32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith Jehovah, and that tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies and by their boasting; and I have not sent them, nor commanded them; and they profit not this people at all, saith Jehovah.
Thy prophets have seen vanity and folly for thee; and they have not revealed thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee burdens of falsehood and causes of expulsion.
Behold, ye confide in words of falsehood that cannot profit.
Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he hath caused you to trust in falsehood;
And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that [was] with him, who wrought the signs before him by which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and those that worship his image. Alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone;
Leave them alone; they are blind leaders of blind: but if blind lead blind, both will fall into a ditch.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, [that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, if any shall yet prophesy, that his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah; and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination, when ye say, Jehovah saith; and I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye speak vanity, and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And my hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the register of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah. Because, yea because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace! and there is no peace; and one buildeth up a wall, and lo, they daub it with untempered [mortar] -- say unto them which daub it with untempered [mortar] that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing rain, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall burst forth. And lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing with which ye have daubed [it]? Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will cause to burst forth a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing rain in mine anger, and hail-stones in fury for utter destruction. And I will break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered [mortar], and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered; and it shall fall, and ye shall be destroyed in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah. And I will accomplish my fury upon the wall, and upon them that daub it with untempered [mortar], and will say unto you, The wall is no [more], neither they that daubed it, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see a vision of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord Jehovah. And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the women that sew pillows for all wrists, and that make veils for the head [of persons] of every stature to catch souls! Will ye catch the souls of my people, and will ye save your own souls alive?
If there arise among you a prophet, or one that dreameth dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass that he told unto thee, when he said, Let us go after other gods, whom thou hast not known, and let us serve them, -- thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for Jehovah your God proveth you, to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after Jehovah your God, and ye shall fear him, and his commandments shall ye keep, and his voice shall ye hear; and ye shall serve him, and unto him shall ye cleave. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; for he hath spoken revolt against Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, -- to draw thee out of the way that Jehovah thy God commanded thee to walk in; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, who is to thee as thy soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods (whom thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; of the gods of the peoples which are round about you, near unto thee, or far from thee, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth), thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye spare him, neither shalt thou pity him, neither shalt thou screen him, but thou shalt in any case kill him: thy hand shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; and thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; for he hath sought to draw thee away from Jehovah thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; and all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wicked thing as this in thy midst. If in one of thy cities, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee to dwell there, thou hearest, saying, There are men, children of Belial, gone out from among you, and they have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom ye have not known; then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and if it be truth, [and] the thing be certain, that this abomination hath happened in the midst of thee, thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, devoting it to destruction, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And all the spoil of it shalt thou gather into the midst of the open place thereof, and shalt burn the city with fire, and all the spoil thereof, wholly to Jehovah thy God; and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again. And thou shalt not let anything cleave to thy hand of the devoted thing; that Jehovah may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; when thou hearkenest to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, that thou mayest do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsehood unto you in my name: Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall smite them before your eyes. And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; because they have committed infamy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken words of falsehood in my name, which I had not commanded them: and I [am] he that knoweth, and [am] witness, saith Jehovah.
And the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, Hear now, Hananiah: Jehovah hath not sent thee; and thou makest this people to trust in falsehood. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, for thou hast spoken revolt against Jehovah. And the prophet Hananiah died in the same year in the seventh month.
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you. For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, yet they prophesy falsely in my name; in order that I should drive you out, and that ye should perish, ye, and the prophets who prophesy unto you. And I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy falsehood unto you. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a waste? But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day of my visiting them, saith Jehovah; then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.
I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy falsehood in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, and had caused my people to hear my words, then would they have turned them from their evil way and from the wickedness of their doings.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they lead you to vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
[As for] my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people! they that guide thee mislead [thee], and destroy the way of thy paths.
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.