Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 8:6

"I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle." — Jeremiah 8:6 (ASV)

I hearkened and heard - God, before passing sentence, carefully listens to the words of the people. Compare Genesis 11:5, where the divine judgment is preceded by the Almighty going down to see the tower.

Not aright - Or, “not-right;” which in the Hebrew idiom means that which is utterly wrong.

No man repented - The original phrase is very striking: No “man had pity on his own wickedness.” If men understood the true nature of sin, the sinner would repent out of sheer pity for himself.

As the horse rusheth - literally, “overflows.” It is a double metaphor: first, the persistence of the people in sin is compared to the fury which, at the sound of the trumpet, seizes the war-horse; and then its rush into the battle is likened to the overflowing of a torrent, which nothing can stop in its destructive course.