Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 8:3

"And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Jeremiah 8:3 (ASV)

The residue of them that remain. —Once more the emphasis of reiteration, “the remnant of a remnant.” The “evil family” is the whole house of Israel, but the words contemplate specifically the exile of Judah and Benjamin, rather than that of the ten tribes.