Jeremiah 23:15 Commentary: Wormwood and Gall

Jeremiah 23:15 belongs to a larger condemnation of false prophets (23:9-40). The context contrasts the prophets of Samaria (northern kingdom) with those of Jerusalem (Judah). Verse 13 says Samaria's prophets prophesied by Baal and led Israel astray. But verse 14 declares that Jerusalem's prophets did something even more horrible: they committed adultery, walked in lies, and strengthened evildoers so that no one turned from wickedness. They became like Sodom and Gomorrah in God's eyes.

The historical moment is the late reign of Zedekiah (c. 600 BC), when Judah faced Babylonian threat. Many false prophets promised peace and safety (v.17), contradicting Jeremiah's warnings of exile. By giving the people false hope, they encouraged continued sin. The prophets of Jerusalem should have been a source of holiness and truth. Instead, their influence poisoned the nation. “Profaneness” (chanuppah) went out into all the land, a word that can mean pollution, hypocrisy, or godlessness (so Gill, and reflected in the Septuagint and Vulgate). Where God's word should have gone forth, evil spread instead.

The imagery of wormwood and poisoned water is not new. Jeremiah has used it before. In 8:14, the people acknowledge they are given poisoned water because they sinned. In 9:15, the whole people are threatened with wormwood. Now the false prophets, the very cause of the nation's corruption, receive the same bitter cup. The punishment is a fitting recompense: those who led others into spiritual poison must drink physical poison themselves.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Jeremiah 23:15. The verse is generally accepted as original to the prophetic oracle, though some critical scholars (e.g., Duhm) have argued that extensive sections of chapter 23 were expanded by later editors. However, none of the supplied commentaries dispute the authenticity of verse 15 in particular. The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts for this verse.

The imagery of wormwood and gall has been received as a powerful symbol of divine judgment throughout church history. In the New Testament, it is echoed in Revelation 8:11, where a star named “Wormwood” poisons the waters, causing many to die, a picture of judgment that recalls Jeremiah's warning. The early church fathers, such as Athanasius and Chrysostom, cited this verse to warn against false teachers who corrupt the faith with smooth words. The metaphor of bitterness and poison became a standard way to describe the deadly effect of heresy. In hymnody, wormwood appears as an image of the bitterness of sin and the severity of God's wrath, alongside the sweeter promise of salvation. Commentaries from the Reformation (Calvin, the Geneva Bible) used the passage to rebuke those who comfort the unrepentant with false assurances of peace. The verse remains a staple for preaching on the weighty responsibility of spiritual leadership.

Three-point outline

1. The crime: false prophets spread ungodliness instead of God's truth. They comforted sinners in their sin and strengthened evil.
2. The punishment: God feeds them wormwood and poison water, a bitter, deadly reversal of the comfort they promised themselves and others.
3. The lesson: Spiritual leadership carries severe accountability. Those who mislead God's people face a proportionate and terrifying judgment.

Five-point outline

1. Context: Jerusalem's prophets are worse than Samaria's (v.13-14).
2. The charge: their teaching and example corrupted the whole land (v.15c).
3. The sentence: wormwood for food, poisoned water for drink (v.15a-b).
4. The meaning: what they sowed, they now reap, the cup of God's wrath.
5. The wider lesson: God's judgment on false shepherds is a warning for all who handle His word.

Illustration hooks

• Food poisoning: something that should nourish becomes deadly. False prophets served spiritual food that looked good but was poison.
• A guide who leads hikers off a cliff. The punishment is not just for the fall, it is for the betrayal of trust that caused it.
• Bitter herbs at Passover remind Israel of slavery. Here false prophets taste the bitterness they brought on others.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Why does God seem so harsh in the Old Testament? The verse shows how seriously He takes the truth of His word and the care of His people.
• How can I recognize false teaching today? Look for teachers who promise peace without repentance, who tolerate sin, or who speak from their own imagination rather than Scripture (see v.16-17).
• Does this apply only to pastors, or to all believers? All who teach or influence others have a responsibility not to lead them into spiritual harm.

This verse is a sobering reminder that God sees the damage done when spiritual leaders speak lies instead of truth. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day used God's name to promise peace to people living in rebellion. Their punishment, bitter and deadly, shows that God does not take the deception of His people lightly. As a group, read Jeremiah 23:9-17 for the full context.

Discussion questions

1. What does the imagery of wormwood and poisoned water suggest about the nature of God's judgment here?
2. Why does God compare the prophets of Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah (v.14)?
3. How did the false prophets' teaching “strengthen the hands of evildoers” (v.14)?
4. What does it mean that “profaneness” went out from the prophets into all the land? How does sin spread from leaders to the whole community?
5. How does this passage challenge our view of spiritual authority? What responsibility do teachers and preachers have today?
6. Jeremiah 23:16 urges, “Don't listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.” Practically, how can believers test what they hear against God's word?
7. If you have been harmed or confused by poor teaching, how might this passage bring both warning for the teacher and comfort for the one misled?