Jeremiah 8:9
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?
Study Note
Study Note
The bitter irony that '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?' inverts the scribal class's self-understanding by exposing the vacuity of wisdom that has severed itself from divine revelation. The verse targets specifically those who handle and transmit the Torah ('the pen of the scribes is in vain') but have falsified or neglected its actual claims — a critique of professional religious knowledge divorced from obedience. This anticipates Pauline arguments in 1 Corinthians 1-2 about the failure of worldly wisdom and the sufficiency of divine revelation. The verse has been particularly significant in discussions of the relationship between scholarly erudition and genuine theological understanding.
Other Translations
The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
Ashamed have been the wise, They have been affrighted, and are captured, Lo, against a word of Jehovah they kicked, And the wisdom of what--have they?
The wise men are shamed, they are overcome with fear and taken: see, they have given up the word of the Lord; and what use is their wisdom to them?
Cross References
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which …
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the …
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is …
Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say …
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore …
Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have …
Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? …