Jeremiah 23:9

As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the prophets and the nation, declaring His visceral reaction to their corruption at a moment when false leadership threatens Israel's promised restoration.

The words — The text highlights נִשְׁבַּר (nishbar), meaning "it is broken," and רָחֲפוּ (rachafu), meaning "they have become weak," to describe the shattering of the heart and trembling of the bones.

The thread — This bodily collapse parallels the trembling in Habakkuk 3:16, the staggering from divinely given wine in Psalms 60:3, and the affliction of drunkenness without wine in Isaiah 51:21.

Why it lands — It demands recognition that God's holy words produce unavoidable physical and spiritual weight, requiring readers to weigh their own response to divine speech against cultural corruption.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

לַנְּבִאִ֞יםla./ne.vi.'Imof the/ prophets נִשְׁבַּ֧רnish.Barit is broken לִבִּ֣יli.B/iheart/ my בְקִרְבִּ֗יve./kir.B/iin/ inner being/ my רָֽחֲפוּ֙ra.cha.Futhey have become weak כָּל־kol-all עַצְמוֹתַ֔יatz.mo.Ta/ibones/ my הָיִ֙יתִי֙ha.Yi.tiI have become כְּאִ֣ישׁke./'Ishlike/ a person שִׁכּ֔וֹרshi.Kordrunken וּכְגֶ֖בֶרu./khe./Ge.verand/ like/ a man עֲבָ֣רוֹ'a.Va.ro/v[whom] it has passed over/ him יָ֑יִןYa.yinwine מִפְּנֵ֣יmi./pe.Nei<from>/ because of יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahweh וּמִפְּנֵ֖יu./mi./pe.Neiand/ <from>/ because of דִּבְרֵ֥יdiv.Rei[the] words of קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃ka.de.Sh/oholiness/ his

King James Version

Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.

Cross-references

Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
Psalms 60:3 You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
Isaiah 51:21 Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
Daniel 8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
2 Kings 22:19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
Isaiah 6:5 Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
Isaiah 29:9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?