Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 23:6
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
6. Israel shall dwell safely ] Cp. Deu 33:28. The Northern Tribes as well as Judah shall be restored, and form one kingdom.
he shall be called ] The Messiah’s work shall be indicated by the name that He is to bear.
The Lord is our righteousness ] as indicating the ideal righteousness which is then to characterize the nation. Cp. Isa 1:26; Isa 60:21; Isa 61:3. Of that righteousness Jehovah is to be the source. Cp. Eze 48:35 “The Lord is there,” mg. Jehovah-shammah. Cp. also Jer 33:16, where the same name is given to Jerusalem. The A.V. (“ The Lord our righteousness ”) survives in R.V. mg. but, as we see must be the case from the passage last referred to, the prophet is not identifying the Messiah with Jehovah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is his name whereby he shall be called – From remote antiquity the person here spoken of has been understood to be the righteous germ, and this alone is in accordance with the grammar and the sense. Nevertheless, because Jeremiah Jer 33:15-16 applies the name also to Jerusalem, some understand it of Israel.
the Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS – Messiah is here called:
(1) Yahweh, and
(2) our righteousness, because He justifies us by His merits.
Some render, He by whom Yahweh works righteousness. Righteousness is in that case personal holiness, which is the work of the Spirit after justification.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. In his days Judah shall be saved] The real Jew is not one who has his circumcision in the flesh, but in the spirit. The real Israel are true believers in Christ Jesus; and the genuine Jerusalem is the Church of the first-born, and made free, with all her children, from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. All these exist only in the days of the Messiah. All that went before were the types or significators of these glorious Gospel excellencies.
And this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.] I shall give the Hebrew text of this important passage: vezeh shemo asher yikreo Yehovah tsidkenu, which the Septuagint translate as follows, , , “And this is his name which the Lord shall call him Josedek.”
Dahler translates the text thus: –
Et voici le nom dont on l’appellera:
L’Eternel, Auteur de notre felicite.
“And this is the name by which he shall be called; The Lord, the Author of our happiness.”
Dr. Blayney seems to follow the Septuagint; he translates thus, “And this is the name by which Jehovah shall call him, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
In my old MS. Bible, the first English translation ever made, it is thus: – And this is the name that thei schul clepen him: oure rigtwise Lord.
Coverdale’s, the first complete English translation of the Scriptures ever printed, (1535,) has given it thus: – And this is the name that they shall call him: even the Lorde oure rightuous Maker.
Matthews (1549) and Becke (1549) follow Coverdale literally; but our present translation of the clause is borrowed from Cardmarden, (Rouen, 1566,) “Even the Lord our righteousness.”
Dr. Blayney thus accounts for his translation: – “Literally, according to the Hebrew idiom, – ‘And this is his name by which Jehovah shall call, Our Righteousness;’ a phrase exactly the same as, ‘And Jehovah shall call him so;’ which implies that God would make him such as he called him, that is, our Righteousness, or the author and means of our salvation and acceptance. So that by the same metonymy Christ is said to ‘have been made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,’ 1Co 1:30.
“I doubt not that some persons will be offended with me for depriving them, by this translation, of a favourite argument for proving the Divinity of our Saviour from the Old Testament. But I cannot help it; I have done it with no ill design, but purely because I think, and am morally sure, that the text, as it stands, will not properly admit of any other construction. The Septuagint have so translated before me, in an age when there could not possibly be any bias or prejudice either for or against the fore-mentioned doctrine, a doctrine which draws its devisive proofs from the New Testament only.”
Dahler paraphrases, – “This Prince shall be surnamed by his people, ‘The Lord, the author of our happiness.’ The people shall feel themselves happy under him; and shall express their gratitude to him.”
I am satisfied that both the translation from Cardmarden downwards, and the meaning put on these words, are incorrect. I prefer the translation of Blayney to all others; and that it speaks any thing about the imputed righteousness of Christ, cannot possibly be proved by any man who understands the original text. As to those who put the sense of their creed upon the words, they must be content to stand out of the list of Hebrew critics. I believe Jesus to be Jehovah; but I doubt much whether this text calls him so. No doctrine so vitally important should be rested on an interpretation so dubious and unsupported by the text. That all our righteousness, holiness, and goodness, as well as the whole of our salvation, come by HIM, from HIM, and through HIM, is fully evident from the Scriptures; but this is not one of the passages that support this most important truth. See Clarke on Jer 33:16.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
During the reign and kingdom of the Messias (whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom) the people of God, typified by Judah and Israel, the true Israel of God, those that are Jews indeed, shall be saved with a spiritual salvation; for he was therefore called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins, Mat 1:21, and God will be a special protection to them. The name wherewith this Branch shall be called shall be,
The Lord our Righteousness. Some have applied this to the people, as if the people should be so called, or should say, The Lord hath dealt graciously with us; or, In the Lord we have righteousness. But this will appear but the new invention of some who either cannot or will not understand how Christ should be his peoples righteousness, those who consider not that it is the Branch which was before spoken of, and that the word people is not to be found going before; there is indeed a mention of Judah and Israel, but surely they were not to be other mens righteousness, and if that had been the prophets meaning, he would not have said, The Lord our, but the Lord their righteousness. Nor is the only place where Christ is called our righteouness, 1Co 1:30. This place is an eminent proof of the Godhead of Christ, he is here called Jehovah; and what is proper to God alone, viz. to justify, is here applied to Christ. The prophet saith Christ shall be so called, that is, by his people, who should believe in him and trust in him alone for that righteousness wherein they should at the last day stand before God: thus he was to bring in everlasting righteousness, Dan 9:24. He, who knew no sin, was made sin (that is, a sacrifice for sin) for us, that we might be-made the righteousness of God in him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Judah . . . Israel . . . dwellsafelyCompare Jer 33:16,where “Jerusalem” is substituted for “Israel”here. Only Judah, and that only in part, has as yet returned.So far are the Jews from having enjoyed, as yet, the temporalblessings here foretold as the result of Messiah’s reign, that theirlot has been, for eighteen centuries, worse than ever before. Theaccomplishment must, therefore, be still future, when both Judah andIsrael in their own land shall dwell safely under a Christocracy, farmore privileged than even the old theocracy (Jer 32:37;Deu 33:28; Isa 54:1-17;Isa 60:1-22; Isa 65:17-25;Zec 14:11).
shall be called, theLordthat is, shall be (Isa9:6) “Jehovah,” God’s incommunicable name. Though whenapplied to created things, it expresses only some peculiar connectionthey have with Jehovah (Gen 22:14;Exo 17:15), yet when applied toMessiah it must express His Godhead manifested in justifyingpower towards us (1Ti 3:16).
ourmarks His manhood,which is also implied in His being a Branch raised unto David,whence His human title, “Son of David” (compare Mt22:42-45).
Righteousnessmarks HisGodhead, for God alone can justify the ungodly (compareRom 4:5; Isa 45:17;Isa 45:24; Isa 45:25).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In his days Judah shall be saved,…. In the days of the Messiah, the righteous Branch, and reigning prosperous King, not only the people of the Jews, God’s elect among them, but all that truly embrace him, and confess him, as Judah’s name signifies, shall be saved from all their sins; from the law, its curse and condemnation; and from wrath to come; and from all their spiritual enemies. In the latter part of his days all Israel shall be saved, Ro 11:26;
and Israel shall dwell safely; without any fear of enemies, being saved from them; being in that city, the church, which has salvation for walls and bulwarks; angels encamping about them; the Lord as a wall of fire around them; the Spirit lifting up a standard against their enemies, when they come in like a flood; and the Messiah their rock and refuge, and strong tower, their strength and righteousness; as follows: for all the salvation and safety of the Lord’s people are owing to the righteousness of Christ; the effect of which is peace, quietness, and assurance for ever:
and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS; because he is the author of righteousness to his people, and is only so; no creature could be the author of it; unrighteous man cannot be the author of righteousness; and the righteousness of an angel is of no advantage to man; and indeed neither of the other divine Persons is the Lord our righteousness; for though they are both Jehovah, the Father and the Spirit, yet not our righteousness: the Father appointed and sent Christ to work it out; he approved and accepted of it, when wrought out; and imputes it to his people; but is not the author of it: so the Spirit convinces of the need of it; reveals it, and brings it near; works faith to receive it; and applies it, and pronounces a person justified by it; but is not the author of it; that the Son of God only is; who is become so by his obedience to the law, and by bearing the penalty of it; and who, having been delivered for our offences, rose again for our justification: and this righteousness, which he has wrought out to the satisfaction of law and justice, becomes “ours”; it being signed for us, and wrought out for us, by a free gift of it is given to us; ours through the imputation of it to us by the Father, and in virtue of our union to Christ, and interest in him; and through the application of it to us by the Spirit of God; who puts it upon us, and clothes us with it, and enables us to lay hold upon it, and claim interest in it; and which may be meant by Christ being “called our righteousness”; for the meaning is, not that he should commonly go by this name; but only that he should be that unto us which it signifies; and that we should by faith, even every true Israelite, every believer, call him our righteousness; say that we have righteousness in him make mention of that continually, and express our desires to be found atone in it; for so the words may be rendered, “and this is the name whereby he shall call him g, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”; and a sweet name to a sensible sinner it is; to one that has felt the guilt of sin in his conscience; seen his need of a righteousness, and the worth of it. That the Messiah is here meant is acknowledged by the Jews, ancient and modern h.
g “hoc nomen ejus est quo vocabit eum Israel”, Junius Tremellius “quo vocabit eum unusquique”, Piscator. h T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 75. 2. Echa Rabbati, fol. 50. 1. R. Saadiah Gaon in Dan vii. 13. R. Albo, Sepher Ikkarim, l. 2. c. 28. Abarbinel, Mashmiah Jeshuah. fol. 35. 2. Caphtor fol. 87. 1. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 75. 2. Kimchi in loc. & in Ezek. xlviii. 35. & Ben Melech in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jer 23:6 exhibits the welfare which the “branch” will, by His wise and just rule, secure for the people. Judah shall be blessed with welfare ( ), and Israel dwell safely; that blessing will come into fulfilment which Moses set before the people’s view in Deu 33:28. as the totality of the inhabitants is construed as feminine, as in Jer 3:7; Jer 14:2, etc. Israel denotes the ten tribes. Under the just sceptre of the Messiah, all Israel will reach the destiny designed for it by the Lord, will, as God’s people, attain to full dignity and glory.
This is the name by which they shall call Him, the branch of David: Jahveh our Righteousness. The suffix in refers to “righteous branch.” Instead of the 3 pers. sing. with the suffix , some codd. have the plur. . This some polemical authors, such as Raim., Martini, Galatin, hold to be the true reading; and they affirmed the other had proceeded from the Jews, with the design of explaining away the deity of the Messiah. The Jews translated, they said: This is the name whereby Jahveh will call him: Our Righteousness; which is indeed the rendering of R. Saad. Gaon apud Aben Ezra, and of Menasse ben Israel. But this rendering is rejected by most Jewish comm. as being at variance with the accents, so that the impugned reading could not well have been invented by the Jews for polemical purposes. is attested by most codd., and is rendered by the lxx, so that the sense can be none other than: they will call the righteous branch of David “Jahveh our Righteousness.” Most comm., including even Hitz., admit that the suffix refers to , the principal person in both verses. Only Ew., Graf, and Ng. seek to refer it to Israel, because in Jer 33:16 the same name is given to Jerusalem. But the passage cited does not prove the case. To call any one by a name universally denotes in the prophetic usage: to set him forth as that which the name expresses; so here: the branch of David will manifest Himself to the people of Israel as Jahve Tsidkenu. This name is variously expounded. The older Christian comm. understand that the Messiah is here called Jehovah, and must therefore be true God, and that He is called our righteousness, inasmuch as He justifies us by His merit.
(Note: Thus the Vulg. renders: Dominus justus noster ; and even Calv. says: Quicunque sine contentione et amarulentia judicant, facile vident, idem nomen competer in Christum, quatenus est Deus, sicuti nomen filii Davidis respectu humanae naturae ei tribuitur. – Omnibus aequis et moderatis hoc constabit, Christum hic insigniri duplici elogio, ut in eo nobis commendet propheta tam deitatis gloriam, quam veritatem humanae naturae ; and by the righteousness he understands justification by the merits of Christ.)
But the rabbinical interpreters, headed by the Chald., take the name to be an abbreviation of a sentence; so e.g., Kimchi: Israel vocabit Messiam hoc nomine, quia ejus temporibus Domini justitia nobis firma, jugis et non recedet . They appeal to Jer 33:17 and to other passages, such as Exo 17:15, where Moses calls the altar “Jahveh my Banner,” and Gen 33:20, where Jacob gives to the altar built by him the name El elohe Jisrael . Hgstb. has rightly pronounced for this interpretation. The passages cited show who in such names an entire sentence is conveyed. “Jahveh my Banner” is as much as to say: This altar is dedicated to Jahveh my banner, or to the Almighty, the God of Israel. So all names compounded of Jahveh; e.g., Jehoshua = Jahveh salvation, brief for: he to whom Jahveh vouchsafes salvation. So Tsidkijahu = Jahve’s righteousness, for: he to whom Jahveh deals righteousness. To this corresponds Jahveh Tsidkenu : he by whom Jahveh deals righteousness. We are bound to take the name thus by the parallel passage, Jer 33:16, where the same name is given to Jerusalem, to convey the thought, that by the Messiah the Lord will make Jerusalem the city of Righteousness, will give His righteousness to it, will adorn and glorify it therewith.
is not to be referred, as it is by the ancient Church comm., to justification through the forgiveness of sins. With this we have not here to do, but with personal righteousness, which consists in deliverance from all unrighteousness, and which is bound up with blessedness. Actual righteousness has indeed the forgiveness of sins for its foundation, and in this respect justification is not to be wholly excluded; but this latter is here subordinate to actual righteousness, which the Messiah secures for Israel by the righteousness of His reign. The unrighteousness of the former kings has brought Israel and Judah to corruption and ruin; the righteousness of the branch to be hereafter raised up to David will remove all the ruin and mischief from Judah, and procure for them the righteousness and blessedness which is of God. – “What Jeremiah,” as is well remarked by Hgstb., “sums up in the name Jehovah Tsidkenu, Ezekiel expands at length in the parallel Eze 34:25-31: the Lord concludes with them a covenant of peace; rich blessings fall to their lot; He breaks their yoke, frees them from bondage; they do not become the heathen’s prey.” These divine blessings are also to be conferred upon the people by means of the righteous branch. What the ancient Church comm. found in the name was true as to the substance. For as no man is perfectly righteous, so no mere earthly king can impart to the people the righteousness of Jahveh in the full sense of the term; only He who is endowed with the righteousness of God. In so far the Godhead of this King is contained implicite in the name; only we must not understand that he that bore the name is called Jahveh. But that righteousness, as the sum of all blessing, is set before the people’s view, we may gather from the context, especially from Jer 23:7 and Jer 23:8, where it is said that the blessings to be conferred will outshine all former manifestations of God’s grace. This is the sense of both verses, which, save in the matter of a trifling change in Jer 23:8, are verbally repeated from Jer 16:14 and Jer 16:15, where they have already been expounded.
(Note: The lxx have omitted both these verses here, and have placed them at the end of the chapter, after Jer 23:40; but by their contents they do not at all belong to that, whereas after Jer 23:6 they are very much in place, as even Hitz. admits. In the text of the lxx handed down, Jer 23:6 ends with the words: ; and may be said to correspond to , and to , Jer 23:9. Hitz. and Gr. therefore infer that Jer 23:7 and Jer 23:8 were wanting also in the Heb. text used by the translator, and that they must have been added by way of supplement, most probably from another MS. This inference is thought to find support in the assumption that, because the Greek MSS have no point between and , therefore the Alexandrian translator must have joined these words together so as to make one – meaningless – sentence. A thoroughly uncritical conclusion, which could be defended only if the Alex. translators had punctuated their Greek text as we have it punctuated in our printed editions. And if a later reader of the lxx had added the verses from the Hebrew text, then he would certainly have intercalated them at the spot where they stood in the original, i.e., between Jer 23:6 and Jer 23:9. Their displacement to a position after Jer 23:40 is to be explained from the fact that in Jer 16:14 and Jer 16:15 they immediately follow a threatening: and is manifestly the work of the translator himself, who omitted them after Jer 23:6, understanding them as of threatening import, because a threatening seemed to him to be out of place after Jer 23:6.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
It then follows, that Judah shall be saved in the days of this king. By days we are not to understand the life only of Christ, which he lived in this world, but that perpetuity of which Isaiah speaks, when in wonder he asks,
“
His age who shall declare?” (Isa 53:8😉
for he died once, that he might live to God, according to what Paul says. (Rom 6:10.) It was then but a short beginning of life when Christ was manifested in the world, and held converse with men; but his life is to continue for ever. It is then the same thing as though the Prophet had said, that when Christ came and descended from the Father, the Church would be saved.
If it be now asked, “How long shall it be saved?” the answer is, “As long as the King himself shall continue; and there is no end to his kingdom.” It follows then that the salvation of the Church will be for ever. This is the import of the whole.
Now, though the Prophet speaks of the deliverance of the people, there is yet no doubt but that he especially sets forth what properly belongs to the kingdom of Christ. He is set over us as a king, that he might be our Savior; and his salvation, though it extends to our bodies, ought yet to be viewed as properly belonging to our souls; for the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, and so is everything connected with it. Hence, when the Prophet says that saved would be Judah, it is the same thing as though he promised that the happiness of the Church would be real and solid under Christ.
He adds, Israel shall dwell in confidence; for in a happy life the first thing is, that we possess tranquil and quiet minds; for tranquillity has not been without reason commended by the ancients. When all things which men covet are heaped together, and what they think necessary for happiness, they yet cannot be otherwise than miserable if their minds are not in a right state. It is not then without cause that tranquillity is added, when mention is made of salvation. And experience itself teaches us, that we have no salvation, unless we, relying on Christ the Mediator, have peace with God, as Paul also mentions it as the fruit of faith, and shews that we cannot otherwise but be always miserable: we have peace, he says, with God. (Rom 5:1.) He hence also concludes that our very miseries are a help to our salvation; for afflictions prove patience, patience exercises hope, and hope never makes us ashamed; and the proof of this is added, because God thus really shews that he is present with us.
We hence see how fitly the Prophet connects tranquillity of mind with happiness. Moreover it is certain that we do not yet enjoy either salvation or peace, such as are here promised; but let us learn by faith what salvation is, and also what is rest even in the midst of the agitations to which we are continually exposed; for we recumb on God when we cast our anchor in heaven. Since, then, the Prophet says here that Judah would be saved and that Israel would be in a tranquil state, let us know that he includes the whole kingdom of Christ from the beginning to the end, and that therefore it is no wonder that he speaks of that perfect happiness, the first fruits of which now only appear.
He then adds, And this is the name by which they shall call him, Jehovah our Righteousness By these words the Prophet shews more clearly that he speaks not generally of David’s posterity, however excellent they may have been, but of the Mediator, who had been promised, and on whom depended the salvation of the people; for he says that this would be his name, Jehovah our Righteousness (81)
Those Jews, who seem more modest than others, and dare not, through a dogged pertinacity, to corrupt this passage, do yet elude the application of this title to Christ, though it be suitable to him; for they say that the name is given to him, because he is the minister of God’s justice, as though it was said, that whenever this king appeared all would acknowledge God’s justice as shining forth in him. And they adduce other similar passages, as when Moses calls the altar, “Jehovah my banner,” or my protection. (Exo 17:15.) But there is no likeness whatever between an altar and Christ. For the same purpose they refer to another passage, where it is said,
“
And this is the name by which they shall call Jerusalem, Jehovah our peace.” (Eze 48:35)
Now Moses meant nothing else than that the altar was a monument of God’s protection; and Ezekiel only teaches, that the Church would be as it were a mirror in which God’s mercy would be seen, as it would shine forth then, as it were, visibly. But this cannot for the same reason be applied to Christ; he is set forth here as a Redeemer, and a name is given to him, — what name? the name of God. But the Jews object and say, that he was God’s minister, and that it might therefore be in a sense applied to him, though he was no more than a man.
But all who without strife and prejudice judge of things, can easily see that this name is suitably applied to Christ, as he is God; and the Son of David belongs to him as he is man. The Son of David and Jehovah is one and the same Redeemer. Why is he called the Son of David? even because it was necessary that he should be born of that family. Why then is he called Jehovah? we hence conclude that there is something in him more excellent than what is human; and he is called Jehovah, because he is the only-begotten Son of God, of one and the same essence, glory, eternity, and divinity with the Father.
It hence appears evident to all who judge impartially and considerately, that Christ is set forth here in his twofold character, so that the Prophet brings before us both the glory of his divinity and the reality of his humanity. And we know how necessary it was that Christ should come forth as God and man; for salvation cannot be expected in any other way than from God; and Christ must confer salvation on us, and not only be its minister. And then, as he is God, he justifies us, regenerates us, illuminates us into a hope of eternal life; to conquer sin and death is doubtless what only can be effected by divine power. Hence Christ, except he was God, could not have performed what we had to expect from him. It was also necessary that he should become man, that he might unite us to himself; for we have no access to God, except we become the friends of Christ; and how can we be so made, except by a brotherly union? It was not then without the strongest reason, that the Prophet here sets Christ before us both as a true man and the Son of David, and also as God or Jehovah, for he is the only-begotten Son of God, and ever the same in wisdom and glory with the Father, as John testifies in Jer 17:5.
We now then perceive the simple and real meaning of this passage, even that God would restore his Church, because what he had promised respecting a Redeemer stood firm and inviolable. Then he adds what this Redeemer would be and what was to be expected from him; he declares that he would be the true God and yet the Son of David; and he also bids us to expect righteousness from him, and everything necessary to a full and perfect happiness.
But by saying, God our righteousness, the Prophet still more fully shews that righteousness is not in Christ as though it were only his own, but that we have it in common with him, for he has nothing separate from us. God, indeed, must ever be deemed just, though iniquity prevailed through the whole world; and men, were they all wicked, could do nothing to impugn or mar the righteousness of God. But yet God is not our righteousness as he is righteous in himself, or as having his own peculiar righteousness; and as he is our judge, his own righteousness is adverse to us. But Christ’s righteousness is of another kind: it is ours, because Christ is righteous not for himself, but possesses a righteousness which he communicates to us. We hence see that the true character of Christ is here set forth, not that he would come to manifest divine justice, but to bring righteousness, which would avail to the salvation of men, For if we regard God in himself, as I have said, he is indeed righteous, but is not our righteousness. If, then, we desire to have God as our righteousness, we must seek Christ; for this cannot be found except in him. The righteousness of God has been set forth to us in Christ; and all who turn away from him, though they may take many circuitous courses, can yet never find the righteousness of God. Hence Paul says that he has been given or made to us righteousness, — for what end? that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (1Co 1:30.) Since, then, Christ is made our righteousness, and we are counted the righteousness of God in him, we hence learn how properly and fitly it has been said that he would be Jehovah, not only that the power of his divinity might defend us, but also that we might become righteous in him, for he is not only righteous for himself, but he is our righteousness. (82)
(81) See the Preface to this volume.
(82) “This king,” says Venema, “is the true God, the meritorious cause and pledge of our righteousness, and also the efficient cause and exemplar of all holiness, piety, and virtue.” He holds that Messiah alone is spoken of here, and blames Grotius for applying the passage in the first place to Zerubbabel, and maintains that what is said here cannot be applied to any but to the Messiah. He mentions, as a proof of this, his name — “a righteous Branch;” his royal dignity — “a king shall reign;” his title — “Jehovah our righteousness,” his prosperity and the security of his kingdom. All these things comport with the character of no one, but with that of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.The true King shall reign over a re-united people. The Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom, as well as the two of the Southern, should find in Him deliverance and peace.
Whereby he shall be called.Literally, whereby one shall call him, the indefinite, almost impersonal active having the force of the English passive.
The Lord our Righteousness.It is significant that in Jer. 33:16 the same name is given to Jerusalem. There it is clearly not, in logical language, the predicate of the city, but that which she takes as her watchword, and blazons, as it were, on her banner; and we cannot consistently press more than that meaning here. So in Eze. 48:35 the new name of Jerusalem is Jehovah-shammah (= the Lord is there). So in Exo. 17:15 Moses calls the altar which he builds Jehovah-nissi (= the Lord is my banner). The interpretation which sees in the words (1) the identification of the Messianic King with Jehovah, the Eternal, and (2) the doctrine of imputed righteousness, must accordingly be regarded as one of the applications of the words rather than their direct meaning. That meaning would seem to be that the King, the righteous Branch, will look to Jehovah as giving and working righteousness. Some commentators, indeed, refer the pronoun he to Israel, and not to the righteous Branch. We cannot forget that, at the very time when Jeremiah uttered this prophecy, a king was on the throne whose name (Zedekiah = righteous is Jehovah) implied the same thought. His reign had been a miserable failure, and the prophet looks forward to a time when the ideal, which was then far off, should at last be realised. If with many critics we refer the prediction to the reign of Jehoiakim (see Note on Jer. 23:1), we might almost see in Mattaniahs adoption of the new name a boast that he was about to fulfil it. The Christ, we may say, answered to the name, not as being Himself one with Jehovah, though He was that, but as doing the Fathers will, and so fulfilling all righteousness (comp. Mat. 3:15).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Judah Israel The prophet writes as though Israel had not been destroyed; and this was true in a sense deeper and more spiritual than that in which she had been destroyed. The passing away of her political power was a mere incident. The spiritual results of the long centuries of divine tuition and discipline were still conserved. There had been reared a temple of spiritual truth which even the shock of war could not cast down. Israel and Judah are still complementary parts of God’s indestructible Church.
Whereby he shall be called Literally, he shall call him, or one shall call him. The subject is either Jehovah understood, or the verb is impersonal, which is the preferable view. The object “he” is clearly the Personage of the preceding verse. A few commentators, mainly because of Jer 33:16, refer it to the Jewish people, but most unwarrantably.
The Lord our Righteousness “Though the Hebrew language admitted into ordinary appellations the name of the Deity, yet this is the case solely in compound, and never in uncompounded, names. Such are either memorials of some great event, (for instance, Gen 6:14; Gen 22:14; Exo 17:15; Jdg 6:24, etc.,) or virtual promises of some future deliverance, as Jer 33:16; Eze 48:35; or names of the Deity, as in Isa 7:16; Isa 9:6.” (Dean Smith, in loc.) The import of the name is, that Jehovah will, by the Messiah, establish among his people a reign of righteousness. The phrase does not look directly to outward and technical justification, but to holiness of heart and life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Coming Salvation Of His People ( Jer 23:6-8 ).
And when this son of David came Judah would be delivered and Israel would dwell in safety. They would be free and independent under His rule. This was partly fulfilled in Jesus’ establishment of His ‘congregation’ (Mat 16:18; Mat 21:43; compare Joh 15:1-6) who would be the heavy laden who would find rest and ease to their souls (Mat 11:28-30) and ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (Rom 8:21). But it would only find its complete fulfilment in the eternal kingdom.
And ‘He will be called YHWH our Righteousness (Tsidkenu)’. For He will be made unto them Wisdom from God, even Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption (1 Corinthians 1,30). He will clothe them with the garments of salvation and cover them with the robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10). He will be their Saviour (Luk 2:11; Act 5:31; 2Ti 1:10). And it will be both an accounted righteousness (Gen 15:6) and an imparted righteousness. Both have always been necessary for those who would serve God. That was why sacrifices and offerings were provided, and the Law was to be written in their hearts (Jer 31:33).
Jer 23:6
“In his days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely,
And this is his name by which he will be called,
YHWH our righteousness.”
The picture here is of Judah and Israel as a free and independent people ruled over by their king who will Himself be righteous and will instil into them the righteousness of God. It will finally be fulfilled in the everlasting kingdom. But we may see a partial fulfilment now. As is made clear in Isaiah (Isa 45:8; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:5-6; Isa 51:8; Isa 59:17) the concepts of righteousness and salvation go hand in hand, there could be no salvation without righteousness, and there could be no righteousness without salvation, for to be truly His they must have righteousness imputed to them (Gen 15:6) and righteousness imparted to them, and thereby they would be saved and would dwell in safety and at peace with God.
There is a play here on the name of Zedekiah which actually means ‘YHWH is righteous’. And the point being made is that unlike Zedekiah He will be truly righteous, and truly a producer of righteousness. He will be what Zedekiah should have been. It may be that Zedekiah chose this name as his throne name precisely because of Jeremiah’s prophecy, or it may be that Nebuchadrezzar had a sense of humour.
Jer 23:7-8
‘Therefore, behold, the days are coming, the word of YHWH, that they will no more say, “As YHWH lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but, “As YHWH lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.” And they will dwell in their own land.”
Compare Jer 16:14-15. This was prophesied more than once. Thus while the coming Exile appeared to be, and was, a catastrophe they were in the hands of the living God, and from it He would produce a new deliverance which would be so wonderful that they would no longer hark back to the deliverance from Egypt, but would look back to their deliverance from exile in all the countries to which they had been driven. And they would dwell again in their own land. And it was on such a deliverance that the Jews looked back in the time of Jesus. But in Jesus Christ the vision would extend outwards and He would become a light to the Gentiles (Isa 42:6-7; Isa 49:6; Isa 60:1-3) as well as the glory of His people Israel (Luk 2:32; Isa 60:1). And the final fulfilment awaits the everlasting kingdom when Abraham and all God’s people will finally receive the land for which they were looking (Heb 11:10-14).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 23:6. In his days Judah shall be saved This prophesy is in part fulfilled in all true believers,the mystical Israel, but will receive its utmost completion when the Jewish nation shall be restored; a blessing foretold by most of the ancient prophets, who generally joined Judah and Israel together, as equal sharers in the blessing, being no longer two but one kingdom: and the great Author of this restoration and peace shall be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: that is, He shall be the Jehovah, or true God, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and our righteousness, or the great and only means of our justification before God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1060
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Jer 23:6. This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
THE writings of the Prophets no less than of the Apostles testify of Christ: nor can we any where find a fuller exhibition of his character than in the words before us. As to his origin, he is a branch from the root of David; and, in his character, a righteous branch. His office is that of a King; and, as to the manner in which he executes that office, he executes righteousness and judgment in the land. Look we for the effects of his administration? In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. Lastly, Would we know in what light he is to be regarded? This is his name, whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.
In these words the prophet sets forth,
I.
The dignity of Christ
The inspired writers never seem afraid of speaking of Christ in too exalted terms. The prophet, in this very place, declares,
1.
His essential dignity
[There is frequent occasion to observe that, wherever the word Lord is printed in large characters, it is in the original Jehovah. Now Jehovah denotes the self-existence of the Deity, and is a name incommunicable to any creature: yet is it here assigned to Christ. By comparing similar declarations in the Old Testament with the expositions given of them in the New, we know assuredly that this name belongs to Christ; and that therefore he is and must be God over all, blessed for ever [Note: Isa 6:5. with Joh 12:41. or Isa 45:22-23. with Rom 14:10-11. or Joe 2:32. with Rom 10:13-14. or Mal 3:1. with Luk 1:76.].]
2.
His official dignity
[The title of Jehovah belongs equally to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; but the additional title of Our Righteousness, is peculiar to Christ alone. It imports that Christ has by his own obedience unto death wrought out a righteousness for guilty man; and that this righteousness shall be unto all and upon all them that believe in him. It is in this sense that St. Paul speaks of him as made unto us righteousness [Note: 1Co 1:30.].
The connexion between the different parts of this comprehensive name deserves particular notice: for, if He were not Jehovah, he could not be our Righteousness; seeing that as a creature, he could merit nothing; because he would owe to God all that he could do; and, after he had done all, he would be only an unprofitable servant: but as he is God, all which he does is voluntary; and his divinity stamps an infinite value upon his work; so that it may well merit, not for himself only, but for a ruined world
Such is the dignity of our blessed Lord: He is Jehovah, one with the Father, in glory equal, in majesty co-eternal: nor is there one ransomed soul in heaven, who does not ascribe his salvation to the blood and righteousness of this our incarnate God.]
While the prophet thus expatiates on the glory of Christ, he intimates also,
II.
The duty of man
Our duty as sinners, and as redeemed sinners, has especial respect to Christ: and it is summarily comprehended in the ascribing to Christ the honour due unto his name. But this must be done,
1.
In faith
[To compliment Christ with any titles which we do not believe due to him, would be to insult him, like those who arrayed him in mock majesty, and cried, Hail, King of the Jews! We must fully believe him to be God: we must be persuaded that we neither have, nor can have, any righteousness of our own: and we must be assured, that He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth [Note: Rom 10:4.]. If we entertain any idea of meriting any thing at Gods hands by our own obedience, or of adding any thing of our own to his perfect righteousness, we dishonour and degrade him; and, instead of performing our duty towards him, we violate it in the most flagrant manner: and, though we may be actuated by a blind zeal for the Fathers honour, or for the interest of morality, we are indeed rebels against God, since he has commanded that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father, and that they should call him in faith, The Lord our Righteousness.]
2.
In sincerity
[As, to give him a title which we do not believe due to him would be mockery, so, to give it without a correspondent regard to him would be hypocrisy. Do we believe him to be Jehovah? we must regard him with reverential awe, and yield ourselves up to him in unreserved obedience. Do we believe him to be the only Righteousness of the redeemed? we must renounce entirely our own righteousness, and depend on him with our whole hearts. Do we view him in his complex character as Jehovah our Righteousness? We must rejoice in having such an almighty friend, such a sure foundation. We must glory in him as all our salvation, and all our desire. A less regard to him than this, not only falls below our duty, but is absolutely inconsistent with any scriptural hope, any prospect of salvation.]
From this subject we may learn,
1.
The way of salvation
[There are but three ways in which we can conceive it possible for any man to be saved; namely, by works, by faith and works, or by faith without works; and the subject before us plainly declares which is the true one. Are we to be saved by our works? No: for God would never have sent his Son to be our righteousness, if we ever could have wrought out a sufficient righteousness of our own. Besides, our own works would then have been our righteousness, and the name here ascribed to Christ would not have belonged to him. Moreover, even in heaven it self, instead of ascribing Salvation to God and to the Lamb, we must have ascribed it to God and to ourselves.
Are we then to be saved by faith and works? We still answer, No: for in whatever degree we trust in our own works, in that degree do we rob Christ of his official dignity; and assume to ourselves the honour due to him alone. As far as our own merits are united with his as a joint ground of our acceptance with God, so far shall we have to all eternity a ground of glorying in ourselves; yea, so far salvation will cease to be of grace; whereas it is of faith that it may be by grace, and that boasting may be for ever excluded [Note: Rom 4:16. Eph 2:8-9.].
Salvation must then be by faith without works, (not without works as its fruits and effects; but altogether without them, as a ground of our acceptance before God:) we must not endeavour either in whole or in part to establish a righteousness of our own, but seek to be clothed in the unspotted robe of Christs righteousness. This is the declaration of God himself [Note: Rom 4:5.]; nor did the Apostles themselves know any other way of salvation [Note: Gal 2:16.]. We must all therefore desire, with St. Paul, to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, but his, even his alone [Note: Php 3:9.].]
2.
The excellency of that way
[What can be conceived more comfortable to man than to hear of such a salvation as this? Were we told that we must work out a righteousness of our own that should be commensurate with the demands of Gods law, who could entertain a hope of ever effecting it? If we were required to do something that should be worthy to be joined with the Saviours merits in order to render them more effectual for our acceptance, where should we find one single work of ours that we could present to God as perfect, and as deserving of so great a reward? The best man on earth must either sit down in despair, or live in continual suspense respecting his eternal welfare. But the righteousness of Jehovah appears at once, not only adequate to our wants, but to the wants of all mankind; and, by trusting in that, we find rest unto our souls. Nor can we devise any other method of acceptance so honourable to God; since it refers all the glory to him; and necessitates all the hosts of the redeemed to ascribe the honour of their salvation to him alone. In spite of all the objections too that are urged against it, we can affirm that it is eminently conducive to the practice of holiness. Can we think of God becoming man in order to work out a righteousness for us, and not feel a desire to serve and honour him? Can we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. An inspired writer assures us that the grace of God which bringeth salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world.
Let us then seek our righteousness in Christ alone; but let us shew by our lives, that this doctrine of faith is indeed a doctrine according to godliness.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Ver. 6. This is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. ] Jehovah Tsidkenu. a This is a most mellifluous and sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ, importing his Godhead, as the righteous Branch of David Jer 23:5 did his manhood; and besides assuring us that as he hath for us fulfilled all righteousness, Mat 3:15 so he is by God made unto us righteousness, 1Co 1:30 and that we are become the righteousness of God in him. 2Co 5:21 This one name of Christ is a strong tower; Pro 18:10 it is such as will answer all our doubts and objections, were they never so many, had we but skill to spell all the letters in it. Cyprian was wont to comfort his friends thus, Venit Antichristus, sed superveniet Christus; Antichrist will come, but then Christ will be at the heels of him. We may well comfort ourselves against all evils and enemies with this consideration, Christ is “Jehovah our righteousness.” God hath “laid help on one that is mighty,” and he came to “bring in everlasting righteousness.” Dan 9:24 Why then should we “fear in the days of evil, when the iniquities of our heels shall compass us about.” Psa 49:5 Domine Satan, saith Luther somewhere, nihil me movent minae terrores tui; est enim unus qui vocatur Iehovah iustitia nostra, in quem credo: Is legem abrogavit, peccatum damnavit, mortem abolevit, infernum destruxit, estque O Satan, Satan tuus b – that is, You, Sir Satan, your menaces and terrors trouble me not. For why? There is one whose name is called the Lord our righteousness, on whom I believe. He it is who hath abrogated the law, condemned, sin, abolished death, destroyed hell, and is a Satan to thee, O Satan. Surely this brave saying of Luther may well be reckoned among such of his sentences as a man would fetch, rather than be without them, upon his knees from Rome or Jerusalem.
a Vocat Scriptura nomen Messiae Iehova Tsidkenu, quia erit Mediator Deus, per cuius manus consecuturi sumus iustitiam a Deo ipso, inquit Rabbinus quidam in lib. Ikharim.
b Luth., tom. iv. fol. 55 A.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Israel shall dwell safely. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 25:18, Lev 25:19; Lev 25:26, Lev 25:5. Deu 33:12, Deu 33:28. Repeated in Jer 32:37; Jer 33:16). App-92.
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Hebrew. Jehovah Zidkenu. See App-4. For the reason of the large type in Authorized Version, see App-48.
OUR. Because the gift of God.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Judah: Deu 33:28, Deu 33:29, Psa 130:7, Psa 130:8, Isa 12:1, Isa 12:2, Isa 33:22, Isa 45:17, Eze 37:24-28, Hos 1:7, Oba 1:17, Oba 1:21, Zec 10:6, Mat 1:21, Luk 1:71-74, Luk 19:9, Luk 19:10, Rom 11:26, Rom 11:27
dwell: Jer 30:10, Jer 32:37, 1Ki 4:25, Isa 2:4, Isa 35:9, Eze 34:25-28, Hos 2:18, Zep 3:13, Zec 2:4, Zec 2:5, Zec 3:10, Zec 14:9-11
and this: Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6, Mat 1:21-23
The Lord Our Righteousness: Heb. JEHOVAH-tsidkenu, Jer 33:16, Isa 45:24, Isa 45:25, Isa 54:17, Dan 9:24, Rom 3:22, 1Co 1:30, 2Co 5:21, Phi 3:9
Reciprocal: Gen 17:5 – but thy name Gen 49:10 – until Exo 3:13 – What is his name Exo 23:21 – my name Lev 25:18 – and ye Lev 26:5 – dwell Deu 12:10 – ye dwell Deu 32:3 – Because Jdg 6:24 – Jehovahshalom 2Sa 8:15 – David executed 1Ki 10:9 – to do 1Ki 11:39 – not for ever 1Ki 12:16 – now see 2Ki 19:34 – my servant 1Ch 5:2 – the chief ruler 1Ch 12:40 – there was joy 1Ch 17:11 – I will raise 1Ch 18:14 – executed Psa 4:1 – O Psa 45:6 – O God Psa 45:11 – Lord Psa 58:1 – Do Psa 72:1 – the king’s Psa 80:15 – the branch Psa 85:10 – righteousness Psa 89:16 – righteousness Psa 98:2 – righteousness Psa 101:2 – behave Psa 145:7 – sing Pro 16:10 – A divine sentence Pro 18:10 – name Pro 29:2 – the righteous Pro 30:4 – and what Son 1:3 – thy name Isa 11:4 – But with Isa 16:5 – in the Isa 32:1 – king Isa 32:18 – General Isa 37:35 – and for Isa 42:6 – called Isa 45:21 – a just Jer 30:21 – governor Jer 31:1 – of Jer 33:15 – the Branch Jer 46:27 – and be Eze 1:26 – the appearance of a man Eze 17:22 – highest Eze 21:27 – until Eze 28:26 – and they shall dwell Eze 34:24 – a prince Eze 37:22 – and one Eze 38:8 – and they shall Eze 38:14 – dwelleth Eze 46:18 – the prince Amo 9:11 – raise Mic 2:13 – their Mic 4:4 – none Zec 6:13 – bear Zec 9:9 – behold Zec 12:8 – the house Zec 13:7 – the man Zec 14:11 – shall be safely inhabited Mat 6:33 – his Mat 11:3 – Art Mat 21:5 – thy King Mat 22:42 – The Son Mat 25:34 – the King Mar 10:47 – thou Mar 15:12 – whom Luk 1:32 – give Luk 1:69 – in Luk 2:14 – and Luk 7:19 – Art Luk 20:41 – Christ Luk 24:27 – and all Joh 1:49 – the King Joh 8:16 – yet Joh 16:10 – righteousness Joh 20:28 – My Lord Act 1:6 – restore Act 2:30 – he Act 10:36 – he is Act 13:23 – this Act 26:6 – the promise Rom 1:3 – which Rom 3:21 – righteousness Rom 9:5 – who is Rom 10:3 – God’s righteousness Rom 14:17 – but 1Co 15:47 – the Lord 2Co 3:9 – the ministration of righteousness Eph 1:6 – he Eph 1:12 – who Phi 2:6 – in Phi 2:11 – is Lord 1Ti 3:16 – God Heb 1:8 – O God Heb 7:2 – King of righteousness Heb 7:14 – sprang Jam 2:7 – worthy 1Jo 5:20 – This is Rev 5:5 – the Root Rev 19:11 – and in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU
The Lord our Righteousness.
Jer 23:6
I. We may view the text as simply an announcement of important truth.It stands there on the sacred page like a profound oracular utterance from the hidden shrine of truth, given forth for our enlightenment and everlasting benefit. (1) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as the purpose and plan of justifying sinners originated with Him. (2) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as He Himself alone has procured righteousness for us. (3) The Lord is our righteousness, inasmuch as it is through His grace and by His free donation that we receive righteousness.
II. These words may be contemplated as the utterance of personal belief and confidence.Here we present to our minds the view of a body of persons who avow and proclaim that the Lord is their righteousness; and who know, reverence, and confide in God as thus apprehended. They have no confidence in the flesh, their trust is in God alone. They look not to works of charity, or self-denial, or penance, for acceptance with God; they ask only to be accepted in the Beloved. They know in Whom they have believed, and therefore they do not hesitate to stand up and avow before the world that all their trust and all their hope are in that worthy name, The Lord our Righteousness. In their lips this is the language (1) of faith; (2) of hope; (3) of joy and gratitude.
III. We may contemplate the text as a directory to the inquirer.Sinners are supposed to be anxious to know the way of acceptance with God. Conscious of guilt, they feel their need of a justifying righteousness in order that they may stand without blame before the moral Governor of the universe. With them, therefore, the foremost and most pressing question is, How may I, a sinner, be righteous before God? To such the words of my text give a brief but most satisfactory answer. They are a proclamation from God Himself, that in Him is the salvation of the sinner found. They direct the inquirer away from self, away from all creature help, away from all methods of personal or sacerdotal propitiation, and carry his thoughts to Godto God in Christ, as the sole author and bestower of righteousness. The Lord is our righteousness, and He alone. His voice to the lost and guilty sons of men is, Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE PROPHETIC NAME OF CHRIST
This is the name which was to be given to the Righteous Branch that was to be raised unto David in the days to come. These words are, therefore, a standing monument of an onward-looking hope. The main point which we have to grasp firmly, and by no means to let go, is that here, if anywhere, there is a prophecy of the times of the Messiah, which is known to have been given before the Captivity, and was undeniably not fulfilled for many centuries to come after it. The prophecy was given in the last days of the Jewish monarchy. It is utterly impossible that it could have been fulfilled in Zedekiah. But as he was the last king, there was no one else to whom it could apply until He came, Who died with the inscription over His head, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, showing Himself thereby as at once the eternal King and the unchangeable Priest.
Believing, then, as we do most firmly, that this is the prophetic name of Christ, and of Christ alone, what is it designed to teach us?
I. That the Son of David and King of Israel is the source of our righteousness, the exhibition and presentation of it before our consciences and unto the Father.Christ is to us the realisation of righteousness. It is no longer an unattainable conception or an abstract idea, but in Him it becomes a concrete fact, on which we can lay hold, and a thing which we can appropriate and possess. He becomes first righteousness, and then our righteousness. As St. Paul says of Him, He is made unto us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
II. If this is the obverse or positive presentation of the truth, it has also its reverse or negative side.If the name whereby Christ is called the Lord our Righteousness, that fact is destructive of all other hopes, prospects, or sources of righteousness. See, then, the bearing of this truth: I am a sinner. In methat is, in my fleshdwelleth no good thing. If then, I am to be righteous, it cannot be by my becoming so, because in that case my sinlessness would be my righteousness, a statement which is directly opposed to the truth implied in the name, the Lord our Righteousness.
And yet this is a truth of which the vast majority of men, even of religious men, are profoundly ignorant. They do not understand that, as the origin of righteousness must be Christ alone, so also the basis of the hope of righteousness must be not in themselves, their character, or their conduct, but simply and solely in Him Who is Himself the Righteousness for which they eagerly long, but for which they fruitlessly hunger and thirst. Behold in Him your righteousness. Look away from and out of yourselves to Him, and be righteous.
It is in the highest degree fit and proper that the venerable and emphatic words should stand as they do thus prominently in the services of the last Sunday of the Christian year. For
III. They have a two-fold message. They look before and after.(1) They concern the past, with its terrible blot and stain, its golden, but departed and lost opportunities, its irreparable mistakes, its unfulfilled and irrecoverable promises, its sin and sorrow, its struggles and its failures. And looking back upon them the words rise up before us like the Sun of Righteousness Himself with healing in His wings. They remind us that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. To know that the Lord is our righteousness, is to know that which can alone enable us to contemplate the past with equanimity and serenity, that which can alone take the sting out of sin, and rob even the broken law of its terror.
(2) But we have to face the future, as well as to look back upon the past. And in that future we know not what may lurk. But if the Lord is our righteousness, and if He Who is our righteousness is the Lord, the very and eternal God Himself, then, come what may, we must be safe with Him. If we are righteous as He is righteous, then we may know that, as He is, so are we in this world, and therefore may have confidence in the hour of death and at the day of judgment, because we have been assured that neither death nor life, etc. (Rom 8:38-39).
Professor Stanley Leathes.
Illustration
I need Christ as the Lord my Righteousness.
That means that He must obey and suffer and die for me. Rather than that I should perish, He must offer in my room the strange and costly sacrifice of Himself. He must make me acceptable and righteous in my Judges and my Fathers eyes.
This salvation, purchased and ensured so marvellously, is the only one that satisfies me, once my conscience is thoroughly aroused. When I have been taught by God the Spirit what I deserve and what I am, I can be contented with nothing else than the doing and dying of Jesus in my place. I cry out for just such a propitiation as He presented. I cling to the Cross of the Lamb of God. I cannot do without my stricken and prevailing Saviour. He becomes all my hope and glory.
Do I believe and know that God has made Him sin that I might in Him be righteousness?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Jer 23:6. Judah and Israel being mentioned together indicates that all 13 tribes of the nation would be in existence when Christ came to the earth. But they were to be saved as followers of Christ and not as Jews. At the time of this writing, however, the Jews were the people who were in the front line of attention from the Lord, hence it was logical to mention them in this specific manner.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
During His reign, Judah and Israel would experience salvation and security. People would refer to Him as "Yahweh our righteousness." This strongly indicates that this King would be Yahweh Himself ruling in righteousness (cf. 1Co 1:30; 2Co 5:21). His name appears to be a play on the name Zedekiah, which probably means, "Yahweh is my righteousness." If so, this prophecy probably dates from Zedekiah’s reign. Ironically, Zedekiah was anything but righteous.