Jeremiahchapter 23

Speaks with:Jeremiah 23×9 Ezekiel 13×4 Amos 9×3 Isaiah 43×3 Jeremiah 10×2 Ezekiel 34×2

Summary

Chapter summary

Woe to the shepherds that scatter the flock: Jehovah will gather the remnant himself and set true shepherds over them. Then the Messianic promise the book turns on: 'Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness' (23:5-6): a reign still future and literal. The rest indicts the prophets who steal words: 'Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?'

Context

Prophecy · Jeremiah — Jeremiah overview

A. 1–8 Woe to the Shepherds — the Branch of Righteousness Raised Up
B. 9–22 Prophets of Samaria and Jerusalem: Adultery, Lies, and Ungathered Words
C. 23–32 Am I a God at Hand Only? What Is the Chaff to the Wheat?
D. 33–40 The Burden of the LORD Shall Be Mentioned No More

The outline

A.Woe to the Shepherds — the Branch of Righteousness Raised Upvv. 1 to 8
Read vv. 1 to 8 →
B.Prophets of Samaria and Jerusalem: Adultery, Lies, and Ungathered Wordsvv. 9 to 22
Read vv. 9 to 22 →
C.Am I a God at Hand Only? What Is the Chaff to the Wheat?vv. 23 to 32
Read vv. 23 to 32 →
D.The Burden of the LORD Shall Be Mentioned No Morevv. 33 to 40
Read vv. 33 to 40 →

The world behind this chapter

Jeremiah 23

When

The last decades of the kingdom of Judah · c. 609–588 BC

Where

Jerusalem, where the prophets of the royal court had the pulpit

Who first heard it

People who had to choose between competing preachers, all claiming a word from God

The history

Shepherd was standard court language for a king across the whole region — Babylonian and Assyrian rulers called themselves the shepherd of their people. So a charge against the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep is not a pastoral metaphor; it is an indictment of the government.

Against them stands a promise of a righteous Branch raised up for David — a shoot from a cut-down stump — who will reign as king, deal wisely, and execute justice. He is given the name The LORD our righteousness, which lands as a direct hit: the reigning king's own name, Zedekiah, meant the LORD is my righteousness.

The chapter then dissects false prophecy with unusual precision. These men steal words from one another, use their own tongues and declare it an oracle, tell dreams, and say to those who despise God that it will be well with them. The test given is whether a man has stood in the council of the LORD — the assembly around God's throne — and whether his preaching turns people from evil. Preaching that changes nobody is the evidence.

There is a wordplay in the middle of it. The Hebrew word for a prophetic message is the same word used for a heavy load. People were mocking the prophet by asking what the burden of the LORD is today, and the reply is that they themselves are the burden, and it will be dropped.

What it meant to them

The first hearers had no way to check a prophet's credentials on the spot, and this chapter hands them working tests: does the man's life match his message, and does the message make anyone repent.

The image that would have stayed with them is the wheat and the chaff. Let the dreamer tell his dream and the one with God's word speak it faithfully — what has straw in common with grain. Both come off the same threshing floor and only one of them feeds anybody.

Sources cited

Walton, Matthews and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament: Jeremiah

Every work MannaFest builds on →

The text of this chapter

This page carries no textual note on Jeremiah 23. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →

Connections from this chapter

v. 5 · A stretch of this thread

'a righteous Branch' / 'a rod out of the stem of Jesse' - prophetic restoration of the fallen throne

Isaiah 11:1→

Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

text

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.

Study this chapter

What

Kingdom of God

Jeremiah 238 verses
- Jeremiah 23:3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Jeremiah 23:17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
- Jeremiah 23:18But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it?
- Jeremiah 23:22But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”
- Jeremiah 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 23:32“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
- Read Jeremiah 23: 2 more there →
Ezekiel 134 verses
- Ezekiel 13:3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
- Ezekiel 13:6They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Ezekiel 13:7Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?
- Ezekiel 13:8Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
- Read Ezekiel 13 →
Amos 92 verses
- Amos 9:10All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
- Amos 9:14I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Read Amos 9 →
Isaiah 432 verses
- Isaiah 43:5Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
- Isaiah 43:18“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.
- Read Isaiah 43 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Jeremiah 102 verses
- Jeremiah 10:10But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Jeremiah 10:21For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
- Read Jeremiah 10 →
Ezekiel 342 verses
- Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
- Ezekiel 34:13I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
- Read Ezekiel 34 →
Jeremiah 92 verses
- Jeremiah 9:10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
- Jeremiah 9:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- Read Jeremiah 9 →
Jeremiah 132 verses
- Jeremiah 13:10These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.
- Jeremiah 13:16Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
- Read Jeremiah 13 →