Keraia
Jeremiah 8

Jeremiah 8:22

Jeremiah Weeps for His People · Jeremiah 8:18–22
Read Jeremiah 8

Translations

Modern
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Traditional
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Literal
Is no balm in Gilead? Is a healer not there? Then why does not go up the health of the daughter of my people?
Latin
Numquid resina non est in Galaad? aut medicus non est ibi? quare igitur non est obducta cicatrix filiæ populi mei?

Original

Hebrew
English
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

Notes

Jeremiah 8:22

  • The balm in Gilead was a sticky sap from cuts in small evergreen trees in the highlands east of the Jordan River. Merchants sold this resin, claiming it had healing powers.

  • Jeremiah noticed the people's need for God to heal their deep spiritual sickness. The people only saw the physical signs of God's judgment and refused to admit their spiritual rebellion caused their problems. The African-American spiritual “There Is a Balm in Gilead” identifies Jesus as the ultimate balm for our souls.

Jeremiah 8:21–22

Jeremiah felt the pain of his people. The close relationship between the Lord and his prophet means that sometimes "I" or "me" can refer to the Lord too. The Lord also feels the pain of his people (compare Matthew 23:37).

Jeremiah 8:18–9:26

The priests in the Temple memorized and repeated prayers as part of their rituals. They believed using the exact words was crucial; otherwise, the prayers lost their magical power. The character of the priests saying the prayers was not very important. This was also true for lamentations. In contrast, Jeremiah's prayers and lamentations were spontaneous and deeply personal.

Events

Places

Gilead: Mountainous region east of Jordan; tribal territory and personal name

Glossary

Balm, Balsam Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (Old Testament) Book of Jeremiah Disease Gilead (Place) Jeremiah (Person) Medicine and Medical Practice Ointment Palestine Perea Physician

Topics

Backsliders: Backsliding of Israel Balm: A Medicinal Balsam Church: Backslidden Disease: Ointments Disease: Physicians Employed For Diseases: Physicians Undertook the Cure of Doctors Gilead: Exported Spices, Balm, and Myrrh God: Saviour Impenitence: General Scriptures Concerning Medicine: General Scriptures Concerning Patriotism: General Scriptures Concerning Physician: Figurative Sciences: Medicine Sickness: Illustrative of Sin