Deuteronomy 18:21-22

18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, ¹  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ²  – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my ³  name and the prediction ⁴  is not fulfilled, ⁵  then I have ⁶  not spoken it; ⁷  the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

[18:21]  ¹ tn Heb “in your heart.”

[18:21]  ² tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.

[18:22]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”

[18:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord has.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”