Jeremiah seems to apply Genesis 49:17 to his generation. Notice the lexical and conceptual similarities between these two verses.

Passages

Jeremiah 8:16–17	Genesis 49:17
“From Dan (דָּן) is heard the snorting of their horses (סוּס). From the sound of their neighing the whole land shakes. They enter; they consume the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. For behold, I am sending to you snakes (נחשׁ), vipers (צִפְעֹנִים) for whom there is no charm, and they will bite (נשׁך) you,” declares Yahweh.	Dan (דָּן) will be a snake (נחשׁ) on the road, an adder (שְׁפִיפֹן) on the path, one who bites (נשׁך) the heels of the horse (סוּס). It’s rider will fall backwards.

Similarities

These two short passages include the following similarities:

• Both passages are about Dan (דָּן).
• Two types of snakes are mentioned: נחשׁ in both and then the strikingly similar sounding צִפְעֹנִים (Jer 8:17) and שְׁפִיפֹן (Gen 49:17), both words having a sibilant, –ph-, and –n-.
• In both passages, the snakes bite (נשׁך).
• Both passages include horses (סוּס).
  

Precedent

There is precedent for the idea that Jeremiah has learned from and applied the text of Genesis—or at least concepts from Genesis. Jeremiah 4:2 (“nations will be blessed in him”) is widely recognized as a reflection on Genesis (Gen 18:18; 22:18; 26:4). Goldingay and Lundbom note the conceptual link between Jeremiah 4:2 and Genesis.¹ Sailhamer argues extensively for literary dependence between Jeremiah 4:2 and the text of Genesis.²

Context

The contexts of each passage are noteworthy, too. In the following verses of Jeremiah 8, the prophet asks, “Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” This overlaps with the context surrounding Genesis 49:17, which speaks about an eternal king who comes from Judah (Gen 49:10).

Furthermore, just after Genesis 49:16–17 speaks so obscurely about Dan, the author adds an additional one-liner: “I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh” (Gen 49:18). Genesis 49 is filled with poetic, parallel lines about each son of Jacob, and then there is this one-line cry to Yahweh, declaring the poet’s anticipation of Yahweh’s salvation. It’s almost like a prayer, and it comes right after the violent, chaotic scene of snake and rider associated with Dan. It’s easy to imagine the poet’s prayer—“I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh”—on the lips of Jeremiah.

Conclusion

Genesis 49 is a major literary seam within the Pentateuch. It’s one of the four major poetic sections that press pause on the story to amplify its main themes.³ Three things combine to make me think that the best way to read Jeremiah 8:16–17 is to read it in light of Genesis 49:17: (1) The lexical and conceptual similarities between the two passages, (2) the literary significance of Genesis 49, and (3) the way Jeremiah 4:2 seems to reflect upon the text of Genesis in a way that is similar.

Jeremiah seems to have reflected on the imagery and the chaotic scene associated with Dan in Genesis 49:17, and he seems to be saying in 8:16–17, at the very least, “That scene from Genesis will play out here, in Jerusalem, when the threat from the north arrives.”

1. John Goldingay, The Book of Jeremiah, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2021), 167; Jack R. Lundbom, Jeremiah 1–20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Bible 21A (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 326. ↩
2. “A comparison of Jeremiah 4:2 with specific Pentateuchal promise texts (e.g., Gen 18:18; 22:18; 26:4) suggests considerable literary dependency of Jeremiah on Genesis …” John H. Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition, and Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 483. ↩
3. I wrote more about that here. ↩