Jeremiah 23:11

11 For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 23:11

For both prophet and priest are profane
Being guilty of the afore mentioned sins. The Targum is,

``the scribe and the priest;''
and such were the scribes and priests in the time of our Lord; they played "the hypocrite" F17, as some render the word here; and are often charged with the sin of hypocrisy, and called hypocrites, ( Matthew 22:18 ) ( Matthew 23:13-15 Matthew 23:23 Matthew 23:25 Matthew 23:27 Matthew 23:29 ) ; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord;
where they officiated in holy things, or should have done so; where the one should have instructed the people, and the other offered sacrifices for them, according to the will of God; there they committed wickedness, which was an aggravation of their sin, as was the case of Eli's sons, ( 1 Samuel 2:22-24 ) ; perhaps the same sin was committed by these men; or idolatry may be meant; setting up images, and building altars for them in the house of God; see ( Jeremiah 7:30 ) ; or carrying on traffic and merchandise, whereby the temple was made a house of merchandise, as it was in the times of Christ, ( John 2:14-16 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wpnx) "hypocritae fuerunt", Vatablus, Montanus; "hypocritas agunt", Piscator; "hypocrisin exercent", Schmidt, Cocceius.

Jeremiah 23:11 In-Context

9 To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words.
10 Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.
11 For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal and deceived my people Israel.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.