Jeremiah 23:25
in Jeremiah 23“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
KJV
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
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This verse in Jeremiah 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In Deu 13:1 “a dreamer of dreams” is used in a bad sense, and with reason. God communicating His will by dreams was a thing too easy to counterfeit for it not to be misused.
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 25 onwards) I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying in my name lies and saying: I had a dream (or I saw a vision). How long will this deceit be in the hearts (or minds) of the prophesying prophets, who desire (or think) to make my people forget my name because of their dreams, which each one tells to their neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for Baal (or in Baal).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name,....
Shall I always bear with them? Is it in the hearts of those prophets (so some read it) to be ever prophesying lies and prophesying the deceits of their own hearts? Will they never see what an affront they put upon God, what an abuse they put upon the people, and what judgments they are preparing for themselves?
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַ֗עְתִּי | shama'ti | I have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵ֤ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָֽמְרוּ֙ | ʾameru | they have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַנְּבִאִ֔ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| הַֽנִּבְּאִ֥ים | hanibeim | who prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
| בִּשְׁמִ֛י | bishmi | in name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שֶׁ֖קֶר | sheker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חָלַ֖מְתִּי | chalamti | I have dreamed | H2492 → | 29 times |
| חָלָֽמְתִּי׃ | chalameti | I have dreamed | H2492 → | 29 times |
שָׁמַ֗עְתִּיI have heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
אֵ֤ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אָֽמְרוּ֙they have said
ʾameruH559 →5305 times
הַנְּבִאִ֔יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
הַֽנִּבְּאִ֥יםwho prophesy
hanibeimH5012 →115 times
בִּשְׁמִ֛יin name my
bishmiH8034 →864 times
שֶׁ֖קֶרfalsehood
shekerH8267 →113 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
חָלַ֖מְתִּיI have dreamed
chalamtiH2492 →29 times
חָלָֽמְתִּי׃I have dreamed
chalametiH2492 →29 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
Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
it leads to
- Acts 2:16–21
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
- Ezekiel 39:29
And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Acts 2:2–4
Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- Acts 2:16–21
Through
Numbers 12:6He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 3:5
One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
- Genesis 31:10–11
When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.
- Genesis 46:2
And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.
- 1 Kings 3:5
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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.