Jeremiah 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. This book contains prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

, and is one of the

Books of the Prophets Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim (wri ...

Text

The original text of this chapter was written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 40 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century),

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The '' parashah'' sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Jeremiah 23 is a part of the ''Eighth prophecy (

Jeremiah 21 Jeremiah 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This chapt ...

-24)'' in the section of ''Prophecies of Destruction (

Jeremiah 1 Jeremiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book, one of the Nevi'im or Books of the Prophets, contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. This ch ...

- 25)''. : open ''parashah''; : closed ''parashah''. : 23:1 23:2-4 23:5-6 23:7-8 23:9-14 23:15 23:16-22 23:23-29 23:30-40

Structure

The section headings for this chapter in the New King James Version are: * = The Branch of Righteousness * = False Prophets and Empty Oracles. The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

describes verses 1–8 as a " messianic oracle", and verses 9-40 as "a tract against the false prophets".

The Righteous Branch (23:1–8)

Verse 5

: ''"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord,'' : ''"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness'' : ''A King shall reign and prosper,'' : ''And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth."'' The ideal of a "great king reigning with justice and righteousness" was founded on the promise of God to King David: :''Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.'' "Branch" was to become a messianic title (cf. Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12). The

New Century Version The New Century Version (NCV) is a revision of the International Children's Bible (ICB). The ICB is a translation of the Bible that was aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills/limited vocabulary in English. It is written at a 3rd ...

(aimed at younger readers) paraphrases the title as "a good branch in David’s family".

Verse 6

: ''"In His days Judah will be saved,'' : ''And Israel will dwell safely;'' : ''Now this is His name by which He will be called:'' :: ''THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."'' * "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Hebrew: , '' ''; cf. Jeremiah 33:16) a contrast to the name of

Zedekiah Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μαθ� ...

, meaning "The Lord is My Righteousness" ( Jeremiah 21:1), whose rule (597-586 BC) is "a great misnomer" compared to the "true, righteous rule" by God's appointed king (see also Isaiah 9:7; ).

The lying prophets (23:9–40)

Verse 30

:''"Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," says the Lord, "who steal My words every one from his neighbor."'' *"Says the Lord": from Hebrew , ''nə-’um-YHWH'',Jeremiah 23:30 Hebrew Text Analysis
Biblehub literally "oracle of the Lord". *"My words": that is 'their own word that they claim is from the Lord' (cf. verse 31).

Verse 31

:''"Behold, I am against the prophets," says the Lord, "who use their tongues and say, 'He says.'"'' *"Says the Lord": from Hebrew "''nə-’um-YHWH''", "oracle of the Lord".Jeremiah 23:31 Hebrew Text Analysis
Biblehub (cf. verse 30). *"He says": from Hebrew , ''nə-’um'', without the qualifying name "the Lord" to suggest the 'delusive nature' of the false prophets' message, that 'they mislead people into believing that their message is from the Lord'.Note on Jeremiah 23:31 in NET Bible

Notes and references

Sources

* *

External links

Jewish

Jeremiah 23 Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Jeremiah 23 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
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