Jeremiah 23:5

23:1-8 Woe be to those who are set to feed God's people, but take no concern to do them good! Here is a word of comfort to the neglected sheep. Though only a remnant of God's flock is left, he will find them out, and they shall be brought to their former habitations. Christ is spoken of as a branch from David's family. He is righteous himself, and through him all his people are made righteous. Christ shall break the usurped power of Satan. All the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob shall be protected, and shall be saved from the guilt and dominion of sin. In the days of Christ's government in the soul, the soul dwells at ease. He is here spoken of as the Lord our Righteousness. He is so our Righteousness as no creature could be. His obedience unto death is the justifying righteousness of believers, and their title to heavenly happiness. And their sanctification, as the source of all their personal obedience is the effect of their union with him, and of the supply of this Spirit. By this name every true believer shall call him, and call upon him. We have nothing to plead but this, Christ has died, yea, rather is risen again; and we have taken him for our Lord. This righteousness which he has wrought out to the satisfaction of law and justice, becomes ours; being a free gift given to us, through the Spirit of God, who puts it upon us, clothes us with it, enables us to lay hold upon it, and claim an interest in it.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 . I will raise unto David a righteous branch — The house of David seemed to be quite sunk and ruined by the threatening pronounced against Jeconiah, ( Jeremiah 22:30 ,) that none of his seed should ever sit upon the throne of David: but here we have a promise which effectually secures the honour of the covenant made with David, notwithstanding that threatening; for by it his house will be raised out of its ruins to a greater lustre than ever, and shine brighter than it did even in the days of Solomon. We have not so many prophecies of Christ in this book as we had in that of the Prophet Isaiah. But here we have a very illustrious one. Of him, doubtless, the prophet here speaks, and of no other person. Even the Jewish doctors, as well as Christian interpreters, understand this as a prophecy of the Messiah, who is called the branch: Isaiah 4:2 ; Isaiah 53:2 ; and the man the branch, Zechariah 3:8 . And here he is termed the righteous branch, not only because he himself was righteous, but because he makes his people righteous; and a king that shall reign and prosper — Not like kings that now were of the house of David, going backward in all their affairs, but one that shall set up a kingdom in the world, which shall be victorious over all opposition; one to whose hands the good pleasure of the Lord shall be committed, and under whose care and management it shall prosper; one who shall execute judgment and justice in the earth — All the world over, Psalm 96:13 .

The present kings of David’s line were unjust and oppressive, and their affairs therefore did not prosper; but this king shall break the usurped power of Satan, institute a perfect rule of holy living, and in due time make all the world righteous. In his days — That is, under his dominion, when his kingdom shall be set up and established upon earth; Judah shall be saved, &c. — The people of God, typified by Judah and Israel, shall be saved with a spiritual and eternal salvation, a salvation from the guilt and power of sin, into the favour and image of God here, and into the kingdom of his glory hereafter. At which kingdom, till they arrive, God will be a special protection to them, their refuge and strength, and very present help in trouble; so that they shall dwell safely — Confiding in the care of their strong helper, and preserved in perfect peace. And this is his name whereby he shall be called — Namely, by his people, and by God; the name whereby he shall be known, and which shall at once be descriptive both of his person and office. THE LORD, Hebrew, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS — Though of the seed of David according to the flesh, he shall indeed be JEHOVAH, God in human nature, and OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS; namely, justifying us by his merits, sanctifying us by his Spirit, and directing us in every part of our duty by his doctrine and example; the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth in him with a faith that worketh by love.

Verses 5, 6. - (Comp. the parallel passage, Jeremiah 33:15, 16 .) Verse 5. - Behold, the days come . The use of the analogous phrase, "And it shall come to pass in that day," would lead us to suppose that this verse describes a fresh stage in the progress of events, as if the faithful shepherds (ver. 4) were to precede the "righteous Branch" (ver. 5). Such a view, however, is not very plausible, for the Messtab, according to prophecy, is to appear in the darkest of times. The prophet simply means to impress upon us the greatness of the revelation which he is about to communicate. I will raise unto David . The promised Messiah, then, is certainly to be of the family of David (comp. Isaiah 9:7 ; Isaiah 11:1 ; Micah 5:2 ). A righteous Branch ; rather, a righteous Plant : the root means "to bud, or sprout." This is the first time in which the title the Plant is unmistakably applied to the Messianic King (possibly, but less probably, to the Messianic kings). It indicates that this great personage stands in connection with the divinely ordained and ancient royal family, but that he is in some way unique, and far surpasses his human ancestors. He "springs forth;" therefore he is not a sort of meteoric appearance, without any natural home among men, but rather the blossom of the Jewish nation, the embodiment of its highest qualities.

And yet there is something extraordinary about him, for it is needful that Jehovah himself should "raise" this Plant from the almost worn-out stock of David. Note that the word rendered here in the Authorized Version "Branch" is not the same as that in the parallel passage in Isaiah ( Isaiah 11:1 ). It is, however, the word employed in Isaiah 4:2 , which is taken by many, especially the elder interpreters (but with very doubtful justice), to be a prophecy of the Messiah. It is also the word used by Zechariah ( Zechariah 3:8 ; Zechariah 6:12 ), as a proper name of the Messiah, which is one strong reason for rejecting the view mentioned above that the word rendered "the Branch," or "the Plant," is to be taken collectively as equivalent to "branches," or rather "plants" (the article is not expressed in the Hebrew).

5 . the days come ] The phrase (first occurring in Amos 4:2 ), according to Jeremiah’s employment of it (cp. Jeremiah 23:7 , Jeremiah 30:3 , Jeremiah 31:27 ; Jeremiah 31:31 ; Jeremiah 31:38 , Jeremiah 33:14 ), implies a special call to note the announcement thus introduced. In spite of the troubles which are now gathering round them there are none the less surely days of deliverance coming. Branch ] mg. Or, Shoot Or, Bud . While the word designating the Messiah in Isaiah 11:1 is rightly translated Branch, the Heb. substantive here ( Ṣemach ) can only mean shoot, that which springs immediately out of the ground. In Isaiah 4:2 the word is used in a more general sense, not as here of the individual Messianic Ruler, but of the produce of the soil in the blissful age of the Messiah. See further in Dr. p. 364 and on Isaiah 4:2 (Skinner) in C.B. deal wisely ] For mg. prosper see on Jeremiah 20:11 . execute judgement and justice ] Cp. the same expression as used of David, the ancestor of the Messiah, in 2 Samuel 8:15 . 5–8 . Du. and others reject these vv ., which are also viewed with suspicion by Co. The use of the term “the Shoot” for the Messiah by Zechariah ( Zechariah 3:8 ; Zechariah 6:12 ) shews that in his time it was an established expression, and therefore might naturally be employed as early as pre-exilic times in connexion with Messianic expectations which were even then current.

Moreover, there can be little doubt that “our righteousness” (Heb. Ṣidḳenu ) is an appellation chosen by the prophet as hinting (see on Jeremiah 23:1-8 ) at the name of the reigning king, Zedekiah (Heb. Ṣidḳiyahu ). “What Zedekiah’s name, received at his accession, set forth as an ideal, would be a realized fact in the time of the Messianic King” (Peake). Contrast the Messianic picture in Psalms 2 (specially Jeremiah 23:9 ) with that (so much more consonant with Jeremiah’s character) given here of a wise and just ruler over a nation united and at peace. We have a prophecy less plainly Messianic in Jeremiah 30:9 , where see note.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous {e} Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth. (e) This prophecy is of the restitution of the Church in the time of Jesus Christ, who is the true branch, read Isa 11:1,45:8, Jer 35:15, Da 9:24.

(5) Behold, the days come. —The words point to an undefined, far-off future, following on the provisional order implied in Jeremiah 23:4 , when the kingdom should once more rest in one of the house of David. A righteous Branch.—The idea is the same, though the word is different (here Zemach, and there Netzer), as in Isaiah 11:1. In both cases, however, the word means a “sprout” or “scion,” springing up from the root even after the tree had been cut down (Isaiah 6:13), and not a branch growing from the trunk. It is probably in reference to this prophecy that we find the name of “the Branch” (Zemach) so prominent in Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12. Here, it is obvious, the prophet speaks of the one great Shepherd. A King shall reign.—Better, he shall reign as King, the Branch or Sprout being the subject of the sentence. As with all the Messianic prophecies of this class, the thoughts of the prophet dwell on the acts and attributes of a sovereignty exercised personally on earth. Such a sovereignty, “all power in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18), was indeed given to the Christ, but not after the fashion that men expected.

Even with the temporal kingship abolished, David's mercies are still sure. A righteous Branch - Or, sprout, germ (see Isaiah 4:2 note). The sprout is that in which the root springs up and grows, and which, if it be destroyed, makes the root perish also. And a king shall reign ... - Rather, and he shall reign as king. David's family is to be dethroned (temporally), that it may reign gloriously (spiritually). But compare Jeremiah 33:17, note; Jeremiah 33:25, note.