Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Jeremiah 23:26

in Jeremiah 23

How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

KJV

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

This verse in Jeremiah 23

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

prophets--a different Hebrew form from the usual one, "prophesiers." "How long," cries Jeremiah, impatient of their impious audacity, "shall these prophecy-mongers go on prophesying lies?" The answer is given in Jer 23:29-34.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

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

How long will this continue

The question shows Jeremiah's patience running out. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the word for prophets here is an unusual form, like prophesiers. The lies come from their own minds, and verses 29 to 34 give the LORD's answer.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(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

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies?....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 Nineteenth Century1 voice

Some translate, “How long? Is it in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and prophesy the deceit of their heart - do they purpose to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they tell one to another?”

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • מָתַ֗יwhen?

    mataiH4970 →43 times

  • הֲיֵ֛שׁ¿ [is] there

    hayeshH3426 →140 times

  • בְּלֵ֥בin [the] heart of

    belevH3820 →595 times

  • הַנְּבִאִ֖יםthe prophets

    haneviimH5030 →314 times

  • נִבְּאֵ֣י[who] prophesy

    nibeeiH5012 →115 times

  • הַשָּׁ֑קֶר<of the> falsehood

    hashakerH8267 →113 times

  • וּנְבִיאֵ֖יand [the] prophets of

    unevieiH5030 →314 times

  • תַּרְמִ֥ת[the] deceitfulness of

    tarmitH8649 →6 times

  • לִבָּֽם׃own heart their

    libamH3820 →595 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Timothy 4:3

    For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

    it leads to

    • 2 Peter 2:1–3

      Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…

    • 2 Timothy 3:1–6

      But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.

    • 1 Timothy 4:1–3

      Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

    • 1 Timothy 1:10

      for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

    • Galatians 4:16

      Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

  • Through

    Jeremiah 14:14

    “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 13:6–7

      They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

    • Jeremiah 29:8–9

      For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from…

    • Ezekiel 12:24

      For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.

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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.