Deuteronomy 18:21

21 `And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --

Deuteronomy 18:21 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 18:21

And if thou say in thine heart,
&c] Such a thought arises in the mind, and it appears to be a difficulty, and a query is made upon it,

how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
What marks, signs, and criterions are those by which it may be known that it is not a word that comes from the Lord?

Deuteronomy 18:21 In-Context

19 and it hath been -- the man who doth not hearken unto My words which he doth speak in My name, I require [it] of him.

20 `Only, the prophet who presumeth to speak a word in My name -- that which I have not commanded him to speak -- and who speaketh in the name of other gods -- even that prophet hath died.

21 `And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --

22 that which the prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing is not, and cometh not -- it [is] the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; in presumption hath the prophet spoken it; -- thou art not afraid of him.