Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, on Jer 8:14

“Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink: for we have sinned against the Lord.”

“assemble--for defense. let us be silent--not assault the enemy, but merely defend ourselves in quiet, until the storm blow over. put us to silence--brought us to that state that we can no longer resist the foe; implying silent despair. water of gall--literally, "water of the poisonous plant," perhaps the poppy (Jer 9:15; Jer 23:15).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.