Deuteronomy 18:22

22 thou shalt have this sign, or token, (to know a false prophet from a true prophet,) if that that that prophet saith before in the name of the Lord, cometh not, the Lord spake it not, but he feigned it through (the) pride of his soul, and therefore thou shalt not dread him. (thou shalt have this sign, to know a false prophet from a true prophet; If what that prophet saith beforehand in the name of the Lord, cometh not, then the Lord did not speak it, but the false prophet feigned his prophecy through the pride of his soul, and so thou shalt not fear him.)

Deuteronomy 18:22 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:22

When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord
Says he comes from God, is sent by him, and has a commission from him to say so:

if the thing follow not, nor come to pass;
as the prophecy of Hananiah, ( Jeremiah 28:3 ) that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken; or otherwise it would have come to pass, unless when a condition is either expressed or implied, as the repentance or disobedience of a people; see ( Jeremiah 18:7-10 )

but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously;
in a bold and daring manner, with great impiety and impudence, out of his own head and heart, being a mere device and imagination of his own, which, not having the fear of God, he delivered as coming from the Lord:

thou shall not be afraid of him;
not only to reprove him for his wickedness, but also to punish him for it; showing no regard to the high character he assumes, nor to the great pretensions he makes to sanctity, knowledge, and familiarity with God.

Deuteronomy 18:22 In-Context

20 Soothly a prophet shall be slain, which is depraved with pride, and will speak in my name those things, which I commanded not to him, that he should say, either by the name of alien gods. (And the prophet who is depraved with pride, and shall speak in my name those things, which I did not command him to say, or shall speak in the name of foreign, or other, gods, that prophet must be put to death.)
21 That if thou answerest by privy thought, How may I understand the word, which the Lord spake not? (And if thou ask within thyselves, How can we know that the Lord did not speak this word?)
22 thou shalt have this sign, or token, (to know a false prophet from a true prophet,) if that that that prophet saith before in the name of the Lord, cometh not, the Lord spake it not, but he feigned it through (the) pride of his soul, and therefore thou shalt not dread him. (thou shalt have this sign, to know a false prophet from a true prophet; If what that prophet saith beforehand in the name of the Lord, cometh not, then the Lord did not speak it, but the false prophet feigned his prophecy through the pride of his soul, and so thou shalt not fear him.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.