The invading army is now compared to snakes, whom no charming can soothe, and whose bite is fatal. Compare Numbers 21:5-6. Cockatrices - “Vipers.” See Isaiah 11:8 note.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-22Verses 14-22 At length they begin to see the hand of God lifted up. And when God appears against us, every thing that is against us appears formidable. As salvation only can be found in the Lord, so the present moment should be seized. Is there no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom? Is there no skilful, faithful hand to apply the medicine? Yes, God is able to help and to heal them. If sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-17These three short poems were likely shared during the reign of Jehoiakim.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. I--Jehovah. cockatrices--basilisks (Is 11:8), that is, enemies whose destructive power no means, by persuasion or otherwise, can counteract. Serpent-charmers in the East entice serpents by music, and by a particular pressure on the neck render them incapable of darting (Psa 58:4, 5).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 8:17

• Animals
• Backsliders
• Charmers and Charming
• Church
• Cockatrice
• Impenitence
• Serpent
• War

In the dictionaries

• Adder
• Basilisk
• Charmer
• Cockatrice
• Enchantments
• Repent
• Serpent
• Snorting
• Covenant, the New
• Enchantment

Commentaries on Jeremiah 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings