Jeremiah 23:35
in Jeremiah 23This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
KJV
Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken?
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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)
The proper words for prophecy. It is to be called an answer when the people have come to inquire of Yahweh: but His word when it is sent unasked.
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
to his friend and to his brother
The people are given reverent words for asking about a prophecy. Barnes notes that answer fits a reply to someone who came to ask the LORD, and spoken fits a word He sends unasked. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see the change as a mark of new respect for the prophet.
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
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
Thus shall ye say everyone to his neighbour, and everyone to his brother,....
Note, We must always speak of the things of God reverently and seriously, and as becomes the oracles of God. It is a commendable practice to enquire after the mind of God, to enquire of our brethren what they have heard, to enquire of our prophets what they have to say from God; but then, to show that we enquire for a right end, we must do it after a right manner.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The result of My judgments shall be, ye shall address the prophet more reverentially hereafter, no longer calling his message a burden, but a divine response or word. "What hath the LORD answered?"
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| תֹאמְר֛וּ | tomeru | you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֵעֵ֖הוּ | reehu | neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וְאִ֣ישׁ | veish | and each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִ֑יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| מֶה־ | meh- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| עָנָ֣ה | ʾanah | did he answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| דִּבֶּ֖ר | diber | did he say | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
תֹאמְר֛וּyou will say
tomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֵעֵ֖הוּneighbor his
reehuH7453 →188 times
וְאִ֣ישׁand each
veishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִ֑יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
מֶה־what?
meh-H4100 →752 times
עָנָ֣הdid he answer
ʾanahH6030 →331 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
דִּבֶּ֖רdid he say
diberH1696 →1141 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
Jeremiah 33:3Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Isaiah 65:24
Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Isaiah 48:6
You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Jeremiah 29:12
Through
Hebrews 8:11No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:13
Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 54:13
Through
Jeremiah 31:34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:27
And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- 1 John 2:27
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah

This page draws on 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.
