Jeremiah 27:9
in Jeremiah 27But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But as for you, hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
KJV
Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
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This verse in Jeremiah 27
Commentary
8 notes on this verseParticular prophecies against these nations that bordered on Israel severally, the ruin of which is here foretold in the general, we shall meet with, ch. xlviii. and xlix., and Ezek. xxv. , which had the same accomplishment with this here.
This site's exposition
As for the nation or kingdom
on Jeremiah 27:8-11
The nation that refuses Babylon's yoke is promised “sword and famine and plague” until it is destroyed. The nation that submits keeps its land. The prophets who say “You will not serve the king of Babylon” prophesy “a lie that will serve to remove you from your land.”
This site's exposition
your diviners, your interpreters of dreams
These are the counselors of the five foreign kings. Each told the kings to refuse the yoke. Matthew Henry points ahead to chapters 48 and 49 and to Ezekiel 25, where each of these nations meets its own ruin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 9 and following) So do not listen to your prophets, and diviners, and dreamers, and augurs, and sorcerers, who say to you: 'You will not serve the king of Babylon, for they prophesy lies to you, in order to drive you far from your land and to expel you, and you will perish.' But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let it stay in its own land, says the Lord; and it will till it and dwell in it.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets,.... False prophets, as the Targum.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ye--the Jews especially, for whom the address to the rest was intended. enchanters--augurs [CALVIN], from a root, the "eyes," that is, lookers at the stars and other means of taking omens of futurity; or another root, a "fixed time," observers of times: forbidden in the law (Le 19:26;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets - Who pretend to have a revelation from heaven. Nor to your diviners - קסמיכם kosemeychem, from קסם kasam, to presage or prognosticate. Persons who guessed at futurity by certain signs in the animate or inanimate creation. Nor to your dreamers - חלמתיכם chalomotheychem, from חלם chalam, to break in pieces; hence חלום chalom, a dream, because it consists of broken fragments. Dream-interpreters, who, from these broken shreds patch up a meaning by their own interpolations. Nor to your enchanters - ענניכם oneneychem, from ענן anan, a cloud - cloud-mongers. Diviners by the flight, color, density, rarity, and shape of clouds. Nor to your sorcerers - כשפיכם cashshapheychem, from כשף kashaph, to discover; the discoverers, the finders out of hidden things, stolen goods, etc. Persons also who use incantations, and either by spells or drugs pretend to find out mysteries, or produce supernatural effects. Every nation in the world had persons who pretended to find out hidden things, or foretell future events; and such were gladly encouraged by the ignorant multitude; and many of them were mere apes of the prophets of God. Man knows that he is short-sighted, feels pain at the uncertainty of futurity, and wishes to have his doubts resolved by such persons as the above, to put an end to his uncertainty.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Dreamers - literally, as in the margin. People dream dreams for themselves, and go to diviners to ask the explanation of them.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠אַתֶּם | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׁמְע֨וּ | tishmeu | you listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נְבִיאֵיכֶ֜ם | nevieikhem | prophets your | H5030 → | 314 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| קֹֽסְמֵיכֶ֗ם | kosemeikhem | diviners your | H7080 → | |
| וְאֶל֙ | veel | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חֲלֹמֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם | chalomoteikhem | dreams your | H2472 → | 65 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֹֽנְנֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾoneneikhem | soothsayers your | H6049 → | |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כַּשָּׁפֵיכֶ֑ם | kashafeikhem | sorcerers your | H3786 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵ֞ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| אֹמְרִ֤ים | ʾomerim | [are] saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיכֶם֙ | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעַבְד֖וּ | taavdu | you will serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בָּבֶֽל׃ | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
וְ֠אַתֶּםand you
veatemH859 →1094 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׁמְע֨וּyou listen
tishmeuH8085 →1159 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
נְבִיאֵיכֶ֜םprophets your
nevieikhemH5030 →314 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
קֹֽסְמֵיכֶ֗םdiviners your
kosemeikhemH7080 →
וְאֶל֙and to
veelH413 →5510 times
חֲלֹמֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םdreams your
chalomoteikhemH2472 →65 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
עֹֽנְנֵיכֶ֖םsoothsayers your
ʾoneneikhemH6049 →
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
כַּשָּׁפֵיכֶ֑םsorcerers your
kashafeikhemH3786 →
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הֵ֞םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
אֹמְרִ֤ים[are] saying
ʾomerimH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיכֶם֙to you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעַבְד֖וּyou will serve
taavduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
בָּבֶֽל׃Babylon
bavelH894 →262 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
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- James 5:8–9
Through
Revelation 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Revelation 21:8
Through
Isaiah 8:19When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- Leviticus 20:6
Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking…
- 1 Chronicles 10:13
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.
- Ezekiel 13:6–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.