Jeremiah 23:21

21 I sent not the prophets, and they ran; I spake not to them, and they prophesied

Jeremiah 23:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 23:21

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran
They might be sent of men, and be encouraged by them; but they were not sent of God: it is not only necessary that men employed in religious affairs should have an external call, in an orderly way, from the church of God; but also an internal call from the Lord himself; he qualifying them with gifts, putting his word into their mouths, and inclining their hearts to publish it; see ( Hebrews 5:4 Hebrews 5:5 ) ; but these false prophets had no mission nor commission from the Lord, nor were they sent on any errand, or with any message from him; and yet they ran;
showed great diligence and zeal, and made haste to tell the people what the Lord had never said to them, but what were the warm imaginations of their own heads and hearts; they ran a race or course of ministry, but it was not good, as in ( Jeremiah 23:10 ) . The Targum adds,

``to do evil:''

I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied;
wherefore what they prophesied was not the word of the Lord, but what they themselves devised; and so was what was false, as the Targum adds: it is a sad character of men when they speak in public neither by the will of God, nor according to the word of God.

Jeremiah 23:21 In-Context

19 Lo! the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall go out, and tempest breaking [out] shall come on the head of wicked men

20 The strong vengeance of the Lord shall not turn again, till that he do, and till that he [ful]fill the thought of his heart. In the last days ye shall understand the counsel of him.

21 I sent not the prophets, and they ran; I spake not to them, and they prophesied

22 If they had stood in my counsel, and had made known my words to my people, forsooth I had turned them away from their evil way, and from their worst thoughts. (But if they had stood in my council, and had told out my words to my people, then they would have turned them away from their evil ways, and from their worst thoughts.)

23 Guessest thou, whether I am God of nigh, saith the Lord, and not God afar? (Thinkest thou, that I am the God of near at hand, but not also the God of far away?)