Jeremiah 23:33
in Jeremiah 23“Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? then shalt thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, saith Jehovah.
KJV
And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Burden - Here a prophecy, either (1) as being something weighty: or (2) a something said aloud. Isaiah brought the word into general use: Jeremiah never used it, though his predictions were all of impending evil. The false prophets, however, applied it in derision to Jeremiah’s prophecies, playing upon its double sense, and so turning solemn realities into mockery (see Jer 23:34). What burden? - Or, according to another reading, Ye are the burden. I will even forsake you - Rather, and I will cast you away.
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.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Awakening3 voices
The sin here charged upon them is bantering God's prophets and dialect they used, and jesting with sacred things. They asked, What is the burden of the Lord?
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 when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What is the burden--play on the double sense of the Hebrew: an oracle and a burden. They scoffingly ask, Has he got any new burden (burdensome oracle: for all his prophecies are disasters) to announce (Mal 1:1)?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
What is the burden of the Lord? - The word משא massa, here used, signifies burden, oracle, prophetic discourse; and is used by almost every prophet. But the persons in the text appear to have been mockers. “Where is this burden of the Lord?” - “What is the burden now?” To this insolent question the prophet answers in the following verses. I will ever forsake you - I will punish the prophet, the priest and the people, that speak thus, Jer 23:34. Here are burdens.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִשְׁאָלְךָ֩ | yishalekha | it will ask you | H7592 → | 171 times |
| הָעָ֨ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֜ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אֽוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| הַנָּבִ֤יא | hanavi' | the prophet | H5030 → | 314 times |
| אֽוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| כֹהֵן֙ | khohen | a priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| מַשָּׂ֖א | masa' | [is] [the] burden of | H4853 → | 66 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶם֙ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| מַשָּׂ֔א | masa' | burden | H4853 → | 66 times |
| וְנָטַשְׁתִּ֥י | venatashti | and I will abandon | H5203 → | 40 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְכִי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
יִשְׁאָלְךָ֩it will ask you
yishalekhaH7592 →171 times
הָעָ֨םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֜ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
אֽוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
הַנָּבִ֤יאthe prophet
hanavi'H5030 →314 times
אֽוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
כֹהֵן֙a priest
khohenH3548 →750 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
מַשָּׂ֖א[is] [the] burden of
masa'H4853 →66 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֤and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶם֙to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
מַשָּׂ֔אburden
masa'H4853 →66 times
וְנָטַשְׁתִּ֥יand I will abandon
venatashtiH5203 →40 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 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.
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
Nahum 1:1This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:1
This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 13:1
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zephaniah 2:13
And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
- Zechariah 9:1
Through
Isaiah 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:1–15
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Jeremiah 50:1
This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:
- Isaiah 1:1
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
- Isaiah 47:1–15
Through
Jeremiah 12:7I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:59–60
On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
- Isaiah 2:6
For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
- Psalms 78:59–60
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.