Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 8:8
How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes [is] in vain.
8. the law ] The reply of the priests such as the two Pashhurs (Jer 20:1, Jer 21:1) and prophets such as Shemaiah (Jer 29:24) was, We do know the Law and have it in writing.
But, behold, the false pen falsely ] or (as mg.) hath made of it falsehood. Jeremiah has been thought by Du., Co. and others (not so Gi.) to refer here to the newly-discovered book supposed to be in a large degree identical with Deuteronomy as we now have it (2Ki 22:8). We may indeed well believe that the prophet laid but little stress on the ritual portions of the law, there set forth (see Jer 7:22 with notes), as compared with the rest of the Book. But with the moral tone of that Book he was in full sympathy, as is shewn by his frequent use of its words and phrases, and persistent enforcement of its general teaching. See on Jer 11:1, etc. Thus it is far more likely that he here refers to the traditional directions, already committed to writing, which the priesthood claimed to possess for guidance in ritual. These had been perverted in some way to us unknown, so as to sanction iniquitous observances. This was “a peril specially likely to arise, when but few copies of ‘the law’ existed, and when the authority of the written law was not fully recognised,” Ryle, Canon of the O.T., p. 67. Cp. Jer 2:8; Zep 3:4; see also Deu 24:8 (“teach,” i.e. give directions for action); Hag 2:11 ff. The Hebrew word for “law” means literally pointing out, direction. See further in C.B. Joel and Amos, pp. 230 f.
scribes ] a class of men who devoted themselves to the study and development of the law. See 2Ch 34:13. This laid the foundation for the mass of Rabbinical exposition which belonged to later times.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The law of the Lord – The Torah, or written law, the possession of which made the priests and prophets so boastfully exclaim, We are wise.
Lo, certainly … – Rather, Verily, lo! the lying pen of the scribes hath made it – the Law – into a lie. The mention of scribes in this place is a crucial point in the argument whether or not the Pentateuch or Torah is the old law-book of the Jews, or a fabrication which gradually grew up, but was not received as authoritative until after the return from the captivity. It is not until the time of Josiah 2Ch 34:13 that scribes are mentioned except as political officers; here, however, they are students of the Torah. The Torah must have existed in writing before there could have been an order of men whose special business it was to study it; and therefore to explain this verse by saying that perhaps the scribes were writers of false prophecies written in imitation of the true, is to lose the whole gist of the passage. What the scribes turned into a lie was that Law of which they had just boasted that they were the possessors. Moreover, the scribes undeniably became possessed of preponderating influence during the exile: and on the return from Babylon were powerful enough to prevent the restoration of the kingly office. That there should be along with the priests and Levites men who devoted themselves to the study of the written Law, and who in the time of Josiah had acquired such influence as to be recognized as a distinct class – is just what we should expect from the rapid progress of learning, which began with Elishas active management of the schools of the prophets, and culminated in the days of Hezekiah. Jeremiahs whole argument depends upon the fact that there were in his days men who claimed to be wise or learned men because of their study of the Pentateuch, and is entirely inconsistent with the assumptions that Jeremiah wrote the book of Deuteronomy, and that Ezra wrote parts of Exodus and the whole of Leviticus.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. The pen of the scribes is in vain.] The deceitful pen of the scribes. They have written falsely, though they had the truth before them. It is too bold an assertion to say that “the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;” they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How do ye say, We are wise? q. d. These things considered, where is your wisdom, when you see the very fowls of the air are not so stupid as you are? he speaks either to princes and priests, or to the whole body of the people.
The law of the Lord is with us: this may be understood either more general of all, or may have a more special eye to the priests, with whom it was intrusted, Deu 33:10; Mal 2:7. They were wont to boast much of the law, as well as of the temple, Jer 18:18; Rom 2:17,23.
In vain made he it: q.d. For any use they made of it, they had as good have been without it; God needed not to have given them a law, Hos 8:12.
The pen of the scribes is in vain; neither need it ever have been copied out, divulged, and conveyed down to them by the scribe, Deu 17:18; or the prevarications and collusions these lawyers used in the false interpretation of the law, wherein they sided with the false prophets, should be in vain. A scribe was a teacher, one well versed in the in the Scripture, or esteemed so.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. law . . . with us (Ro2:17). Possessing the law, on which they prided themselves, theJews might have become the wisest of nations; but by their neglectingits precepts, the law became given “in vain,” as far asthey were concerned.
scribescopyists. “Invain” copies were multiplied. MAURERtranslates, “The false pen of the scribes hath converted it [thelaw] into a lie.” See Margin, which agrees with Vulgate.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
How do ye say, we are wise,…. Which they were continually boasting of, though they were ignorant of the judgment of the Lord, and were more stupid than the stork, turtle, crane, and swallow:
and the law of the Lord is with us? this was the foundation of their boast, because the law was given to them, and not to the nations of the world, which knew not God, and therefore they must be a wise and understanding people; and this law continued with them, they had it in their synagogues, and in their houses, and read it, and heard, or at least they might and ought to have heard and read it, and in this they trusted; of this character and cast were the Jews in the times of Christ and his apostles, Ro 2:17 to which agrees the Targum,
“how say ye, we are wise, and in the law of the Lord we trust?”
Lo, certainly in vain made he it; either the law, which was made or given in vain by the Lord to this people, since they made no better use of it, and valued themselves upon having it, without acting according to it; or the pen of the scribe, which was made by him in vain to write it, as follows:
the pen of the scribes is in vain; in vain, and to no purpose, were the scribes employed in writing out copies of the law, when either it was not heard or read, or however the things it enjoined were not put in practice; or the pen of the scribes was in vain, when employed in writing out false copies of the law, or false glosses and interpretations of it, such as were made by the Scribes and Pharisees in Christ’s time, and the fathers before them, by whose traditions the word of God was made of none effect: and so the Targum,
“therefore, lo, in vain the scribe hath made the lying pen to falsify;”
that is, the Scriptures. The words may be rendered,
“verily, behold, with a lie he wrought; the pen: is the lie of the scribes h.”
h “utique ecce, mendacio operatus est; stylus mendacium scribarum est”, Schmidt. Approved by Reinbeck. De Accent. Heb. p. 435.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In spite of this heedlessness of the statutes, the judgment of God, they vainly boast in their knowledge and possession of God’s law. Those who said, We are wise, are mainly the priests and false prophets; cf. Jer 8:10, Jer 2:8; Jer 5:31. The wisdom these people claimed for themselves is, as the following clause shows, the knowledge of the law. They prided themselves on possessing the law, from which they conceived themselves to have drawn their wisdom. The second clause, as Hitz. observed, shows that it is the written law that is meant. The law is with us. This is not to be understood merely of the outward possession of it, but the inward, appropriated knowledge, the mastery of the law. The law of Jahveh, recorded in the Pentateuch, teaches not only the bearing towards God due by man, but the bearing of God towards His people. The knowledge of this law begets the wisdom for ruling one’s life, tells how God is to be worshipped, how His favour is to be procured and His anger appeased.
As against all this, Jeremiah declares: Assuredly the lying pen (style) of the scribes hath made it a lie. Ew., Hitz., Graf, translate , authors, writers; and the two latter of them take = labour: “for a lie (or for deception) hath the lying style (pen) of the writers laboured.” This transl. is feasible; but it seems simpler to supply ‘ : hath made it (the law); and there is no good reason for confining to the original composers of works. The words are not to be limited in their reference to the efforts of the false prophets, who spread their delusive prophecies by means of writings: they refer equally to the work of the priests, whose duty it was to train the people in the law, and who, by false teaching as to its demands, led the people astray, seduced them from the way of truth, and deceived them as to the future. The labours both of the false prophets and of the wicked priests consisted not merely in authorship, in composing and circulating writings, but to a very great extent in the oral teaching of the people, partly by prophetic announcements, partly by instruction in the law; only in so far as it was necessary was it their duty to set down in writing and circulate their prophecies and interpretations of the law. But this work by word and writing was founded on the existing written law, the Torah of Moses; just as the true prophets sought to influence the people chiefly by preaching the law to them, by examining their deeds and habits by the rule of the divine will as revealed in the Torah, and by applying to their times the law’s promises and threatenings. For this work with the law, and application of it to life, Jer. uses the expression “style of the Shoferim,” because the interpretation of the law, if it was to have valid authority as the rule of life, must be fixed by writing. Yet he did not in this speak only of authors, composers, but meant such as busied themselves about the book of the law, made it the object of their study. But inasmuch as such persons, by false interpretation and application, perverted the truth of the law into a lie, he calls their work the work of the lying style (pen).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs.. 8-12: THE EMPTINESS OF HER HUMANISTIC WISDOM
1. How can Judah boast that she is wise? or that the law of the Lord is with her? when the pen of her scribes has so perverted the law?
2. Her wise men are shamed, dismayed, trapped, (vs. 9a). It is a spurious wisdom that is claimed by anyone who has rejected the word of the Lord, (vs. 9b; Psa 111:10; Pro 9:10).
3. Because of their infidelity to the truth, Judah’s wise men will lose ALL – their wives and fields being taken from them and given to conquerors.
a. From the least to the greatest of them, they have all been greedy for material gain.
b. Prophet and priest have not hesitated to deal deceitfully! 4. Jeremiah likens the religious leaders of Judah to quack physicians who brainwashed her people – assuring them of PEACE, when peace was not to be theirs! (vs. 10, 11, comp. Jer 6:14) Nor were they ashamed of what they had done! (vs. 12a; comp. Jer 6:15).
5. Thus, prophet and priest will fall alongside those whom their lies have deceived! (vs. 12b; Jer 6:21; comp. Isa 9:14-16; Hos 4:6-10; Deu 32:35).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Interpreters think that the Prophet here directs his words to the priests, and the false prophets, and the other chiefs of the people, because they proudly arrogated to themselves the knowledge of the law: but what is said may be no less extended to the whole people; for, as we shall presently see, all of them, from the least to the greatest, no doubt boasted that they were sufficiently wise. I hence think that the Prophet here inveighs against the whole body of the people; for all, almost without exception, rejected his teaching, as we see also to be done at the present day; for who is there that can bear to be admonished and reproved? All say that they are wise enough: “Oh! do you think that I am a child?” or, as it is commonly said, “Do you think that I am a goose? I know how I am to live, and I am not without reason.” Thus the rudest and the most ignorant set up their own wisdom and sharpness of wit against God and his prophets. Such audacity and ferociousness prevailed no doubt in the time of Jeremiah. For when he sharply reproved them, they were ready with their answer, — “Oh! thou treatest us as though we were barbarians, as though God’s law was unknown to us, as though we had not been taught from our childhood how we are to live: does not God dwell in the midst of us?” Since, then, the Jews did set up as it were this shield against the doctrine of the Prophet, he attacks them here with great vehemence, —
How say ye, We are wise? He afterwards describes the kind of wisdom which they claimed, The law of God is with us: and doubtless, to attend to God’s law is the way of becoming really wise. Had they justly boasted that they had the law, the Prophet would not have brought against them the charge, that they were doubly foolish. But as they falsely made this pretense, he says to them, How? and here he asks a question as to what was very strange, “How are you so foolish, “he says, “that ye think yourselves wise, as though the law of God were with you? Surely, if so, in vain has the law been written; for ye shew by your whole life that you have never known anything of what God by the law commands and sets before us, and what the design of it is.”
Thus Jeremiah shows by their life that there was no ground for their foolish boasting; for they gave no evidence of their wisdom. It is indeed necessary for those who seek to be God’s disciples to bring forth some fruit: but as there was among them so much impiety, so much contempt of God, and as, in short, their whole life proclaimed them to be wholly insane, he says, In vain has he prepared his pen, even the writer of the law; and in vain have been the scribes, that is, the teachers; for by scribes, in the second place, he understands teachers. (221)
I explain this passage somewhat different from other interpreters; for there seems to be implied a kind of irony, as we commonly say, Il faut bruler tous les livres. Hence Jeremiah derides their folly, in saying that they knew how they were to live, because the teaching of the law prevailed among them. “If it be so, “he says, “what is God’s law? Doubtless, nothing, as the whole of its teaching must in this way be deemed as nothing.” We now then see that the Jews are here reproved as false, for they claimed the law, as though it were a shadow without a body, and possessed not a particle of right knowledge. He afterwards adds —
(221) The latter part of this verse has another meaning according to the ancient versions. They are substantially to this purport, —
Behold, surely to deceive is what the false pen of the scribes has done.
The Vulgate, with which the rest materially agree, is as follows, —
Verily, falsehood has the false pen of the scribes wrought.
As a proof of this it is added in the next verse, that those who pretended to be wise were made ashamed, etc. That the reference is made to the false glosses of the scribes, the expounders of the law, is confirmed by verse 11. I render the whole verse thus, —
8. How can ye say, “Wise are we, And the law of Jehovah is with us?” Indeed! — Behold, to deceive Has the deceptive pen of the scribes served.
He ironically admits that they had the law; but he refers to the false interpretation of the teachers; and in the next verse he mentions the effect on the pretended wise, and the fact as to God’s law, —
9. Ashamed have become the wise, They have been dismayed and ensnared: Behold, the word of Jehovah have they despised; And wisdom, what have they!
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. Unwise Proclamations by National Leaders Jer. 8:8-12
TRANSLATION
(8) How can you say, We are wise! The Torah of the LORD is with us. But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has labored falsely. (9) The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed when they are captured. Behold, they have spurned the word of the LORD and what kind of wisdom do they possess? (10) Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to dispossessors; for from least to the greatest everyone of them is out for illicit gain; from the prophet even unto the priest everyone of them practices deceit. (11) They heal up the hurt of the daughter of My people lightly, saying, Peace, Peace; when there is no peace. (12) They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea they do not at all feel ashamed nor do they know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, says the LORD.
COMMENTS
The wise men of Judah felt that they had no need for the preaching of Jeremiah. They had the Torah, the written precepts of the Law, so what use did they have for this agitator from Anathoth. Let Jeremiah keep his advice to himself; for we are wise and we are the divinely appointed teachers of the people. Among the wise men the scribes are singled out for special comment. The scribes in Old Testament times were men who could write. They often served as officials of the royal court (2Ki. 12:10) and sometimes as military officers (Jer. 52:2 ff.). The scribes in Jeremiahs day were corrupt like the priests and the prophets. Somehow through their writings the scribes were attempting to nullify the written word of God. Perhaps they were publishing the false teaching of the prophets and priests. Perhaps they were making comments upon the Pentateuch which in effect warped its teaching. Some have proposed that these scribes were even guilty of altering the very text of the word of God. Whatever they were doing, these perverse scribes were distorting, twisting, perverting the truth. The lying pens of scholars through the ages have been directed against the Scriptures. Through false interpretations and insidious criticism these wolves in sheeps clothing have attempted to escape the absolute authority of Gods word. Yet in spite of these attacks Scripture still cannot be broken (Joh. 10:35).
When men reject the wisdom that comes from the word of God what kind of wisdom do they possess? The fear of the Lord and the reverent respect for His word is the beginning of all true wisdom (Pro. 9:10). How utterly humiliated these wise men of Judah will be when calamities one after another fall upon the nation (Jer. 8:9). Human wisdom, human logic, human theology had declared Jerusalem to be inviolable. How embarrassed these learned men will be when they are captured and all they possess is given into the hands of the Chaldean conquerors. Because of their greed the prophets and priests had deliberately deceived the people (Jer. 8:10). But in the end they will lose all that they had accumulated. Instead of dealing with the spiritual maladies of the nation these religious leaders were merely concealing the impeding disaster by assuring the people of peace (Jer. 8:11). In misleading the people these men had committed abominations, yet they show no shame whatsoever. But when the judgment falls on Judah these proud and confident men will stumble and fall before the sword of the enemy (Jer. 8:12).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(8) How do ye say . . .?The question is put to priests and prophets, who were the recognised expounders of the Law, but not to them only. The order of scribes, which became so dominant during the exile, was already rising into notice. Shaphan, to whom Hilkiah gave the re-found Book of the Law, belonged to it (2Ch. 34:15), and the discovery of that book would naturally give a fresh impetus to their work. They were boasting of their position as the recognised instructors of the people.
Lo, certainly . . .Better, Verily, lo! the lying pen of the scribes hath made it (i.e., the Law) as a lie. The pen was the iron stylus made for engraving on stone or metal. The meaning of the clause is clear. The sophistry of men was turning the truth of God into a lie, and emptying it of its noblest meaning. Already, as in other things, so here, in his protest against the teaching of the scribes, with their traditional and misleading casuistry, Jeremiah appears as foreshadowing the prophet of Nazareth (Mat. 5:20-48; Mat. 23:2-26).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. The pen of the scribes is in vain The latter part of this verse should be translated, certainly the lying pen of the scribes hath made it a lie. The prophet would call them back from their boastfulness in the possession of the written law, and declares that the corruption is so universal that even this has become so overlaid with falsehood as to become a lie. In this he alludes to the office of scribes and priests, as expositors, standing between God’s law and the people, and “perverting the ways of God,” “making void his commandments.” That of which Christ complained had already begun in Jeremiah’s time.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
I bring the whole of this beautiful Chapter, from this verse to the end into one view, for the sake of shortness, and from necessity; but otherwise nothing could be more desirable than to dwell upon each verse. Taken in one mass, it contains the gracious expostulation of the Lord, with his people: blessed as they were, with every means, but destitute of the desired end. And how beautiful the Chapter closeth. Gilead, was a place remarkable in the land for loveliness, and for health and fertility (see Jer 22:6 .) and therefore the question becomes the more striking, as it was intended: Is there no balm in Gilead: no Physician there? Reader! spiritualize the passage, and the beauty of it will still be more blessed. There is balm in Gilead, and there is a Physician there. For Jesus’s blood and righteousness is an everlasting, never failing balm: and Jesus himself is there an Almighty, All-present, and All-sufficient Physician, whereby all the diseased in our nature may have in him an healing. If it be asked, why then are we not recovered? Jesus himself answereth; ye will not come to me that ye might have life. Joh 5:40 . Here is the cause. The evil is in man, not in God. Sinners reject the counsel of God against their own souls, and refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 8:8 How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes [is] in vain.
Ver. 8. How do ye say, We are wise? ] If ye were so, ye would never say so. “Surely I am more brutish than any man,” said holy Agur. Pro 30:2 This only I know, that I know nothing, said Socrates. Neither know I so much as this, that I know just nothing, said a third. How could these in the text say, “We are wise,” when the fowls of the air outwitted them? Compare Job 35:11 .
The law of the Lord is with us.
Lo, certainly in vain made he it,
a Casaub. ex Apologista.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 8:8-12
8How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the LORD is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has made it into a lie.
9The wise men are put to shame,
They are dismayed and caught;
Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,
And what kind of wisdom do they have?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others,
Their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit.
11They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They certainly were not ashamed,
And they did not know how to blush;
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,
Says the LORD .
Jer 8:8-12 This is a literary unit which describes the religious leaders. This is the first extended mention of a group known as the scribes (BDB 707). We learn from 1Ch 2:55 that scribes developed into families. They do not serve a major function in Israel’s faith until after the exile. They seem to have been developed by Ezra into the synagogue system and rabbinical Judaism. They were basically interpreters of the Mosaic law to local people for specific questions regarding the Torah.
If the leaders are blind, how dark is the darkness? They think they are wise and that they know the Law of the LORD (cf. Jer 8:9).
NASB, NRSVthe lying pen of the scribes
NKJV, NJBthe false pen of the scribes
TEVthe laws have been changed by dishonest scribes
LXXa false pen has become of no use to scribes
JPSOAassuredly, for naught has the pen labored
REBwhen scribes with their lying pens have falsified it
This issue is who is being condemned?
1. the scribes (i.e., equal to wise men of Jer 8:9)
2. the people (Jer 8:10)
3. other religious leaders (Jer 8:9)
The problem is not the scribes’ work (i.e., copying the Law and/or explaining it), but the people’s rejecting both the prophetic word and the covenant obligations.
Has made it into a lie There is a Hebrew word play between lying pen (BDB 1055) and lie (BDB 1055). There is often an allusion to Ba’al worship as being the lie. There may be an allusion here.
Jer 8:9 they have rejected the word of the LORD They did this at the very time they thought they were upholding the word of the Lord. It would be good to remember Php 2:12.
Jer 8:10-12 These verses are omitted in the Septuagint (LXX) because of their striking resemblance to Jer 6:12-15. It seems that the book of Jeremiah is a composite book which was edited according to themes, either by Jeremiah, Baruch, or someone later in history. Therefore, there is considerable repetition in the book. See Special Topic: Scribes .
Jer 8:10 I will give their wives to others
Their fields to new owners This refers to the experience of invasion and exile. Notice that wives were listed with a man’s property, which was characteristic of ANE patriarchal soceity.
Jer 8:11 They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially The religious leaders seem to bring that which will give life, but in reality their message of false hope brings death (i.e., Lam 2:14). The major truth in this verse is found in the latter part in the false prophets’ words, All is well, all is well (cf. Jer 6:14; Jer 14:13-14). The problem was that there was no peace, but impending invasion. Many commentators believe that these false prophets were quoting Isaiah 36-39, referring to God’s promises to Hezekiah and the safety of the city of Jerusalem against the invasion of Sennacherib. But, Jeremiah is emphasizing the truth that the covenant has two aspects: God’s promises and His covenant people’s faith response. Judah had totally abrogated the covenant!
Jer 8:12 The question of line 1 is answered in an intensified way (i.e., the Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and Qal IMPERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 101, KB 116) in line 2.
they shall fall among those who fall This may be another reference to the previous exile of the northern tribes.
the time of their punishment The Neo-Babylonian army took captives from Judah in 605, 597, 586, and 582 B.C. The major deportation was 586 B.C. when the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed.
no man. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), = scarcely any.
Jer 8:8-13
Jer 8:8
How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.
The existence of the order of The Scribes in the days of Jeremiah proves conclusively that the Law of Jehovah, not a single book, such as Deuteronomy, but all of it, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, commonly referred to as the Pentateuch, did exist in those days, else there could not possibly have been such an order as that of the Scribes whose duty it was to copy, study, distribute, and expound the teachings of that very law.
Any person with ordinary intelligence needs no scholar to explain this to him. In addition to the incontrovertible evidence we have in this very chapter, there are countless references throughout Jeremiah to every single one of the man-made divisions in the Law of Moses, that law, from the beginning, not being five books but only one, the Book of Moses.
We consider the meaning of this verse to be so important that we would like to support the position which we have taken with the opinion of a number of dependable, able scholars, who are honest enough and conservative enough to point out what is really said here.
“The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) must have existed in writing before there could have been an order of men whose special business it was to study it. … The presence of scribes demands that there must have been a law by this time, contrary to the view of some Old Testament scholars. … Behold the false pen of the scribes … (Jer 8:8) The scribes studied and copied the Law; this is the first mention of them in the Bible. Already, they were beginning to make the Law of God void by their tradition (Mat 15:6)…. These verses are a strong argument in favor of the belief that the Book of the Law even at that time had well-grounded claims to antiquity. … These verses teach that “The written law is with us,” This is the Law of Jahweh recorded in the Pentateuch; and this is not to be understood as merely the outward possession of it, but also as the inwardly appropriated knowledge and mastery of it. … Jeremiah’s whole argument here depends upon the fact that there existed in his day men who claimed to be wise on account of their study of the Pentateuch; and this is utterly inconsistent with assumptions that Jeremiah wrote Deuteronomy F15 … Ash identified the “law” mentioned in Jer 8:7 as “the Torah.”… Kuist noted that, “The scribes interpreting the Law (Torah or ‘instructions’) found sanctions for their actions in false interpretations.” … Even Wheeler Robinson in Peake’s Commentary, while accepting the usual critical view, which he asserted “might be correct,” he also stated that, “A strong case can be made out,” for the view which we take here. … This teaches that in the seventh century B.C. Israel possessed a written Torah which it was the ostensible duty of the scribes to study and expound.”
Jer 8:9-13
The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith Jehovah. I will utterly consume them, saith Jehovah: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given them shall pass away from them.
The word of Jehovah…
(Jer 8:9). This is a reference to the Torah, which is the subject of Jer 8:7 and Jer 8:8. The scribes, self-styled wise men, as they claimed to be, had rejected the Word of God, namely, the Law of Moses, by their false interpretations of it.
“Jer 8:10-12 is a repetition of what Jeremiah wrote in Jer 6:12-15.” See my comment under those verses (Jer 6:12-15)..
No grapes. nor figs …..
(Jer 8:13) The failure of all crops and agricultural benefits were common metaphors in the Old Testament, used to express God’s judgment upon sinful people. Christ himself took up the figure of the barren fig-tree, which he made a figure of apostate Israel in his cursing of the barren fig-tree (Mat 21:19).
Unwise Proclamations by National Leaders Jer 8:8-12
The wise men of Judah felt that they had no need for the preaching of Jeremiah. They had the Torah, the written precepts of the Law, so what use did they have for this agitator from Anathoth. Let Jeremiah keep his advice to himself; for we are wise and we are the divinely appointed teachers of the people. Among the wise men the scribes are singled out for special comment. The scribes in Old Testament times were men who could write. They often served as officials of the royal court (2Ki 12:10) and sometimes as military officers (Jer 52:2 ff.). The scribes in Jeremiahs day were corrupt like the priests and the prophets. Somehow through their writings the scribes were attempting to nullify the written word of God. Perhaps they were publishing the false teaching of the prophets and priests. Perhaps they were making comments upon the Pentateuch which in effect warped its teaching. Some have proposed that these scribes were even guilty of altering the very text of the word of God. Whatever they were doing, these perverse scribes were distorting, twisting, perverting the truth. The lying pens of scholars through the ages have been directed against the Scriptures. Through false interpretations and insidious criticism these wolves in sheeps clothing have attempted to escape the absolute authority of Gods word. Yet in spite of these attacks Scripture still cannot be broken (Joh 10:35).
When men reject the wisdom that comes from the word of God what kind of wisdom do they possess? The fear of the Lord and the reverent respect for His word is the beginning of all true wisdom (Pro 9:10). How utterly humiliated these wise men of Judah will be when calamities one after another fall upon the nation (Jer 8:9). Human wisdom, human logic, human theology had declared Jerusalem to be inviolable. How embarrassed these learned men will be when they are captured and all they possess is given into the hands of the Chaldean conquerors. Because of their greed the prophets and priests had deliberately deceived the people (Jer 8:10). But in the end they will lose all that they had accumulated. Instead of dealing with the spiritual maladies of the nation these religious leaders were merely concealing the impeding disaster by assuring the people of peace (Jer 8:11). In misleading the people these men had committed abominations, yet they show no shame whatsoever. But when the judgment falls on Judah these proud and confident men will stumble and fall before the sword of the enemy (Jer 8:12).
We: Job 5:12, Job 5:13, Job 11:12, Job 12:20, Joh 9:41, Rom 1:22, Rom 2:17-29, 1Co 3:18-20
the law: Psa 147:19, Hos 8:12
Lo: Mat 15:6
in vain: etc. or, the false pen of the scribes worketh for falsehood, Pro 17:6, Isa 10:1, Isa 10:2
Reciprocal: 2Sa 15:31 – turn the counsel 1Ch 2:55 – the scribes 2Ch 34:13 – scribes 2Ch 34:14 – the law Ezr 7:6 – scribe Neh 8:1 – Ezra Psa 119:99 – than all Psa 119:100 – because Psa 119:126 – they Jer 2:8 – and they that Jer 48:14 – How Hos 4:6 – because Mat 2:4 – scribes Mat 6:23 – If Mar 7:13 – the word Luk 7:30 – rejected Luk 11:35 – General Joh 3:10 – Art Rom 2:23 – that makest Rom 3:31 – do we 1Co 4:10 – are wise 2Co 6:1 – ye Gal 2:21 – Christ 1Ti 1:7 – understanding
Jer 8:8. The Law of the Lord is with us means they assumed that they could be a law unto themselves; that the writing of the scribes was worthless and not binding.
Jer 8:8. How do ye say, We are wise? As if he had said, These things considered, where is your wisdom? you see the very fowls of the air are not so stupid as you are. He speaks not merely to the princes and priests, but to the whole body of the people. And the law of the Lord is with us They were wont to boast much of the law, as well as of the temple, Jer 18:18; Rom 2:17-23. Lo, certainly in vain made he it For any use you make of it, you might as well have been without it. As if he had said, It is to no purpose for you to boast of your wisdom and skill in the knowledge of Gods law, if you do not govern your lives by its directions; otherwise it was written and delivered to you in vain. The pen of the scribes is vain Neither need it ever have been copied out by the scribes. The title of scribe, as applied to the skill of transcribing or interpreting the law, is first given, in the Scriptures, to Ezra, (Ezr 7:6,) who was not merely a copier of the law, but likewise an explainer of the difficulties of it, Neh 8:1-13; and it is likely none made it their business to write copies of the law but those who were well versed in the study of it, which would best secure them from committing mistakes in their copies; hence the word, in the New Testament, signifies those who were learned in explaining the law, and answering the difficulties arising concerning the sense of it. Lowth.
8:8 How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain he hath made [it]; {f} the pen of the scribes [is] in vain.
(f) The law does not profit you neither need it to have been written for all that you have learned by it.
The people were claiming that they knew God’s Word and were obeying it. However, it was only because their experts in the Law had perverted it that they could say such a thing (cf. 2Pe 3:16). The scribes kept official records, copied important documents, and taught the people the Law.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)