Hosea 9:8

9:8 The prophet ¹  is a watchman ²  over Ephraim ³  on behalf of God, ⁴ 

yet traps ⁵  are laid for him along all of his paths; ⁶ 

animosity rages against him in the land ⁷  of his God.

Jeremiah 6:14

6:14 They offer only superficial help

for the harm my people have suffered. ⁸ 

They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’

But everything is not all right! ⁹ 

Jeremiah 8:11

8:11 They offer only superficial help

for the hurt my dear people ¹⁰  have suffered. ¹¹ 

They say, “Everything will be all right!”

But everything is not all right! ¹² 

Jeremiah 23:16-17

23:16 The Lord who rules over all ¹³  says to the people of Jerusalem: ¹⁴ 

“Do not listen to what

those prophets are saying to you.

They are filling you with false hopes.

They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,

not something the Lord has given them to say. ¹⁵ 

23:17 They continually say ¹⁶  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ¹⁷ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹⁸ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Lamentations 2:14

נ (Nun)

2:14 Your prophets saw visions for you

that were worthless lies. ¹⁹ 

They failed to expose your sin

so as to restore your fortunes. ²⁰ 

They saw oracles for you

that were worthless ²¹  lies.

Ezekiel 13:3

13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!

Ezekiel 13:10

13:10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying, “All is well,” ²²  when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, ²³  they coat it with whitewash.

Micah 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ²⁴ 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ²⁵ 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ²⁶ 

Zephaniah 3:4

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ²⁷ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ²⁸ 

they break God’s laws. ²⁹ 

Zechariah 11:15-17

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ³⁰  11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ³¹  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ³²  and tear off their hooves.

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

[9:8]  ¹ tc The Leningrad Codex (the MT ms used for BHS) and Aleppo Codex both place the atnach (colon divider) after אלהי (“my God”) and connect נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) with the following colon. On the other hand, BHS suggests that נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) belongs with the first colon. For discussion of this syntactical problem, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 533-34.

[9:8]  ² tc The syntax of this line is difficult, and the text is questionable. The major options include: (1) Adopt the MT vocalization and BHS line division: צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם עִם־אֱלֹהָי נָבִיא (tsofeh ’efrayim ’im-elohay navi’, “The prophet is a watchman over Ephraim with my God [= on behalf of God]”). There are two problems with this: (a) Although BHS places נָבִיא (“prophet”) with this colon, the Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex both connect נָבִיא with the next colon (as do KJV, ASV). (b) The phrase עִם־אֱלֹהָי (“with my God”) is difficult to explain. (2) Adopt the MT vocalization and the MT line division: עִם־אֱלֹהָי צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם (“Ephraim is a watchman with my God,” cf. NASB). The problem with this, of course, is that Ephraim hardly fits the description of a prophetic watchman. (3) Revocalize the MT and adopt BHS line division: צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם עַם אֱלֹהָי נָבִיא (“Ephraim – the people of my God! – lies in ambush for the prophet”) This involves: (a) revocalization of the preposition עִם (’im, “with”) to the noun עַם (’am, “people”), (b) taking עַם־אֱלֹהָי (“people of my God”) in apposition to אֶפְרַיִם (“Ephraim”), and (c) nuancing צֹפֶה as “to lie in wait (=set ambush)” (e.g., Ps 37:32). This is contextually attractive and harmonizes well with the following line: “traps are laid along all of his paths.” However, it has two problems: (a) there is no textual evidence supporting the revocalization of עם as “people” and (b) the unusual nuance “to lie in wait” for צֹפֶה occurs only in Ps 37:32, where it takes the preposition לְ (lamed, i.e., “to lie in wait for the righteous”; HALOT 1044 s.v. צפה 4). (4) Emend אֱלֹהָי (“my God”) to אֹהֶל (’ohel, “tent”), as suggested in the BHS textual apparatus: אֶפְרַיִם עַם־אֹהֶל נָבִיא צֹפֶה (“Ephraim spies on the prophet’s tent”). The verb צָפָה may mean “to spy” (BDB 859 s.v. צָפָה; HALOT 1044 s.v. צפה 3); however, the preposition עִם (’im) does not normally mean “upon” and צָפָה is not used with עִם elsewhere.

[9:8]  ³ tn Or “Ephraim is a watchman with my God”; cf. ASV, NASB.

[9:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “with my God” (so ASV, NASB).

[9:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “bird trap of a bird catcher” or “snare of a fowler” (so KJV).

[9:8]  ⁶ tc Or “The prophet is like a trap along all of his paths.” The Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex (ms used in BHS) both connect נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) with this colon. On the other hand, BHS places נָבִיא (“prophet”) at the end of the preceding colon.

[9:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.” The term בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is used as a figure of speech, referring to either (1) the temple or official sanctuaries (so TEV, CEV) or (2) the land of Israel (e.g., Hos 9:15).

[6:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”

[6:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[8:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They heal the wound of my people lightly.”

[8:11]  ¹² tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[23:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[23:16]  ¹⁴ tn The words “to the people of Jerusalem” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to reflect the masculine plural form of the imperative and the second masculine plural form of the pronoun. These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They tell of a vision of their own heart [= mind] not from the mouth of the Lord.”

[23:17]  ¹⁶ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

[23:17]  ¹⁷ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

[23:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.

[2:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “emptiness and whitewash.” The nouns שָׁוְא וְתָפֵל (shv’ vÿtafel) form a nominal hendiadys. The first noun functions adjectivally, modifying the second noun that retains its full nominal sense: “empty whitewash” or “empty deceptions” (see following translation note on meaning of תָּפֵל [tafel]). The noun תָּפֵל (tafel, “whitewash”) is used literally in reference to a white-washed wall (Ezek 13:10, 11, 14, 15) and figuratively in reference to false prophets (Ezek 22:28).

[2:14]  ²⁰ tc The Kethib שְׁבִיתֵךְ (shÿvitekh) and Qere שְׁבוּתֵךְ (shÿvutekh), which is preserved in many medieval Hebrew mss here and elsewhere (Ps 85:1 Heb 85:2; 126:4; Job 42:10), are struggling with the root. The ancient versions take it from ָָשׁבָה (shavah) meaning “captivity.” Such a meaning is not tenable for the Job passage, which along with a similar phrase in the Sefire inscription suggest that the proper meaning is “to restore someone’s fortunes.”

[2:14]  ²¹ tn The nouns שָׁוְא וּמַדּוּחִים (shav’ umaddukhim, lit., “emptiness and enticements”) form a nominal hendiadys. The first functions adjectivally, modifying the second noun that retains its nominal sense: “empty enticements” or “false deceptions.” The noun מַדּוּחַ (madduakh), meaning “enticement” or “transgression” is a hapax legomenon (term that appears only once in the Hebrew OT). It is related to the verb נָדָח (nadakh, “to entice, lead astray”) which is often used in reference to idolatry.

[13:10]  ²² tn Or “peace.”

[13:10]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word only occurs here in the Bible. According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:202-3) it is also used in the Mishnah of a wall of rough stones without mortar. This fits the context here comparing the false prophetic messages to a nice coat of whitewash on a structurally unstable wall.

[2:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”

[2:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

[2:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”

[3:4]  ²⁷ sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ²⁸ tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”

[11:15]  ³⁰ sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, maqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

[11:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ³² tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”