At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

JEREMIAH 8:1KJV
Know the Bible

Jeremiah 8:1 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 8:1 mean?

Jeremiah 8:1 announces a coming disgrace for the people of Judah and Jerusalem: even the dead will not be left in peace. The verse pictures graves being opened and bones being exposed, reaching people from the highest ranks to ordinary residents.

The words “saith the LORD” present the warning as the LORD’s message through Jeremiah. Following the warning of slaughter in Jeremiah 7:32–33, this image extends the scene of disgrace beyond death to those already buried.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 8:1

  • “saith” — נְאֻם (neʾum): This word introduces a declaration. Here it marks the warning as the LORD’s own pronouncement, rather than Jeremiah’s personal prediction.
  • “bring out” — יָצָא (yatsaʾ): The word can carry the sense of causing something to come out. Here it describes bones being removed from their resting places, making the disturbing image concrete.

Why Jeremiah 8:1 matters

  • The warning reaches across social and religious ranks. The list includes kings and princes, priests and prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
  • The exposed bones are part of the passage’s picture of judgment, not merely a description of opened graves. In verse 2, the bones are spread before the heavenly bodies that the people had served and worshipped.
  • The phrase “At that time” ties the scene to the danger announced just before it. The break between chapters can make the warning seem like a new subject, but the sentence continues the preceding passage.

Where else these words appear

“graves” Hebrew H6913 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 23:4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
  • 1 Kings 13:31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
  • Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

“bones” Hebrew H6106 · used in 108 verses

  • Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
  • 1 Kings 13:31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
  • Psalms 141:7 Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.