Jeremiah

23:1-8

Our passage for study consists of three prophecies dealing with the future of the people and of the Davidic monarchy. The first passage, in prose, deals with three issues: judgment on Israel's kings, the gathering of a remnant and the raising up of new "shepherds", v1-4. The second passage, in poetic form, speaks of the coming of a new king, "a righteous branch from David's line", v5-6. The third passage, again in prose, speaks of a new exodus as God's people are rescued from bondage, v7-8.

i] Context: From 21:11 to 23:8, the book of Jeremiah contains a diverse collection of prose and poetry directed at the kings who reign after king Josiah. Jeremiah is critical of these kings in that they fail to uphold the law on behalf of the people, 21:12.

ii] Background: The leader referred to in this prophecy is probably Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar placed him on the throne of Judah in 597BC, but influenced by nationalist advisers and false prophets, he rebelled and as a consequence, the tiny state of Judah was annihilated in 587BC. Under his rule the people went into exile, the "sheep" were destroyed and scattered. With Jerusalem under siege, Zedekiah and his advisers fled, but were captured. Zedekiah witnessed the execution of his family before he was blinded and led away as a captive to die in Babylon. A large number of government officials were also executed and Jerusalem destroyed. A remnant of the people did return to restore Jerusalem in 538BC., under a proclamation of Cyrus the Persian, but their rebuilding work was a poor image of Solomon's splendid city.

"shepherds" - Given that the preceding passages in this section of the book cover the kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, it is assumed that 23:1-8 concerns the reign of Zedekiah, who was the younger son of Josiah. Zedekiah's weak reign, under the influence of ultra-nationalist nobles, was responsible for the exile of the people. The use of the plural probably includes the nobles in the "woe".

paqad "tend ..... punish" - Bright notes that this verb serves to create a play on words, "look after, care for" and "call to account." Bright maintains the sense with "you have not attended to them, believe me, I'm going to attend to you." The NEB also carries the sense well.

"I have driven them" - The exile is an act of chastisement upon a people who have broken the covenant. The Babylonians' responsibility lies with their excessive violence for which they were be punished.

"bring them back" - Exodus imagery. The prophecy may reflect the time of the exile, but the people of Judah would need to have a short memory not to remember the deportation policy of the Assyrians, a policy also employed by the Babylonians. A message concerning exile and exodus is not an improbable prophecy for a preexilic prophet.

"missing" - cf. Num.31:49. Following the attack on Midian, a count was taken of the people and it was found that none had been lost in the assault. Here, the full number of the remnant will return, no sheep will go astray, or more particularly, will be led astray by a worthless shepherd.

"David" - The Davidic line

"righteous branch" - true/genuine/legitimate ... pos. righteous shoot, sprout, lit. that which grows. Unlike Zedekiah, the "true shoot" will reign wisely, cf. Isa.4:2. The faithless descendents of Josiah were like dried up twigs, but the coming king will be like a new shoot in the image of the Creator, a righteous king, an ideal king coming out of the Davidic line.

"will reign wisely" - lit. will rule and act wisely. "Shall rule wisely", NEB. "A king he shall reign - and ably", Bright.

"Judah ..... Israel" - An inclusive picture of God's people, both the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah.

"saved" - rescued, delivered, liberated ..... from bondage. "Kept safe", NEB. "Triumph", Bright.

Yahweh-sidqenu "The Lord our righteousness" - Yahweh is our righteousness. The Lord is the one who is "the vindication of our right", Bright. The phrase is most likely a play on Zedekiah's name, Yahweh is my righteousness. In the simplest of terms the phrase means that the Lord is the one who determines what is right/just for us, but the sense of "what is right" can mean "doing what is right", "doing justice", even "establishing justice" (ie. vindication = "Yahweh is the vindication of our right", Thompson).

Some textual difficulties, differences between LXX and MT, placement problems and duplication with 16:14-15.

Jeremiah Introduction

Exposition

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