1Jeremiah prophesieth judgment upon the evil pastors, and restoration of the scattered flock. 5Christ, the righteous Branch, is promised. 9God's fearful judgments against false prophets, 33and against those that mocked at the threatenings of the true ones.
1WOE be unto the pastorsa that 1destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
a Ezek. 34:2.
1 Or, slay, cause to perish, spoil, bring to destruction. Compare this prophecy with Ezekiel 34.
2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not 2visited them: behold, I will 3visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
2 Had not looked to them, nor regarded their prosperity.
3 That is, punish. See Gen. 21 on verse 1.
3And I will 4gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their 5folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 When I first shall gather My people out of Babel, and afterward (which is the most important of all and thereby was typified) My church both out of Jews and Gentiles by the Messiah, Who shall make one sheepfold out of both. See John 10:16.
5 Hebr. dwellings, bounds.
4And I will 6set up shepherdsb over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be 7lacking, saith the LORD.
6 Or, appoint, raise up.
b Ezek. 34:11, 12.
7 That is, none of them shall be wanting. Other, be visited, that is, be punished, be plagued, as verse 2.
5¶Behold, thec days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a 8righteous 9Branch, and a 10King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute 11judgment and justice in the earth.
c Isa. 4:2; 40:11; Jer. 33:14, 15; Dan. 9:24; Luke 1:32, 33.
8 Being without sin, immaculate, holy and righteous, yea, our righteousness, as follows, which God has caused as to bud and to blossom abundantly in Him for us.
9 Or, Sprout, Shoot, Sprig, namely, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being God’s eternal and only begotten Son, in the fullness of time, by the miraculous and incomprehensible working of the Holy Spirit, took our nature upon Him, sprouting forth from the Virgin Mary (who was of the house of David) as a new sprig from a stem, stock or trunk, which seemed to be quite withered and dead. Compare Isa. 4:2; 11:1, and see Jer. 33:15, 16; Zech. 3:8; 6:12; Heb. 7:14, where a Greek word is used, which indeed properly and for the most part answers to the going up, rising up and springing up of the sun, but is used by the Greek translators here and elsewhere for the translation of this word sprout, as it is also retained by the evangelist Luke, Luke 1:78, where Zachariah calls the Lord Christ, the dayspring from on high. Thus we likewise use this word going up, coming up, rising not only of the sun and stars, but also of herbs and fruits of the ground; to which the Hebrew word tsemach, sprout or bud properly has respect; although the Greek in Luke 1:78 there it seems to refer to the rising of the sun in the east, as some gather it from verse 79 at that place.
10 The same manner of speech is Jer. 37:1. See the annotation there, and compare Hosea 3:4, 5.
11 As a King and righteous Judge of the entire world, wasting the ungodly and saving His own. See 1 Kings 10 on verse 9.
6Ind12his days 13Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell 14safely: and this is his name whereby 15he shall be called, 16THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
d Deut. 33:28.
12 Of the Lord Christ; that is, in the time of the New Testament. See Acts 3:24.
13 Understand by Judah and Israel the church of God, called also Jerusalem, Jer. 33:16, and the people of Jesus Christ, Mat. 1:21.
14Being justified by faith, and consequently having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, etc., Rom. 5:1.
15 Or, whereby they shall call him. Hebr. he shall, etc., that is, they shall call Him, or He shall be called (as elsewhere often) namely, by His people, as the following OUR declares.
16 Compare Deut. 6 on verse 25; Judges 6 on verse 24 and further Dan. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:30. Likewise Jer. 33:16. Hebr. Jehovah Tzidkenu; which by some translators is put as such in the text as a proper name.
7Therefore, behold, thee days come, saith the LORD, that they shall 17no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
e Jer. 16:14, 15.
17 See Jer. 16:14, 15, and there the annotations.
8But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither 18I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
18 That is, the Lord.
9 ¶ 19Mine heart within me is 20broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath 21overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his 22holiness.
19 Or, As touching the prophets (understand the false) mine heart in my inmost (parts) is broken. These are the words of the prophet.
20 Of sorrow. Compare Psalm 51 on verse 17.
21 In order that he cannot use his understanding and limbs rightly.
22 That is, His holy words, which the false prophets despise and esteem as lies.
10For the land is fullf of adulterers; for because of 23swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their 24course is evil, and their force is 25not right.
f Jer. 5:7, 8; 9:2.
23 Or, cursing; it may be applied either to the curse of God upon the land, or, to the cursing and false swearing of the inhabitants. See Jer. 5:2; 12:4, and the similar use of the Hebrew word Hosea 4:2.
24 That is, their manner of life, the course of their dealings, or: their violence. See of the Hebrew word Jer. 22 on verse 17.
25 They misuse it to mere injustice.
11For 26both prophet and priest 27areg profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
26 Hebr. also prophet, also priest.
27 Or, are unholy, hypocritically, dealing profanely.
g Jer. 6:13; 8:10; 14:18.
12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as 28slipperyhways in the darkness:i they shall be driven on, and fall 29therein: for I will bring 30evil upon them, 31even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
28 Hebr. slipperinesses. See Psalm 35:6; 73:18.
h Psalm 35:6; 73:18.
i Jer. 13:16.
29 In the darkness.
30 Evil of punishment, mischief, misery.
31 As Jer. 11:23.
13And I have seen 32folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied 33in Baal, and caused my people 34Israel to err.
32 Hebr. properly: frivolity, that is, absurd, foolish things. See Job 1:22 with the annotation.
33 Or, of.
34 That is, the ten tribes.
14I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an 35horrible thing: they commit adultery, and 36walk in lies: they 37strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as 38Sodom,j and the 39inhabitants thereof as 40Gomorrah.
35 As Jer. 5:30.
36 Hebr. walk in or with falsehood.
37 Give them good courage, promising them God’s blessing and peace. See verse 17, and compare Ezek. 13:22.
38 That is, as the inhabitants of Sodom were in former times, namely, exceeding wicked.
j Isa. 1:9.
39 Of Jerusalem.
40 That is, the inhabitants of Gomorrah.
15Therefore thus saith the LORD of 41hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with 42wormwood,k and make them drink the waterl of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is 43profaneness gone forth into all the land.
41 See 1 Kings 18 on verse 15.
42 As Jer. 9:15. See there.
k Jer. 9:15.
l Jer. 8:14; 9:15.
43 Or, unholiness, hypocrisy.
16Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you 44vain: they speak a vision 45of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
44 Deceiving you by false and vain promises, in order that you shall be deceived in the end, when ever you rely on them. Compare Psalm 62 on verse 10.
45 That they themselves have invented and have not received it of Me. Compare Ezek. 13:2.
17They saym46still unto them that 47despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have 48peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
m Jer. 6:14; 8:11; Ezek. 13:10; Zech. 10:2.
46 Hebr. they are saying saying.
47 Or, reproachfully provoke me, aggravate.
48 That is, it shall go well with you.
18For 49who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath 50perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
49 Who else but we, they will say. Compare verse 22. Or, they will say, that no one is able to know God’s secret counsel, and consequently neither Jeremiah; thus wickedly mocking at the truthful warnings, which God gave them by His prophets. Some understand here the assembly of the holy angels, with whom God is said as it were to take counsel. See 1 Kings 22:19, etc.
50 That is, perceived; or, to whom was it revealed in a prophetical vision? Compare Amos 1:1; Micah 1:1.
19Behold, a whirlwindn of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a 51grievous whirlwind: it shall 52fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
n Jer. 30:23, 24.
51 Or, smarting, sore, grievous; likewise intended, persistent. Compare Jer. 30:23.
52 Compare 2 Sam. 3:29. Other, it shall be painful.
20The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the 53latter days ye shall consider it 54perfectly.
53 In the time to come as Gen. 49:1, when these prophecies shall be fulfilled, which ye now deride.
54 Or, get understanding of it. Other, ye shall plainly understand it. Compare Jer. 30:24.
21I have noto sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
o Jer. 14:14.
22But if they had stood in my 55counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil 56way, and from the evil of their doings.
55 Of which verse 18.
56 See Gen. 6 on verse 12.
2357Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
57 By no means, will the Lord say, but I am both a God at hand and afar off. This is explained in the sequel.
24Can any hide himself in secretp places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
p Psalm 139:7, etc.; Amos 9:2, 3.
25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have 58dreamed, I have dreamed.
58 God has revealed this or that thing unto me in a dream. See Gen. 20 on verse 3; Gen. 28 on verse 12; Num. 12:6.
2659How long shall 60this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
59 Shall they speak thus and deceive My people?
60 Understand a Divine dream. The word this is inserted here to refer to the previous and following word dream.
27Which 61think to cause my people to forgetq my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
61 Intend and devise that they may bring My people to a wicked neglect and ignorance of Me, My Word, will and works.
q Judges 3:7; 8:33, 34.
28The prophet that hath a 62dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word 63faithfully. 64What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
62 A Divine dream sent to him by Me; some conceive: The Lord would say, that he, who has a false and feigned dream, shall tell and expound it as his own fiction and invention, not as being come from God.
63 Or, faithfully. Hebr. properly: in (or, with) truth or faithfulness.
64 That is, what fellowship has false doctrines or men’s inventions (which cannot profit) with My saving word and truth? See the manner of speech 2 Sam. 16 on verse 10, etc.
29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that 65breaketh the rock in pieces?
65 Beats it in pieces in such a manner that the pieces are scattered, or that the rock is scattered as dust or powder, to which the signification of the Hebrew word refers. Compare Jer. 22 on verse 28; Jer. 51:20, with the annotation.
30Therefore, behold, 66Iram against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his 67neighbour.
66 As Jer. 21:13.
r Deut. 18:20; Jer. 14:14, 15.
67 Or, companion, that is, who secretly and stealthily conspire with each other and teach one another what they shall together propose unto the people as My word and in My Name, or who know full well that the prophecies are My word, and yet deny it before the people, or keep them back, thus steeling My word out of the hearts of men and depriving them the thoughts which they may have thereof, that it may be thrown into wind. Some conceive that this refers to the craftiness of the false prophets, who stole some words and phrases, which the true prophets were wont to use in their prophecies, from them, and used the same for a cloak or covering of their deceit in their own false prophecies, and as apes (they say) imitated the true prophets; of which in the sequel.
31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use 68their tongues, and say, 69He saith.
68 That is, misuse their tongue presumptuously for this, or catch with their tongue, that is, to ensnare and entice men by sweet flattering words, saying boldly and falsely that it is My word, which is their own fabrication.
69 Namely, the LORD; just as the true prophets, in announcing the words of God, were wont to use these words very often: speaketh or sayeth the LORD. Hebr. properly: the said or spoken of the LORD. In Mat. 22:44, out of Psalm 110:1, it is said there (according as it is said here) hath said, or, spoken, or, spake, in these words: The LORD hath said, or, spoken unto my Lord; where this word is also used in the Hebrew text.
32Behold, I am against them that prophesy 70false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness;s yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people 71at all, saith the LORD.
70 Hebr. dreams of falsehood or of lies, dreams of lies.
s Zeph. 3:4.
71 Hebr. profiting do not profit.
33¶And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall 72ask thee, saying, What is the 73burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even 74forsake you, saith the LORD.
72 Namely, mockingly, and not out of an holy desire.
73 Likewise were the prophecies called which contained God’s threats, punishments and vexations. See 2 Kings 9 on verse 25, etc. As if they said: Hast thou again some mischief in your head? Hast thou nothing else to prophecy but misery and calamity?
74 As verse 39.
34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the 75people, that shall say, 76The burden of the LORD, I will even 77punish that man and his house.
75 That is, those of the people, that, etc.
76 Mentioning likewise the word of the Lord out of mere mockery, wickedness and perverseness, as if there were no faithful instruction and abounding comfort in the Word of God, but mere threats, curses and punishments to make men desperate.
77 Or, visit, by punishment. See Gen. 21 on verse 1.
35Thus shall ye 78say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
78 In godly zeal and humility, inquiring about the word of the LORD.
36And the burden of the LORD shall ye 79mention no more: for every 80man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
79 That is, remember, have such words no more in your mouth, as ye now do in a mocking manner.
80 By his mockeries and perversions of the word of God he will bring a curse and destruction upon himself, as surely as if an express prophecy were prophesied against him.
37Thus shalt thou say to the 81prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
81 A true prophet, as Jeremiah was.
3882But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
82 Or, Will ye then still say, The burden of the LORD? Do ye still continue as obstinate as ye were, not caring for all the warnings and threats?
39Therefore, behold, I, even I, will 83utterly forget you, and I will 84forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
83 Hebr. forgetting forget.
84 Or, disperse; such signification of the Hebrew word is common and frequent in Holy Scripture. Other, (by changing of a letter in the Hebrew) pluck you out or away, roll you out.
40And I will 85bring an 86everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetualt shame, which shall not be forgotten.
85 Or, lay upon you.
86 Hebr. reproach of eternity, and so in the sequel.
t Jer. 20:11.