5 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give to David a true Branch, and he will be ruling as king, acting wisely, doing what is right, and judging uprightly in the land.
In that day will the young growth of the Lord be beautiful in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride of those who are still living in Israel.
See, my servant will do well in his undertakings, he will be honoured, and lifted up, and be very high.
For his growth was like that of a delicate plant before him, and like a root out of a dry place: he had no grace of form, to give us pleasure;
Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
And say to him, These are the words of the Lord of armies: See, the man whose name is the Branch, under whom there will be fertile growth. And he will be the builder of the Temple of the Lord; and the glory will be his, and he will take his place as ruler on the seat of power; and Joshua will be a priest at his right hand, and between them there will be a design of peace.
Give ear now, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who are seated before you; for these are men who are a sign: for see, I will let my servant the Branch be seen.
And there will come a rod out of the broken tree of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will give fruit. And the spirit of the Lord will be resting on him, the spirit of wisdom and good sense, the spirit of wise guiding and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And he will not be guided in his judging by what he sees, or give decisions by the hearing of his ears: But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer. And righteousness will be the cord of his robe, and good faith the band round his breast.
But they will be servants to the Lord their God and to David their king, whom I will give back to them.
See, a king will be ruling in righteousness, and chiefs will give right decisions. And a man will be as a safe place from the wind, and a cover from the storm; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a waste land.
Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
In that day I will put up the tent of David which has come down, and make good its broken places; and I will put up again his damaged walls, building it up as in the past;
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will have Israel and Judah planted with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God! See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him. He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.
And the Lord was pleased ... see a seed, long life, ... will do well in his hand. ...
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah: Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says the Lord. But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their inner parts, writing it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And no longer will they be teaching every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Get knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for they will have my forgiveness for their evil-doing, and their sin will go from my memory for ever. These are the words of the Lord, who has given the sun for a light by day, ordering the moon and stars for a light by night, who puts the sea in motion, causing the thunder of its waves; the Lord of armies is his name. If the order of these things before me is ever broken, says the Lord, then will the seed of Israel come to an end as a nation before me for ever. This is what the Lord has said: If the heavens on high may be measured, and the bases of the earth searched out, then I will give up the seed of Israel, because of all they have done, says the Lord. See, the days are coming, says the Lord, for the building of the Lord's town, from the tower of Hananel to the doorway of the angle.
<Of Solomon.> Give the king your authority, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. May he be a judge of your people in righteousness, and make true decisions for the poor.
Even to the tree which was planted by your right hand, and to the branch which you made strong for yourself.
This is what the Lord has said: Do what is right, judging uprightly, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away: do no wrong and be not violent to the man from a strange country and the child without a father and the widow, and let not those who have done no wrong be put to death in this place.
Are you to be a king because you make more use of cedar than your father? did not your father take food and drink and do right, judging in righteousness, and then it was well for him?
The Lord has said, Let this man be recorded as having no children, a man who will not do well in all his life: for no man of his seed will do well, seated on the seat of the kingdom of David and ruling again in Judah.
For see, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will let the fate of my people Israel and Judah be changed, says the Lord: and I will make them come back to the land which I gave to their fathers, so that they may take it for their heritage.
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give effect to the good word which I have said about the people of Israel and the people of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will let a Branch of righteousness come up for David; and he will be a judge in righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will have salvation and Jerusalem will be safe: and this is the name which will be given to her: The Lord is our righteousness.
Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel, And say, This is what the Lord has said: A great eagle with great wings, full of long feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: Biting off the highest of its young branches, he took it to the land of Canaan, and put it in a town of traders. And he took some of the seed of the land, planting it in fertile earth, placing it by great waters; he put it in like a willow-tree. And its growth went on and it became a vine, low and widely stretching, whose branches were turned to him and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, putting out branches and young leaves. And there was another eagle with great wings and thick feathers: and now this vine, pushing out its roots to him, sent out its branches in his direction from the bed where it was planted, so that he might give it water. He had it planted in a good field by great waters so that it might put out branches and have fruit and be a strong vine. Say, This is what the Lord has said: Will it do well? will he not have its roots pulled up and its branches cut off, so that all its young leaves may become dry and it may be pulled up by its roots? And if it is planted will it do well? will it not become quite dry at the touch of the east wind, drying up in the bed where it was planted?
This is what the Lord has said: Further, I will take the highest top of the cedar and put it in the earth; cutting off from the highest of his young branches a soft one, I will have it planted on a high and great mountain; It will be planted on the high mountain of Israel: it will put out branches and have fruit and be a fair cedar: under it all birds of every sort will make their living-place, resting in the shade of its branches. And it will be clear to all the trees of the field that I the Lord have made low the high tree and made high the low tree, drying up the green tree and making the dry tree full of growth; I the Lord have said it and have done it.
And I will give them planting-places of peace, and they will no longer be wasted from need of food or put to shame by the nations.
Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 23
Commentary on Jeremiah 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Jer 23:1-40. The Wicked Rulers to Be Superseded by the King, Who Should Reign over the Again United Peoples, Israel and Judah.
This forms the epilogue to the denunciations of the four kings, in Jer 21:1-22:30.
1. pastors—Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah (Eze 34:2).
2. Ye have not … visited them … I will visit upon you—just retribution. Play upon the double sense of "visit." "Visit upon," namely, in wrath (Ex 32:34).
3, 4. Restoration of Judah from Babylon foretold in language which in its fulness can only apply to the final restoration of both "Judah" and "Israel" (compare Jer 23:6); also "out of all countries," in this verse and Jer 23:8; also, "neither shall they be lacking," that is, none shall be missing or detached from the rest: a prophecy never yet fully accomplished. It holds good also of the spiritual Israel, the elect of both Jews and Gentiles (Mal 3:16, 17; Joh 10:28; 17:12). As to the literal Israel also, see Jer 32:37; Isa 54:13; 60:21; Eze 34:11-16.
shepherds … shall feed them—(Jer 3:15; Eze 34:23-31). Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Maccabees were but typical of the consummating fulfilment of these prophecies under Messiah.
5. As Messianic prophecy extended over many years in which many political changes took place in harmony with these, it displayed its riches by a variety more effective than if it had been manifested all at once. As the moral condition of the Jews required in each instance, so Messiah was exhibited in a corresponding phase, thus becoming more and more the soul of the nation's life: so that He is represented as the antitypical Israel (Isa 49:3).
unto David—Hengstenberg observes that Isaiah dwells more on His prophetical and priestly office, which had already been partly set forth (De 18:18; Ps 110:4). Other prophets dwell more on His kingly office. Therefore here He is associated with "David" the king: but in Isa 11:1 with the then poor and unknown "Jesse."
righteous Branch—"the Branch of righteousness" (Jer 33:15); "The Branch" simply (Zec 3:8; 6:12); "The Branch of the Lord" (Isa 4:2).
prosper—the very term applied to Messiah's undertaking (Isa 52:13, Margin; Isa 53:10). Righteousness or justice is the characteristic of Messiah elsewhere, too, in connection with our salvation or justification (Isa 53:11; Da 9:24; Zec 9:9). So in the New Testament He is not merely "righteous" Himself, but "righteousness to us" (1Co 1:30), so that we become "the righteousness of God in Him" (Ro 10:3, 4; 2Co 5:19-21; Php 3:9).
execute judgment and justice in the earth—(Ps 72:2; Isa 9:7; 32:1, 18). Not merely a spiritual reign in the sense in which He is "our righteousness," but a righteous reign "in the earth" (Jer 3:17, 18). In some passages He is said to come to judge, in others to reign. In Mt 25:34, He is called "the King." Ps 9:7 unites them. Compare Da 7:22, 26, 27.
6. Judah … Israel … dwell safely—Compare Jer 33:16, where "Jerusalem" is substituted for "Israel" here. Only Judah, and that only in part, has as yet returned. So far are the Jews from having enjoyed, as yet, the temporal blessings here foretold as the result of Messiah's reign, that their lot has been, for eighteen centuries, worse than ever before. The accomplishment must, therefore, be still future, when both Judah and Israel in their own land shall dwell safely under a Christocracy, far more privileged than even the old theocracy (Jer 32:37; De 33:28; Isa 54:1-17; 60:1-22; 65:17-25; Zec 14:11).
shall be called, the Lord—that is, shall be (Isa 9:6) "Jehovah," God's incommunicable name. Though when applied to created things, it expresses only some peculiar connection they have with Jehovah (Ge 22:14; Ex 17:15), yet when applied to Messiah it must express His Godhead manifested in justifying power towards us (1Ti 3:16).
our—marks His manhood, which is also implied in His being a Branch raised unto David, whence His human title, "Son of David" (compare Mt 22:42-45).
Righteousness—marks His Godhead, for God alone can justify the ungodly (compare Ro 4:5; Isa 45:17, 24, 25).
7, 8. Repeated from Jer 16:14, 15. The prophet said the same things often, in order that his sayings might make the more impression. The same promise as in Jer 23:3, 4. The wide dispersion of the Jews at the Babylonish captivity prefigures their present wider dispersion (Isa 11:11; Joe 3:6). Their second deliverance is to exceed far the former one from Egypt. But the deliverance from Babylon was inferior to that from Egypt in respect to the miracles performed and the numbers delivered. The final deliverance under Messiah must, therefore, be meant, of which that from Babylon was the earnest.
9. because of the prophets—so the Masorites and Targum. But Vulgate, Septuagint, &c., make this the inscription of the prophecy, Concerning the Prophets: as in Jer 46:2; 48:1; 49:1. Jeremiah expresses his horror at the so-called "prophets" not warning the people, though iniquity so fearfully abounded, soon to be followed by awful judgments.
bones shake—(Hab 3:16).
drunken—God's judgments are represented as stupefying like wine. The effects of the Holy Spirit also are compared to those of wine (Ac 2:17). In both cases ecstasy was produced. This accounts for the denial of wine to those likely to be inspired, Nazarites, &c. (Lu 1:15). It was necessary to put it out of men's power to ascribe inspired ecstasy to the effects of wine.
because of … words of … holiness—because of Jehovah's holy words, wherewith He threatened severe penalties, soon to be inflicted, against the breakers of His law.
10. adulterers—spiritual, that is, forsakers of God, Israel's true Husband (Isa 54:5) for idols, at the instigation of the false "prophets" (Jer 23:9, 15). Literal adultery and fornication, the usual concomitants of idolatry, are also meant.
swearing—Maurer, &c., translate, "Because of the curse (of God on it), the land mourneth" (De 27:15-26; 28:15-68; Isa 24:6). More than usual notoriety had been given to the curses of the law, by the finding and reading of it in Josiah's time (2Ki 22:11, &c.). But Ho 4:2, 3, favors English Version (compare Jer 12:4). A drought was sent by God on the pastures ("pleasant places," oases) in the desert, on account of the "profaneness" of the priests, prophets, and people (Jer 23:11).
course … evil—They (both prophets and people) rush into wickedness (Jer 23:21; Isa 59:7).
force … not right—Their powers are used not on the side of rectitude, but on that of falsehood.
11. profane—(Eze 23:39; Zep 3:4).
in my house—(Jer 7:30). They built altars to idols in the very temple (2Ki 23:12; Eze 8:3-16). Compare as to covetousness under the roof of the sanctuary, Mt 21:13; Joh 2:16.
12. slippery ways in … darkness—Their "way" is their false doctrine which proves fatal to them (Jer 13:16; Ps 35:6; Pr 4:19).
I will bring evil … visitation—still more calamities than those already inflicted. See on Jer 11:23; "visitation," namely, in wrath.
13. folly—literally, "insipidity," "unsavouriness" (Job 6:6), not having the salt of godliness (Col 4:6).
in Baal—in the name of Baal; in connection with his worship (see Jer 2:8).
caused … to err—(Isa 9:16).
14. "Jerusalem" and Judah were even worse than "Samaria" and the ten tribes; the greater were the privileges of the former, the greater was their guilt. They had the temple in their midst, which the ten tribes had not; yet in the temple itself they practised idolatry.
strengthen … hands of evildoers—(Eze 13:22).
as Sodom—(De 32:32; Isa 1:10).
15. gall—poison (see on Jer 8:14; Jer 9:15).
16. make you vain—They seduce you to vanity, that is, idolatry, which will prove a vain trust to you (Jer 2:5; 2Ki 17:15; Jon 2:8), [Gesenius]. Rather, "they delude you with vain promises of security" (Jer 23:17; compare Ps 62:10) [Maurer].
of their own heart—of their own invention (Jer 23:21; Jer 14:14).
17. say still—Hebrew, "say in saying," that is, say incessantly.
peace—(Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10; Zec 10:2).
imagination—Hebrew, "obstinacy."
no evil—(Mic 3:11).
18. A reason is given why the false prophets should not be heeded: They have not stood in the counsels of Jehovah (an image from ministers present in a standing posture at councils of Eastern kings) (compare Jer 23:22; Job 15:8). The spiritual man alone has the privilege (Ge 18:17; Ps 25:14; Am 3:7; Joh 15:15; 1Co 2:16).
19. So far from all prosperity awaiting the people as the false prophets say (Jer 23:17), wrath is in store for them.
grievous—literally, "eddying," whirling itself about, a tornado. In Jer 30:23, "continuing" is substituted for "grievous."
fall grievously—it shall be hurled on.
20. in … latter days—that is, "the year of their visitation" (Jer 23:12). Primarily the meaning is: the Jews will not "consider" now God's warnings (De 32:29); but when the prophecies shall be fulfilled in their Babylonish exile, they will consider and see, by bitter experience, their sinful folly. The ultimate scope of the prophecy is: the Jews, in their final dispersion, shall at last "consider" their sin and turn to Messiah "perfectly" (Ho 3:5; Zec 12:5, 10-14; Lu 13:35).
21. sent … spoken—"sent" refers to the primary call: "spoken" to the subsequent charges given to be executed. A call is required, not only external, on the part of men, but also internal from God, that one should undertake a pastor's office [Calvin].
22. stood in … counsel—(Jer 23:18).
they should have turned them from their evil way—They would have given such counsels to the people as would have turned them from their sins (Jer 25:5; Isa 55:11), and so would have averted punishment. Their not teaching the law in which God's counsel is set forth proves they are not His prophets, though they boast of being so (Mt 7:15-20).
23. 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?
24. (Ps 139:7, &c.; Am 9:2, 3).
fill heaven and earth—with My omniscience, providence, power, and essential being (1Ki 8:27).
25. dreamed—I have received a prophetic communication by dream (Nu 12:6; De 13:1, &c. Joe 2:28).
26. prophets—a different Hebrew form from the usual one, "prophesiers." "How long," cries Jeremiah, impatient of their impious audacity, "shall these prophecy-mongers go on prophesying lies?" The answer is given in Jer 23:29-34.
27. They "think" to make My people utterly to forget Me. But I will oppose to those dreamers my true prophets.
fathers … for Baal—(Jud 3:7; 8:33, 34).
28. God answers the objection which might be stated, "What, then, must we do, when lies are spoken as truths, and prophets oppose prophets?" Do the same as when wheat is mixed with chaff: do not reject the wheat because of the chaff mixed with it, but discriminate between the false and the true revelations. The test is adherence to, or forgetfulness of, Me and My law (Jer 23:27).
that hath a dream—that pretends to have a divine communication by dream, let him tell it "faithfully," that it may be compared with "my word" (2Co 4:2). The result will be the former (both the prophets and their fictions) will soon be seen to be chaff; the latter (the true prophets and the word of God in their mouth) wheat (Ps 1:4; Ho 13:3).
29. As the "fire" consumes the "chaff," [Jer 23:28], so "My word" will consume the false prophets (Mt 3:12; Heb 4:12). "My word" which is "wheat" [Jer 23:28], that is, food to the true prophet and his hearers, is a consuming "fire," and a crushing "hammer" (Mt 21:44) to false prophets and their followers (2Co 2:16). The Word of the false prophets may be known by its promising men peace in sin. "My word," on the contrary, burns and breaks the hard-hearted (Jer 20:9). The "hammer" symbolizes destructive power (Jer 50:23; Na 2:1, Margin).
30. steal my words—a twofold plagiarism; one steals from the other, and all steal words from Jehovah's true prophets, but misapply them (see Jer 28:2; Joh 10:1; Re 22:19).
31. use—rather, "take" their tongue: a second class (compare Jer 23:30) require, in order to bring forth a revelation, nothing more than their tongues, wherewith they say, He (Jehovah) saith: they bungle in the very formula instead of the usual "Jehovah saith," being only able to say "(He) saith."
32. Third class: inventors of lies: the climax, and worst of the three.
lightness—wanton inventions (Zep 3:4).
not profit—that is, greatly injure.
33. 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)? Jeremiah indignantly repeats their own question, Do you ask, What burden? This, then, it is, "I will forsake you." My word is burdensome in your eyes, and you long to be rid if it. You shall get your wish. There will be no more prophecy: I will forsake you, and that will be a far worse "burden" to you.
34. The burden—Whoever shall in mockery call the Lord's word "a burden," shall be visited (Margin) in wrath.
35. 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?"
36. every man's word … his burden—As they mockingly call all prophecies burdens, as if calamities were the sole subject of prophecy, so it shall prove to them. God will take them at their own word.
living God—not lifeless as their dumb idols, ever living so as to be able to punish.
39. I will … forget you—just retribution for their forgetting Him (Ho 4:6). But God cannot possibly forget His children (Isa 49:15). Rather for "forget" translate, "I will altogether lift you up (like a 'burden,' alluding to their mocking term for God's messages) and cast you off." God makes their wicked language fall on their own head [Calvin]. Compare Jer 23:36: "every man's word shall be his burden."
40. not be forgotten—If we translate Jer 23:39 as English Version, the antithesis is, though I forget you, your shame shall not be forgotten.