The guilt of this idolatry is ascribed to the four ruling classes:
(a) The accusation brought against the priests is indifference.
(b) “They that handle the law” belonged also to the priestly class Deuteronomy 33:10. Their offence was that “they knew not God.” Compare Micah 3:11.
(c) The third class are “the pastors” or shepherds, that is the temporal rulers. Their crime is disobedience.
(d) The fourth class are “the prophets.” It was their business to press the moral and spiritual truths of the law home to the hearts of the people: but they drew their inspiration from Baal, the Sun-god. Upon the corruption of the prophetic order at this time, see the Jeremiah 14:13 note.
Things that do not profit - Here idols, which are not merely unreal, but injurious. See 1 Samuel 12:21; Isaiah 44:9.