Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Jeremiah 8:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite…” at Jeremiah 8:17 in “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 8:13–17
Read Jeremiah 8:17 with 8:13–17. By itself, “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, imperial horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Withered vines, flight to fortified towns, poisoned water, and unstoppable serpents portray the collapse of expected security.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “Refusal to Return and False Peace Sustain the Wound” into “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.” Its non-interchangeable movement is: Withered vines, flight to fortified towns, poisoned water, and unstoppable serpents portray the collapse of expected security. This verse's placement is specific: The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite…” at Jeremiah 8:17 in “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.”
What Remains True
Institutions and leaders are accountable for violence, deception, exploitation, and refusal of repair. In Jeremiah 8:17, that bounded truth is carried through this verse's role: The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite…” at Jeremiah 8:17 in “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Identify the wrong and affected people without treating disaster as proof of guilt or imitating judgment rhetoric. This response follows Jeremiah 8:13–17's specific concern, “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.” This verse directs that response through its exact role: The prophetic word through Jeremiah supplies a stated reason through “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite…” at Jeremiah 8:17 in “Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close In.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 8:13–17 — Fruitlessness and Poisonous Serpents Close InSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 8:13–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 8:13–17
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 8:13–17
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗