Then said I, Ah, Lord God!
&c.] Being grieved at heart for the people, because he was forbid to pray for them, and because the Lord had resolved on the ruin of them; and the rather he pitied them, because they were deceived by the false prophets, and therefore he tries to excuse them, and lay the blame upon them, as follows: behold, the prophets say unto them;
that is, the false prophets, as the Targum; Jeremiah does not call them so, being willing to make the best of it: ye shall not see the sword;
the sword of the enemy drawn in your country, or fall by it: neither shall ye have famine;
by which it appears, that it was not yet come, only foretold; the contrary to which is here affirmed: but I will give you assured peace in this place;
so they spoke as from the Lord, and in his name, with all the confidence imaginable; assuring the people that they should have peace and prosperity, and be in the utmost safety in Jerusalem; and that neither famine nor sword would come to them, nor in the least hurt them. In the Hebrew text it is, "peace of truth" F12; that is, true peace, firm and lasting. The Septuagint render it "peace and truth"; see ( Isaiah 39:8 ) .