Jeremiah 23:36 · Bible study
Jeremiah 23:36 Commentary: When God's Word Becomes a Burden
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Jeremiah 23:36 study: the wordplay between “burden” and “message” shows God rebuking mockery and turning irreverent speech into judgment.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God forbids the mocking use of “burden of the Lord” and turns the people’s irreverent speech into the very judgment that crushes them.
- Key words: massa (burden/oracle), haphak (pervert, overturn), davar (word), chayyim (living).
- Main debate: Whether the prohibition applies to the specific mocking tone or to the term “burden” itself; most agree the sin is in the irreverent heart, not the word alone.
- Theological theme: God’s word carries weight; treating it lightly brings a reversal of judgment.
- Best use: A warning against casual or mocking treatment of Scripture, and a call to reverent, humble speech about God’s revelation.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.
WEB World English Bible 2000
You will mention the message from Yahweh no more, for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of Yahweh of Armies, our God.
KJV King James Version 1769
And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more: for every man’s own word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts our God.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And the burden of Jehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is--His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more; for every man's own word shall be his burden: for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts, our God.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man's word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y nunca más os vendrá á la memoria decir: Carga de Jehová: porque la palabra de cada uno le será por carga; pues pervertisteis las palabras del Dios viviente, de Jehová de los ejércitos, Dios nuestro.
E nunca mais mencionareis a carga do SENHOR; porque a palavra de cada um lhe servirá por carga; pois pervertestes as palavras do Deus vivente, do SENHOR dos exércitos, nosso Deus.
Mais vous ne direz plus: Menace de l’ Éternel!
Und nennt's nicht mehr “ Last des HERRN”; denn einem jeglichem wird sein eigenes Wort eine “ Last” sein, weil ihr also die Worte des lebendigen Gottes, des HERRN Zebaoth, unsers Gottes, verkehrt.
Maar des HEEREN last zult gij niet meer gedenken; want een iegelijk zal zijn eigen woord een last zijn, dewijl gij verkeert de woorden van den levenden God, den HEERE der heirscharen, onzen God.
Ma l’oracolo dell’Eterno non lo mentoverete più; poiché la parola di ciascuno sarà per lui il suo oracolo, giacché avete tòrte le parole dell’Iddio vivente, dell’Eterno degli eserciti, dell’Iddio nostro.
A brzmienia Pańskiego nie wspominajcie więcej; bo brzmieniem będzie każdemu słowo jego, gdyżeście wy wywrócili słowa Boga żywego, Pana zastępów, Boga naszego.
А этого слова: "бремя от Господа", впредь не употребляйте: ибо бременем будет такому человеку слово его, потому что вы извращаете слова живаго Бога, Господа Саваофа Бога нашего.
『耶和華 的默示』你們不可 再 提， 各人 所說的話 必作 自己的重擔（重擔和默示原文同），因為你們謬用 永生 神、萬軍 之耶和華─我們 神 的言語。
And you will no longer put people in mind of the word of weight of the Lord: for every man's word will be a weight on himself; for the words of the living God, of the Lord of armies, our God, have been twisted by you.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 23:36
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the people of Judah used the Hebrew term massa, “burden”, as a flippant way to refer to prophetic oracles, especially those announcing judgment. As Calvin explains, they employed the word “as expressive of hatred or disdain.” God responds by turning their mockery back on them. Barnes notes that “every man’s burden shall be his word”: the very scoffing they weaponized will crush them. Clarke adds that had they used God’s messages rightly, they would have been blessings; instead, they “perverted the words of the living God” and sinned against their own souls. Gill emphasises that the punishment fits the crime, the word they mocked becomes a weight of guilt. Matthew Henry sees the broader sin as “bantering God’s prophets” and jesting with sacred things. All point to a clear reversal: the phrase they used to dismiss divine speech now falls back as a literal burden of judgment.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God prohibits the mocking use of “burden of the Lord” and declares that the people’s own irreverent words will become the heavy judgment that falls on them.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The meaning of 'burden' (massa) | All traditions agree that the people used the term mockingly, treating divine oracles as mere burdens to be endured. | Some (e.g., Calvin) stress that the word itself is not evil but the people's scornful attitude; others (e.g., Gill) see a broader warning against any flippant use of sacred vocabulary. |
| The nature of the reversal | Christians across traditions agree that God turns the people's own words against them, making their mockery the source of their judgment. | Protestant commentators often emphasize the principle of just recompense (the sin becomes the punishment), while Catholic readings may connect it to the broader theme of profaning holy things. |
| Contemporary application | All see the passage as a call to reverence in speech about God and Scripture. | Some apply it strictly to the preaching context (avoiding dismissive labels like 'heavy'), while others extend it to all casual or mocking references to biblical teachings in everyday conversation. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah 23:36 sits within a longer oracle against the false prophets of Judah (23:9, 40). The prophet’s contemporaries had grown weary of hearing warnings. They had turned the prophetic vocabulary itself into a joke. The Hebrew word massa carries a deliberate double meaning: it can mean an “utterance” or “oracle” (especially a solemn one) and also a “load” or “burden.” In common speech, the people began asking, “What is the burden of the Lord?”, pretending that every prophecy was merely a heavy message of doom.
By Jeremiah’s time, the kingdom of Judah was caught between empires. Babylon pressed from the east; Egypt pulled from the south. The false prophets promised peace and safety (Jer 23:16, 17). Their real message was comforting, not burdensome. Yet the people lumped all prophetic speech together under the sneering label “burden.” They had “perverted” (haphak, “overturn, distort”) the words of the living God. The phrase “the living God” echoes Israel’s ancient confessions (Deut 5:26; 1 Sam 17:26,36), a reminder that Israel’s God was not a mute idol but an active, speaking Lord who could defend His own words. The whole scene is a culture of irreverence: prophets stole words from one another, priests followed the crowd, and the people treated the divine oracle as a punchline.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources (Clarke, Barnes, Calvin, Cambridge Bible, etc.) note no significant textual variants for Jeremiah 23:36 itself. The broader passage (Jer 23:9, 40) has been discussed by scholars such as the Cambridge Bible, which suggests that some later insertions may be present; however, the text of verse 36 is stable across all major manuscripts and versions.
Reception History
Jeremiah 23:36 has been read across church history primarily as a warning against irreverent speech concerning divine revelation. The early church saw it as a call to treat prophetic and apostolic words with holy fear. During the Reformation, Calvin and the Geneva Bible used it to rebuke those who mocked Scripture or treated it as merely human opinion. Methodist commentators like Clarke and Wesley similarly stressed the reversal: the joke becomes judgment. In modern evangelical and liturgical traditions, the verse is sometimes invoked to encourage careful, respectful language when referring to biblical preaching or teaching, reminding believers that God’s word is “living” (v.36) and cannot be handled carelessly.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The sin of mockery: The people turned a sacred term into a taunt, dismissing God’s word as nothing more than a heavy burden.
- The reversal: God takes them at their word. Their own sneering speech becomes the weight that crushes them. Every mockery they uttered becomes a charge against them.
- The call to reverence: God commands a different language, “What has the Lord answered?” (v.35). Our speech about God and His word matters. Irreverence invites judgment; humility invites blessing.
Five-point outline
- Context: A people tired of prophetic warnings and the rise of false peace prophets.
- Vocabulary: Massa as double-edged, oracle and burden.
- Act: The people made a joke of God’s message, using “burden” to distance themselves from its weight.
- Response: God declares He will no longer let them use that word; their own word becomes the real burden.
- Meaning: God’s word cannot be treated lightly. It is a living, powerful reality that will either bless or crush.
Illustration hooks
- A teenager who rolls their eyes at every parental warning, only to later face the exact consequence they mocked.
- A workplace where a crucial safety warning is turned into a running joke, until an accident makes everyone remember it was serious.
- A person who reduces every serious statement to a meme, finding later that the habit has dulled their ability to take anything to heart.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Is it wrong to call a sermon “heavy” or a prophecy “burdensome”? Does every biblical message have to feel light?
- How do I know if I’ve crossed the line from honest struggle with God’s word into outright mockery?
- What does this passage say about the way we talk about Scripture in casual conversation?
Leading a Discussion
This passage confronts us with the weight of the words we use for God’s Word. The people of Judah took a sacred term and turned it into a sneer. God responded by making their scoffing language the instrument of their own judgment. As you discuss, consider how the way we speak about Scripture reflects what we truly believe about it, and where we may need a change of language and heart.
Discussion questions
- Read Jeremiah 23:33, 40. What specific phrase did the people use, and why did it anger God?
- The word massa means both “oracle” and “burden.” How did the people exploit this double meaning? How did their tone turn the word into mockery?
- Barnes says that “every man’s burden shall be his word.” What does that mean in practical terms? How does God “take them at their word”?
- What does the phrase “the living God” add to the force of this rebuke? Why does the title matter here?
- Where do you see a similar casual or dismissive attitude toward God’s word in our culture today, or in your own heart?
- How can we speak about biblical teaching that feels “heavy” without slipping into irreverence?
- Verse 35 offers a positive alternative: “What has the Lord answered?” How does that simple change of language reshape the posture of the asker?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 5:26 | For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? |
| I Samuel 17:26 | David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” |
| I Samuel 17:36 | Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” |
| II Kings 19:4 | It may be Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” |
| Psalms 12:3 | May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts, |
| Psalms 64:8 | Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads. |
| Psalms 120:3 | What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue? |
| Psalms 149:9 | to execute on them the written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah! |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke treats the people's complaint as self-fulfilling: because they called God's messages burdens, those messages became burdens to them. The ruin comes not from the message itself but from their perversion of it, which turns blessing into judgment.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes stresses that the people's mocking use of the word "burden" turns against them: their own flippant talk becomes the heavy weight that crushes them. He explains that "perverted" here means twisted into something ridiculous, so the very term they used to scoff becomes the means of their downfall.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that God's word is inherently sweet and leads to salvation; it only becomes a burden because of human wickedness. The term "burden" was used by the Jews disdainfully, but God forbids it. The fault lies entirely with the hearer, not with the message itself.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Bible notes emphasize that God will turn the false prophets' own words against them. Because they twisted the phrase "burden of the Lord" and perverted what the living God had spoken, every man's word will become his own heavy burden, bringing judgment instead of authority.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights that the phrase "burden of the Lord" had become a mocking term for God's word. God therefore forbids its use and warns that every scoffing word will become a crushing burden on the speaker, because they have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, who is able to punish such disrespect.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB points out the ironic justice in play. The people mockingly call every prophecy a burden, as if it only threatens calamity, so God takes them at their word and makes their own speech become the very burden that falls on them. He is the living God, not like silent idols, and able to carry out his threats.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights the double meaning of the Hebrew word for "burden," meaning both a saying and a physical weight. The people used the term mockingly to imply that God's prophets only brought heavy, unpleasant messages. God turns the word back on them so their own
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry draws attention to the sin of mocking God's prophets by treating their solemn phrase "the burden of the Lord" as a jest. He argues that this flippant use of sacred language, though it may seem a small offense, is a clear symptom of deep wickedness in the nation and draws God's severe punishment.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley distinguishes the command "mention no more" from a simple request to stop speaking. It means ceasing to mock and deride Gods words. Those false, irreverent speeches will become a burden and bring vengeance, because they pervert the words of the living God through scorn.