Last updated 06/05/15 this study is five pages long

Some say that in Jeremiah 23:6 Jesus is the branch and if the branch is called LORD our righteousness then Jesus
is the LORD and therefore God.
For this to be correct all three of the following points must be true
1/ The title has to be proven to be referring to the branch in vs5, not Israel in vs6.
2/ The branch has to be proven to be a prophecy referring to Jesus.
3/ The title signifies an identity rather than a name with a significance.
I will show that this interpretation is incorrect and that Jeremiah 23:6 does NOT show Jesus to be God.
Whether you agree or disagree, in part or in whole, big or small, please email me any feedback to help improve this
study. I would also appreciate any help with its logic, grammar, typos, editing etc.
Before analyzing the passage in question, and the relationship of Christ with God, I am going to provide some
important evidence that has to be taken into account when interpreting our passage
Index
Part 1 A Piece of Land is called
"The LORD will Provide"
Part 2 An Altar is called
"The LORD is my Banner"
Part 3 An Altar is called
"The LORD is Peace"
Part 4A Who is the "righteous branch" prophesied in Jeremiah 23:5-6?
Part 4B The branch is called
"The LORD our Righteousness"
Part 4C Is Jeremiah 23:5-6 really a prophecy of Jesus Christ?
Part 5 A City, or a branch is called "The LORD our Righteousness"

Genesis 22:13-14
Exodus 17:14
Judges 6:24
Jeremiah 23:5-6
Jeremiah 33:15-16

Part 1 A Piece of Land Called "The LORD Will Provide"

This is the first of five passages of dedicated names that include "The LORD."
NIV Genesis 22:13-14 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He
went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.
Abraham yiqra hu maqom
Yhwh
yireh
Summary:
Genesis 22:13-14 Abraham decides a specific and special piece of land is called The LORD Will Provide.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.

Part 2 An Altar Called "The LORD Is My Banner

The second of five passages of dedicated names that include "The LORD."
NIV Exodus 17:14 the LORD said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and
make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven
Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my banner
Moseh yiben mizbeh yiqar sem Yhwh
y nissi
Summary:
Exodus 17:14 Moses decides a specific and an special altar is called The LORD is my banner.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.

Part 3An Altar Called "The LORD Is Peace"

The third of five passages of dedicated names that include "The LORD."

Judges 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace.
yiqra hu
Yhwh salom
Summary:
Judges 6:24 Gideon calls an altar the LORD is peace.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.

Part 4A Who is the "Righteous Branch" Prophesied in Jeremiah 23:1-6

Here is an analysis and conclusion regarding the identity of the "righteous branch" from Jeremiah 23 and 33.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous
Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Background
Jeremiah lived between 655-586BC approximately,
Jeremiah's ministry was from 626-586BC approximately, therefore that is when his books were written.
David lived 1000BC approximately
There were five kings of Judah throughout this period. Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah.
The temple was destroyed in 587BC approximately.
None of the following people were the "Righteous Branch."
Josiah was king from 640-609BC is in the genealogy of Christ, he renovated the temple of God and cleaned the
land of idolatry. Encouraged the worship of YHWH and outlawed all other forms of worship. Wrong timeframe.
Jehoahaz was king for three months in 609BC. He disregarded his father's reforms. He was disposed and taken into
captivity by the Pharoah of Egypt and replaced by his brother.
Jehoiakim (Eliakim) reigned from 609-598BC approximately and was criticized by Jeremiah
Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) was king for three months in 598BC, was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and imprisoned until
561BC approx
Zedekiah installed as King by Nebuchadnezzar 597-586. He paid an allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar and then
switched to Pharoah of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar then captured and imprisoned Zedekiah.
None of these five kings can be said to resemble the "righteous branch" prophesied in 23:5-6.
Shealtiel may have been a ruler of some kind but did he "reign as king?" Possibly.
Zerubbabel was governor of Judah 538BC approx heavily associated with Joshua the High Priest. They began the
rebuilding of the temple with Zechariah and Malachi. Did he "reign as king?" Possibly.
Joshua is the "Righteous Branch."
Zechariah 6:11-15 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the
son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
12 And say to him, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he
shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.
13 It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his
throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the
son of Zephaniah.
15 And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that
the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the
LORD your God.

Zechariah was a prophet and wrote his book 520-515BC approx

Here we have a dual prophecy. Such "dual prophecies" are common in scripture and they are commonly called
"near fulfillment" and "far fulfillment."
Zechariah is having a dream or vision.
Near Fulfillment:
6:1-8 The four chariots representing four spirits going out to the North, South, East and West.
6:9-11 The word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah telling him to place a crown on Joshuas head: Joshua
was already the high priest, and the prophet was to crown him as a symbolic king. The coronation was to serve as
an encouragement to Joshua in his work of rebuilding the temple. It must have astonished Joshua and the people to
hear this command, because the royal crown did not belong to the high-priest but to the descendant of David.
Joshua must have understood that the whole command had a symbolical bearing.
Vs12 Joshua the High Priest (Zech 3:1,) is the branch (Zech 3:8, 6:12) who will rebuild the temple of the LORD.
He did this with Zerubbabel the Govenor of Judah, and prophets Zechariah and Haggai as per Ezra 5:1-2
Vs13 Joshua, the priest from God, will be on the throne with the King, they will work together.
Far Fulfillment:
It is also said to be a visual prophecy of the future Messiahwho would be both high priest (Hebrews 6:20) and
king (Mathew 27:11). Also, the name Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Jesus. Thus, the
priest-king Joshua was a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, and the similarity extended even to his name.
Vs12 The prophetic branch is Jesus as per Isaiah 11:1 (700BC approx)
A man, called the branch, Jesus, will come from his place in heaven to build the temple on the earth.
The temple is the Church or God's house. Jesus is the cornerstone, the disciples are the building.
The OT temple where the glory of God dwelled will be no more, it was to become a spiritual Church temple.
This far fulfillment has several issues that will be addressed Part 4C.
Summary:
900BC David lived
600BC Jeremiah prophesied the coming of the "righteous branch"
520-515BC Zechariah wrote his book
Zechariah and Haggai the two prophets, Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the High Priest who was the
symbolic king and "righteous branch" together rebuilt the temple of God
520-515BC Joshua is the subject, and fulfillment, of Zechariah's writings regarding the "righteous branch."
520-515BC Joshua is the "righteous branch" prophesied by Jeremiah 60-80 years earlier

Part 4B The Branch is called "The LORD our Righteousness"

The fourth of five passages of dedicated names that include "The LORD." Does the title "the LORD our
Righteousness refer to the branch in vs5 or to Israel in vs6?
NIV Jeremiah 23:1-6 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares
the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: You
have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will
attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.
3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will
bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and
he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6 In

his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.
And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.
Zeh
hu sem
aser
qiqra
Yhwh nu sidqe
Passage Analysis:
The first issue to look at is, does this title definitely refer to the branch of vs5 or perhaps to Israel in vs6? It is
vitally important to compare Isaiah 23:4-5 shown here, to Isaiah 33:15-16 in the next part, there are four significant
differences.
1/ Ch 23 "in his days
Ch 33"in those days
2/ Ch 23 he will be called
Ch 33 it will be called
3/ Ch 23 Israel
Ch 33 Jerusalem
4/ Ch 23 Hebrew "sem - name
Ch 33 (missing)
(Ex 17:14 "sem" or name is here also)
1 & 2/ Should the passage say "his" or "those" days? should it be "He" or "It" will be called?
Should "LORD our Righteousness" in both passages refer to Judah and Israel/Jerusalem in 23:6 and 33:16, or
should both refer to each prior verse the righteous branch?
In chapter 23 "in his days" and "he will be called" must refer to the person who is a figurative branch.
In chapter 33 "in those days" and it will be called, can refer to a branch who is a person, or to countries/cities.
3/ The northern kingdom was Israel. The southern kingdom was Judah. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah and lay
in the northern part, only a handful of miles from the kingdom of Israel. These statistics were in place from between
the 7-9th century BC, and therefore in place when Jeremiah lived.
Because of these facts, the understanding of who or what the "LORD our righteousness" refers to, sways away
Israel or Jerusalem because of the lack of consistency.
4/ The Hebrew word "sem" which means "name" is in chapter 23 but not in chapter 33, I am unsure if this has any
significance on the understanding of the passage.
Summary:
Based on this information, Jeremiah 23:5-6, "the LORD our righteousness" refers to the branch from vs5 which is a
figurative name for a person. Not to Israel/Jerusalem.
Therefore the "righteous branch" is confirmed as Joshua the High Priest identified in Part 4A
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.

Part 4C Is Jeremiah 23:5-6 really a prophecy of Jesus?

There are at least four legitimate reasons to believe that Jeremiah 23:5-6 is not a prophecy of Jesus.
Let me first say, it is my understanding that Jesus is legitimately referred to as a "branch" in the bible because of the
implications of Isaiah 4:2 regarding Judgment Day, and the meaning of the prophecy in Isaiah 11:1 the shoot of
Jesse. Also the relationships of Isaiah 9:14 and 19:15 with Jesus being the head of the Church. Finally Zechariah
3:8-9 the servant, branch and stone are all metaphorical prophecies of the coming of Christ, and Zechariah 6:12 the
man's name is the branch. Jesus is the branch of King David's line of descendants.
1/ The "Branch."
The first problem is that there are no NT examples of Jesus being called a branch.
John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches
Another problem regarding Jesus as a branch is here in John 15:5 when Jesus is speaking he says that he is the vine
and people are the branches. Does this mean that Jesus is not a branch?
Perhaps in this metaphor in John 15 he is not a branch, and in Jeremiah he is a branch.
Perhaps he was the branch and is now the vine.

All this being said, it is not completely convincing that the "branch" in Jeremiah 23 is a prophecy of Jesus. It is
certainly not beyond reasonable doubt.
2/ The Name he will be called:
Secondly, Jesus was never called The LORD Our Righteousness in the NT, there was no NT fulfillment of him
being given this title.
3/ Israel lived in Safety:
Thirdly, there was never a time while Jesus was alive that Israel "dwelt securely." There wasn't any redemption in
the days of Jesus. Forty years after his death, in 70AD, Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Romans, the second
Temple was burned down, and the Jews exiled.
4/ Septuagint:
Jeremiah 23:6 In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name,
which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets
This seems very strange that the translators in 200-300BC translated this passage in this way. It puts an entirely new
perspective on the way we understand it. Were the translators even close to being correct? How can it be so
different from the way we currently read it in modern English?
How did Jesus and the people of those days understand this passage? Could they have looked at the Hebrew text
and thought the text applied to Jesus and then looked at the Septuagint and thought the same thing? It doesn't seem
remotely possible to think so.
Summary:
We have identified four legitimate problems with Jeremiah 23:5-6 being a prophecy of Jesus.
1/ There is too much doubt surrounding the possibility the branch referring to Jesus in Jeremiah 23.
a/ Jesus was never called the righteous branch
b/ Jesus says he is the vine and we are the branch
To say Jesus is the branch referred to in this passage, is not beyond reasonable doubt.
2/ Jesus was never called The LORD our Righteousness, there is no NT fulfillment of this passage.
3/ There was never a time when Jesus was alive, and since, that Israel "dwelt securely."
4/ The Septuagint that was read alongside the Hebrew texts at the time of Christ had a very different interpretation
of 23::6.
Because of the totality of these four identified legitimate issues, it is not possible to say for certain that Jeremiah
23:5-6 is definitely a prophecy of Jesus Christ.

Part 5 A City, or a Branch is Called "The LORD Our Righteousness"

The fifth of five passages of dedicated names that include "The LORD."
NIV Jeremiah 33:15-16 'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from
David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.'
Zeh
aser
yiqra ah
Yhwh nu sidqe

Does "the name by which it will be called" refer to the branch or to Jerusalem?
Because of the analysis shown in Part 4, for Jeremiah 23:5-6, the title "the LORD our Righteousness" refers to the
"righteous branch" which is a person in vs15. This is a repetition by Jeremiah of the same statement.
The "righteous branch" was Joshua in 520BC approx.
Summaries and Final Conclusion:
Part 1 Genesis 22:14 Abraham decides a specific and special piece of land is called The LORD Will Provide.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.
Part 2 Exodus 17:14 Moses decides a specific and an special altar is called The LORD is my banner.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.
Part 3 Judges 6:24 Gideon calls an altar the LORD is peace.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.
Part 4A 520-515BC Joshua is the subject, and fulfillment, of Zechariah's writings regarding the "righteous branch."
520-515BC Joshua is the "righteous branch" prophesied by Jeremiah 60-80 years earlier
Part 4B Based on this information, Jeremiah 23:5-6 "the LORD our righteousness" refers to the branch which is a
figurative name for a person. Not to Israel/Jerusalem.
Therefore the "righteous branch" is confirmed as Joshua the High Priest identified in Part 4A
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness
Part 4C Because of the totality of these four identified legitimate issues, it is not possible to say for certain that
Jeremiah 23:5-6 is definitely a prophecy of Jesus Christ.
Part 5 Does "the name by which it will be called" refer to the branch or to Jerusalem?
Because of the analysis shown in Part 4, for Jeremiah 23:5-6, the title "the LORD our Righteousness"
refers to the "righteous branch" which is a person in vs15. This is a repetition by Jeremiah of the same
statement.
The "righteous branch" was Joshua in 520BC approx.
Final Conclusion:
The titles given in these five passages The LORD etc are titles with a sense of importance, names given to
express holiness. They are not personal names, nor are they literal explanations or definitions. We dont draw the
conclusion that a piece of land and two altars are literally Jehovah, therefore we also don't draw the conclusion that
whoever the branch refers to is literally Jehovah.
Even without the huge doubt of whether Jeremiah is referring to Jesus or not, it is still just a title given to express
holiness and not a description of identity. Jeremiah 23 says he will be called not he "will be," or "is," something.
What happened is that God decided the "righteous branch," Joshua the High Priest, which is not likely to be a
prophecy of Jesus, is called The LORD our Righteousness.
This is a title with a sense of importance, a name given to express holiness.
Because of the evidence to the contrary, nothing in Jeremiah 23:5-6 says that Jesus is God.