The passage
      v1. Jeremiah proclaims "woe" on the "shepherds". The "woe" is a word of judgement upon Israel's leaders, particularly Zedekiah and his advisers.
      v2. The leaders of Israel were appointed to care for the people, reign over them and maintain peace, security and justice throughout the land, and so enable the people to freely worship the Lord. Yet, Zedekiah and his advisers have failed in this duty. Jeremiah's word of "woe" from the Lord is "you have not attended" to my people, so "I am going to attend to you for your wicked deeds", NEB.
      v3. The prophecy moves from a word of "woe" to future blessing. The Lord will preserve a remnant of the people, obviously a faithful remnant, a people like those who, so many years before, did not bow their knee to Baal. Although the people are now scattered in exile, they will be brought home and "will be fruitful." The fulfilment of this promise must await the coming of the Christ, the gathering of the lost from the ends of the earth and their coming to an eternal city.
      v4. The returned remnant will be in the hands of shepherds who will reign wisely so that the people will live in security and none will be scattered and lost. The leaders, in the time of the restoration, were not much better than their predecessors, so again the prophecy presses us to look for another shepherd who will tend his sheep and see that none go astray.
      v5. Jeremiah now describes this shepherd. He is a genuine sprout ("branch") from the Davidic line. He is genuine in that he acts as the Lord intended Israel's leaders to act; he is a "righteous" king. Jeremiah also tells us that he will reign wisely, ably, maintaining justice throughout the land.
      v6. Under the reign of this new shepherd, the whole of God's people will be liberated from bondage; they will be set free. This shepherd will carry a glorious name: "The Lord, the one who establishes righteousness in our favor."
      v7-8. This short individual prophecy speaks of the future restoration of Israel when the people are gathered and returned to "their own land." This new exodus specifically relates to the Northern tribes who were taken into exile by the Assyrians, but in general terms it looks to the gathering-in of the lost in the day of the coming messiah, the messiah who is the shepherd of the sheep.

We find ourselves in Thee

        Not hiding, but sheltering;
        Not invisible, but magnified.
        Lost in you, like light refracting;
        My true colors showing.
        You are the window of my soul.
            David Barclay. Photo by Graeme Wienand.
      Jeremiah proclaims the Lord's promise of a restored Israel, a promise to all the tribes lost and scattered. In that day the people will find green pastures, no longer afraid, no longer lost. Unlike their worthless leaders in past years, there will be a new leader, a good shepherd of the sheep. He will be a descendent of David, a true son of David, an ideal king. He will rule with wisdom such that justice will reign and the people will live safely. Above all, his name will itself proclaim the wonder of his rule, for he will be called "the Lord, the one who establishes righteousness in our favor."
      Of course, it was only natural for the people of Israel to expect that the coming of this shepherd would be realized in the restored kingdom of Israel, 538BC-70AD. It is true that some of the exiles from Judah returned to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Persian, but they were less than a representative group, and as for their leaders, they were less than average. Only in the coming of Christ was this prophecy inaugurated and its realization assured in the Lord's return to reign.
      In our relationship with Christ, the Good Shepherd, we are that lost people found, no longer scattered, no longer terrified. Now found in him, our Shepherd cares for us wisely and well and through him we find righteousness in our favor. That is, before God we are counted right, not in ourselves, but in our Shepherd. So like the poet David Barclay, we are no longer hiding from the divine, rather we are sheltering in him; we are no longer invisible to him, rather magnified before him. We find ourselves lost in our Shepherd, like refracting light displaying the glorious person we are. Jesus has become the window of our soul.

v1
      "shepherds" - Given that the preceding passages in this section of the book cover the kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, it is assumed that 23:1-8 concerns the reign of Zedekiah, who was the younger son of Josiah. Zedekiah's weak reign, under the influence of ultra-nationalist nobles, was responsible for the exile of the people. The use of the plural probably includes the nobles in the "woe".

v2
      paqad "tend ..... punish" - Bright notes that this verb serves to create a play on words, "look after, care for" and "call to account." Bright maintains the sense with "you have not attended to them, believe me, I'm going to attend to you." The NEB also carries the sense well.

v3
      "I have driven them" - The exile is an act of chastisement upon a people who have broken the covenant. The Babylonians' responsibility lies with their excessive violence for which they were be punished.
      "bring them back" - Exodus imagery. The prophecy may reflect the time of the exile, but the people of Judah would need to have a short memory not to remember the deportation policy of the Assyrians, a policy also employed by the Babylonians. A message concerning exile and exodus is not an improbable prophecy for a preexilic prophet.

v4
      "missing" - cf. Num.31:49. Following the attack on Midian, a count was taken of the people and it was found that none had been lost in the assault. Here, the full number of the remnant will return, no sheep will go astray, or more particularly, will be led astray by a worthless shepherd.

v5
      "David" - The Davidic line
      "righteous branch" - true/genuine/legitimate ... pos. righteous shoot, sprout, lit. that which grows. Unlike Zedekiah, the "true shoot" will reign wisely, cf. Isa.4:2. The faithless descendents of Josiah were like dried up twigs, but the coming king will be like a new shoot in the image of the Creator, a righteous king, an ideal king coming out of the Davidic line.
      "will reign wisely" - lit. will rule and act wisely. "Shall rule wisely", NEB. "A king he shall reign - and ably", Bright.

v6
      "Judah ..... Israel" - An inclusive picture of God's people, both the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah.
      "saved" - rescued, delivered, liberated ..... from bondage. "Kept safe", NEB. "Triumph", Bright.
      Yahweh-sidqenu "The Lord our righteousness" - Yahweh is our righteousness. The Lord is the one who is "the vindication of our right", Bright. The phrase is most likely a play on Zedekiah's name, Yahweh is my righteousness. In the simplest of terms the phrase means that the Lord is the one who determines what is right/just for us, but the sense of "what is right" can mean "doing what is right", "doing justice", even "establishing justice" (ie. vindication = "Yahweh is the vindication of our right", Thompson).