The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
Parallel translations
- WEB The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
- KJV The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
- NKJV The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; So what wisdom do they have?
- NASB “The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, So what kind of wisdom do they have?
- NLT These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The self-styled wise are dismayed and trapped because they rejected Yahweh's word. Rejecting God's word empties any claim to wisdom.
Overview
Those who prided themselves on insight are exposed as fools, for they spurned the very revelation that is the beginning of wisdom. Jeremiah asks pointedly what wisdom can remain in people who discard God's word. The verse anchors true understanding in submission to God's revelation, the standard by which all human cleverness is measured and, in the gospel, found wanting apart from Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 119:98–100Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.
- Job 5:12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Jer 6:15Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.
- Jer 6:19Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
- Isa 19:11The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- 1 Cor 1:18–29For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Deut 4:6Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
- Ps 19:7The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Ezek 7:26Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- 2 Tim 3:15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Jer 49:7Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 8:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.