Bible Strands
Jeremiah 9:8
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah to Judah during a period of systemic corruption, immediately after declaring His intent to refine and test the people because of their moral failure.
The words — The verse relies on חֵץ (chetz), meaning arrow, and מִרְמָה (mirMah), meaning deceit, to frame the tongue as a weapon that delivers lethal falsehoods behind a facade of calm.
The thread — This pattern of verbal hypocrisy recurs in Psalms 28:3 and Psalms 64:3, where speakers offer peace while sharpening weapons in their hearts, and in Proverbs 26:24, which records how a malicious person stores deceit in the heart while masking it with speech.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to judge claims of peace by the hidden intent behind them, establishing that verbal harmony without moral integrity is a prelude to violence.
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
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
Cross-references
- Psalms 28:3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Proverbs 26:24 A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.
- Psalms 64:3 who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,
- Psalms 120:3 What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
- 2 Samuel 3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
- 2 Samuel 20:9 “Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- Psalms 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Psalms 55:21 His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
- Psalms 57:4 My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Jeremiah 9:3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.