13Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
14Then 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.15Therefore 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.16The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them.
13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
14 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.
15 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.
16 The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them.
KJVKing James Version
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
13 Then said I: 'Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them: Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'
14 Then the LORD said unto me: 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I unto them; they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD: As for the prophets that prophesy in My name, and I sent them not, yet they say: Sword and famine shall not be in this land, by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed;
16 and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters; for I will pour their evil upon them.'
Ezekiel 13:6-7(v14)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…
Jeremiah 29:8-9(v14)For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don’t listen to…
Ezekiel 12:24(v14)For there will be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
Isaiah 30:10-11(v14)who tell the seers, “Don’t see!” and the prophets, “Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits. Get out…
Jeremiah 29:31(v14)“Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I…
Show all 61 cross-references
Lamentations 2:14(v14)Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to reverse your captivity, but have seen…
Jeremiah 27:9-10(v14)But as for you, don’t listen to your prophets, to your diviners, to your dreams, to your soothsayers, or to your sorcerers, who speak to…
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11(v14)even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness…
Jeremiah 5:31(vv13, 14, 16)The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end…
Micah 3:11(vv13–14)Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh,…
Jeremiah 6:14(v13)They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
Jeremiah 23:21-32(v14)I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran. I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they…
Jeremiah 27:14-15(v14)Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to…
Psalms 79:2-3(v16)They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.…
Proverbs 1:31(v16)Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
Jeremiah 4:10(v13)Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace;’ whereas the sword…
Jeremiah 5:12-13(v15)They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he. Evil will won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind,…
Jeremiah 7:33(v16)The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away.
Jeremiah 15:2-3(v16)It will happen, when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “Such as are for death, to death; such…
Jeremiah 23:14-16(v14)In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of…
Jeremiah 23:17(v13)They say continually to those who despise me, ‘Yahweh has said, “You will have peace;” ’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of…
Ezekiel 13:23(v14)Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that…
Ezekiel 21:29(v14)while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose…
Zechariah 10:2(v14)For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore…
Zechariah 13:3(v14)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…
1 Timothy 4:2(v14)through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron,
2 Peter 2:1(v13)But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,…
Isaiah 9:15(v14)The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
Jeremiah 5:12(v13)They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he. Evil will won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine.
Jeremiah 8:11(v13)They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
Jeremiah 13:22-25(v16)If you say in your heart, “Why have these things come on me?” Your skirts are uncovered because of the greatness of your iniquity, and your…
Jeremiah 16:4(v16)“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground.…
Jeremiah 18:21(v16)Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and…
Jeremiah 28:13(v14)“Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.”
Jeremiah 28:15(v14)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.
Jeremiah 29:21(v14)Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a…
Jeremiah 37:19(v14)Now where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land?’
Ezekiel 14:10(v15)They will bear their iniquity. The iniquity of the prophet will be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him;
1 Kings 22:25(v15)Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.”
Isaiah 9:16(v16)For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed.
Jeremiah 1:6(v13)Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
Jeremiah 2:17-19(v16)“Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way? Now what do you gain by going…
Jeremiah 4:18(v16)“Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
Jeremiah 6:15(v15)Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they will fall…
Jeremiah 8:12(v15)Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. They couldn’t blush. Therefore they will fall…
Jeremiah 9:22(v16)Speak, “Yahweh says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will…
Jeremiah 19:6-7(v16)Therefore, behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that this place will no more be called ‘Topheth’, nor ‘The Valley of the son of Hinnom’,…
Jeremiah 20:6(v15)You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity. You will come to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will…
Jeremiah 23:14-15(v15)In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of…
Jeremiah 28:2-5(v13)“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years I will bring again into…
Jeremiah 28:15-17(v15)Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a…
Jeremiah 29:20-21(v15)Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you captives, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says…
Jeremiah 29:31-32(v15)“Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I…
Ezekiel 13:10-16(v13)“ ‘Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, “Peace;” and there is no peace. When one builds up a wall, behold, they…
Ezekiel 13:22(v13)Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he…
Amos 7:17(v15)Therefore Yahweh says: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your…
Matthew 15:14(v16)Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
2 Peter 2:1-3(v15)But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,…
2 Peter 2:14-17(v15)having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;…
Revelation 16:1(v16)I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!”
Revelation 19:20(v15)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…
61 distinct cross-references across this passage (64 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv13–16The Prophet no doubt relates what he had expressed…
The Prophet no doubt relates what he had expressed in prayer to God; but yet he has a reference to the people. He then prayed in the manner he now relates; but he renders public the prayers he offered by himself and without a witness, in order that he might restore the Jews from their impiety. Now Jeremiah’s colloquy with God availed not a little to touch the Jews; for as though they themselves had been present, he set before them what he had heard from God’s mouth. We now then understand why he made known his secret prayers; it was not for the sake of boasting, but for the sake of doing good to the Jews. It was then his object to consult their benefit, when he declared to them what he had previously poured forth without any witness into the bosom of his God.
And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! He uses an expression of grief, Ah! and thus he shews what concern he felt for his people, being not less anxious on account of their ruin than on account of his own. It may yet be an expression of astonishment, as though the Prophet was fined with surprise, “What can this be, O Lord?” And doubtless an expression of astonishment is not unsuitable, so that the Jews might feel horrified together with him, when they saw that they had been led astray by the false prophecies, by which they had been deceived. He then says, “How is this, O Lord? for the prophets say to them, etc.
Read full note →
Here the word, prophets, is emphatic, as though he had said, They are not thus mad wilfully in promising to themselves peace, contrary to thy will, but these prophets who profess and boast of thy name, these are the authors of this so gross a security; for they say, Ye shall not see the sword, famine shall not happen to you; nay, I will give you, etc. Here they assume the person of God; for it is not said, “God shall give you sure peace,” but “I will give you,” etc. We hence see that the Prophet here expresses his horror, while he compares false prophecies with the oracle which he had received from the mouth of God. The prophets, he declares, say, etc. They assumed an honorable title, and one connected with the power and authority of God himself. “Even the prophets then, who seem endued with the authority of heaven, and seem to have been sent by thee, as though they were angels, — even these promise men peace, not in a common manner, but in a way the most imposing, as though they had thine authority, and brought from thy mouth their fallacies, I will give you.”
We now then understand the design of the Prophet; for it was necessary to shake off from the Jews that false confidence, by which the false prophets, who pretended to have been sent from above, and boasted that they were God’s servants, the agents of the Holy Spirit, had inebriated them. As then it was necessary to take away from the Jews this confidence, the cause of their ruin, because they hardened themselves in contempt of God, and despised all his threatenings; he therefore says, “What! the false prophets speak thus, I will give you sure peace in this place.”
We hence learn that Jeremiah had almost a continual contest; for the fiercest antagonists immediately presented themselves, whenever he threatened the people either with exile or with famine, or with any other judgment of God. “What! be secure, for God has chosen this place where he is worshipped. It cannot be that he will banish his Church from its quiet rest. There is no reason then to fear that he will ever suffer this kingdom to perish or his Temple to be destroyed.” Hence the complaint of the Prophet, not that he himself was affected by such falsehoods, but he regarded the good of the people, and sought to recover those who were as yet healable from these deceptions. Hence it follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v13He pitieth the people, and accuseth the false prophets,…
He pitieth the people, and accuseth the false prophets, which deceived them: but the Lord answered, that both the prophets, which deceived, and the people, which suffered themselves to be seduced, shall perish, Jer. 23:15 and 27:8, 9 and 29:8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv13–16Jer 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold,…
Jer 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Ver. 13. Ah, Lord God!] The Vulgate Latin hath it, Ah, ah, ah. Vide diligentissimam intercessionem. He seeketh somewhat to excuse the people by laying the blame upon their false prophets. Like whereunto were those Popish priests in Gerson’s time, who preached publicly to the people, that whosoever would come to hear a mass, he should not be struck blind on that day, neither should he die a sudden death, nor want sufficient sustenance, &c.
Read full note →
But I will give you assured peace.] Heb., Peace of truth. Thus these deluders had learned to speak the language of God’s true prophets. Of the high soaring, pretended spiritual language of Familists and some other sectarians one saith well, That it is a great deal too high for this world, and a great deal too low for the world to come.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv13–16We have many complaints of this prophet against false…
We have many complaints of this prophet against false prophets that contradicted his prophecies, Jer 4:10; 23:9, and we shall hereafter meet with the names of some of them. Corrupt governments never want prophets to their humour, though a bolder transgression can hardly be imagined, than for men to entitle God to their own imaginations and fancies, and we shall, Jer 14:15, meet with the usual wages of such works.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv13–16Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... Being grieved at…
Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... 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:
Read full note →
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" (l); that is, true peace, firm and lasting. The Septuagint render it "peace and truth"; see Isa 39:8.
(l) "pacem veritatis", Montanus, Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv13–16Verse 13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say…
Verse 13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them] True, Lord, they are exceedingly wicked; but the false prophets have deceived them; this is some mitigation of their offense. This plea God does not admit; and why? the people believed them, without having any proof of their Divine mission.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v13Jer 14:13-16. Ah, Lord God! Behold the prophets, &c.…
Jer 14:13-16. Ah, Lord God! Behold the prophets, &c. — See note on Jer 4:10. Thus saith the Lord — And what he saith he will assuredly make good; By the sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed — They shall fall first by those very judgments, with the hopes of an exemption from which they have flattered others. And the people shall be cast out in the streets, &c. — The people contributed to their own delusions, and readily hearkened to such false prophets as confirmed them in their evil ways: God therefore justly threatens to punish them, because they were unwilling to know the truth.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv13, 14, 16The false prophets in Jeremiah’s days were so numerous…
The false prophets in Jeremiah’s days were so numerous and influential an to counteract and almost nullify the influence of the true prophet. We find in Isaiah the first indications of the internal decay of the prophetic order; and Micah, his contemporary, denounces the false prophets in the strongest terms Mic 3:5, Mic 3:11. For the secret of their power see Jer 5:31.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v13Ah. Hebrew has only one exclamation, or three letters,…
Ah. Hebrew has only one exclamation, or three letters, which Aquila renders, Ah, ah, ah., chap. i. 6., and Ezechiel iv. 14. (Haydock) --- Jeremias lays the blame on false prophets. (Calmet) --- Yet they afford no excuse to thy followers. Both fall into the ditch. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv13–16Jeremiah urges that much of the guilt of the…
Jeremiah urges that much of the guilt of the people is due to the false prophets' influence.
assured peace--solid and lasting peace. Literally, "peace of truth" (Isa 39:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv13–1513. Then said I — Another clamorous outburst of…
13. Then said I — Another clamorous outburst of prayer. As if the prophet would leave nothing unsaid that might serve to put the case into a stronger light. The plea he now makes is important and relevant. The people are deceived and deluded. The false prophets at this time, even more than in that of Micah, (Mic_3:5; Mic_3:11,) promise peace. This would have been a more potent plea were it not true, as had been already charged, (Jer_5:31,) “My people love to have it so.”
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv13, 15, 1613. assured peace] mg. Heb. peace of truth (stability).…
13. assured peace] mg. Heb. peace of truth (stability). They may have sought to support their reassuring assertions by reference to such utterances as those of Isa_37:33 ff.
13, 14. For the attitude of the false prophets and their relation to the true see Intr. pp. xxxii. f.; also xxiii. 9 ff.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv13–15(13) Ah, Lord God!—Literally, as in Jer_1:6, Alas, my…
(13) Ah, Lord God!—Literally, as in Jer_1:6, Alas, my Lord (Adonaï) Jehovah! We have had in Jer_5:31 a glimpse of the evil influence of the great body of the prophetic order; and now the true prophet feels more bitterly than ever the misery of having to contend against it. The colleges or schools of the prophets had rapidly degenerated from their first ideal, and had become (as the Mendicant Orders did in the history of mediæval Christendom) corrupt, ambitious, seekers after popularity. So Micah (Mic_3:8-11), whose words were yet fresh in the memories of men (see Jer_26:18), had spoken sharp words of the growing evil. So Ezekiel through one whole chapter (Jeremiah 13) inveighs against the guilt of the prophets, male or female, who followed their own spirit, and had seen no true vision.
Ye shall not see . . .—To the eye of Jeremiah the future was clear. The sins of the people must lead to shame, defeat, and exile. Out of that discipline, but only through that, they might return with a better mind to better days. The false prophets took the easier and more popular line of predicting victory and “assured peace” (literally, peace of truth, i.e., true peace) for the people and their city.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv13, 14, 16"Pleading with Providence, the good prophet lays the blame…
"Pleading with Providence, the good prophet lays the blame on ill teaching, but the stern answer (Ver. 14), admitting the plea as true, rejects it as inadequate (Ver. 14), and denounces sorrows which (Vers. 17-22) the prophet passionately deprecates" (Rowland Williams). Ah, Lord God! rather, Alas! O Lord Jehovah. (see on Jer_1:6) The prophets say unto them. The greater part of the prophetic order had not kept pace with its more spiritual members (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.). They still traded on those natural gifts of divination (Mic_3:6) which were, no doubt, where genuine, of Divine origin, but which, even then, needed to be supple-merited and controlled by a special impulse from the Spirit of holiness. Jeremiah, however, declares, on the authority of a revelation, that these prophets did not divine by any God-given faculty, but "the deceit of their own heart" (Ver. 14). The Deuteronomic Torah, discovered after a period of concealment at the outset of Jeremiah"s ministry, energetically forbids the practice of the art of divination. (Deu_18:10)
Vers. 13-16. False prophets.
Read full note →
I OFFICIAL TEACHERS MAY BE FALSE TEACHERS. The false prophets belonged to the recognized order of prophets. No rank in the Church confers infallibility. Popes have been heretics. The authority of a teacher must be sought in his message, not in his office. It is our duty to try the spirits by their correspondence with known revelation, (1Jn_4:2) by the fruits of their lives and doctrines, (Mat_7:16) and by the standard of our own conscience. (2Co_4:2)
II PREACHING WHICH IS NOT INSPIRED BY THE DIVINE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS IS LIKELY BE FALSE. The prophet may have a piercing intellect and a towering imagination. Yet he will err if he be blinded by unholiness and excluded from the revelations of spiritual communion. He speaks only out of his own heart; but the heart is "deceitful above all things." Attempts are constantly made to evolve religious truth out of the inner consciousness of the thinker. No idle dreams are more delusive, since
(1) men have not the materials out of which to build a theology of their own;
(2) they have not the faculties capable of using those materials sin perverts the spiritual vision, prejudice and self-interest distort views of truth.
III CONSCIOUSLY TEACHING FALSE IDEAS OF RELIGION IS A HEINOUS CRIME. It is using the Name of God in vain (Ver. 14). It is abusing the trust of a high office for low purposes. It is likely to involve many in the toils of a fatal deception. It is easy to prophesy smooth things easy thus to gain a vulgar popularity. But if this is done at the expense of truth, it is an awful sin. All Christian teachers should beware of the temptation to degrade their mission by aiming at pleasing their hearers instead of faithfully proclaiming the will of God.
IV FALSE TEACHING IN RELIGION WILL BE PUNISHED BY FATAL RESULTS. It ought to be clear to everybody that the first question concerning any teaching is whether it is true. Yet this question is often ignored. The prophet is eloquent; the doctrine is pleasing; the prediction is inviting. But what of all that if it is false? The prophecy will be punished when truth is revealed by facts. Then the false prophet will suffer by the fulfillment in himself of the prophecy he denied, and the people by the coming of the evil day they were too ready to hear discredited.
Vers. 13-16. False teachers no adequate excuse for evil conduct.
No doubt the people to whom Jeremiah was sent had been encouraged in their ungodliness by the faithlessness and sin of their prophets. Blind guides were leading the blind, and with the inevitable result. And here Jeremiah pleads, as an excuse for his people"s sin, that they had been thus misled. But God refuses to admit the plea. Now, on this, note
I FALSE TEACHING IS SOME EXCUSE FOR EVIL CONDUCT. The deepest instincts of our hearts affirm this. Our Lord himself does so, when he says, "He that knew not his Lord"s will and did it not, shall be beaten with few stripes." But this word of his, whilst it allows that lack of teaching is some excuse, denies that it is sufficient. (cf. Joh_19:11) St. Paul also says, concerning the heathen nations, "The time of this ignorance God winked at.
II BUT IT IS NOT AN ADEQUATE EXCUSE. For:
1. The taught are the creators almost as much as the creatures of their teachers. The people who clamor for smooth things to be prophesied to them will find such prophets forthcoming. Ahab"s prophets all of them but Micaiah were such. It is true, "like priest, like people;" but it is also true, "like people, like priest." The demand creates the supply. The pastors of the Church are the product of the Church, almost as much as the Church is the product of the pastors. What a worldly Church wants it will have, for the woe both of itself and its pastors alike.
2. They have a sure test by which to try all their teachers. "To the Law and to the testimony," etc. Conscience also is ever on the side of God, and is prompt to condemn all teaching that leads to sin. The Holy Spirit likewise pleads in men"s hearts for God. And the faithful words of those in whom God"s Spirit dwells. None, therefore, are shut up to any human teachers.
3. And where evil teachers have been followed, it has been in spite of the protest which these other higher and surer guides have uttered, or would have uttered had they been suffered so to do.
III BUT IF IT BE ILL FOR THE TAUGHT, IT IS YET MORE ILL FOR THE TEACHERS. "His blood will I require at the watchman"s hands." The most awful of our Lord"s denunciations were addressed to such evil teachers (cf. the oft-repeated, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" cf. Ver. 14, etc.).
CONCLUSION.
1. Let those who are taught by any human teachers test what they receive by the Word of God. Be as the Bereans. (Act_17:11)
2. Let those who teach watch anxiously and prayerfully against the temptation to conform their teachings to the likings of their hearers rather than to their needs. Let them remember that the causes of error and false teaching are much more moral than they are intellectual.
3. Let teachers and taught alike sit daily at his feet who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. C.
Vers. 13-16. The peculiar doom of the false prophets.
I THE SIN OF THE PROPHETS. That they are found liars is, comparatively speaking, a small part of their offence. Their lie is productive of so much that adds to the peril of the position so much that is peculiarly insulting to Jehovah. Their sin and the punishment of it were not unlike the sin and punishment of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira were smitten, not because they had lied, but because they had lied against the Holy Ghost. So with these false prophets here; they prophesied falsely; but that in itself might not have brought a peculiar doom upon them. The offence lay in this, that the false prophecy came at a time when it was peculiarly obnoxious to Jehovah. It was not a distant danger that these false prophets made light of, but one close to the door. The prophet"s difficulties, arising from the natural disposition of his auditors, were already great enough. No false prophet was needed to come in with his contradiction. It must also be remembered that there was a peculiarly insulting sin in that these men told their lies as prophets. What a dreadful thing for a man to go forth with "Thus saith Jehovah" in his mouth, when the words are the deceit of his own heart! This expression, "the deceit of their heart," seems to suggest the possibility that in some instances these false prophets were not deliberate liars, but were themselves deluded by a fanatical exaggeration of patriotism. Nevertheless, even so, the sin was none the less, for the spirits of the prophets were subject to the prophets. We had need be very sure that we are duly commissioned when we undertake to speak in the Name of God, else we may land ourselves in most humiliating exposures, and come to a most admonitory end. Thus we come to notice
II HOW THE SIN OF THESE PROPHETS WAS MADE CLEAR. Jeremiah said one thing, the false prophets said the direct contrary, and at the time there seemed no means of vindicating the true prophet beyond all chance of cavil. Doubtless those who were rightly disposed did listen and believe. Their very disposition was in itself a touchstone by which to discriminate between the false and the true; while those disposed to reject could make anything serve for an excuse. The important thing to notice is that the occasion of this great sin was seized upon to predict in due time a terrible, an indisputable, revelation of the sin. Thus an opportunity came for adding detail and emphasis to the prophecy already given. What could not be made plain at the moment would be made abundantly plain hereafter. Sword and famine were not only certain, they were near; coming within the lives of these living men, who would see these very false prophets die by the sword and famine which they had sneered at as impossible. Those who during life had told so many inexpressibly mischievous falsehoods with their lips, were made the instruments, their own will not being at all consulted, of uttering most impressive truth in their death. God and his truth and his true prophets and faithful witnesses can wait. Time is increasingly on the side of all truth, while false prophets are condemned out of their own mouths.
III THE DECEIVED AUDITORS SUFFER JUST AS MUCH AS THE DECEIVING SPEAKERS. The people were not at liberty to plead contradictions in the messages as a ground for continued inaction in the matter of repentance. Such a plea was certain to be seized on, but, while it might help to drug the conscience, it availed nothing to lighten the judgments which Jehovah was bringing on his unfaithful people. That God who is to be reckoned true, though such reckoning makes every man a liar, has assuredly not left himself without ample witness. False prophets can be tested at once by the heart of each individual to whom they appeal, although their exposure before the whole universe may not come for many ages. God gives us for our own sakes the present means of guarding against them. As to his Name and glory, we may be sure he will vindicate them in his own time and way. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v13I will give you assured peace.
Jer_14:13
I will give you assured peace.
Read full note →
Assured peace
I. Human life wants it.
1. Uncertainty troubles our life.
2. Delusions embitter our heart.
3. Misgivings weary our soul.
II. God alone can give it.
1. Peace is not a human commodity, but a Divine boon.
2. Peace comes only to Divinely-prepared hearts.
3. Peace is specifically the Saviours benefaction.
III. Lying voices offer it.
1. False prophets preach peace still.
(1) In our churches, promising ceremonies righteous works it through etc.
(2) In pleasures scenes, assuring the gay and frivolous of satisfaction, etc.
2. Beguiled dupes are ensnared still.
3. Yet assured peace is available still. May be found by all (Mat_11:28-30). (W. H. Jellie.)
Peace
Peace is various and versatile. Peace is not mere pleasure, yet there is a pleasure in peace. When there is no longer any offers to be happy, nor any dread of care, pleasure settles to its repose, as a frame that lolls and turns on a luxurious couch by and by folds itself to motionless and dreamy comfort; or as the mountain peak that shot and shafted to its height sublime falls softly off and folds away into the gentle slope, the nooks where lights and shadows play, the curve that modulates the majestic summit to the meek swell of the landscape lowlands, and invests the valley with the mountain grandeur, and mountain grandeur with the placid secret of the lowly vale; the breast that heaved with pleasure in its confirmed rapture comes to rest. Pleasure is not peace, but in Its realisation and fulfilment there is a peace of pleasure. See a little further. Joy is not peace, nevertheless there is a peace of joy in which the mind and heart take counsel with each other. This is delight arriving at repose. Thus, when a strain of music dies away upon the ear, the harmony thrills memory still--the noise ceases, the notes linger and serenade the silence, the silence returns the serenade. Again, pain might be reckoned as the foe of peace, and still there is a peace of pain. Some tranquilities are gendered by adversity alone. The peace found in pain cannot be otherwise discovered nor elsewhere known. When one has borne excruciating pang or undergone sore struggle, and can say, It is familiar now; I have been through the worst of it, and have survived; or where one can even set out about such an undertaking, and although outwardly the infliction or affliction has yet to be encountered, that moment takes on its own radiance, and the mind has upon effective grounds prepared itself for all, anticipated all, looked through all resolutely, braced now and nerved, knitted and compacted; the resolve is half the readiness, the readiness is all the conflict--the endurance is the victory, as of one whose valour makes his foes to tremble, as the Spartan band or the Royal Guard by their very presence put the enemy to flight. When the heart and soul are set in resolution, like a regiment kneeling with fixed bayonets, and so the onset is taken with a will, and the triumph is anticipated in advance, there ensues a serenity which is of itself a triumph, a fortitude which is in itself a conquest and a coronation. It is thus that there can come into the heart the peace of pain. It has distinct varieties. The peace of suffering in physical endurance must not be undervalued. There is such a thing as is indicated by the words, to suffer and be strong, whereby that which in another would enforce an outcry or insist upon a groan--that which even to the same sufferer, at another time, coming by stealth or startling, would utterly unman the nature, has become a manageable trial, to be confronted, to be endured, and to be looked through and through, it may be with bated breath and set teeth, but still at bay, until the paroxysm faints away into the peace, and the strong mastery of the resolve carries the torture of the flesh, and rules the throb of the nerves by its volition. There is a pain peace not to be despised--it may be the peace of peril. Presence of mind is power of help. The war horse stands motionless while the guns emit their bloody blasts and the carnage overflows. The young hero leaps upon the ramparts, the veteran holds the fort. The peace of peril is the opposite of peril panic. Panic huddled the fleeing, frightened throng, so that none could escape from the blazing building; peace would have found the fire escape; peace would have opened the back stairs. And thus it is in life at large: panic is perils peril, but peace is perils protection--perils safe control. And of pain peace another branch is peace of sorrow, peculiar to itself. It does not neutralise the grief, it softens and enchants it. When sorrow has undergone its first wild shock, when cries are stilled and tears are dried, a hush that sinks to softer sorrow, as a gale dies to a zephyr breeze, comes in upon the gloomy void, and sorrow in its silence, sorrow in its sanctity, can find sorrow peace--the very peace of pain. And so it is that in all these varieties, and under all vicissitudes like these, the grace within enkindles peace without. And when the Finite is in treaty with the Infinite, the creature in reconciliation with his Maker, the soul, possessed of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, can prove that paradox of life and earth--the peace of God which passeth all understanding. (H. S. Carpenter.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv13, 15General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh has just told Jeremiah not to pray for the people of Judah.
Read full note →
You will not see the sword
Here "sword" represents war, and to "see" represents experiencing. AT: "You will not experience any war" (See: Metonymy)
I will give you true security
Here "security" is spoken of as if it were an object that someone could give to another person. AT: "I will allow you to live securely" or "I will allow you to live peacefully" (See: Metaphor)
prophesy deceit
The word "deceit" can be expressed as an adjective. AT: "prophesy deceitfully" (See: Abstract Nouns)
in my name
This phrase refers to speaking with Yahweh's power and authority or as his representative. (See: Metonymy)
I did not send them out
This means that Yahweh did not send them out with messages to give to the people. AT: "I did not send them to prophesy to other people" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
coming from their own minds
Here "minds" are spoken of as if they were a place instead of the ability to think of ideas. AT: "that they think up themselves" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v1314:13-16 their prophets: The government of Judah supported a…
14:13-16 their prophets: The government of Judah supported a corps of prophets who promoted the religious views of the king and his advisers. The Lord often condemned them, along with the officials and the priests. Here, the Lord exposed them as impostors and described what would happen to them and to the people to whom they prophesied.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–16 The Prophet no doubt relates what he had expressed…
The Prophet no doubt relates what he had expressed in prayer to God; but yet he has a reference to the people. He then prayed in the manner he now relates; but he renders public the prayers he offered by himself and without a witness, in order that he might restore the Jews from their impiety. Now Jeremiah’s colloquy with God availed not a little to touch the Jews; for as though they themselves had been present, he set before them what he had heard from God’s mouth. We now then understand why he made known his secret prayers; it was not for the sake of boasting, but for the sake of doing good to the Jews. It was then his object to consult their benefit, when he declared to them what he had previously poured forth without any witness into the bosom of his God.
And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! He uses an expression of grief, Ah! and thus he shews what concern he felt for his people, being not less anxious on account of their ruin than on account of his own. It may yet be an expression of astonishment, as though the Prophet was fined with surprise, “What can this be, O Lord?” And doubtless an expression of astonishment is not unsuitable, so that the Jews might feel horrified together with him, when they saw that they had been led astray by the false prophecies, by which they had been deceived. He then says, “How is this, O Lord? for the prophets say to them, etc.
Read full note →
Here the word, prophets, is emphatic, as though he had said, They are not thus mad wilfully in promising to themselves peace, contrary to thy will, but these prophets who profess and boast of thy name, these are the authors of this so gross a security; for they say, Ye shall not see the sword, famine shall not happen to you; nay, I will give you, etc. Here they assume the person of God; for it is not said, “God shall give you sure peace,” but “I will give you,” etc. We hence see that the Prophet here expresses his horror, while he compares false prophecies with the oracle which he had received from the mouth of God. The prophets, he declares, say, etc. They assumed an honorable title, and one connected with the power and authority of God himself. “Even the prophets then, who seem endued with the authority of heaven, and seem to have been sent by thee, as though they were angels, — even these promise men peace, not in a common manner, but in a way the most imposing, as though they had thine authority, and brought from thy mouth their fallacies, I will give you.”
We now then understand the design of the Prophet; for it was necessary to shake off from the Jews that false confidence, by which the false prophets, who pretended to have been sent from above, and boasted that they were God’s servants, the agents of the Holy Spirit, had inebriated them. As then it was necessary to take away from the Jews this confidence, the cause of their ruin, because they hardened themselves in contempt of God, and despised all his threatenings; he therefore says, “What! the false prophets speak thus, I will give you sure peace in this place.”
We hence learn that Jeremiah had almost a continual contest; for the fiercest antagonists immediately presented themselves, whenever he threatened the people either with exile or with famine, or with any other judgment of God. “What! be secure, for God has chosen this place where he is worshipped. It cannot be that he will banish his Church from its quiet rest. There is no reason then to fear that he will ever suffer this kingdom to perish or his Temple to be destroyed.” Hence the complaint of the Prophet, not that he himself was affected by such falsehoods, but he regarded the good of the people, and sought to recover those who were as yet healable from these deceptions. Hence it follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v13 He pitieth the people, and accuseth the false prophets,…
He pitieth the people, and accuseth the false prophets, which deceived them: but the Lord answered, that both the prophets, which deceived, and the people, which suffered themselves to be seduced, shall perish, Jer. 23:15 and 27:8, 9 and 29:8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Jer 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold,…
Jer 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Ver. 13. Ah, Lord God!] The Vulgate Latin hath it, Ah, ah, ah. Vide diligentissimam intercessionem. He seeketh somewhat to excuse the people by laying the blame upon their false prophets. Like whereunto were those Popish priests in Gerson’s time, who preached publicly to the people, that whosoever would come to hear a mass, he should not be struck blind on that day, neither should he die a sudden death, nor want sufficient sustenance, &c.
Read full note →
But I will give you assured peace.] Heb., Peace of truth. Thus these deluders had learned to speak the language of God’s true prophets. Of the high soaring, pretended spiritual language of Familists and some other sectarians one saith well, That it is a great deal too high for this world, and a great deal too low for the world to come.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–16 We have many complaints of this prophet against false…
We have many complaints of this prophet against false prophets that contradicted his prophecies, Jer 4:10; 23:9, and we shall hereafter meet with the names of some of them. Corrupt governments never want prophets to their humour, though a bolder transgression can hardly be imagined, than for men to entitle God to their own imaginations and fancies, and we shall, Jer 14:15, meet with the usual wages of such works.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... Being grieved at…
Then said I, Ah, Lord God!.... 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:
Read full note →
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" (l); that is, true peace, firm and lasting. The Septuagint render it "peace and truth"; see Isa 39:8.
(l) "pacem veritatis", Montanus, Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Verse 13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say…
Verse 13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them] True, Lord, they are exceedingly wicked; but the false prophets have deceived them; this is some mitigation of their offense. This plea God does not admit; and why? the people believed them, without having any proof of their Divine mission.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v13 Jer 14:13-16. Ah, Lord God! Behold the prophets, &c.…
Jer 14:13-16. Ah, Lord God! Behold the prophets, &c. — See note on Jer 4:10. Thus saith the Lord — And what he saith he will assuredly make good; By the sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed — They shall fall first by those very judgments, with the hopes of an exemption from which they have flattered others. And the people shall be cast out in the streets, &c. — The people contributed to their own delusions, and readily hearkened to such false prophets as confirmed them in their evil ways: God therefore justly threatens to punish them, because they were unwilling to know the truth.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 The false prophets in Jeremiah’s days were so numerous…
The false prophets in Jeremiah’s days were so numerous and influential an to counteract and almost nullify the influence of the true prophet. We find in Isaiah the first indications of the internal decay of the prophetic order; and Micah, his contemporary, denounces the false prophets in the strongest terms Mic 3:5, Mic 3:11. For the secret of their power see Jer 5:31.
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 On v13 Ah. Hebrew has only one exclamation, or three letters,…
Ah. Hebrew has only one exclamation, or three letters, which Aquila renders, Ah, ah, ah., chap. i. 6., and Ezechiel iv. 14. (Haydock) --- Jeremias lays the blame on false prophets. (Calmet) --- Yet they afford no excuse to thy followers. Both fall into the ditch. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Jeremiah urges that much of the guilt of the…
Jeremiah urges that much of the guilt of the people is due to the false prophets' influence.
assured peace--solid and lasting peace. Literally, "peace of truth" (Isa 39:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–15 13. Then said I — Another clamorous outburst of…
13. Then said I — Another clamorous outburst of prayer. As if the prophet would leave nothing unsaid that might serve to put the case into a stronger light. The plea he now makes is important and relevant. The people are deceived and deluded. The false prophets at this time, even more than in that of Micah, (Mic_3:5; Mic_3:11,) promise peace. This would have been a more potent plea were it not true, as had been already charged, (Jer_5:31,) “My people love to have it so.”
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 On vv13, 15, 16 13. assured peace] mg. Heb. peace of truth (stability).…
13. assured peace] mg. Heb. peace of truth (stability). They may have sought to support their reassuring assertions by reference to such utterances as those of Isa_37:33 ff.
13, 14. For the attitude of the false prophets and their relation to the true see Intr. pp. xxxii. f.; also xxiii. 9 ff.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–15 (13) Ah, Lord God!—Literally, as in Jer_1:6, Alas, my…
(13) Ah, Lord God!—Literally, as in Jer_1:6, Alas, my Lord (Adonaï) Jehovah! We have had in Jer_5:31 a glimpse of the evil influence of the great body of the prophetic order; and now the true prophet feels more bitterly than ever the misery of having to contend against it. The colleges or schools of the prophets had rapidly degenerated from their first ideal, and had become (as the Mendicant Orders did in the history of mediæval Christendom) corrupt, ambitious, seekers after popularity. So Micah (Mic_3:8-11), whose words were yet fresh in the memories of men (see Jer_26:18), had spoken sharp words of the growing evil. So Ezekiel through one whole chapter (Jeremiah 13) inveighs against the guilt of the prophets, male or female, who followed their own spirit, and had seen no true vision.
Ye shall not see . . .—To the eye of Jeremiah the future was clear. The sins of the people must lead to shame, defeat, and exile. Out of that discipline, but only through that, they might return with a better mind to better days. The false prophets took the easier and more popular line of predicting victory and “assured peace” (literally, peace of truth, i.e., true peace) for the people and their city.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 "Pleading with Providence, the good prophet lays the blame…
"Pleading with Providence, the good prophet lays the blame on ill teaching, but the stern answer (Ver. 14), admitting the plea as true, rejects it as inadequate (Ver. 14), and denounces sorrows which (Vers. 17-22) the prophet passionately deprecates" (Rowland Williams). Ah, Lord God! rather, Alas! O Lord Jehovah. (see on Jer_1:6) The prophets say unto them. The greater part of the prophetic order had not kept pace with its more spiritual members (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.). They still traded on those natural gifts of divination (Mic_3:6) which were, no doubt, where genuine, of Divine origin, but which, even then, needed to be supple-merited and controlled by a special impulse from the Spirit of holiness. Jeremiah, however, declares, on the authority of a revelation, that these prophets did not divine by any God-given faculty, but "the deceit of their own heart" (Ver. 14). The Deuteronomic Torah, discovered after a period of concealment at the outset of Jeremiah"s ministry, energetically forbids the practice of the art of divination. (Deu_18:10)
Vers. 13-16. False prophets.
Read full note →
I OFFICIAL TEACHERS MAY BE FALSE TEACHERS. The false prophets belonged to the recognized order of prophets. No rank in the Church confers infallibility. Popes have been heretics. The authority of a teacher must be sought in his message, not in his office. It is our duty to try the spirits by their correspondence with known revelation, (1Jn_4:2) by the fruits of their lives and doctrines, (Mat_7:16) and by the standard of our own conscience. (2Co_4:2)
II PREACHING WHICH IS NOT INSPIRED BY THE DIVINE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS IS LIKELY BE FALSE. The prophet may have a piercing intellect and a towering imagination. Yet he will err if he be blinded by unholiness and excluded from the revelations of spiritual communion. He speaks only out of his own heart; but the heart is "deceitful above all things." Attempts are constantly made to evolve religious truth out of the inner consciousness of the thinker. No idle dreams are more delusive, since
(1) men have not the materials out of which to build a theology of their own;
(2) they have not the faculties capable of using those materials sin perverts the spiritual vision, prejudice and self-interest distort views of truth.
III CONSCIOUSLY TEACHING FALSE IDEAS OF RELIGION IS A HEINOUS CRIME. It is using the Name of God in vain (Ver. 14). It is abusing the trust of a high office for low purposes. It is likely to involve many in the toils of a fatal deception. It is easy to prophesy smooth things easy thus to gain a vulgar popularity. But if this is done at the expense of truth, it is an awful sin. All Christian teachers should beware of the temptation to degrade their mission by aiming at pleasing their hearers instead of faithfully proclaiming the will of God.
IV FALSE TEACHING IN RELIGION WILL BE PUNISHED BY FATAL RESULTS. It ought to be clear to everybody that the first question concerning any teaching is whether it is true. Yet this question is often ignored. The prophet is eloquent; the doctrine is pleasing; the prediction is inviting. But what of all that if it is false? The prophecy will be punished when truth is revealed by facts. Then the false prophet will suffer by the fulfillment in himself of the prophecy he denied, and the people by the coming of the evil day they were too ready to hear discredited.
Vers. 13-16. False teachers no adequate excuse for evil conduct.
No doubt the people to whom Jeremiah was sent had been encouraged in their ungodliness by the faithlessness and sin of their prophets. Blind guides were leading the blind, and with the inevitable result. And here Jeremiah pleads, as an excuse for his people"s sin, that they had been thus misled. But God refuses to admit the plea. Now, on this, note
I FALSE TEACHING IS SOME EXCUSE FOR EVIL CONDUCT. The deepest instincts of our hearts affirm this. Our Lord himself does so, when he says, "He that knew not his Lord"s will and did it not, shall be beaten with few stripes." But this word of his, whilst it allows that lack of teaching is some excuse, denies that it is sufficient. (cf. Joh_19:11) St. Paul also says, concerning the heathen nations, "The time of this ignorance God winked at.
II BUT IT IS NOT AN ADEQUATE EXCUSE. For:
1. The taught are the creators almost as much as the creatures of their teachers. The people who clamor for smooth things to be prophesied to them will find such prophets forthcoming. Ahab"s prophets all of them but Micaiah were such. It is true, "like priest, like people;" but it is also true, "like people, like priest." The demand creates the supply. The pastors of the Church are the product of the Church, almost as much as the Church is the product of the pastors. What a worldly Church wants it will have, for the woe both of itself and its pastors alike.
2. They have a sure test by which to try all their teachers. "To the Law and to the testimony," etc. Conscience also is ever on the side of God, and is prompt to condemn all teaching that leads to sin. The Holy Spirit likewise pleads in men"s hearts for God. And the faithful words of those in whom God"s Spirit dwells. None, therefore, are shut up to any human teachers.
3. And where evil teachers have been followed, it has been in spite of the protest which these other higher and surer guides have uttered, or would have uttered had they been suffered so to do.
III BUT IF IT BE ILL FOR THE TAUGHT, IT IS YET MORE ILL FOR THE TEACHERS. "His blood will I require at the watchman"s hands." The most awful of our Lord"s denunciations were addressed to such evil teachers (cf. the oft-repeated, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" cf. Ver. 14, etc.).
CONCLUSION.
1. Let those who are taught by any human teachers test what they receive by the Word of God. Be as the Bereans. (Act_17:11)
2. Let those who teach watch anxiously and prayerfully against the temptation to conform their teachings to the likings of their hearers rather than to their needs. Let them remember that the causes of error and false teaching are much more moral than they are intellectual.
3. Let teachers and taught alike sit daily at his feet who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. C.
Vers. 13-16. The peculiar doom of the false prophets.
I THE SIN OF THE PROPHETS. That they are found liars is, comparatively speaking, a small part of their offence. Their lie is productive of so much that adds to the peril of the position so much that is peculiarly insulting to Jehovah. Their sin and the punishment of it were not unlike the sin and punishment of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira were smitten, not because they had lied, but because they had lied against the Holy Ghost. So with these false prophets here; they prophesied falsely; but that in itself might not have brought a peculiar doom upon them. The offence lay in this, that the false prophecy came at a time when it was peculiarly obnoxious to Jehovah. It was not a distant danger that these false prophets made light of, but one close to the door. The prophet"s difficulties, arising from the natural disposition of his auditors, were already great enough. No false prophet was needed to come in with his contradiction. It must also be remembered that there was a peculiarly insulting sin in that these men told their lies as prophets. What a dreadful thing for a man to go forth with "Thus saith Jehovah" in his mouth, when the words are the deceit of his own heart! This expression, "the deceit of their heart," seems to suggest the possibility that in some instances these false prophets were not deliberate liars, but were themselves deluded by a fanatical exaggeration of patriotism. Nevertheless, even so, the sin was none the less, for the spirits of the prophets were subject to the prophets. We had need be very sure that we are duly commissioned when we undertake to speak in the Name of God, else we may land ourselves in most humiliating exposures, and come to a most admonitory end. Thus we come to notice
II HOW THE SIN OF THESE PROPHETS WAS MADE CLEAR. Jeremiah said one thing, the false prophets said the direct contrary, and at the time there seemed no means of vindicating the true prophet beyond all chance of cavil. Doubtless those who were rightly disposed did listen and believe. Their very disposition was in itself a touchstone by which to discriminate between the false and the true; while those disposed to reject could make anything serve for an excuse. The important thing to notice is that the occasion of this great sin was seized upon to predict in due time a terrible, an indisputable, revelation of the sin. Thus an opportunity came for adding detail and emphasis to the prophecy already given. What could not be made plain at the moment would be made abundantly plain hereafter. Sword and famine were not only certain, they were near; coming within the lives of these living men, who would see these very false prophets die by the sword and famine which they had sneered at as impossible. Those who during life had told so many inexpressibly mischievous falsehoods with their lips, were made the instruments, their own will not being at all consulted, of uttering most impressive truth in their death. God and his truth and his true prophets and faithful witnesses can wait. Time is increasingly on the side of all truth, while false prophets are condemned out of their own mouths.
III THE DECEIVED AUDITORS SUFFER JUST AS MUCH AS THE DECEIVING SPEAKERS. The people were not at liberty to plead contradictions in the messages as a ground for continued inaction in the matter of repentance. Such a plea was certain to be seized on, but, while it might help to drug the conscience, it availed nothing to lighten the judgments which Jehovah was bringing on his unfaithful people. That God who is to be reckoned true, though such reckoning makes every man a liar, has assuredly not left himself without ample witness. False prophets can be tested at once by the heart of each individual to whom they appeal, although their exposure before the whole universe may not come for many ages. God gives us for our own sakes the present means of guarding against them. As to his Name and glory, we may be sure he will vindicate them in his own time and way. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v13 I will give you assured peace.
Jer_14:13
I will give you assured peace.
Read full note →
Assured peace
I. Human life wants it.
1. Uncertainty troubles our life.
2. Delusions embitter our heart.
3. Misgivings weary our soul.
II. God alone can give it.
1. Peace is not a human commodity, but a Divine boon.
2. Peace comes only to Divinely-prepared hearts.
3. Peace is specifically the Saviours benefaction.
III. Lying voices offer it.
1. False prophets preach peace still.
(1) In our churches, promising ceremonies righteous works it through etc.
(2) In pleasures scenes, assuring the gay and frivolous of satisfaction, etc.
2. Beguiled dupes are ensnared still.
3. Yet assured peace is available still. May be found by all (Mat_11:28-30). (W. H. Jellie.)
Peace
Peace is various and versatile. Peace is not mere pleasure, yet there is a pleasure in peace. When there is no longer any offers to be happy, nor any dread of care, pleasure settles to its repose, as a frame that lolls and turns on a luxurious couch by and by folds itself to motionless and dreamy comfort; or as the mountain peak that shot and shafted to its height sublime falls softly off and folds away into the gentle slope, the nooks where lights and shadows play, the curve that modulates the majestic summit to the meek swell of the landscape lowlands, and invests the valley with the mountain grandeur, and mountain grandeur with the placid secret of the lowly vale; the breast that heaved with pleasure in its confirmed rapture comes to rest. Pleasure is not peace, but in Its realisation and fulfilment there is a peace of pleasure. See a little further. Joy is not peace, nevertheless there is a peace of joy in which the mind and heart take counsel with each other. This is delight arriving at repose. Thus, when a strain of music dies away upon the ear, the harmony thrills memory still--the noise ceases, the notes linger and serenade the silence, the silence returns the serenade. Again, pain might be reckoned as the foe of peace, and still there is a peace of pain. Some tranquilities are gendered by adversity alone. The peace found in pain cannot be otherwise discovered nor elsewhere known. When one has borne excruciating pang or undergone sore struggle, and can say, It is familiar now; I have been through the worst of it, and have survived; or where one can even set out about such an undertaking, and although outwardly the infliction or affliction has yet to be encountered, that moment takes on its own radiance, and the mind has upon effective grounds prepared itself for all, anticipated all, looked through all resolutely, braced now and nerved, knitted and compacted; the resolve is half the readiness, the readiness is all the conflict--the endurance is the victory, as of one whose valour makes his foes to tremble, as the Spartan band or the Royal Guard by their very presence put the enemy to flight. When the heart and soul are set in resolution, like a regiment kneeling with fixed bayonets, and so the onset is taken with a will, and the triumph is anticipated in advance, there ensues a serenity which is of itself a triumph, a fortitude which is in itself a conquest and a coronation. It is thus that there can come into the heart the peace of pain. It has distinct varieties. The peace of suffering in physical endurance must not be undervalued. There is such a thing as is indicated by the words, to suffer and be strong, whereby that which in another would enforce an outcry or insist upon a groan--that which even to the same sufferer, at another time, coming by stealth or startling, would utterly unman the nature, has become a manageable trial, to be confronted, to be endured, and to be looked through and through, it may be with bated breath and set teeth, but still at bay, until the paroxysm faints away into the peace, and the strong mastery of the resolve carries the torture of the flesh, and rules the throb of the nerves by its volition. There is a pain peace not to be despised--it may be the peace of peril. Presence of mind is power of help. The war horse stands motionless while the guns emit their bloody blasts and the carnage overflows. The young hero leaps upon the ramparts, the veteran holds the fort. The peace of peril is the opposite of peril panic. Panic huddled the fleeing, frightened throng, so that none could escape from the blazing building; peace would have found the fire escape; peace would have opened the back stairs. And thus it is in life at large: panic is perils peril, but peace is perils protection--perils safe control. And of pain peace another branch is peace of sorrow, peculiar to itself. It does not neutralise the grief, it softens and enchants it. When sorrow has undergone its first wild shock, when cries are stilled and tears are dried, a hush that sinks to softer sorrow, as a gale dies to a zephyr breeze, comes in upon the gloomy void, and sorrow in its silence, sorrow in its sanctity, can find sorrow peace--the very peace of pain. And so it is that in all these varieties, and under all vicissitudes like these, the grace within enkindles peace without. And when the Finite is in treaty with the Infinite, the creature in reconciliation with his Maker, the soul, possessed of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, can prove that paradox of life and earth--the peace of God which passeth all understanding. (H. S. Carpenter.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh has just told Jeremiah not to pray for the people of Judah.
Read full note →
You will not see the sword
Here "sword" represents war, and to "see" represents experiencing. AT: "You will not experience any war" (See: Metonymy)
I will give you true security
Here "security" is spoken of as if it were an object that someone could give to another person. AT: "I will allow you to live securely" or "I will allow you to live peacefully" (See: Metaphor)
prophesy deceit
The word "deceit" can be expressed as an adjective. AT: "prophesy deceitfully" (See: Abstract Nouns)
in my name
This phrase refers to speaking with Yahweh's power and authority or as his representative. (See: Metonymy)
I did not send them out
This means that Yahweh did not send them out with messages to give to the people. AT: "I did not send them to prophesy to other people" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
coming from their own minds
Here "minds" are spoken of as if they were a place instead of the ability to think of ideas. AT: "that they think up themselves" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
false prophet
true
prophet
deceive
command
vision
divination
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 14:13-16 their prophets: The government of Judah supported a…
14:13-16 their prophets: The government of Judah supported a corps of prophets who promoted the religious views of the king and his advisers. The Lord often condemned them, along with the officials and the priests. Here, the Lord exposed them as impostors and described what would happen to them and to the people to whom they prophesied.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.