Jeremiah 8:4

Jeremiah 8:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
• New International Version (NIV)“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?
• English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?

Context of Jeremiah 8:4

2They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. 3However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived,” says the Lord who rules over all. The Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way? 5Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem continually turn away from me in apostasy? They hold fast to their deception. They refuse to turn back to me. 6I have listened to them very carefully, but they do not speak honestly. None of them regrets the evil he has done. None of them says, “I have done wrong!” All of them persist in their own wayward course like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

Jeremiah 8:4 word by word

וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה הֲיִפְּל֖וּ וְלֹ֣א יָק֑וּמוּ אִם־יָשׁ֖וּב וְלֹ֥א יָשֽׁוּב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Moreover thou shalt sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Shall they fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• and not ariseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
• shall he turn awayשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
• and not returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725

Cross-references for Jeremiah 8:4

• Proverbs 24:16Although a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again, but the wicked will be brought down by calamity.
• Hosea 14:1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sin has been your downfall!
• Amos 5:2“The virgin Israel has fallen down and will not get up again. She is abandoned on her own land with no one to help her get up.”
• Micah 7:8My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
• Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 4:1“If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord, “if you want to come back to me you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.
• Jeremiah 23:14But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.
• Jeremiah 36:3Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.”
• 1 Kings 8:38When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple,
• Isaiah 44:22I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. Come back to me, for I protect you.”
• Isaiah 55:7The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.
• Ezekiel 18:23Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?
• Hosea 6:1“Come on! Let’s return to the Lord! He himself has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us! He has injured us, but he will bandage our wounds!
• Hosea 7:10The arrogance of Israel testifies against him, yet they refuse to return to the Lord their God! In spite of all this they refuse to seek him!

Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Moreover thou shalt say - Dr. Blayney very properly observes, "In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to; the transition being quick and sudden, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people's incorrigibility; he charges their wise ones with folly, and threatens them with grievous calamities, Jeremiah 8:4-13. In the three next verses he seems to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The prophet here resumes from Jeremiah 7:28 the main subject of his prophecy. He again invites the Jews to repentance. Shall they fall? - The argument is that when men fall, they do not lie upon the ground, but endeavor to get up again: and when a man loses his way, he does not persist in going on, but turns round, and retraces his steps. Israel then will be only following the dictates of comnon sense in desisting from that which she now knows to be her…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-13Verses 4-13 What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-7These verses list the evidence of Judah's sins. The people engaged in ritual sex related to idol worship. They followed idol worship practices. They stayed in their delusions because lies trapped their minds and hearts. The term "lies" often refers to idols (Jeremiah 5:3, 6; 7:24; 9:6; Proverbs 24:16; Isaiah 44:20; Amos 5:2; Micah 7:8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. "Is it not a natural instinct, that if one falls, he rises again; if one turns away (that is, wanders from the way), he will return to the point from which he wandered? Why then does not Jerusalem do so?" He plays on the double sense of return; literal and metaphorical (Jr 3:12; 4:1).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 8:4

• Backsliders
• Impenitence

In the dictionaries

• Repent
• Snorting
• Covenant, the New
• Exodus, the Book of
• Jeremiah (2)

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