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Jeremiah 29:8

in Jeremiah 29

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 them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

KJV

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

This verse in Jeremiah 29

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

(Verse 8, 9) For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, nor give heed to your dreams which you dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord. The prophet Ezekiel testifies that there were prophets, or rather false prophets, and diviners and dreamers in Babylon, among those whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought with Jehoiachin and his mother, as he writes against them, to whom Jeremiah also commands not to believe (Ezekiel 13).

This site's exposition

For this is what the LORD

on Jeremiah 29:8-9

The warning against false prophets goes with the exiles to Babylon, the danger named at home in chapter 27. The LORD says, “do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them,” naming dreams drawn out on demand. His verdict on those prophets is plain: “I have not sent them.”

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Note, Though the deliverance of the church do not come in our time, it is sufficient that it will come in God's time, and we are sure that that is the best time. The promise is that God will visit them in mercy; though he had long seemed to be strange to them, he will come among them, and appear for them, and put honour upon them, as great men do upon their inferiors by coming to visit them.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Neither hearken to your dreams - Rather, dreamers; for it appears there was a class of such persons, who not only had acquired a facility of dreaming themselves, but who undertook to interpret the dreams of others.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

your dreams which ye caused to be dreamed--The Latin adage says, "The people wish to be deceived, so let them be deceived." Not mere credulity misleads men, but their own perverse "love of darkness rather than light." It was not priests who originated priestcraft, but the people's own morbid appetite to be deceived; for example, Aaron and the golden calf (Ex 32:1-4).

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

Your prophets and your diviners - The evils from which the people had suffered so cruelly at home followed them in their exile. Dreams which ye cause to be dreamed - As long as there was a market for dreams, so long there would be plenty of impostors to supply them.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • כִּי֩for

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • כֹ֨הthus

    khohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֜רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֤הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • צְבָאוֹת֙of hosts

    tzevaotH6635 →485 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • יַשִּׁ֧יאוּthey deceive

    yashiuH5377 →16 times

  • לָכֶ֛ם<to> <the> you

    lakhem

  • נְבִֽיאֵיכֶ֥םprophets your

    nevieikhemH5030 →314 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֖ם[are] in midst your

    bekirbekhemH7130 →227 times

  • וְקֹֽסְמֵיכֶ֑םand diviners your

    vekosemeikhemH7080 →

  • וְאַֽל־and may not

    veal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙you listen

    tishmeuH8085 →1159 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • חֲלֹמֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םdreams your

    chalomoteikhemH2472 →65 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַתֶּ֖םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • מַחְלְמִֽים׃[are] dreaming

    machlemimH2492 →29 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

    Ephesians 5:6

    Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

    it leads to

    • Romans 1:18

      The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

    • Colossians 2:8

      See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

    • Matthew 24:4

      Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.

    • 1 John 4:1

      Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

    • 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12

      and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

  • 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…

  • Through

    2 Timothy 3:13

    while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 4:1

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

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.