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Friday, August 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

New Century Version

Jeremiah 8:22

Isn't there balm in the land of Gilead? Isn't there a doctor there? So why aren't the hurts of my people healed?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Backsliders;   Balm;   Church;   Disease;   Gilead;   Impenitence;   Medicine;   Patriotism;   Physician;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Balm;   Disease;   Disease, Spiritual;   Health-Disease;   Medicine;   Physicians;   Prevention and Cure of Diseases;   Spiritual;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Diseases;   Sciences;   Sickness;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Balm, or More Properly, Balsam;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Disease;   Gilead;   Nation;   Spices;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Heal, Health;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Balm;   Gilead, Balm of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Balm;   Gilead;   Medicine;   Thorn;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Balm;   Diseases;   Health;   Ointment;   Transjordan;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balm;   Gilead;   Medicine;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Balm,;   Gilead ;   Physician;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Gilead;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Balm;   Gilead;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Balm;   Ointment;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Balm;   Christ;   Health;   Physician;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Balm;   Gilead;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Balm;   Health;   Medicine;   Physician;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Balm;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Medicine;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for November 26;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?So why has the healing of my dear peoplenot come about?
Hebrew Names Version
Is there no balm in Gil`ad? is there no physician there? why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
King James Version
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
English Standard Version
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
New American Standard Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
Amplified Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?
World English Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Geneva Bible (1587)
Is there no balme at Gilead? is there no Physition there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recouered.
Legacy Standard Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
Berean Standard Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Contemporary English Version
If medicine and doctors may be found in Gilead, why aren't my people healed?
Complete Jewish Bible
Has Gil‘ad exhausted its healing resin? Is no physician there? If there is, then why is the daughter of my people so slow to recover her health? I wish my head were made of water and my eyes were a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night over the slain of the daughter of my people!
Darby Translation
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then is there no dressing applied for the healing of the daughter of my people?
Easy-to-Read Version
Surely there is some medicine in Gilead. Surely there is a doctor in Gilead. So why are the wounds of my people not healed?
George Lamsa Translation
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no healer a there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored?
Good News Translation
Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?
Lexham English Bible
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Literal Translation
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why then has the healing of the daughter of my people not come?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for there is no more Triacle at Galaad, and there is no Phisician, that ca heale the hurte of my people.
American Standard Version
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Bible in Basic English
Is there no life-giving oil in Gilead? is there no expert in medical arts? why then have my people not been made well?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
King James Version (1611)
Is there no balme in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recouered?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Is there not triacle at Gilead? Is there no phisitio there? why then is not the health of my people recouered?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And is there no balm in Galaad, or is there no physician there? why has not the healing of the daughter of my people taken place?
English Revised Version
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether resyn is not in Galaad, ether a leche is not there? Whi therfor the wounde of the douytir of my puple is not heelid perfitli?
Update Bible Version
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then hasn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Webster's Bible Translation
[Is there] no balm in Gilead: [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered.
New English Translation
There is still medicinal ointment available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! Why then have my dear people not been restored to health?
New King James Version
Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?
New Living Translation
Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?
New Life Bible
Is there no healing oil in Gilead? Is there no doctor there? Why then have my people not been healed?
New Revised Standard
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Balsam, is there none, in Gilead? Is there no physician, there? Why hath not appeared the healing of the daughter of my people?
Douay-Rheims Bible
Is there no balm in Galaad? or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?
Revised Standard Version
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Young's Literal Translation
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?

Contextual Overview

13 "‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord . There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves will dry up and die. I will take away what I gave them.'" 14 "Why are we just sitting here? Let's get together! We have sinned against the Lord , so he has given us poisoned water to drink. Come, let's run to the strong, walled cities. The Lord our God has decided that we must die, so let's die there. 15 We hoped to have peace, but nothing good has come. We hoped for a time when he would heal us, but only terror has come. 16 From the land of Dan, the snorting of the enemy's horses is heard. The ground shakes from the neighing of their large horses. They have come and destroyed the land and everything in it, the city and all who live there." 17 "Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you. These snakes cannot be charmed, and they will bite you," says the Lord . 18 God, you are my comfort when I am very sad and when I am afraid. 19 Listen to the sound of my people. They cry from a faraway land: "Isn't the Lord still in Jerusalem? Isn't Jerusalem's king still there?" But God says, "Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols, useless foreign idols?" 20 And the people say, "Harvest time is over; summer has ended, and we have not been saved." 21 Because my people are crushed, I am crushed. I cry loudly and am afraid for them. 22 Isn't there balm in the land of Gilead? Isn't there a doctor there? So why aren't the hurts of my people healed?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

no balm: Jeremiah 46:11, Jeremiah 51:8, Genesis 37:25, Genesis 43:11

no physician: Matthew 9:11, Matthew 9:12, Luke 5:31, Luke 5:32, Luke 8:43

why: Jeremiah 30:12-17

recovered: Heb. gone up, Isaiah 1:5, Isaiah 1:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 15:26 - for I am 2 Chronicles 7:14 - heal their land 2 Chronicles 16:12 - physicians Job 13:4 - physicians Psalms 38:5 - My wounds Jeremiah 6:26 - daughter Jeremiah 9:1 - the daughter Jeremiah 14:19 - no healing Jeremiah 30:13 - hast Lamentations 2:13 - who can Ezekiel 27:17 - balm Ezekiel 34:4 - diseased Ezekiel 47:12 - medicine Hosea 11:3 - I healed Hosea 14:4 - heal Mark 5:26 - had suffered Luke 16:20 - full

Cross-References

Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had dried up from the ground.
Genesis 8:9
The dove could not find a place to land because water still covered the earth, so it came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird and brought it back into the boat.
Genesis 8:11
and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the ground was almost dry.
Genesis 8:12
Seven days later he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back.
Genesis 8:16
"You and your wife, your sons, and their wives should go out of the boat.
Genesis 8:17
Bring every animal out of the boat with you—the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. Let them have many young ones so that they might grow in number."
Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord . He took some of all the clean birds and animals, and he burned them on the altar as offerings to God.
Genesis 45:6
No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest.
Exodus 34:21
"You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the planting season and the harvest season.
Jeremiah 5:24
They do not say to themselves, ‘We should fear the Lord our God, who gives us autumn and spring rains in their seasons, who makes sure we have the harvest at the right time.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Is there no balm in Gilead?.... Which was famous for it; see

Genesis 37:25, or rather turpentine or rosin, a gum which drops from pine trees and the like; since balm or balsam grew on this side Jordan, near Jericho and Engedi, and not beyond Jordan, in the land of Gilead; and rosin is good for healing. Some render it "treacle", but very wrongly, since, as Calvin observes, that is a composition of many things,

Is there no physician there? or surgeon, anyone that heals wounds and bruises; very probably there were many such lived in Gilead, since it was a place where proper medicines were to be got and applied: this may be understood of prophets and teachers, who, in a moral and spiritual sense, are instruments of healing of men, by showing them their evil, calling them to repentance, and directing where to go for healing or pardon of sin; namely, to Christ, the alone physician, and to his precious blood, shed for the remission of sins. Some reference may be had to Elijah, who was of Gilead, and to the school of the prophets there, 1 Kings 17:1. The Targum is,

"Jeremiah the prophet said, perhaps there are no good works in me, that I should supplicate for the house of Israel; should I not desire the doctrine of Elijah the prophet, who was of Gilead, whose words were healing?''

Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? that is, seeing there is balm in Gilead, and a physician there, how comes it to pass that such medicine is not made use of, and such a physician not applied to, that health might be restored? This shows the stupidity, sluggishness, and indolence of the people, and how inexcusable they were, as well as the prophet's great concern for their welfare; the want of means of deliverance, or non-attendance to them, or the failure of them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No physician there - i. e., in Gilead. Balm used to grow in Israel for the healing of the nations. Her priests and prophets were the physicians. Has Israel then no balm for herself? Is there no physician in her who can bind up her wound? Gilead was to Israel what Israel spiritually was to the whole world.

Why then is not the health ... recovered? - Or, “why then has no bandage,” or plaster of balsam, “been laid upon my people?”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 8:22. Is there no balm in Gilead? — Yes, the most excellent in the world. "Is there no physician there?" Yes, persons well skilled to apply it. "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Because ye have not applied to the physician, nor used the balm. Ye die because ye will not use the remedy. But to apply this metaphor: - The Israelites are represented as a man dying through disease; and a disease for the cure of which the balm of Gilead was well known to be a specific, when judiciously applied by a physician. But though there be balm and a physician, the people are not cured; neither their spiritual nor political evils are removed. But what may all this spiritually mean? The people are morally diseased; they have sinned against God, and provoked him to destroy them. They are warned by the prophet to repent and turn to God: they refuse, and sin on. Destruction is come upon them. Might they not have avoided it? Yes. Was it the fault of God? No. Did he not send his prophets with the richest offers of mercy? Did he not give them time, the best instructions, and the most effectual means of returning to him? Has not mercy, the heavenly balm, been ever at hand? And has not GOD, the great Physician, been ever ready to apply it? Yes. Why then are they not converted and healed? Because they would not apply to the Divine Physician, nor receive the only remedy by which they could be spiritually healed. They, then, that sin against the only remedy must perish, because they might have had it, but would not. It is not because there is a deficiency of grace, nor of the means of grace, that men are not saved; but because they either make no use, or a bad use, of them. Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, has tasted death for every man; but few are saved, because they WILL NOT come unto him that they may have life.

In my old MS. Bible the text is rendered thus: -

Whether gumm is not in Galaad? Or a leche is not there? Why than the hid wounde of the daughter of my peple is not alle helid?

How shall they escape who neglect so great a salvation? Reader, lay this to heart; and, while there is time, apply heartily to the great Physician for thy cure.


 
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