The Meaning of Jeremiah 8:2 Explained

Jeremiah 8:2

KJV: And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

YLT: And have spread them to sun, and to moon, And to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, And that they have served, And that they have walked after, And that they have sought, And to which they have bowed themselves, They are not gathered, nor buried, They are for dung on the face of the ground.

Darby: and they shall spread them out to the sun and to the moon and to all the host of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the ground.

ASV: and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And they shall spread  them before the sun,  and the moon,  and all the host  of heaven,  whom they have loved,  and whom they have served,  and after  whom they have walked,  and whom they have sought,  and whom they have worshipped:  they shall not be gathered,  nor be buried;  they shall be for dung  upon the face  of the earth. 

What does Jeremiah 8:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The enemy soldiers would expose these bones to the sun, moon, and stars, which the Judahites had loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshipped.
". . . as if in fulfillment of the desires of the dead, their bones are laid out upon the earth, exposed to the very astral "powers" whom once the dead had worshiped. And in the humiliation of the dead, their former heavenly masters were uncaring, complacently shining in the heavens, unconcerned about human fate on the face of the earth. Although in life the citizens of Judah had served these astral deities, offering them affection, soliciting their advice and counsel (much as their modern counterparts might read an astrological chart), in human death the futility of their actions was at last made plain." [1]
Worship of astral deities was popular in the days of Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 23:4) and later revived after Josiah"s reforms ( Ezekiel 8:16). The land would resemble a boneyard, because there would be few, if any, survivors from Judah to gather up the bones for burial (cf. ch37). Human bones would serve as fertilizer for the land instead of animal bones, which were often used for this purpose (cf. Jeremiah 16:4).

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 8

1  The calamity of the Jews, both dead and alive
4  He upbraids their foolish and shameless impenitency
13  He shows their grievous judgment;
18  and bewails their desperate estate

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 8:2 mean?

And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven which they have loved and which they have served and which they have walked after they have sought they have worshiped To not they shall be gathered nor buried like refuse on the face of the earth they shall be
וּשְׁטָחוּם֩ לַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ וְלַיָּרֵ֜חַ וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀ צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֨ר אֲהֵב֜וּם וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר עֲבָדוּם֙ וַֽאֲשֶׁר֙ הָלְכ֣וּ אַֽחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם דְּרָשׁ֔וּם הִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם לֹ֤א יֵאָֽסְפוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יִקָּבֵ֔רוּ לְדֹ֛מֶן עַל־ פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָ֖ה יִֽהְיֽוּ

וּשְׁטָחוּם֩  And  they  shall  spread  them 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁטַח  
Sense: to spread, spread abroad, stretch out.
לַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ  before  the  sun 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: שֶׁמֶשׁ  
Sense: sun.
וְלַיָּרֵ֜חַ  and  the  moon 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָרֵחַ  
Sense: moon.
וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀  and  all 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
צְבָ֣א  the  host 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host.
הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם  of  heaven 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
אֲהֵב֜וּם  they  have  loved 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר  and  which 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
עֲבָדוּם֙  they  have  served 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.
וַֽאֲשֶׁר֙  and  which 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
הָלְכ֣וּ  they  have  walked 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אַֽחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם  after 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
דְּרָשׁ֔וּם  they  have  sought 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: דַּרְיׄושׁ 
Sense: to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.
הִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ  they  have  worshiped 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁחָה  
Sense: to bow down.
יֵאָֽסְפוּ֙  they  shall  be  gathered 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָסַף 
Sense: to gather, receive, remove, gather in.
וְלֹ֣א  nor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִקָּבֵ֔רוּ  buried 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָבַר  
Sense: to bury.
לְדֹ֛מֶן  like  refuse 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דֹּמֶן  
Sense: dung (always of corpses) (fig.
פְּנֵ֥י  the  face 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
הָאֲדָמָ֖ה  of  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֲדָמָה 
Sense: ground, land.
יִֽהְיֽוּ  they  shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.