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 waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror! 16From Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants. “For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is no charm; And they will bite you,” declares the Lord. 18My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me! 19Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with 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

• For beholdהִנֵּהhinnêh · beholdH2009
• sendingשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• serpentsנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
• Vipersצִפְעוֹנִיtsepha‛ tsiph‛ônîy · serpentH6848
• for whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• thereאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• charmלַ֫חַשׁlachash · charmH3908
• And they will biteנָשַׁךְnâshak · to biteH5391
• you,” declaresנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Jeremiah 8:17

• Deuteronomy 32:24They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by plague And a bitter epidemic; And the teeth of beasts I will send against them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
• Isaiah 14:29“Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For from the serpent’s root a viper will come out, And its fruit will be a winged serpent.
• Amos 5:19As when a man flees from a lion And a bear confronts him, Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him.
• Amos 9:3And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will track them down and take them from there; And though they hide themselves from My sight on the bottom of the sea, I will command the serpent from there, and it will bite them.
• Revelation 9:19For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.
• Psalms 58:4They have venom like the venom of a serpent; Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
• Ecclesiastes 10:11If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no benefit 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