All my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine hath overcome, Because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; For because of swearing the land mourneth; The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, Yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the ΤΟ II Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways 12 in the darkness: They shall be driven on, and fall therein : For I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; tion to the section, Concerning the prophets. The Hebrew would indeed bear the sense which the Eng. Vers. gives, but the other is the preferable rendering, as the prophet's reason for being heart-broken is given elsewhere in the verse ('because of the Lord,' etc.). the words of his holiness] the words which He in the holiness of His nature had put forth concerning the wicked doings of the false prophets. 10. adulterers] viz.:-the false prophets. The word may be employed here in the secondary sense of idolatry which it often bears in Jeremiah, as even those who professed to be prophets of the true God may have been guilty in this manner. swearing] violation of the third Commandment in any form. mourneth] referring very possibly to the drought of Josiah's days, and thus determining approximately the date of the first utterance of this section of the prophecy. not right] See note on chap. viii. 6. 11. in my house have I found their wickedness] Here again it is uncertain whether the wickedness was like that of Eli's sons, or such idolatry as we know was practised in Manasseh's time and later within the Temple precincts (2 Kings xxi. 5, xxiii. 12). 12. ways] or, places. Ps. xxxv. 6 was probably in the prophet's mind here. driven on] thrust down. even the year of their visitation] See note on xi. 23. 13. folly] literally, that which is tasteless, hence irrational, an 13 JEREMIAH II 14 15 They prophesied in Baal, And caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: They commit adultery, and walk in lies: They strengthen also the hands of evildoers, 15-32. Rebuke of the Prophets continued. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you epithet naturally applied to idolatry, an idol being "nothing in the world" (1 Cor. viii. 4). See notes on i. 16, ii. 5. prophets of Samaria] They were simply idolaters, who made no secret of their belief or practice. The prophets of Jerusalem on the other hand were thoroughly immoral besides. in Baal] i.e. in his name. For Baal see note on ii. 8. 14. I have seen also] But I have seen. There is a contrast intended between the prophets of the two places. They commit adultery, and walk in lies] more literally, committing adultery and walking in falsehood. They strengthen] by their indifference to good as well as by their direct encouragement of evil. are] are become. all of them] all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. thereof] of Jerusalem. 15-32. REBUKE OF THE PROPHETS CONTINUED. 15. Behold, I will......] The language is identical with that of ix. 15, where however the reference is to the people as a whole. will feed] am feeding. wormwood] Compare Deut. xxix. 18; Prov. v. 4; Lam. iii. 15. Wormwood "belongs to the genus Artemisia, a genus of the Composite family, of which there are many species... They are generally of a hoary aspect and of a strong aromatic odour, and all have a strong bitter taste." J. Smith's History of Bible Plants, pp. 66, 67. water of gall]. See note on chap. viii. 14. vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them 17 that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For 18 who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone 19 forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of 20 16. make you vain] deceive you with vain hopes, speak peace to those who are going on still in wicked courses. Compare next verse. This is a test whereby the false may be distinguished from the true prophet. of their own heart] devised by themselves, the heart being considered as the seat of the intellect. Hence the expression does not mean, in accordance with their own wishes, however true that was. 17. still continually. The Lord hath said] The Heb. is an expression which does not elsewhere introduce the words of the Lord. It therefore seems to be here used by Jeremiah as characteristic of the false prophets. unto every one] more literally, as to every one. imagination] stubbornness. See iii. 17. 18. who hath stood] meaning, that at any rate these false prophets had not done so. counsel] familiar intercourse. and hath perceived and heard] rather, that he should perceive and hear. who hath marked his word] who hath marked my word? The Heb. has both readings, but the latter, as being less likely to be substituted by a copyist for the former, is preferable. The sudden change of person (heard his word...marked my word') in such cases is far from rare in the prophets. Their personality was, so to speak, identified for the time with Him who spoke through them. 19. a whirlwind] a tempest. in fury] rather, even fury, an explanation of tempest. a grievous whirlwind] a whirling tempest. The last word is virtually the same in the Heb. (differing only in gender) with that rendered 'tempest' above. There is no authority for inserting the word 'grievous' in the Eng. Vers. shall fall grievously] literally, shall whirl, the same word in the Heb. as whirling' above. Dreams were of course actually sent from time to time from God (i.e. Gen. xx. 3, xxxi. 24; Numb. xii. 6; 1 Kings iii. 5, etc.). Another kind of test therefore, by which to recognise the true prophet, was required, and this and the next verse give us the sort of message which the false the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the 21 latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet 22 they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of 23 their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and 24 not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill 25 heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I 26 have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are 27 prophets of the deceit of their own heart; which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which prophets never thought of bearing, and by which therefore a true prophet might be known. The two verses occur again with slight changes chap. xxx. 23, 24. 20. the latter days] in after time, when punishment shall have given you spiritual insight, probably not, as the phrase sometimes means, in the days of the Messiah. consider] understand. 21. ran] were eager to act as though in my name, thrust themselves into an office to which they have not been called. 22. my counsel] See ver. 18. and had caused] then they would have caused. then they should have turned] and would have turned. 23. a God at hand] Do ye think that my knowledge is subject to human limitations, so that false prophets may escape my sight? 24. Can any] Or can any. 25. I have dreamed, I have dreamed] These were the words with which they caught the ear of the crowd, and so gained a sure hearing for their pretended revelations. 26. How long shall this be...] This and the following verse consist rather of two questions, the first being broken off short and the second undergoing in the middle a change of construction. How long (shall this state of things continue)? Is it in the mind of the prophets that prophesy falsehood and the prophets of the deceit of their heart-do they think to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they declare every man to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name by (reason of) Baal? How long] For a question thus broken off compare xiii. 27; Ps. vi. 3, xc. 13; Is. vi. 11. they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a 28 dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? 29 saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, 30 saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the 31 LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I 32 27. every man to his neighbour] one to another, each prophet to those who will listen. for Baal] by (reason of) Baal, as above. As idolatry of that form had led earlier generations astray, so pretended revelations were doing the same work now. 28. Mere dreams and the truth of God are to be kept asunder. faithfully] in truth. What is the chaff to the wheat?] God's word contains nourishment and life. Other words are but as chaff, or rather straw. 29. This verse, while adding other characteristics of God's word, viz. penetration and power, forms at the same time a suitable introduction to the threatenings against the false prophets that follow. like as a fire] literally, thus-like a fire. Thus is to call attention to the figure that follows. The true word of God consumes all that cannot abide the test, and breaks down the most stony resistance. For this last characteristic of it, though from a somewhat different point of view, compare xx. 8, 9. 30. Imitation of the phrases of the true prophets, and the unauthorised use or even fabrication of dreams to suit their purpose, are the two features of the false prophets' teaching brought out in these three verses, I am against] I am upon, I am even now descending upon them with punishment (and so in next verse). steal my words] They have themselves no revelation to impart, and therefore proclaim as their own that which has been said by others. Inasmuch as the words which they thus steal are God's, those others from whom they thus steal will include the prophets of God, in whose mouths those words formed a coherent and true testimony, as well as other false prophets, who had previously appropriated and marred these fragments of actual revelation. 31. use] literally, take. The tongue is the only weapon which they have to use. He saith] This phrase, borrowed from the true prophets, will, they expect, help their sayings to pass as genuine. By the side of the Party of the Nobles "perhaps opposed to them, perhaps allied with them, in that strange combination which often |