Jeremiah 8:15

Jer 8:15 We looked for peace, but no good [came; and] for a time of health, and behold trouble!

Ver. 15. We looked for peace, but no good came.] Our false prophets have merely deluded us. So poor souls, when stung by the friars’ sermons, were set to penances and good deeds, which stilled them for a while, but could not yield them any lasting comfort. The soul is still ready to shift and shark in every bycorner for ease; but that will not be till it comes to Christ.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Repeated (Jer 14:19).

We looked for--owing to the expectations held out by the false prophets.

health--healing; that is, restoration from adversity.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He explains his meaning more clearly in this verse, — that the Jews in vain flattered themselves, while they entertained vain hopes. He then says that there was no reason for them to deceive themselves; for were they to promise themselves peace a hundred times, ruin would still be nigh them, and that though they hoped for a time of healing, terror would assail them. We hence see that in the last verse his purpose was to shew how foolish the people were, who thought that they would be safe by means of the remedies which seemed to be at hand, though they despised God’s judgment. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) A time of health . . .—Better, healing, or, following another etymology, a time of quietness, and behold alarm. “Peace,” in the first clause, is used in its wider sense as including all forms of good.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. See on Jer_14:19.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan,.... That is, was heard at Jerusalem. It seems to be a hyperbolical expression, showing the certainty of the coming of the Assyrian monarch and his army, to invade Judea, and besiege Jerusalem; the news of which was brought from Dan, which lay in the further part of the land; see Jer 4:15, and pointing at the way in which they should come northwards, through Phoenicia and the tribe of Dan, with a numerous cavalry of horses and horsemen: for, by "his" horses are meant Nebuchadnezzar's; unless, with Calvin, it can be thought that they are called the Lord's, because ordered and sent by him, whose war it was against the people. The Targum paraphrases the words thus,

"because they worshipped the calf that is in Dan, a king with his army shall come up against them, and carry them captive;''

and so Jarchi interprets it.

The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; his horses, strong and mighty; see Jdg 5:22 where we read of the prancings of the mighty ones; and here the Targum,

"at the voice of the treading of his strong ones, all the inhabitants of the earth shall be moved;''

and by the land trembling undoubtedly are meant the inhabitants of the land, filled with dread and consternation at the noise and near approach of the Chaldean army.

For they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; or, "the fulness of it"; which because of the certainty of it, is represented as then done: the city, and those that dwell therein; meaning not only the city of Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of it, but other cities also, the singular being put for the plural; and so the Targum,

"the cities, and they that dwell in them.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Health ... trouble - Or, “rest ... terror.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Viz. Upon the persuasion of our prophets, we expected that these troubles would never come, but all would be well; but we find ourselves merely deluded by them; we looked so long, till even our eyes failed us, but we see no remedy for us, Lam 4:17. A metaphor. Miseries are often in Scripture compared to diseases, and deliverances to healing, Deu 32:39; Psa 103:3; Jer 33:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Health; rather, healing. Another rendering is tranquility. (same sense as in Ecc_10:4) Trouble; rather, terror.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.