Jeremiah 8:8–9
"The pen of the scribes is in vain": a lying pen and a written law
"How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain." The Hebrew says that "the lying pen of the scribes" has turned the torah into a lie. Whether the verse attacks the writing down of the law (some link it to Deuteronomy), false interpretation, or the scribes' handling of it, is debated. 4QJer-a preserves "the lying pen of the scribes."
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
- The words as first spoken or writtenlate 7th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
- 4QJer-a (4Q70), Qumran Cave 4c. 200 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written
- Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The words as first spoken or written
Every witness, in order
late 7th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
The words as first spoken or written
No original survives, and Jeremiah circulated in at least two ancient Hebrew editions: a shorter one behind the Old Greek and the longer one preserved as the Masoretic Text. The oldest copies are six fragmentary Qumran manuscripts (2QJer, 4QJer-a to 4QJer-e), from about 200 BC to the 1st century AD.
c. 200 BC (palaeography; reported)
4QJer-a (4Q70), Qumran Cave 4
How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.
Hebrew numbering: Jeremiah 8:8–9. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Preserves the end of v. 8, "the lying pen of the scribes," as in the Masoretic Text; the beginning of the verse is restored.
Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Quomodo dicitis: Sapientes nos sumus, et lex Domini nobiscum est? vere mendacium operatus est stylus mendax scribarum! Confusi sunt sapientes; perterriti et capti sunt: verbum enim Domini projecerunt, et sapientia nulla est in eis.
Latin numbering: Jeremiah 8:8–9. Jerome translated Jeremiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
אֵיכָ֤ה תֹֽאמְרוּ֙ חֲכָמִ֣ים אֲנַ֔חְנוּ וְתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה אִתָּ֑נוּ אָכֵן֙ הִנֵּ֣ה לַשֶּׁ֣קֶר עָשָׂ֔ה עֵ֖ט שֶׁ֥קֶר סֹפְרִֽים׃ הֹבִ֣ישׁוּ חֲכָמִ֔ים חַ֖תּוּ וַיִּלָּכֵ֑דוּ הִנֵּ֤ה בִדְבַר־יְהוָה֙ מָאָ֔סוּ וְחָכְמַֽת־מֶ֖ה לָהֶֽם׃
How can you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? But look, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie (v. 8)
Hebrew numbering: Jeremiah 8:8–9.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. 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?
Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872
Greek Jeremiah (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Comment direz-vous: Nous sommes sages, et la loi du Seigneur est avec nous? La plume menteuse de vos scribes écrit des erreurs; Vos sages ont été confondus, et ils ont tremblé, et ils ont été pris, parce qu’ils ont rejeté la loi du Seigneur; quelle sagesse y a-t-il donc en eux?
Greek (digital file) numbering: Jeremiah 8:8–9. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only), in the Greek book's own order and verse numbering; a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Jeremiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart.
What changed, and why
Classification: stable text with an obscure syntax; translations differ (KJV "in vain," others "falsely").
One of the earliest biblical references to scribes as a professional group with authority over written torah.
See "Baruch, Scrolls, and the Scribal World" (planned).
What the evidence shows
- Jeremiah 8:8 accuses scribes of a lying pen.
- Jeremiah 8:8 attacks Deuteronomy.
Sources
Related lessons
- Jeremiah 8: Is There No Balm in Gilead? →The bones of kings, princes, priests, prophets and people will be dragged from their graves and spread before the sun and moon they served (8:1–3). "Shall they fall, and not arise?"; people turn away and do not return, like a horse rushing into battle (vv. 4–6). "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times… but my people know not the judgment of the LORD" (v. 7). "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo… the pen of the scribes is in vain" (vv. 8–9). Wives and fields to others; "Peace, peace" again (vv. 10–12, a passage the Greek lacks). No grapes on the vine; poisoned water; snorting from Dan (vv. 13–17). "When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me… The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved… Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?" (vv. 18–22).