Jeremiah 8:14

Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The people of Judah speak to one another in despair after God withholds their harvest and denies them the peace they expected.

The words — מָה יֹשְׁבִים (mah yoshvim) literally asks “what are we sitting [for]?” before the people command themselves to gather (הֵאָסְפוּ, he'asefu) and flee into the עָרֵי (arei), or “cities of.”

The thread — The motif of God or enemies giving poisoned water appears in Jeremiah 9:15 and Jeremiah 23:15, while Psalm 69:21 records enemies poisoning food and giving vinegar for thirst.

Why it lands — The text records the people attempting to flee to the cities first, then acknowledging that God has doomed them and given them poisoned water because they sinned against Him. It asks the reader to confront the direct link between persistent rebellion and the loss of divine protection.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
Jeremiah 9:15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
Psalms 69:21 They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
Jeremiah 35:11 So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go into Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”
Lamentations 3:19 Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.
Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
Deuteronomy 32:32 But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
2 Samuel 20:6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”
Matthew 27:34 they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.