Bible Strands
Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the nation of Israel, speaking his grief over their spiritual condition immediately after describing his own crushing sorrow in verse 21.
The words — צֳרִי (tzo.Ri) literally denotes a medicinal resin or balm, while רֹפֵא (ro.Fe') refers to a medical practitioner or healer.
The thread — The text echoes the geographical and medicinal association of Gilead found in Genesis 37:25, while Jeremiah 46:11 and Jeremiah 51:8 reuse the same imagery to show that the region's balm cannot cure political or national collapse.
Why it lands — The verse presents a rhetorical question that asserts the people's spiritual sickness remains untreated despite the availability of known remedies, demanding a direct acknowledgment of their unaddressed condition.
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
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 46:11 Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
- Genesis 37:25 And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.
- Jeremiah 51:8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Jeremiah 30:12 For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous.
- Luke 8:43 including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.
- Luke 5:31 Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Genesis 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
- Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Matthew 9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”