John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 23:15

"Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land." — Jeremiah 23:15 (ASV)

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the
prophets
Concerning the false prophets, as the Targum; their sin is before declared, and now their punishment: behold, I will feed them with wormwood; with some bitter affliction and calamity; so the Targum, ``behold, I will bring upon them distress bitter as wormwood;'' they that have been fed with dainties, and lived upon the fat of the land; their views in pleasing the people with their lies being to serve their own bellies; now they shall fare after another manner: and make them drink the water of gall: or, "the juice of hemlock", as some; or "poison", as others; "the savour of death", so Kimchi; as they poisoned the people with their false doctrines, they shall drink poison themselves; they shall not only have that which is bitter and unpleasant, but that which is noxious and hurtful; not only a bitter potion, but a destructive one. The Targum is, ``I will cause them to drink a cup of the curse, bad as the heads of serpents;'' as pernicious as poison; see (Jeremiah 8:14) (9:15);

for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all
the land; by their false doctrines, and bad examples, debauchery, irreligion, and wickedness of all kinds, were encouraged, and spread all over the land; Jerusalem, the metropolis of the nation, being infected by them, the contagion spread from thence throughout the country. Evil teachers have a bad influence all around them; from whom, and from where, true doctrine and real religion should have been propagated; from them, and thence, was the source of all impiety and pollution.

Some render it, "hypocrisy" ^F26, or "flattery"; as if by means of the hypocrisy and flattery of these false prophets, all manner of sin was countenanced; and the like hypocritical spirit and behaviour everywhere prevailed.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F26: (hpnx) "hypocrisis", Vatablus, Piscastor, Cocceius, Schmidt.