Chapter Twenty-Three

1–8. The future shepherd from the house of David. 9–22. False prophets in Jerusalem. 23–32. Dreams and prophecy. 33–40. Inappropriateness of using the word “burden”.

Jer 23:1-8. The prophet proclaims woe upon the rulers of the Judahite state for their evil administration. But while the rulers will bear the punishment assigned to them, the Lord Himself will gather the scattered Judahites and give them into the care of better shepherds and rulers. Speaking more precisely, the prophet makes clear that the true shepherd of the Judahites and Israelites will be a righteous descendant of David. Under him the people will live a righteous life and, therefore, will no longer be punished by God.

Jeremiah 23:1. Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! says the Lord. Shepherds – not only kings, but also the rulers appointed by kings to govern the people (cf. Jer 17:20; Jer 21:12). – “The sheep of My pasture” – the flock grazing in My land and therefore the flock belonging to Jehovah (cf. Jer 13:17).

Jeremiah 23:3. And I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply. Here the exile of the Judahites is attributed to God, whereas in verse 2 it is said that the shepherds scattered them. But in verse 2 is indicated the cause of God’s judgment upon the Judahites, while in verse 3 it is indicated that Jehovah Himself was the executor of the judgment.

Jeremiah 23:5. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, and He will reign as King and will act wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness on the earth. “A righteous Branch.” This name for the Messiah is already mentioned by the prophet Isaiah (Isa 4:2), and with the prophet Zechariah is taken as a well-established designation for Him among the Judahites (Zech 3:8). In what relation does this Shepherd stand to the other good shepherds mentioned in verse 4? On the basis of Jer 22:22 one can see in these many shepherds the people appointed by the future righteous Shepherd, His helpers. The Branch is called righteous because justice is the first virtue of a shepherd-ruler, and the Branch of David will fully possess it.

Jeremiah 23:6. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely; and this is the name by which He will be called: “The Lord Our Righteousness! The name to be given to the Branch by the people indicates that the Messiah will bestow so many blessings upon the chosen people that the latter will then openly confess its gratitude to Jehovah, who through the Messiah has made His people fully righteous and, therefore, worthy of all God’s mercies. Thus the well-being of the chosen people, in Jeremiah’s understanding, depends not on any external institution, not on the observance of, for example, the ceremonial law, but is the work solely of God’s grace. It is clear that here we have a prophecy of the times of New Testament justification in grace. – It must be noted that Jeremiah uses here such a name for the Messiah – “Jehovah is our righteousness” – in Hebrew “Jehovah is Zidkenu,” probably not without reference to the last king of the Judahites, who was also called “the righteousness of Jehovah” – Zidkijah in Russian: Zedekiah.

Jeremiah 23:7. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when they will no longer say, “As the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Jeremiah 23:8. but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought out and who led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where I have driven them,” and they will live in their own land. The prophet joins two moments: deliverance from Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Messiah. The prophets were not given precise information by the Spirit of God regarding the timing of events that were to come to pass (1 Pet 1:11). Jer 23:9-22. Turning to the prophets, who could also have been called shepherds of the people, Jeremiah reproaches them for the fact that they, together with the priests, lead their people to destruction. Especially are they guilty in that they close the people’s eyes to the danger threatening them. Besides, they do not themselves know what the decision of Jehovah is regarding the Judahite people. Therefore there is nothing to do but not listen to these prophets!

Jeremiah 23:9. Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and because of His holy words, Jeremiah 23:10. because the land is full of adulterers; because the land mourns because of the curse; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up, and their striving is toward evil, and their strength is unrighteousness, “Adulterers,” that is, traitors in relation to Jehovah (cf. Jer 5:7).

Jeremiah 23:14. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I see something terrible: they commit adultery and walk in lies, they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that no one turns from his wickedness; they are all like Sodom to Me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. “All of them,” that is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as is clear from the following parallel expression: “and its inhabitants.”

Jeremiah 23:18. For who has stood in the council of the Lord and seen and heard His word? Who has paid attention to His word and heard it? This verse is better translated thus: “Whoever stands in the council of Jehovah (like, for example, the prophet Isaiah at his calling, see Isa 6), he sees (all things) and hears His word. And whoever gives attention to His word, makes it heard to others (the following...).” – Then in verse 19 the content of the word heard from God will be indicated.

Jeremiah 23:19. Behold, a tempest of the Lord goes forth with fury, a whirling tempest; and it will fall on the head of the wicked. Jeremiah 23:20. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has accomplished and until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart; in the latter days you will understand this clearly. The true prophet now cannot proclaim anything joyful to the Judahite people, but only something sorrowful. – “In the latter days” – more correctly: when the end comes, when the terrible judgment upon the Judahites will begin to be carried out, then only will the short-sighted prophets understand their mistake. Jer 23:23-32. The Lord, who knows all things, knows also how the prophets deceive the people by claiming that they have received revelations from God in dreams. Their dreams, says Jehovah, cannot in any way be compared with genuine divine revelation. In the same way, the prophets of Jerusalem are not acting properly in falsely applying the ancient prophecies of true prophets to the present state of affairs.

Jeremiah 23:23. Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God from afar? Jeremiah 23:24. Can a man hide himself in a secret place where I will not see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. God is now far from the corrupt Judahites, but nonetheless He sees clearly from afar everything that is happening in Jerusalem. He hears what the prophets are saying there.

Jeremiah 23:27. Are they determined to make My people forget My name by means of their dreams, which they tell to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? The name of God, that is, the true revelation of the nature of God. This revelation is given in the law and in the words of the true prophets.

Jeremiah 23:28. The prophet who has seen a dream, let him tell it as a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has chaff in common with pure grain? says the Lord. A dream is far from being the same as a genuine revelation from God, because even if some dream is sent by God, as, for example, to Jacob, on the other hand people are capable of taking simple dreams – the play of their own imagination – for a revelation from God.

Jeremiah 23:29. Is not My word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks rock? At the present time the true word of God must breathe with anger and proclaim destruction to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 23:30. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal My words, each one from his fellow. Jeremiah 23:31. Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who use their own tongues and say, “He said. The false prophets of Jerusalem borrowed, for example, from Isaiah the comforting prophecies (chapters 7 and 8), which were spoken in completely different circumstances and had no reference to the time of the fall of the Judahite kingdom. Others invent prophecies on their own, while still others pass off their dreams as direct divine revelations. Jer 23:33-40. The prophet condemns the people’s attitude toward the word of the true prophet. Since Jeremiah was compelled to proclaim mostly a bitter future to the people, in the people’s mind a certain opinion about the prophet was formed – that he can proclaim nothing other than heavy trouble (in Hebrew “massa”) and can announce nothing else. Therefore, whenever the people, dissatisfied with the prophet Jeremiah’s prophecies, saw the prophet appear, they would mockingly ask him what new “massa” or heavy burden (in Russian translation – “burden”) he would now proclaim? The prophet therefore teaches that this ancient name for prophecy – “massa” – should not be used at all, but rather one should ask directly: What did the Lord say?

Jeremiah 23:33. When this people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, “What is the burden from the Lord?” you shall say to them, “What burden? I will abandon you, says the Lord. “Burden” – in Hebrew “massa” – from the verb “nassa.” The Hebrew word originally meant: an utterance, solemnly pronounced speech. Sometimes among the ancient prophets it also meant a threatening speech, one containing something heavy for the listeners to whom it was addressed. Hence – the second meaning of the word: burden, weight. – “What burden?” – more correctly: “you yourselves are a burden and I will cast you off.” The Lord is like a man who has grown weary of carrying too heavy a burden and wants to throw it down. The Israelite people was such a burden to the Lord. Special note. Verses 1–9 were spoken during the reign of King Zedekiah, to whom there is a clear allusion in verse 6. Verses 10–19 – probably occurred during the reign of Jehoiakim, as is evident from the mention of drought in verse 10 (cf. Jer 12:4 and chapter Jer 14:1). The further admonitions contained in this chapter could have been spoken in the days of Zedekiah.