Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryJeremiah 23

Woe. There is no indication in ch. 23 itself as to the date of this message of woe. However, seeing that the prophecy is placed between a message given before Jehoiachin’s captivity (ch. 22:20–30) and a message that immediately follows Jehoiachin’s captivity (ch. 24), it is not unreasonable to suppose that this message of ch. 23 came during the year 597 B.C. Pastors. Literally, “shepherds”; the civil rulers of Judah as well as the priests and the prophets (see on ch. 2:8). Jeremiah presents (ch. 23:1–8) the contrast between these false shepherds and the true ones that God will raise up. It is significant that about this same time, in the land of exile, Ezekiel should similarly contrast the false shepherds with the true (see Eze. 34). My pasture. A pointed reminder to the leaders of Judah that the Lord is the true Shepherd of His flock (see Ps. 23; 79:13; 100:3; John 10:11–15).

Ellen G. White

Scattered my flock. This accusation was literally as well as spiritually true. As a result of the neglect, tyranny, weakness, and apostasy of their rulers, the Israelites were dispersed into Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, etc. I will visit. See on Ps. 8:4; Ps. 59:5. Inasmuch as the unfaithful shepherds had “not visited” the flock with the purpose of attending to the needs of the sheep, God would “visit” these shepherds with the purpose of punishing them for “the evil” of their “doings.”

Bring them again. Though certain and final doom was to fall upon the “shepherds,” or rulers, there was hope for “the remnant” of the flock. The prophet brought these messages of hope to Judah at the very time when the besieging armies of Babylon were being brought against Jerusalem (see PK 427), perhaps during the time Jehoiachin was being besieged in 597 B.C. (see on v. 1).

Shall feed them. The evil shepherds “fed themselves, and fed not the flock” (Eze. 34:8). God planned that the shepherds of the restoration should be true to their name and trust, and be faithful undershepherds of the “chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:2–4).

Branch. See on Isa. 11:1; Zech. 3:8; 6:12. A King shall reign. Or, “He shall reign as King,” referring to the “Branch,” Christ, who will rule with “judgment and justice” the kingdom of the redeemed (see Isa. 9:6, 7; Dan. 7:13, 14; Rev. 11:15).

And Israel. The promise of restoration to those who were faithful was given to all the people, both the house of Judah and the house of Israel (see on ch. 3:18). The Lord our righteousness. A title calling attention to the fact that righteousness comes only through Christ (see Rom. 1:16, 17; 3:21–25; 8:1–4; 9:30–33).

Ellen G. White

No more. “In the ages to come the deliverance wrought in” behalf of God’s people “would exceed in fame that wrought for the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus” (PK 427; see on Jer. 16:14, 15).

North country. See on ch. 1:14.

Because of the prophets. This phrase somewhat abruptly begins a new part of the chapter in which the wickedness of the false prophets is denounced.

Adulterers. Both literally, with regard to the profligate lives of these false prophets, and spiritually, with reference to their worship of other gods (see on ch. 5:7). Their course. Their manner of life.

Their force. Literally, “their strength”; that on which they prided themselves, instead of on righteousness.

Profane. That is, “godless,” or “irreligious.” So iniquitous had these priests and prophets become that they dared to carry on their evil ways in the Temple, the “house of the Lord” (see Jer. 7:8–11; 32:31–34; Eze. 8:3–16).

Their visitation. That is, “their punishment” (see on Ps. 8:4; Ps. 59:5).

Folly. Heb. tiphlah, “unseemliness,” or “unsavoriness.” Jeremiah refers here to the evil of the false prophets of the northern kingdom of Israel to emphasize the greater condemnation resting upon those of the southern kingdom of Judah for their apostate condition (see ch. 3:6–10). Prophesied in Baal. That is, they gave religious instruction in the name of Baal (1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kings 22:6, 7).

An horrible thing. The hypocritical boldness of the false prophets that led them to prophesy in the Lord’s name while they transgressed the Lord’s commandments was more “horrible” to Jeremiah than even the open worship of Baal. Because of the very nature of the sin of hypocrisy, there is more hope for the open sinner than for hypocrites (see 5T 144). As Sodom. So wicked had these spiritual leaders become that, like Isaiah, Jeremiah likens them to “the inhabitants” of the cities of the plain (see Isa. 1:10).

Gall. See on chs. 8:14; 9:15. Profaneness. That is, “godlessness” (see on v. 11).

Lord of hosts. See on ch. 7:3. Make you vain. Literally, “cause you to become vain,” that is, fill you with vain hopes. This reveals the difference between the true and the false prophets. The former rebuked the people for their sins, pronouncing upon them God’s judgments if they did not repent. The latter soothed and calmed the people with deceptive assurances of peace, which did not come “out of the mouth of the Lord” (see on ch. 14:13).

Peace. See on ch. 6:14. Imagination. Rather, “stubbornness” (see chs. 3:17; 13:10; 18:12). The utterances of the false prophets confirmed the people in their iniquity instead of bringing them to repentance.

Stood in the counsel. That is, Who among these false prophets has been permitted by God to share His secret plans and purposes? See on Amos 3:7.

Whirlwind. A graphic depiction of the fury and force of God’s wrath upon the transgressors.

Not return. That is, God’s “anger” will not turn back until God’s purpose has been executed. In the latter days. After the Babylonian captivity, then God’s people will understand that it was for their chastisement and discipline (see Eze. 14:22, 23).

Yet they ran. These false prophets were like self-appointed messengers who, without waiting for the king’s command, rushed out of the royal court to announce to the people in the king’s name what they had not been commissioned to publish (see 2 Sam. 18:22–29).

In my counsel. See on v. 18. The true messenger of God is known to be so by his good fruits (Matt. 7:20, 21).

A God at hand. Whereas the true prophets carried on their work with the conviction that God was near to them in thought and action (see Ps. 73:23–26; 139:7–12), the false prophets acted as if the Lord was “afar off,” unconcerned with the purposes and deeds of men (see Ps. 10:11; 73:11; 94:7).

Can any hide? A warning in view of God’s omnipresence (see Ps. 139).

I have dreamed. The common claim of false prophets. The repetition of the phrase is for emphasis.

For Baal. See on v. 13.

What is the chaff? The Lord contrasts the real revelation He gives to men with that which is false (v. 32). It will not be difficult to see which one is “chaff” and which is “wheat.”

Ellen G. White

A fire. When the word of the Lord is expressed, it destroys the evil, purifies the good, and consumes as chaff the words of the false prophets (see Jer. 5:14; 20:9; Ps. 39:3; 1 Cor. 3:12, 13). Like a hammer. Another graphic figure of speech (cf. Matt. 21:44; Heb. 4:12).

Steal my words. The pronoun “my” indicates that these false prophets clothed their borrowed messages in the language of the true prophets to insure greater deception.

He saith. Heb. ne’um, not the ordinary Hebrew word for “speaking,” but a word that refers specifically to a divine utterance. The use of ne’um by the false prophets emphasizes the brazenness of their fraudulent claims.

By their lightness. Literally, “by their boasting.”

Burden. Heb. maśśa’, “an utterance” (see on Isa. 13:1). What burden? Evidently the false prophets haughtily demanded what divine utterance Jeremiah had for them. The repetition of the question conveys a feeling of irony. The LXX and the Vulgate read, “Ye are the burden”; that is, the message is about you and for you.

The burden of the Lord. The special judgment of God will fall upon the one who with godless abandon and boastfulness expresses these words.

What hath the Lord answered? Evidently a protest against the daringly ungodly use of the words “the burden of the Lord” (v. 34). Rejecting such deceptive teaching, Jeremiah appeals to the people to believe the true expressions of the divine will, which are the true answer to Judah’s problems and difficulties.

The Lord of hosts. See on ch. 7:3.

What hath the Lord? A repetition for emphasis (see on v. 35).

I … will utterly forget you. Or, “I will surely forget you”; a strongly emphatic way of expressing the Lord’s punishment upon these deceivers, when the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the coming Babylonian invasion would result in their captivity (see 2 Kings 25:1–21).