Jeremiah 23:23
in Jeremiah 23“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off?
KJV
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
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This verse in Jeremiah 23
Commentary
4 notes on this verseon Jeremiah 23:23-24
(Ver. 23, 24.) Do you think that I am a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God from afar? If a man hides himself in hiding places, shall I not see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. LXX: I am a God who approaches, says the Lord, and not a God from afar. If a man hides himself in hiding places, shall I not see him? says the Lord; do I not fill heaven and earth?
This site's exposition
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off
on Jeremiah 23:23-24
The two questions answer the false prophets' working assumption, that God is too distant or too confined to notice what they invent in his name, by asserting the opposite in the plainest terms the book offers: do not I fill heaven and earth. The commentators read the pair, a God at hand and a God afar off, as covering both errors at once, the presumption that he is safely near enough to manipulate and the presumption that he is far enough away not to see. Omnipresence here is not abstract doctrine but the specific ground for verse 25's charge, that dreams invented in secret are heard exactly where they were spoken.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The eye of God is the same on earth that it is in heaven. Here it runs to and fro as well as there ( 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ); and what is in the minds of men, whose spirits are veiled in flesh, is as clearly seen by him as what is in the mind of angels, those unveiled spirits above that surround his throne.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Let not the false prophets fancy that their devices (Jer 23:25) are unknown to Me. Are ye so ignorant as to suppose that I can only see things near Me, namely, things in heaven, and not earthly things as being too remote?
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַאֱלֹהֵ֧י | haelohei | ¿ a God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מִקָּרֹ֛ב | mikaro | from near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| אָ֖נִי | ʾani | [am] I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֖י | ʾelohei | a God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מֵרָחֹֽק׃ | merachok | from a distance | H7350 → | 84 times |
הַאֱלֹהֵ֧י¿ a God
haeloheiH430 →2601 times
מִקָּרֹ֛בfrom near
mikaroH7138 →77 times
אָ֖נִי[am] I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אֱלֹהֵ֖יa God
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
מֵרָחֹֽק׃from a distance
merachokH7350 →84 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 113:5Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
it leads to
- Psalms 89:6
For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
- Jeremiah 10:6
There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Isaiah 40:25
“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Deuteronomy 33:26
“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Psalms 89:6
Through
1 Kings 20:28Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 20:13
Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day,…
- 1 Kings 17:18
“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
- 1 Kings 20:13
Through
1 Kings 20:23Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:23
They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
- 1 Kings 14:23
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.