Jeremiah 23:32
in Jeremiah 23“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.
KJV
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseBehold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord,.... And not true ones, such as the Lord spoke in to his prophets, and which they communicated from him to his people; see Num 12:6; and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; by the false doctrines and prophecies which they delivered, and by their loose and disorderly lives which they led; so that they debauched the principles of the people by the former, and their practices by the latter.
This site's exposition
I have heard the sayings of
on Jeremiah 23:25-32
The prophets’ doubled cry, “I had a dream!”, is mocked, and verse 28 sets the two side by side: “what is straw compared to grain?” The LORD’s word is “like fire” and “like a hammer that smashes a rock,” with a force the invented word lacks.
This site's exposition
who prophesy false dreams
The charges gather here, false dreams, lies told again, and no word from the LORD. Gill reads the reckless lies as both false teaching and loose living, one leading the people's minds astray and the other their lives. Such prophets bring no benefit at all.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 30 and following) Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,' declares the Lord, 'who steal my words from each other (or from their neighbor). Behold, I am against the prophets,' declares the Lord, 'who use their own tongues and say, "declares" (or who sleep and dream).
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The third characteristic. See Jer 23:25. Lightness - Vain, empty, talk.
The words behind it
25 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִ֠נְנִי | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | [am] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נִבְּאֵ֞י | nibeei | [those who] prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
| חֲלֹמ֥וֹת | chalomot | <of> dreams of | H2472 → | 65 times |
| שֶׁ֙קֶר֙ | sheker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַֽיְסַפְּרוּם֙ | vaysaperum | and they have recounted them | H5608 → | 159 times |
| וַיַּתְע֣וּ | vaiyatu | and they caused to err | H8582 → | 50 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּשִׁקְרֵיהֶ֖ם | beshikreihem | by falsehoods their | H8267 → | 113 times |
| וּבְפַחֲזוּתָ֑ם | uvefachazutam | and by recklessness their | H6350 → | |
| וְאָנֹכִ֨י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁלַחְתִּ֜ים | shelachtim | I sent them | H7971 → | 845 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| צִוִּיתִ֗ים | tzivitim | I appointed them | H6680 → | 494 times |
| וְהוֹעֵ֛יל | vehoeil | and certainly <to benefit> | H3276 → | 23 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יוֹעִ֥ילוּ | yoilu | they benefit | H3276 → | 23 times |
| לָֽעָם־ | laom- | <to> the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
הִ֠נְנִיhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
עַֽל־[am] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נִבְּאֵ֞י[those who] prophesy
nibeeiH5012 →115 times
חֲלֹמ֥וֹת<of> dreams of
chalomotH2472 →65 times
שֶׁ֙קֶר֙falsehood
shekerH8267 →113 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַֽיְסַפְּרוּם֙and they have recounted them
vaysaperumH5608 →159 times
וַיַּתְע֣וּand they caused to err
vaiyatuH8582 →50 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּ֔יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
בְּשִׁקְרֵיהֶ֖םby falsehoods their
beshikreihemH8267 →113 times
וּבְפַחֲזוּתָ֑םand by recklessness their
uvefachazutamH6350 →
וְאָנֹכִ֨יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שְׁלַחְתִּ֜יםI sent them
shelachtimH7971 →845 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
צִוִּיתִ֗יםI appointed them
tzivitimH6680 →494 times
וְהוֹעֵ֛ילand certainly <to benefit>
vehoeilH3276 →23 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יוֹעִ֥ילוּthey benefit
yoiluH3276 →23 times
לָֽעָם־<to> the people
laom-H5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Lamentations 2:14The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Ezekiel 22:28
Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
- Ezekiel 22:25
The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
- Jeremiah 5:31
Through
Zephaniah 3:4Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They…
- Lamentations 2:14
The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
- Hosea 9:7
The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…
- Ezekiel 22:26
Through
Jeremiah 7:8But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
it leads to
- Isaiah 28:15
For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our…
- Isaiah 28:15
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
