---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Jeremiah 23:1. Wo be unto the pastors — There shall a curse fall on the kings, princes, priests, and prophets; who, by their vicious conduct and exa"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/23"
---

Verse [Jeremiah 23:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/1). ***Wo be unto the pastors*** — There shall a curse fall on the kings, princes, priests, and prophets; who, by their vicious conduct and example, have brought desolation upon the people.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/2). ***Ye have scattered my flock*** — The bad government both in Church and State was a principal cause of the people's profligacy.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/5). ***I will raise unto David a righteous Branch*** — As there has been no *age*, from the Babylonish captivity to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, in which such a state of prosperity existed, and no *king* or *governor* who could answer at all to the character here given, the passage has been understood to refer to our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, who was a *branch* out of the *stem* *of Jesse*; a *righteous king*; by the power of his Spirit and influence of his religion *reigning, prospering*, and *executing* *judgment* and *justice in the earth*.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/6). ***In his days Judah shall be saved*** — The real *Jew* is not one who has his circumcision in the flesh, but in the spirit. The real *Israel* are true believers in Christ Jesus; and the genuine *Jerusalem* is the Church of the first-born, and made free, with all her children, from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. All these exist only in the *days of the Messiah*. All that went before were the *types* or *significators* of these glorious Gospel excellencies.
***And this*****is*****his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR**********RIGHTEOUSNESS.*** — I shall give the *Hebrew* text of this important passage: וזה שמו אשר יקראו יהוה צדקנו *vezeh shemo asher yikreo* *Yehovah tsidkenu*, which the *Septuagint* translate as follows, Και τουτο το ονομα αυτον ὁ καλεσει αυτον Κυριος, Ιωσεδεκ, "And this is his name which the Lord shall call him Josedek."
*Dahler* translates the text thus: -
Dr. *Blayney* seems to follow the *Septuagint*; he translates thus, "And this is the name by which Jehovah shall call him, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
In my old MS. Bible, the first English translation ever made, it is thus: - *And this is the name that thei schul clepen him: oure* *rigtwise Lord*.
*Coverdale's*, the first complete English translation of the Scriptures ever *printed*, (1535,) has given it thus: - *And this is* *the name that they shall call him: even the Lorde oure rightuous* *Maker*.
*Matthews* (1549) and *Becke* (1549) follow *Coverdale* literally; but our present translation of the clause is borrowed from *Cardmarden*, (Rouen, 1566,) "Even the Lord our righteousness."
Dr. *Blayney* thus accounts for his translation: - "Literally, according to the Hebrew idiom, - 'And this is his name by which Jehovah shall call, Our Righteousness;' a phrase exactly the same as, 'And Jehovah shall call him so;' which implies that God would make him such as he called him, that is, *our Righteousness*, or the author and means of our salvation and acceptance. So that by the same metonymy Christ is said to 'have been made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,' [1 Corinthians 1:30](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/1/30).
"I doubt not that some persons will be offended with me for depriving them, by this translation, of a favourite argument for proving the Divinity of our Saviour from the Old Testament. But I cannot help it; I have done it with no ill design, but purely because I think, and am morally sure, that the text, as it stands, will not properly admit of any other construction. The *Septuagint* have so translated before me, in an age when there could not possibly be any bias or prejudice either *for* or *against* the fore-mentioned doctrine, a doctrine which draws its *devisive* proofs from the New Testament only."
*Dahler* paraphrases, - "This Prince shall be surnamed by his people, 'The Lord, the author of our happiness.' The people shall feel themselves happy under him; and shall express their gratitude to him."
I am satisfied that both the *translation* from *Cardmarden* downwards, and the *meaning* put on these words, are incorrect. I prefer the translation of *Blayney* to all others; and that it speaks any thing about the *imputed* righteousness of Christ, cannot possibly be proved by any man who understands the original text. As to those who put the sense of their *creed* upon the words, they must be content to stand out of the list of Hebrew critics. I believe *Jesus* to be *Jehovah*; but I doubt much whether this text calls him so. No doctrine so vitally important should be rested on an interpretation so dubious and unsupported by the text. That all our righteousness, holiness, and goodness, as well as the whole of our salvation, come *by HIM, from HIM*, and *through HIM*, is fully evident from the Scriptures; but this is not one of the passages that support this most important truth. [Jeremiah 33:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/33/16).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/7). ***The Lord liveth which brought up*** — [Jeremiah 16:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/16/14); *"*[Jeremiah 16:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/16/15)*"*.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/9). ***Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets*** — The first word of this clause is לנבאים *lannebiim*, which we incorporate with the whole clause, and translate, "Because of the prophets." But as a new prophecy begins here, it is evident that the word is the *title* to this prophecy; and is thus distinguished both by *Blayney* and *Dahler*, CONCERNING THE PROPHETS. This discourse was delivered probably in the reign of *Jehoiakim*.
***All my bones shake*** — He was terrified even by his own message, and shocked at the profanity of the false prophets.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10). ***The land is full of adulterers*** — Of idolaters. Of persons who *break their faith* to ME, as an *impure wife* does to her *husband*.
***The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up*** — He speaks here, most probably, in reference to *dearth*. Profane oaths, false swearing, evil courses, violence, c., had provoked God to send this among other judgments see [Jeremiah 23:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/19).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/11). ***In my house*** — They had even introduced idolatry into the Temple of God!

Verse [Jeremiah 23:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/13). ***I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria*** — This was not to be wondered at, for their religion was a system of corruption.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/14). ***I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem*** — That is, the prophets of Jerusalem, while professing a pure *faith*, have followed the ways, and become as corrupt as the prophets of *Samaria*.
***They are all of them unto me as Sodom*** — Incorrigible, brutish sinners, who will as surely be destroyed as *Sodom* and *Gomorrah* were.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/16). ***Hearken not unto the words of the prophets*** — That is, of those who promise you *safety*, without requiring you to forsake your sins and turn unto the Lord; see [Jeremiah 23:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/17).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/18). ***Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord*** — Who of *them* has ever received a word of prophecy from me? *My word* is not *in* *them*.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/19). ***Behold, a whirlwind*** — The *simoom*: the hot pestilential wind blowing from the south, frequently mentioned or referred to in the sacred writings; see [Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/20). ***In the latter days ye shall consider it*** — I give you warning: and this punishment which I now threaten shall surely take place; a short time will determine it; ye shall not escape.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/21). ***I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran*** — Not to save souls, but to profit themselves.
***I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.*** — They never received the word at my mouth; yet they went, publishing their own deceits, and pretending them to be revelations from God. The churches which have *legal emoluments* are ever in danger of being overrun and ruined by worldly and self-interested priests.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/23). **Am*****I a God at hand, - and not a God afar off?*** — You act as if you thought I could not see you! Am I not omnipresent? *Do* *not I fill the heavens and the earth*? [Jeremiah 23:24](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/24).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:27](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/27). ***By their dreams*** — Dreams were anciently reputed as a species of inspiration; see [Numbers 12:6](../../../kjv/numbers/12/6); [1 Samuel 28:6](../../../kjv/1-samuel/28/6); [Joel 3:1](../../../kjv/joel/3/1); [Daniel 7:1](../../../kjv/daniel/7/1). In the Book of *Genesis* we find many examples; and although many mistook the workings of their own vain *imaginations* in sleep for *revelations* from God, yet he has often revealed himself in this way: but such dreams were easily distinguished from the others. They were always such as had no connexion with the *gratification of the flesh*; they were such as contained *warnings against sin*, and *excitements* to *holiness*; they were always *consecutive-well connected*, with a proper *beginning* and *ending*; such as possessed the *intellect* more than the *imagination*. Of such dreams the Lord says, ([Jeremiah 23:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/28):) *The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream*-permit him to show what he has thus received from the Lord: but let him tell it as a *dream*, and speak my word faithfully, lest he may have been deceived.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/28). ***What*****is*****the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.*** — Do not mingle these *equivocal matters* with *positive revelations*. Do not consider a *dream*, even from a prophet, as that *positive* *inspiration* which my prophets receive when their *reason, judgment*, and *spiritual feelings* are all in full and in regular exercise. Mix none of your *own devices* with my *doctrines*.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:29](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/29). **Is*****not my word like as a fire?*** — It enlightens, warms, and penetrates every part. When it is communicated to the true prophet, it is *like a fire* shut up in his bones; he cannot retain it, he must publish it: and when published, it is like a *hammer* that breaks the rock in pieces; it is ever accompanied by a *Divine* *power*, that causes both sinner and saint to *feel* its *weight* and *importance*.
In the original words there is something singular: הלוא כה דברי כאש *halo coh debari kaesh*, "Is not thus my word like fire?" I suspect, with Dr. *Blayney*, that כה *coh, thus*, was formerly written כח *coach, strength* or *power*; and so it was understood by the *Targumist*: "Are not all my words strong, like fire?" and probably the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews read it thus, and had it in view when he wrote: "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," [Hebrews 4:12](../../../kjv/hebrews/4/12). This admitted, the text would read, "Is not my word powerful, like fire?" or, "Is not the power of my word like fire?" But however we understand the words, let us take heed lest we think, as some have thought and affirmed, that the sacred writings are quite sufficient of themselves to enlighten, convince, and convert the soul, and that there is no need of the Holy Spirit. *Fire itself* must be *applied* by an *agent* in order to produce its effects; and surely the *hammer* cannot *break the rock in pieces*, unless *wielded* by an *able workman*. And it is God's *Spirit* alone that can thus *apply* it; for we find it frequently *read* and frequently *spoken*, without producing any salutary effects. And by this very thing the true preachers of the word of God may be distinguished from the *false, non-commissioned ones*; those who run, though they are not sent, [Jeremiah 23:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/21). The word of him who has his commission from heaven shall be as a *fire* and as a *hammer*; sinners shall be convinced and converted to God by it. But the others, though they steal the word from their neighbour-borrow or pilfer a good sermon, yet they do not profit the people at all, because God did not send them, [Jeremiah 23:32](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/32); for the *power* of God does not in their ministry accompany the word.
There may be an allusion to the practice in some mining countries, of *roasting stones* containing ore, before they are subjected to the *hammer*, in order to *pulverize* them. In Cornwall I have seen them *roast the tin stones* in the fire, before they placed them under the action of the *hammers* in the *stamp mill*. The fire separated the *arsenic* from the ore, and then they were easily reduced to powder by the hammers of the mill; afterwards, *washing* the mass with water, the grains of *tin* sank to the bottom, while the lighter parts went off with the water, and thus the metal was procured clean and pure. If this be the allusion, it is very appropriate.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/30). ***I*****am*****against the prophets*** — Three cases are mentioned here which excited God's disapprobation:
1. The prophets who *stole* *the word* from their neighbour; who associated with the true prophets, got some intelligence from them, and then went and published it as a revelation which themselves had received, [Jeremiah 23:30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/30).
2. The prophets who used their *tongues*; הלקחים לשונם hallokechim leshonam, who lick or *smooth* *with their tongues* - gave their own counsels as Divine revelations, flattering them in their sins, and promising peace, when God had not spoken; and prefaced them, "Thus saith the Lord," [Jeremiah 23:31](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/31).
3. The prophets who made up false stories, which they termed prophecies, revealed to them in *dreams*; and thus *caused the people* *to err*, [Jeremiah 23:32](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/32).

Verse [Jeremiah 23:33](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/33). ***What*****is*****the burden of the Lord?*** — The word משא *massa,* here used, signifies *burden, oracle, prophetic discourse*; and is used by almost every prophet. But the persons in the text appear to have been *mockers*. "Where is this *burden* of the Lord?"-"What is the *burden* now?" To this insolent question the prophet answers in the following verses.
***I will even forsake you*** — I will punish the prophet, the priest and the people, that speak thus, [Jeremiah 23:34](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/34). Here are *burdens*.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:36](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/36). ***Every man's word shall be his burden*** — Ye say that all God's messages are *burdens*, and to *you* they shall be such: whereas, had you used them as you ought, they would have been *blessings* to you.
***For ye have perverted the words of the living God*** — And thus have sinned against your own souls.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:39](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/39). ***I will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you and**********the city*** — Dr. *Blayney* translates: - *I will both take you up* *altogether, and will cast you off together with the city*. Ye are a *burden* to me: but I will take you up, and then cast you off. I will do with you as a man weary with his burden will do; cast it off his shoulders, and bear it no more.

Verse [Jeremiah 23:40](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/40). ***I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you*** — And this reproach of having rebelled against so good a God, and rejected so powerful a Saviour, follows them to this day through all their dispersions, in every part of the habitable earth. The word of the Lord cannot fail.

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