Jeremiah 8:22
22 There is still medicinal ointment ▼▼ Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”
▼ available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! ▼
▼ Heb “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” In this context the questions are rhetorical and expect a positive answer, which is made explicit in the translation.
▼▼ The prophet means by this metaphor that there are still means available for healing the spiritual ills of his people, mainly repentance, obedience to the law, and sole allegiance to God, and still people available who will apply this medicine to them, namely prophets like himself.
Why then have my dear people ▼
not been restored to health? ▼
▼ Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”
▼▼ Jeremiah is lamenting that though there is a remedy available for the recovery of his people they have not availed themselves of it.
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