Jeremiah 26:9

26:9 How dare you claim the Lord’s authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!” ¹  Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32:3

32:3 For King Zedekiah ²  had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, “Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I will let him capture it. ³ 

Isaiah 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ⁴ 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ⁵ 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ⁶ 

Isaiah 30:10

30:10 They ⁷  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ⁸ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ⁹ 

Acts 5:28

5:28 saying, “We gave ¹⁰  you strict orders ¹¹  not to teach in this name. ¹²  Look, ¹³  you have filled Jerusalem ¹⁴  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ¹⁵  on us!”

¹ tn Heb “Why have you prophesied in the Lord’s name, saying, ‘This house will become like Shiloh and this city will become a ruin without inhabitant?’” It is clear from the context here and in 7:1-15 that the emphasis is on “in the Lord’s name” and that the question is rhetorical. The question is not a quest for information but an accusation, a remonstrance. (For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 953-54, who calls a question like this a rhetorical question of remonstrance or expostulation. For good examples see Pss 11:1; 50:16.) For the significance of “prophesying in the Lord’s name” see the study note on 14:14. The translation again utilizes the indirect quote to eliminate one level of embedded quotation.

² tn Heb “Zedekiah king of Judah.”

³ tn The translation represents an attempt to break up a very long Hebrew sentence with several levels of subordination and embedded quotations and also an attempt to capture the rhetorical force of the question “Why…” which is probably an example of what E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 953-54) calls a rhetorical question of expostulation or remonstrance (cf. the note on 26:9 and compare also the question in 36:29. In all three of these cases NJPS translates “How dare you…” which captures the force nicely). The Hebrew text reads, “For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, ‘Why are you prophesying, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I am giving this city into the hands of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’”’”

⁴ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

⁵ sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

⁶ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

⁷ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

⁹ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

¹⁰ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

¹¹ tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

¹² sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

¹³ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁵ sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”