Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 23:1

"Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 23:1 (ASV)

Woe be unto the pastors ... —The message that follows in Jeremiah 23:1-8 comes as a natural sequel to that of Jeremiah 22. The unfaithful shepherds who had been previously denounced are contrasted with those, more faithful to their trust, whom Jehovah will raise up. As before, in Jeremiah 2:8 and elsewhere, we have to remember that the “pastors” are (like the “shepherds of the people” in Greek poets) the civil rulers, not the prophets or the priests, of Israel. The parallelism with the prophecy of Ezekiel 34, delivered about the same time in the land of exile, is suggestive either of direct communication between the two writers, or of traditional lines of thought common to the two priest-prophets.

The sheep of my pasture. —These words assert the claims of Jehovah to be the true Shepherd of His people. (Psalms 100:3.)