"After the oracles against wicked kings, there is a promise of a righteous one, the Shoot of David."313
Jeremiah just announced that none of Coniah's descendants would ever rule as kings. Now he went on to clarify that a Davidic king would rule in the future. God was not cutting off the Davidic line (cf. 2 Sam. 7:14). The section consists of three separate though related prophecies (vv. 1-4, 5-6, and 7-8).
23:1-2 Yahweh announced coming judgment on the leaders of Judah, kings and other leaders, who were harming His people rather than tending them like good shepherds care for sheep (cf. John 10:11-13). Shepherd was a common figure for king in the ancient Near East and in the Old Testament, and it is possible that Jeremiah had in mind the last four kings of Judah particularly. The figure of God's people being the sheep of His pasture is also common in the Old Testament (cf. Ps. 74:1; 79:13; 95:7; 100:3). Judah's shepherds had not attended (Heb. paqad) to the flock, so God would attend (Heb. paqad) to punishing them.
23:3 After this judgment the Lord Himself would, as a good shepherd, regather the remnant of His people that were left from all the countries where He had driven them into exile (cf. 3:16; 24; 31:10; 40-44; Isa. 1:9; 37:4; Mic. 2:12; 4:7; 5:4; 7:14, 18). The Lord was the final cause of the exile, but the shepherds of Judah were the instrumental cause (v. 2). He would bring them back into the Promised Land and cause them to be fruitful and to multiply (cf. Gen. 1:22, 28; 9:1; 12:1-3; Exod. 1:7). There is a double contrast in this verse between the Lord and the false shepherds and between their respective works.
The reference to the many countries to which the Lord had driven them suggests an eschatological return to the land that exceeded the return from Babylonian exile.314
"History has shown that restoration [from Babylon] to be a temporary flicker of light, for by the time of Malachi (the last of the prophets, ca. 400 B.C.), Israel had degenerated again to a people with stony hearts."315
23:4 The Lord also promised to raise up shepherds (leaders) for His people then who would care for them properly. The Israelites would then no longer feel fearful or terrified, and none of them would be missing from the land.
23:5 Yahweh also promised to raise up another Davidic king in the future (cf. Ps. 2; 44; 72; 89-110).316He would be as a branch or sprout (Heb. semah) that springs up from an apparently dead stump, namely, the Davidic line of kings (cf. 2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 132:17; Isa. 4:2; 11:1; Zech. 3:8; 6:12). His characteristic marks would be wisdom, justice, and righteousness, traits notably absent from the last of Judah's kings (cf. 22:3). He would be a true shoot (Heb. semah saddiq), a "legitimate scion,"of David's line.317He would rule as a true king, not as a puppet like the last four kings of Judah. This is one of the few direct messianic references in Jeremiah (cf. 3:15-18; 31:31-34; 33:15-16).
23:6 During His reign Judah and Israel would experience salvation and security. People would refer to Him as "Yahweh our righteousness."This strongly suggests that the king would be Yahweh Himself ruling in righteousness (cf. 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). His name appears to be a play on the name Zedekiah, which probably means "Yahweh is my righteousness."318Ironically, Zedekiah was anything but righteous.
23:7-8 In those coming days (cf. v. 5), people would no longer talk about the mighty deliverance that Yahweh gave His people when He brought them out of Egypt into the Promised Land (cf. 16:14-15). Instead they would talk about the greater deliverance that He gave them when He brought them out of many countries (cf. v. 3; 16:14-18) into the Promised Land (cf. Isa. 11; Ezek. 34; 37).
Again, the promises are clearly eschatological. This will happen at Jesus Christ's second coming when He subdues His earthly enemies and regathers the Jews to their land.319
The section 21:1-23:8 dealt primarily with oracles against kings. Now the subject becomes the false prophets in Jerusalem (23:9-40).
