Jeremiah 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ² 

Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 5:30-31

5:30 “Something horrible and shocking

is going on in the land of Judah:

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁷ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ⁹  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ¹⁰ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ¹¹  have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers ¹²  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ¹³ 

They will trample all over my chosen land. ¹⁴ 

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

Jeremiah 23:1-2

New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant

23:1 The Lord says, ¹⁵  “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. ¹⁶  They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered. ¹⁷  23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people ¹⁸  to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. ¹⁹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 34:2-10

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ²¹  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ²²  you have ruled over them. 34:5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. ²³  34:6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

34:7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 34:8 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, 34:9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 34:10 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; ²⁴  the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

Zechariah 11:8

11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, ²⁵  for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well.

Zechariah 11:17

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Acts 7:51-52

7:51 “You stubborn ²⁶  people, with uncircumcised ²⁷  hearts and ears! ²⁸  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ²⁹  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³⁰  not persecute? ³¹  They ³²  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³³  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ³⁴ 

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ² sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[5:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

[5:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[10:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[12:10]  ¹² tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.

[12:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.

[12:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my portion.”

[23:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:1]  ¹⁶ sn Heb This particle once again introduces a judgment speech. The indictment is found in v. 1 and the announcement of judgment in v. 2. This leads into an oracle of deliverance in vv. 3-4. See also the note on the word “judged” in 22:13.

[23:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Woe to the shepherds who are killing and scattering the sheep of my pasture.” See the study note on 22:13 for the significance of “Sure to be judged” (Heb “Woe”) See the study note for the significance of the metaphor introduced here.

[23:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “about the shepherds who are shepherding my people. ‘You have caused my sheep….’” For the metaphor see the study note on the previous verse.

[23:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should be shepherding my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away and you have not taken care of them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your deeds.” “Therefore” announces the judgment which does not come until “Behold.” It is interrupted by the messenger formula and a further indictment. The original has been broken up to conform more to contemporary English style, the metaphors have been interpreted for clarity and the connections between the indictments and the judgments have been carried by “So.”

[23:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[34:2]  ²¹ tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).

[34:4]  ²² tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).

[34:5]  ²³ tn As a case of dittography, the MT repeats “and they were scattered” at the end of the verse.

[34:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”

[11:8]  ²⁵ sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1–25:7).

[7:51]  ²⁶ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ²⁷ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ²⁸ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ²⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³¹ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ³² tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ³³ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³⁴ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).