Jeremiah 23:30

30 "So I am against those prophets," announces the Lord. "I am against those who steal messages from one another. They claim that the messages come from me.

Jeremiah 23:30 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 23:30

Therefore, behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith the
Lord
The false prophets, with whom the Lord was displeased; he set himself against them, and was determined to bring wrath and ruin on them. So the Targum,

``therefore, behold, I send my fury against the false prophets;''

that steal my word,
or "words" ^F17, everyone from his neighbour;
either from the true prophets; beginning their prophecies as they did, with a "thus saith the Lord"; and mingling some words and phrases used by them, the better to ingratiate themselves among the people, and that they might be taken for the prophets of the Lord; as Pelagius, Austin says, used the word "grace", the better to hide his sentiments, and cause them the more easily to be received by the people: or from the false prophets; they privately meeting, and consulting, and agreeing together what they should say to the people, as if they were the words of the Lord: or else from the people themselves; lessening their esteem for the words of the Lord; making them negligent of them and indifferent to them; and causing them to forget what they had heard and received.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (yrbd) "verba mea", Munster, Pagniuus, Montanus, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 23:30 In-Context

28 "Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my message speak it faithfully. Your prophets have given you straw to eat instead of grain," announces the Lord.

29 "My message is like fire," announces the Lord. "It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.

30 "So I am against those prophets," announces the Lord. "I am against those who steal messages from one another. They claim that the messages come from me.

31 "Yes," announces the Lord. "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues but still say, 'Here is what the LORD says.'

32 I am against prophets who talk about dreams that did not come from me," announces the Lord. "They tell foolish lies. Their lies lead my people down the wrong path. "But I did not send those prophets. I did not appoint them. They do not help my people in the least," announces the Lord.