Jeremiah 8:6

“I hearkened and heard, etc.] These are either, the words of the prophet, as Kimchi and Abarbinel think; who listened and attended to, and made his observations upon, the words and actions, conduct and behaviour, of this people, of which he gives an account: or of the Lord himself, as the Targum; who hearkened to the language of their hearts and actions, and heard the words of their mouth; all that they spoke against him, against his prophets, and those that feared his name; all their lying words, their false swearing; all their oaths and curses, and every idle expression that dropped from them; all which he takes notice of, and men are accountable to him for them: but they spake not aright:…”

“spake not aright--that is, not so as penitently to confess that they acted wrong. Compare what follows. every one . . . his course--The Keri reads "course," but the Chetib, "courses." "They persevere in the courses whatever they have once entered on." Their wicked ways were diversified. horse rusheth--literally, "pours himself forth," as water that has burst its embankment. The mad rapidity of the war horse is the point of comparison (Job 39:19-25).”

“I hearkened and heard - God, before passing sentence, carefully listens to the words of the people. Compare Genesis 11:5, where the divine judgment is preceded by the Almighty going down to see the tower. Not aright - Or, “not-right;” which in the Hebrew idiom means that which is utterly wrong. No man repented - The original phrase is very striking: No “man had pity upon his own wickedness.” If men understood the true nature of sin, the sinner would repent out of very pity upon himself. As the horse rusheth - literally, “overfloweth.” It is a double metaphor; first, the persistence of the people in sin is compared to the fury which at the sound of the trumpet seizes upon the war-horse; and…”

“I - God. Jeremiah 8:7”

“8:6 The Lord, who can listen to everything (cp. Luke 12:3), heard the people even when they talked in private. Not a word correlated with reality, and no one was sorry for doing wrong. Like a horse galloping into battle with no thought of death or danger, they did not consider the consequences of their sins.”

“hearkened: Job 33:27, Job 33:28; Psa 14:2; Isa 30:18; Mal 3:16; Pe2 3:9 no: Jer 5:1; Isa 59:16; Eze 22:30; Mic 7:2 saying: Job 10:2; Eze 18:28; Hag 1:5, Hag 1:7; Luk 15:17-19 as: Jer 2:24, Jer 2:25; Job 39:19-25 Jeremiah 8:7”