THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
My heart is shattered. He expressed, “I am distressed when I behold the majesty of God, yet they show no fear of retribution.”
Jeremiah 23:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words.
לַנְּבִאִ֞ים נִשְׁבַּ֧ר לִבִּ֣י בְקִרְבִּ֗י רָֽחֲפוּ֙ כָּל־עַצְמוֹתַ֔י הָיִ֙יתִי֙ כְּאִ֣ישׁ שִׁכּ֔וֹר וּכְגֶ֖בֶר עֲבָ֣רוֹ יָ֑יִן מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וּמִפְּנֵ֖י דִּבְרֵ֥י קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Ephraem the Syrian
O prophet, my heart is within me utterly devastated. This section of the chapter addresses the sins of the priests and false prophets, highlighting the grave judgment that has been declared against them.
Jerome of Stridon
From gazing upon the countenance of the Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, who the Apostle refers to as the brightness of His glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3), the prophet experiences a deep trembling in both spirit and flesh, becoming acutely aware of his own insignificance. This awareness aligns with another declaration, where it is proclaimed: "I was senseless before You" (Psalm 73:22). In response, he presents to God an offering of contrition and humility, as articulated in the Psalms: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). The bones that quaked or were disturbed represent those of which David sang, "All my bones shall say, 'Lord, who is like You?'" (Psalms 35:10).
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He felt as though he was inebriated, lacking comprehension and wisdom. For the Lord knows the thoughts of mankind, that they are futile (Psalm 94:11). If this is the case, where are those who proclaim perfection in human righteousness? Should they claim this pertains only to the saints and not to themselves, I maintain that no one is more righteous than Jeremiah, who was a virgin, a prophet, consecrated from the womb, and whose very name symbolizes the Lord Savior, as "Jeremiah" signifies "exalted of the Lord."
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Hab 3:16I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.
- Dan 8:27And I, Daniel, languished, and was sick for some days: and when I was risen up, I did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none that could interpret it.
- Isa 51:21Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art drunk but not with wine.
- Lam 3:15He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
- Ps 60 (59):3
- Isa 6:5And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts.
- Jer 5:31The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof?
- Jer 9:1Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? and I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.