Jeremiah 23:15 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Bible Comments

Wormwood... water of gall. — See Notes on Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 9:15.

Profaneness. — The root-meaning of the Hebrew word is that of “veiling,” hence that of simulated holiness, or, as in the margin, “hypocrisy;” but the associations of the word attached to it the further sense of the hypocrisy that desecrates, so that “profaneness” is, on the whole, the best rendering. The corresponding concrete noun is rendered in Isaiah 9:17 by “hypocrite;” in Psalms 35:16 by “hypocritical mocker;” above, in Jeremiah 23:11, by “profane.”

Jeremiah 23:15

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 profanenessc gone forth into all the land.