Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;”
Parallel Translations
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Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;”
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Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
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For ye have said: 'The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.'
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 29:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 28:1-17 That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in Yahweh’s house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, “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 this place all the vessels of Yahweh’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon. I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ” Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in Yahweh’s house, even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so. May Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh’s house, and all those who are captives, from Babylon to this place. Nevertheless listen now to this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people: The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him.” Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and broke it. Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Yahweh says: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.’ ” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.” For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.” ’ ” 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.
- Jeremiah 29:8-9 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 your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 1:1 Now in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
- Ezekiel 1:3 Yahweh’s word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and Yahweh’s hand was there on him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Many interpreters connect the first of these verses with…
Many interpreters connect the first of these verses with the preceding ones, and they seem not to think so without reason; for the reason given is not unsuitable, if we refer to what the Prophet had said, even that the Jews were by no means to hope for a return until the end of seventy years. But the meaning I adopt is more probable; the particle כי, ki, is repeated; the first is causal, and the second an illative; and consistently with the usage of Scripture the learned and the experienced think that this is the real meaning of the Prophet. He then says, that the captives were very foolish who hoped for a quick end to their exile, because they had false prophets who gave them such a promise; ye have then said, that prophets have been given you, in Chaldea, and that God had there pitied you, because there are those who prophesy of a return in a short time. As then ye are so foolishly credulous, Thus saith Jehovah to your brethren, he then turns his discourse to the exiles, and exhorts them not to suffer themselves to be led astray. But here he indirectly reproves them, because they could not bear a condition which was even better than that of the residue, as though he had said, “What means this your unreasonableness! that when all your ways are closed up against you, and the power of your conqueror is so great that ye cannot move a finger without his nod, ye should yet think that you shall be set free in two years! and surely if you were before foolishly secure and confident, your calamities ought now to make you humble. But your brethren, who seem yet to enjoy liberty because they dwell at Jerusalem, (for those alone were then remaining,) even these your brethren suffer far more grievously than ye do.”
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 As Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah.
As Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 29:15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath…
Jer 29:15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
Ver. 15. Because ye have said.] From the heirs of the promises he turneth his speech to others, qui praesumendo sperant, et sperando pereunt.
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 The prophet here turneth his speech to some wicked…
The prophet here turneth his speech to some wicked Jews that were in Babylon, or in Judea, and more believed some false prophets, who told them of a much quicker return, than Jeremiah telling them the truth from the mouth of God,
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Jeremiah, having given great encouragement to those among the…
Jeremiah, having given great encouragement to those among the captives whom he knew to be serious and well-affected, assuring them that God had very kind and favourable intentions concerning them, here turns to those among them who slighted the counsels and comforts that Jeremiah ministered to them and depended upon what the false prophets flattered them with. When this letter came from Jeremiah they would be ready to say, "Why should he make himself so busy, and take upon him to advise us? The Lord has raised us up prophets in Babylon, Jer 29:15. We are satisfied with those prophets, and can depend upon them, and have no occasion to hear from any prophets in Jerusalem." See the impudent wickedness of this people; as the prophets, when they prophesied lies, said that they had them from God, so the people, when they invited those prophets thus to flatter them, fathered it upon God, and said that it was the Lord that raised them up those prophets. Whereas we may be sure that those who harden people in their sins, and deceive them with false and groundless hopes of God's mercy, are no prophets of God's raising up. These prophets of their own told them that no more should be carried captive, but that those who were in captivity should shortly return. Now, in answer to this, 1. The prophet here foretells the utter destruction of those who remained still at Jerusalem, notwithstanding what those false prophets said to the contrary: "As for the king and people that dwell in the city, who, you think, will be ready to bid you welcome when you return, you are deceived; they shall be followed with one judgment after another, sword, famine, and pestilence, which shall cut off multitudes; and the poor and miserable remains shall be removed into all kingdoms of the earth," Jer 29:16, Jer 29:18. And thus God will make them, or rather deal with them accordingly, as the salt that has lost its savour, which, being good for nothing, is cast to the dunghill, and so are rotten figs. This refers to the vision and the prophecy upon it which we had Jer 24:1-10. And the reason given for these proceedings against them is the same that has often been given and will justify God in the eternal ruin of impenitent sinners (Jer 29:19): Because they have not hearkened to my words. I called, but they refused. 2. He foretells the judgment of God upon the false prophets in Babylon, who deceived the people of God there. He calls upon all the children of the captivity, who boasted of them as prophets of God's raising up (Jer 29:20): "Stand still, and hear the doom of the prophets you are so fond of." The two prophets are named here, Ahab and Zedekiah, Jer 29:21. Observe, (1.) The crimes charged upon them - impiety and immorality: They prophesied lies in God's name (Jer 29:21), and again (Jer 29:23), They have spoken lying words in my name. Lying was bad, lying to the people of God to delude them into a false hope was worse, but fathering their lies upon the God of truth was worst of all. And no marvel if those that had the face to do that could allow themselves in the gratification of those vile affections to which God, in a way of righteous judgment, gave them up. They have done villainy in Israel, for they have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives. Adultery is villainy in Israel, and in such as pretend to be prophets, who by such wickednesses manifestly disprove their own pretensions. God never sent such profligate wretches on his errands. He is the Lord God of the holy prophets, not of such impure ones. Here it appears why they flattered others in their sins - because they could not reprove them without condemning themselves. These lewd practices of theirs they knew how to conceal from the eye of the world, that they might preserve their credit; but I know it and am a witness, saith the Lord. The most secret sins are known to God; he can see the villainy that is covered with the thickest cloak of hypocrisy, and there is a day coming when he will bring to light all these hidden works of darkness and every man will appear in his own colours. (2.) The judgments threatened against them: The king of Babylon shall slay them before your eyes; nay, he shall put them to a miserable death, roast them in the fire, Jer 29:22. We may suppose that it was not for their impiety and immorality that Nebuchadnezzar punished them thus severely, but for sedition, and some attempts of their turbulent spirits upon the public peace, and stirring up the people to revolt and rebel. So much of their wickedness shall then be detected, and in such a wretched manner they shall end their days, that their names shall be a curse among the captives in Babylon, Jer 29:22. When men would imprecate the greatest evil upon one they hated they would think they could not load them with a heavier curse, in fewer words, than to say, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab. Thus were they made ashamed of the prophets they had been proud of, and convinced at last of their folly in hearkening to them. God's faithful prophets were sometimes charged with being the troublers of the land, and as such were tortured and slain; but their names were a blessing when they were gone and their memory sweet, not as these false prophets. As malefactors are attended with infamy and disgrace, so martyrs with glory and honour.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Because ye have said,.... That is, some of them;…
Because ye have said,.... That is, some of them; for here the Lord, by the prophet, turns from the godly among the captives, whom he had been advising, encouraging, and comforting before, to those who gave heed to the false prophets, who promised them a speedy return to their own land, and which they believed; and therefore rejected and despised the prophecies of Jeremiah, and others:
the Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; and therefore stood in no need of other prophets that were in Judea, or in Jerusalem, nor should hearken to them; but believe those that were raised up among themselves, rather than others at a distance; and though these were false prophets, yet, being such that prophesied to them things that were agreeable, they were willing to believe them, and to consider them, and receive them, as prophets sent of God, when they were not.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Because - The prophet here turns his speech to…
Because - The prophet here turns his speech to some wicked Jews, that were in Babylon, or in Judea.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Because ye have said] The Septuagint very…
Verse 15. Because ye have said] The Septuagint very properly insert this verse between the twentieth and the twenty-first, and thus the connexion here is not disturbed, and the connexion below completed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 29:15. Because ye have said, &c. — The…
Jer 29:15. Because ye have said, &c. — The LXX. have transposed this verse, and placed it “where,” says Blaney, “it undoubtedly ought to stand,” immediately before Jer 29:21; “this emendation,” says he, “I have adopted, as by it a due order and connection are restored, both in the place from whence the verse is removed, and in that to which it is transferred, a sufficient proof of its authenticity.” The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon — This is meant of the false prophets who foretold nothing but peace and prosperity. The reader will easily observe how properly this sentence, as Blaney has just observed, would follow Jer 29:20, and precede Jer 29:21, and how well it would connect with both.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Said. Expressing your confidence in Providence; or rather, if…
Said. Expressing your confidence in Providence; or rather, if we join this with what follows, he rebukes them for trusting in false prophets, who represented their condition as worse than that of their brethren, who were left behind; whereas it was really better, ver. 17., and chap. xxiv. 2, 8. (Calmet) --- The deluded people suppose that the false prophets had been sent by God. (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 Because--referring not to the preceding words, but to Jer…
Because--referring not to the preceding words, but to Jer 29:10-11, "Jehovah saith this to you" (that is, the prophecy of the continuance of the captivity seventy years), "because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon," namely, foretelling our speedy deliverance (this their prophecy is supposed, not expressed; accordingly, Jer 29:16-19 contradict this false hope again, Jer 29:8-9, Jer 29:21). He, in this fifteenth verse, turns his address from the godly (Jer 29:12-14) to the ungodly listeners, to false prophets.
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 15. Ye have said — The connexion here is…
15. Ye have said — The connexion here is evident, though some have denied that there is any, and have decided this verse to be an interpolation. The fact that there was still a king sitting on the throne of David was doubtless urged as a proof that the reverses which had come to the kingdom were merely temporary. They themselves were unfortunately prisoners and exiles, but the throne of David and the services of the temple were visible sacraments of God’s favour and presence with his people. Hence, in the land of their exile their prophets were busy in flattering their hopes of a speedy deliverance. And so, in this passage, the prophet takes the very ground from beneath their feet by predicting the complete overthrow of the government at Jerusalem.
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 15. This v. naturally links with Jer_29:21 ff., while…
15. This v. naturally links with Jer_29:21 ff., while the intervening vv. make an apparent severance in the logical connexion, and are absent from LXX, except in a certain recension (Lucianic), where, however, they precede Jer_29:15. With this transposition, as at least modifying the objection arising from the break of logical connexion, Gi. agrees, maintaining, as he does, their genuineness. Co. (and so Du.) refuses to consider the vv. as belonging to the original letter, making Jer_29:16-18 to be in substance a reproduction of Jer_24:8 f., Jer_29:19 to have its origin in Jer_24:4 ff. and parallel passages, and Jer_29:20 to be taking up the line of thought anew from Jer_29:16. Dr. suggests that, as the passage seems out of place in a letter to the Jews in Babylonia, dealing as it does with the fate of the Jerusalem Jews, it belongs only to the recension of that letter which subsequently was incorporated in this Book. If we are to abide by the MT. in the matter, the sense appears to be this: One of the difficulties raised by the exiles when the prospect of seventy years’ captivity was held out to them would be, We have prophets here at Babylon who tell us just the reverse of all this. Which shall we believe? To this the reply of Jeremiah is twofold. (i) These prophets’ teaching shall soon be disproved. The king and the remnants of the kingdom, upon whose continued existence at Jerusalem they lay such stress, will soon pass away. Ye shall not soon be restored to your brethren, but they shall be exiles and scattered like to you. (ii) The false prophets, who thus delude you, shall themselves miserably perish and become a proverb and by-word.
For] rather, Because, connecting this v. directly with Jer_29:21. “Because ye congratulate yourselves on having prophets in your exile, I tell you how soon ye shall discover that they are valueless.”
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15–19. The impending fate of Zedekiah and his people. Cp. Jer_24:8-10.
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 (15) Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised…
(15) Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets . . .—The words point to the boast of some of the exiles, that they, too, had the guidance of prophets whom, as in Jer_29:20; Jer_29:24, they were inclined to follow in preference to Jeremiah. In answer to that boast, he emphasises the contrast between the exiles in whom the prophet sees the future hope of his nation and the worthless king (Zedekiah) and people who had been left in Jerusalem, and for whom he foretells yet sharper sufferings. The symbolism of the “vile figs” is reproduced in Jer_29:17 from Jer_24:1-2. The word for “vile” is, however, not the same as in that passage, and has the stronger force of “horrible” or “loathsome.”
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 Vers. 15-23. Jeremiah"s denunciation of two leading false prophets…
Vers. 15-23. Jeremiah"s denunciation of two leading false prophets at Babylon, with a digression on the fate of Zedekiah and Jerusalem. Some eminent critics maintain that vers. 16-20 are an interpolation, and this view is certainly supported By the omission of these verses in the Septuagint. It must also in fairness be admitted that the natural connection of ver. 15 is with ver. 21, not with ver. 16. But it does not follow that vers. 16-20 are an arbitrary interpolation. They may be regarded either as a digression in the original letter, or as inserted by an after-thought when the substance of the letter was brought into its present form.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Jeremiah speaks to the captive Israelites.
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the king who sits on the throne of David
Sitting on the throne is a metonym for ruling as king. AT: "the king who rules the Israelites as David did" (See: Metonymy)
Yahweh of hosts says this
Jeremiah often uses these words to introduce an important message from Yahweh. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 6:6.
See
This alerts the reader to pay attention to what follows. AT: "Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention"
I am about to send sword, famine, and disease on them
The word "sword" is a metonym for war. The sword, famine, and disease are spoken of as people who can obey Yahweh's command to harm the Israelites. AT: "I am going to punish them by having them die in war, from hunger, and from illness" (See: Metonymy and Personification)
For I will make them like rotten figs that are too bad to be eaten
Rotten figs are useless because they cannot be eaten, and Yahweh sees no use for the people of Israel. (See: Simile)
translationWords
raise
throne
David
brother
sword
famine
fig
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 29:15 False prophets could still be found among the…
29:15 False prophets could still be found among the exiles; they held out hope for the survival of Jerusalem and a quick end to the Exile.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.