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Jeremiah 23:11

in Jeremiah 23

“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah.

KJV

For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

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This verse in Jeremiah 23

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

on Jeremiah 23:11-12

(Vers. 11, 12.) For the prophet and the priest have become polluted, and in my house I have found their evils," says the Lord. "Therefore, their way will be like a slippery path in the darkness. They will be pushed and fall in it, for I will bring upon them the year of their visitation," says the Lord. "When evils are found in the Church of God, especially in its leaders, let us know that the prophecy and the priesthood have become polluted. In my house I have found their evils," says the Lord.

This site's exposition

Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets

on Jeremiah 23:9-15

The prophet's own body carries the weight of what he denounces, his heart broken, his bones shaking, likened to a drunken man overcome with wine, grief physically indistinguishable from the trembling wine produces. The charge against the prophets of Jerusalem goes further than the prophets of Samaria who prophesied in Baal: these commit adultery, walk in lies, and strengthen the hands of evildoers so that none returns from wickedness, named outright as Sodom and Gomorrah at verse 14. The sentence at verse 15, wormwood to eat and the water of gall to drink, matches the crime to its cure, and the commentators read profaneness gone forth into all the land as the specific charge, corruption spreading outward from the very house meant to guard against it.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For both prophet and priest are profane - While by their office they are consecrated to God, they have made themselves common and unholy by their sins. See Jer 3:9 note. Yea, in my house - This may refer to sins such as those of the sons of Eli 1Sa 2:22, or that they had defiled the temple by idolatrous rites.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

both prophet and priest Even these, from whom everyone learns.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Jeremiah 23:11:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
like slippery places Smooth ground upon which the foot slips and the person falls.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Jeremiah 23:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • גַם־both

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • נָבִ֥יאprophet

    navi'H5030 →314 times

  • גַם־as well as

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • כֹּהֵ֖ןpriest

    kohenH3548 →750 times

  • חָנֵ֑פוּthey are polluted

    chanefuH2610 →11 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • בְּבֵיתִ֛יin house my

    beveitiH1004 →2046 times

  • מָצָ֥אתִיI have found

    matzatiH4672 →455 times

  • רָעָתָ֖םwickedness their

    raatamH7451 →662 times

  • נְאֻם־[the] utterance of

    neum-H5002 →376 times

  • יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 6:13“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.9 worksMalachi 1:6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’9 worksZephaniah 3:4Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.6 worksMatthew 21:12–13Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.5 worksEzekiel 23:39On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.4 worksJeremiah 32:34They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 13:1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,4 worksJeremiah 8:10Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.3 works2 Chronicles 36:14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.3 worksJeremiah 11:15What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom, so that you can rejoice?3 worksJeremiah 7:30For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.3 worksJeremiah 7:10–11and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?3 worksEzekiel 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.3 worksJeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?2 worksEzekiel 8:11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.2 works2 Chronicles 33:7Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.2 worksEzekiel 8:5–6“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.2 worksEzekiel 22:25–26The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 6:13

    “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

    it leads to

    • Micah 3:11

      Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 8:10

      Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…

  • Through

    Zephaniah 3:4

    Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 22:26

      Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They…

    • Malachi 2:8

      But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.

    • Lamentations 2:14

      The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.

    • Hosea 9:7

      The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 32:34

    They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 7:30

      For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 23:39

    On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 21:4

      Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 23 →