Chapter 23: False Shepherds, True King, and Hashem’s Word Like Fire

(40 Pesukim)

Overview

This chapter contrasts corrupt leaders and prophets with Hashem’s promise of a righteous king from David’s line. It denounces spiritual deception, warns of judgment, and affirms the unstoppable power of Hashem’s word. The tone moves from hope to heartbreak, exposing the moral collapse of priests and prophets and the danger of false visions.

1. Woe to the Shepherds (23:1-4)

Hashem rebukes leaders who scatter His flock instead of caring for them:

• “You drove them away and neglected them.”
• Judgment will fall on these shepherds for their evil.

Promise:

• Hashem will gather His scattered people from all lands and restore them to safety.
• Faithful shepherds will lead them without fear or loss.

2. The Righteous King (23:5-8)

Hashem declares:

• “Days are coming when I will raise up a righteous branch from David.”
• This king will rule wisely, bringing justice and righteousness.
• In his reign, Judah will be saved, Israel secure.
• People will call Hashem by the name: “Hashem is our righteousness.”

This future deliverance will overshadow the Exodus:

• People will swear by Hashem who brought Israel back from all lands of exile.

3. Yermiyahu’s Grief Over Corruption (23:9-12)

The prophet trembles at Hashem’s words: “Due to the actions of the prophets, I am deeply unsettled and physically affected, similar to someone whose composure is overwhelmed. This response is a result of reverence for the Lord and His sacred teachings.”

• The land mourns; it is full of adultery and false oaths.
• Even priests and prophets are corrupt—even in Hashem’s house.
• Their path is slippery; disaster awaits in the year of judgment.

4. False Prophets Exposed (23:13-28)

Hashem condemns the false prophets who:

• Speak visions from their own hearts, not His word. “In the prophets of Samaria, I observed conduct that was inappropriate; they prophesied in the name of Baal and led My people Israel astray. And in the prophets of Jerusalem I saw a horrible thing, committing adultery and going with falseness, and they encouraged evil-doers, that none returns from his evil; all of them were to Me as Sodom and her inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

• Their punishment: “Thus declares the Lord of Hosts regarding the prophets: I will provide them with wormwood and give them contaminated water to drink, for falsehood has spread throughout the land from the prophets of Jerusalem.”

• The false prophets promise peace to the rebellious and safety to the stubborn. They spread lies through dreams, making people forget Hashem’s name like their ancestors did with Baal. “So said the Lord of Hosts: Do not hearken to the words of these false prophets who prophesy for you; they mislead you.”

Reality:

• Hashem’s word is like fire and a hammer that shatters rock—unstoppable and true.
• False prophets steal words, fabricate messages, and mislead the people.
• Hashem declares: “I did not send them; they do not benefit My people.”

5. Hashem’s Omnipresence and Warning (23:23-24)

Hashem asks:

• “Am I only near and not far? Can anyone hide from Me?”
• He fills heaven and earth; nothing escapes His sight.

6. The “Burden of Hashem” Misuse (23:33-40)

People mockingly ask, “What is the burden of Hashem?”

• “Now, when this people—or a prophet or a priest—asks you, saying: ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall answer them: ‘What burden? I will indeed abandon you,’ declares the Lord.
• And as for the prophet, the priest, or any member of the people who declares, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will bring retribution upon that individual and upon their household.
• Thus shall each person say to their neighbor and each one to their sibling: ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ For the phrase ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall no longer utter, for each person’s own word shall become their burden—since you distort the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God.
• Therefore I, Myself, will lift you up and cast you away—both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors. I will remove you from My presence. And upon you I will place everlasting disgrace and perpetual shame, which shall never be forgotten.”