Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Jeremiah 23:34

in Jeremiah 23

As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.

KJV

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house.

⋯

This verse in Jeremiah 23

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

That shall say - That is, that shall in derision say thus, mocking at my threatenings. And his house - I will not only punish him, but his whole family.

This site's exposition

Now when this people or a

on Jeremiah 23:33-40

The Hebrew massa means both a burden carried and an oracle spoken, and the people ask, “What is the burden of the LORD?” as a taunt. The LORD answers, “I will forsake you,” then punishes prophet, priest and people, since “you pervert the words of the living God.”

This site's exposition

I will punish that man and his household

Saying burden of the LORD had become a jeer at Jeremiah's messages of doom. Wesley notes the punishment reaches the mocker's whole household. Prophet, priest and people are all included.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 33 and following) So if this people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, saying: what is the burden of God (or what is the assumption of the Lord)? you shall say to them: You are the burden (or assumption). For I will cast (or hurl) you away, says the Lord. And the prophet and the priest and the people, who says the burden (or assumption) of the Lord, I will visit (or avenge) upon that man and upon his house.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

5 Behold, the days come, saith the L ORD , that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE L ORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v5-6

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people,.... Be they one or the other, or all of them; no regard will be had to their character and office, rank and dignity: that shall say, the burden of the Lord; using that phrase in a bantering and ludicrous manner: I will even punish that man and his house; not only he, but his family, shall suffer for it.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • וְהַנָּבִ֤יאand the prophet

    vehanavi'H5030 →314 times

  • וְהַכֹּהֵן֙and the priest

    vehakohenH3548 →750 times

  • וְהָעָ֔םand the people

    vehaamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יֹאמַ֖רhe will say

    yomarH559 →5305 times

  • מַשָּׂ֣א[the] burden of

    masa'H4853 →66 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וּפָקַדְתִּ֛יand I will visit [judgment]

    ufakadtiH6485 →303 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאִ֥ישׁthe person

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • הַה֖וּא<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • בֵּיתֽוֹ׃house his

    beitoH1004 →2046 times

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

Related verses

5 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.

Zechariah 13:3And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.3 worksJeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.3 worksJeremiah 36:31I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.”3 worksLamentations 2:14The 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.2 worksJeremiah 51:47Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen 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

    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.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 5:31

      The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

    • Ezekiel 22:28

      Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

    • Isaiah 58:1

      “Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

    • Ezekiel 22:25

      The 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.

    • Micah 3:5–7

      This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…

  • Through

    Zechariah 13:3

    And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 13:6–11

      If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor…

    • Deuteronomy 18:20

      But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put…

    • Ezekiel 14:9

      But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My…

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 23 →