But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
Parallel Translations
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But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
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But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
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But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 18:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him. That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
- Jeremiah 27:15 For I have not sent them,” says Yahweh, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
- Jeremiah 23:13-15 “I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness. They have all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.” Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
- Jeremiah 23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’
- Jeremiah 28:15-17 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’ ” So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
- Ezekiel 13:6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but Yahweh has not sent them. They have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.
- Zechariah 13:3 It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in Yahweh’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
- Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
- Jeremiah 14:14-15 Then Yahweh said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn’t send them. I didn’t command them. I didn’t speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart. Therefore Yahweh says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, but I didn’t send them, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine.
- 1 Kings 18:27 At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said, “Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is deep in thought, or he has gone somewhere, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
- Jeremiah 2:8 The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed things that do not profit.
- 1 Kings 18:40 Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
- 2 Peter 2:12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- 1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And if thou say in thine heart, &c. Such…
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?
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Compare the marginal references.
Compare the marginal references.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain To say. These denote heretics, as the following point…
CHAPTER XVIII.
To say. These denote heretics, as the following point out apostates. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak…
20. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak — Deu_13:5.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. the prophet, etc.] These special cases prove that…
20. the prophet, etc.] These special cases prove that throughout this passage no single prophet but a succession of prophets is meant.
which shall speak presumptuously, etc.] Heb. who shall be presumptuous (Deu_17:12, see on Deu_1:43) to speak a word, etc. It is notorious how many such ‘prophets’ appeared in Israel both before and during the seventh century (see Jeremiah passim). On the rest of the v. see on Deu_13:1-5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If, however, a prophet should presume to speak in…
If, however, a prophet should presume to speak in the Name of the Lord what the Lord had not commanded him to speak, or if he should speak in the name of other gods, not only was no regard to be paid to his words, but he was himself to be treated as a blasphemer, and to be put to death.
Vers. 20-22. The false prophet.
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The failure of the word of a prophet was decisive proof that he had not spoken by Divine inspiration. Had his word not failed, it would not have followed that he was a true prophet, but it showed conclusively that he was a false one when his word did fail.
I CERTAINTY OF FULFILLMENT IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD"S WORDS. If e.g. the prophecies of the Scriptures could be shown to have been falsified by events, it would, by the rule laid down in this fundamental prophetic charter, conclusively disprove their claims to inspiration. It is vain to think of defending the inspiration of the prophets, while conceding, with rationalistic writers, occasional failures in their predictions. The prophets themselves do not shrink from this test, but confidently appeal to it. (Isa_34:16) This shows how different their inspiration was from the ordinary inspiration of genius, both in their estimation of it and in fact. No man of genius, however wide his range of vision, be he a Bacon, a Shakespeare, a Goethe, or a Carlyle, would like to rest his reputation on the absolute unfailingness of his words. While prophecy affords conspicuous instances of the certainty of fulfillment characteristic of God"s words, it is to be remembered that this certainty inheres in all God"s words alike. No word of God or of Christ will fall to the ground unfulfilled. (Mat_24:35) The thought should comfort God"s people, and make his enemies tremble. Applies to promises and threatenings equally with predictions and doctrines.
II THE PREDICTIONS OF SCRIPTURE ABIDE THIS TEST OF TRUE PROPHECY. The force of the evidence from prophecy can only be properly felt by those who have been at pains to examine the Bible predictions in detail. But it does not need more than an examination of the principal instances to convince us that here we have no chance guess-work, no mere forecasting of natural sagacity. We might point to the predictions in Deuteronomy respecting the future of the Jewish nation, and the punishment which would overtake them for their sins; (Deu_4:25-29 Deu_28:45-68) or to the Messianic prophecies; (e.g. Isa 53) or to particular predictions delivered long before the events predicted occurred, or could have been foreseen, as when Amos (B.C. 787) predicts of Israel at a time when the king and nobles were lying on beds of ivory, and indulging in every species of dissipation and amusement will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose Name is The God of hosts", (Amo_5:27) or when Micah (B.C. 710), a hundred, years before the Captivity, foretells of Judah, Zion for your sake shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps"; (Mic_3:12) "Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there shall the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies". (Mic_4:10) Discovery has not tended to discredit, but in several striking instances has confirmed the truth of prophecy, as in regard to Ezekiel"s prediction of the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, (Deu_29:8-16) a prediction pronounced by Kueuen and skeptical critics to be a mere guess, falsified by the event, but now strikingly confirmed from a contemporary hieroglyphic inscription (see Expositor, vol. 10.). And while it is true that an isolated sign and wonder is not proof sufficient of Divine inspiration, (De 13) it is certain that, taking into account the character of the prophets, the kind and number of their predictions, the holiness of their message, and the coherence of what they taught with earlier revelations, the evidence of their Divine commission is as strong as could be wished is, in fact, decisive. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Of False Prophets
Of False Prophets
v. 20. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in My name, with insolent haughtiness, which I have not commanded him to speak, whose message therefore is altogether false, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die, be put to death for promulgating falsehoods which took away the honor of the Lord.
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v. 21. And if thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath spoken? How may any one be sure of the truth, since all the false teachers claim a divine call, a divine mission? The Lord gives the answer.
v. 22. When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, the fact that the prophecy is not fulfilled proves it to have been a falsehood, as so many predictions of modern sects regarding the date of the Day of Judgment have been found to be lies, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him. If, in addition to this, a person compares the teaching of the false prophets with the plain statements of Holy Writ, he will have an infallible guide to keep him from error, Deu 13:2 ff. We Christians have our refuge and our salvation in Christ alone, who as the Prophet of God speaks to us in His Word.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking.
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who speaks a word arrogantly
"who dares to speak a message" or "who is arrogant enough to speak a message"
in my name
Here "my name" refers to Yahweh himself and his authority. AT: "for me" or "with my authority" (See: Metonymy)
a word
"a message"
who speaks in the name of other gods
Here "name" represents the gods themselves or their authority. This means the prophet claims that false gods told him to speak a certain message. (See: Metonymy)
This is what you must say in your heart
Here "heart" represents the thoughts of a person. AT: "You ask yourself" or "You must say to yourself" (See: Metonymy)
How will we recognize a message that Yahweh has not spoken?
"How will we know if the message that the prophet speaks is from Yahweh?" Here "we" refers to the people of Israel.
translationWords
arrogant
name
command
false god
heart
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.