Jeremiah 23:1-6 comes at the conclusion of what exegetes are calling Jeremiah's Little Book of Kings (21:11-23:8 ). It is an oracle that can be divided into six parts: it opens with a "Woe"statement about the shepherds of Judah (1-2), moves on to a future look into what God will do for the exiles (3-4), and concludes with an oracle about the Messiah, the shoot of David (5-6). All throughout these verses, the figure of "Zedekiah" is like an image over which is imposed another image: the action of God for the remnant of His people. Zedekiah is the last king of Judah. In 587 BC Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, the sons of Zedekiah executed and Zedekiah himself was blinded, rendered incapable of restoring his reign. The year also begins the exile of Judah; it was then that in Israel, there was no king, no temple and no people.
The Woe Oracle
"Woe" is pronounced over the shepherds. 
hoy ("Woe") is an expression of lament and probably related to the Cebuano vernacular expression "ay" (as in Ay ay, kalisud!). It is an expression of extreme pain and sadness at the loss of someone. In the mouth of prophets, it sounds like mourning over an expected death. It would be as if the prophet is looking at a monitor watching a nuclear missile about to strike a section of the population.
Jeremiah says "hoy" over the shepherds who have destroyed and misled Yahweh's flock. The "shepherds" are the kings listed in the booklet of the Kings, beginning from Jehoahaz up to Zedekiah, the last king before the exile of 587 BC. "Shepherds" however are also those identified with the king's administration. Solomon set up offices for the administration of his kingdom (1 Kings 4:1-19; see also 1 Sam. 8:10-18). Isaiah himself has pronounced his "woes" over the heads of these offices (Is. 5:8-30; 10:1-4). Ezekiel refers to them in his oracles in Ezekiel 34 as the shepherds who feed themselves but not the flock.
The shepherds -- Zedekiah and administrators -- are still doing their destroying and scattering when Jeremiah utters his "hoy-oracle" and he sees their comeuppance as a certainty. God will be "visiting" upon them the evil they have done.
The Restoration
The second part of the oracle has for its perspective the lot of those who have been scattered, the exiles themselves. God will gather them from where they have been scattered. The flock to be retrieved will be reduced in number: they are the remnant of Israel whom Yahweh will bring back from exile. The "remnant" referred to here is the theological remnant that turns to the Lord (Is. 10:20-22) and which will have a special relationship with God (Is. 11:11;37:32;46:3;Jer. 15:11;31:7), and which will be led out into a new exodus (Is. 11:16) 1 And when Yahweh has finally returned them to their homeland, they will once more multiply and become many like Israel in Egypt (cf. Exodus 1:7)
More about the remnant ...
- Jewish Encycloped: Remnant of Israel
- Jewish Virtual Library: Remnant of Israel
- Answers.COM: Remnant of Israel
- Israel and the Church
- Messianic Musings: The Remnant of Israel
The Messiah
The last part of the oracle is about the Messiah, the shoot of David. The word "shoot" like the one used in Isaiah 11:1 refers to the descendant of David, an heir to the throne. When the heirs of Zedekiah were executed by his Babylonian captors and Zedekiah himself was blinded and led out into exile (Jeremiah 52:9-10), the oath of Yahweh to David seemed to have become unrealizable. Yet here, we have God promising that there will be a "legitimate" (saddiq) heir to the Davidic dynasty. In the Messiah's days, both North and South Israel will be saved and they will dwell in security, peace and progress. The name of the Messiah is also given. The Hebrew text is going to be "The Lord our Justice" which is a play on the name of Zedekiah (Just is the Lord). The name play is caught by the LXX when it renders the name Iozedek. This word play at the end of the oracle is revealing in that while Jeremiah already sees the fate of Zedekiah, his sons and his reign, he also sees at the same time the kind of action that God has begun to set in motion. The fruits of the work of the shepherds of Israel will overtake them finally, but God will also begin an action that will result in the salvation of the remnant of Israel and its restoration under a Messiah. If we read this oracle in tandem with Jeremiah 31:31, then we are led to look forward into the future, to the the time when a new shepherd appears in Israel to gather those who come to him as a "flock without a shepherd" (cf. Mark 6:30-34)
Note for the Liturgy of 16th Sunday
For the 16th Sunday (OT B), this text from Jeremiah is paired with Mark 6:30-34. The apostles returning from their mission also bring with them a multitude that follow Jesus even when he decides to leave for a private place to allow his missionaries to rest. Jesus, finding the multitude, is moved to compassion, for they appear to him as a flock without a shepherd. He begins to teach them and afterwards, feeds them. The episode introduces the event of the feeding of the multitude. Jesus' action of teaching the multitudes first then feeding them afterwards remind us of the Mass where the liturgy of the word precedes the liturgy of the eucharist. The gospel reading however is related to Jeremiah 23:1-6 through the phrase "sheep without a shepherd". In putting these two selections together, the liturgy points to Jesus as the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy. Psalm 23, the responsorial psalm, helps the faithful declare and confess that Jesus is indeed the Great Shepherd in whose person God continues to pasture His flock (1 Peter 2:25;5:4).
- 1. In the book of Jeremiah, the word "remnant" can mean not only the theological entity that will be led out in a new exodus (as in Isaiah); it can also mean simply the survivors of destruction or those left behind -- after captives have been led away. The passages are many and are concentrated in Jeremiah 40-44. If one is looking for the concept of "remnant" before it got "theologized", then one should check out these passages from Jeremiah.
