New King James Version
Jeremiah 8:3
3Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.
Jeremiah 8:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
- New International Version (NIV)Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts.
- New Living Translation (NLT)And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!
Context of Jeremiah 8:3
1“At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. 2They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts. 4“Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return? 5Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
Read all of Jeremiah 8Jeremiah 8:3 word by word
וְנִבְחַ֥ר מָ֙וֶת֙ מֵֽחַיִּ֔ים לְכֹ֗ל הַשְּׁאֵרִית֙ הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֔ים מִן־הַמִּשְׁפָּחָ֥ה הָֽרָעָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את בְּכָל־הַמְּקֹמ֤וֹת הַנִּשְׁאָרִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הִדַּחְתִּ֣ים שָׁ֔ם נְאֻ֖ם יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
- shall be chosenבָּחַרbâchar · to chooseH977
- rather than lifeחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
- by all the residueשְׁאֵרִיתshe'êrîyth · remnantH7611
- of them that remainשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
- of this evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- familyמִשְׁפָּחָהmishpâchâh · familyH4940
- in all the placesמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
- whither I have drivenנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
- them, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
Cross-references for Jeremiah 8:3
- Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
- 1 Kings 19:4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
- Job 3:20“Why is light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul,
- Job 7:15So that my soul chooses strangling And death rather than my body.
- Jonah 4:3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
- Revelation 6:16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
- Revelation 9:6In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
- Jeremiah 23:3“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
- Jeremiah 29:14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
- Jeremiah 32:36“Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence’:
- Jeremiah 40:12then all the Jews returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in abundance.
- Deuteronomy 30:1“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you,
- Daniel 9:7O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3This evil family - The whole Jewish race. Which remain - The words are omitted by the Septuagint and Syriac versions.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3This message announced death for the people of Judah. It came true with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. The survivors shall be still worse off than the dead (Job 3:21, 22; Re 9:6). which remain in all the places--"in all places of them that remain, whither I ... that is, in all places whither I have driven them that remain [Maurer].Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 8:3
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries