Jeremiah 23:5
5 “I, the Lord, promise ▼▼ Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
that a new time will certainly come ▼▼ Heb “Behold the days are coming.”
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ▼
▼ Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).
▼▼ This passage and the parallel in Jer 33:15 are part of a growing number of prayers and prophecies regarding an ideal ruler to come forth from the Davidic line who will bring the justice, security, and well-being that the continuing line of Davidic rulers did not. Though there were periodic kings like Josiah who did fulfill the ideals set forth in Jer 22:3 (see Jer 22:15), by and large they were more like Jehoiakim who did not (see Jer 22:13). Hence the Lord brought to an end the Davidic rule. The potential for the ideal, however, remained because of God’s promise to David (2 Sam 7:16). The Davidic line became like a tree which was cut down, leaving only a stump. But from that stump God would bring forth a “shoot,” a “sprig” which would fulfill the ideals of kingship. See Isa 11:1–6 and Zech 3:8, 6:12 for this metaphor and compare Dan 4:14–15, 23, 26 for a different but related use of the metaphor.
a descendant of David. He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ▼
and will do what is just and right in the land. ▼
▼ This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1–2).
Copyright information for
NETfull