Discovery BoxIsaiah 9:15-16
Context9:15 The leaders and the highly respected people 1 are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
9:16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,
and the people being led were destroyed. 2
Isaiah 28:15
Context28:15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol 3 we have made an agreement. 4
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by 5
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” 6
Isaiah 44:20
Contexthis deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 8
Jeremiah 16:19-20
Context“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. 10
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –
worthless idols that could not help them at all. 11
16:20 Can people make their own gods?
No, what they make are not gods at all.” 12
Jeremiah 23:13-15
Context23:13 The Lord says, 13 “I saw the prophets of Samaria 14
doing something that was disgusting. 15
They prophesied in the name of the god Baal
and led my people Israel astray. 16
23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem 17
doing something just as shocking.
They are unfaithful to me
and continually prophesy lies. 18
So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,
with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. 19
I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,
and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. 20
23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all, 21
have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: 22
‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering
and drink the poison water of judgment. 23
For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason 24
that ungodliness 25 has spread throughout the land.’”
Jeremiah 23:25-32
Context23:25 The Lord says, 26 “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ 27 23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. 28 23:27 How long will they go on plotting 29 to make my people forget who I am 30 through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors 31 did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. 32 23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! 33 I, the Lord, affirm it! 34 23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! 35 It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! 36 I, the Lord, so affirm it! 37 23:30 So I, the Lord, affirm 38 that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me. 39 23:31 I, the Lord, affirm 40 that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares….’ 41 23:32 I, the Lord, affirm 42 that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. 43 I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. 44 I, the Lord, affirm it!” 45
Jeremiah 28:15-16
Context28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you! You are making these people trust in a lie! 46 28:16 So the Lord says, ‘I will most assuredly remove 47 you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’” 48
Ezekiel 13:6-16
Context13:6 They see delusion and their omens are a lie. 49 They say, “the Lord declares,” though the Lord has not sent them; 50 yet they expect their word to be confirmed. 51 13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and announced a lying omen when you say, “the Lord declares,” although I myself never spoke?
13:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, 52 I am against you, 53 declares the sovereign Lord. 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council 54 of my people, nor be written in the registry 55 of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.
13:10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying, “All is well,” 56 when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, 57 they coat it with whitewash. 13:11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones 58 will fall and a violent wind will break out. 59 13:12 When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you, “Where is the whitewash you coated it with?”
13:13 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury. 13:14 I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, 60 and you will know that I am the Lord. 13:15 I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, “The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more – 13:16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem 61 and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the sovereign Lord.’
Ezekiel 13:22
Context13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.
Ezekiel 22:28
Context22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. 62 They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.
Habakkuk 2:18
Context2:18 What good 63 is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? 64
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? 65
Why would its creator place his trust in it 66
and make 67 such mute, worthless things?
Romans 1:25
Context1:25 They 68 exchanged the truth of God for a lie 69 and worshiped and served the creation 70 rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
[9:15] 1 tn Heb “the elder and the one lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.
[9:16] 2 tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mÿbulla’im) from בָּלַע (bala’, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.
[28:15] 3 sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.
[28:15] 4 tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.
[28:15] 5 tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).
[28:15] 6 sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.
[44:20] 7 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
[44:20] 8 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
[16:19] 9 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.
[16:19] 10 tn Heb “O
[16:19] 11 tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”
[16:20] 12 tn Heb “and they are ‘no gods.’” For the construction here compare 2:11 and a similar construction in 2 Kgs 19:18 and see BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.b(b).
[23:13] 13 tn The words “The
[23:13] 14 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[23:13] 15 tn According to BDB 1074 s.v. תִּפְלָּה this word means “unseemly, unsavory.” The related adjective is used in Job 6:6 of the tastelessness of something that is unseasoned.
[23:14] 17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[23:14] 18 tn Or “they commit adultery and deal falsely.” The word “shocking” only occurs here and in 5:30 where it is found in the context of prophesying lies. This almost assures that the reference to “walking in lies” (Heb “in the lie”) is referring to false prophesy. Moreover the references to the prophets in 5:13 and in 14:13-15 are all in the context of false prophesy as are the following references in this chapter in 23:24, 26, 32 and in 28:15. This appears to be the theme of this section. This also makes it likely that the reference to adultery is not literal adultery, though two of the false prophets in Babylon were guilty of this (29:23). The reference to “encouraging those who do evil” that follows also makes more sense if they were preaching messages of comfort rather than messages of doom. The verbs here are infinitive absolutes in place of the finite verb, probably used to place greater emphasis on the action (cf. Hos 4:2 in a comparable judgment speech.)
[23:14] 19 tn Heb “So they strengthen the hands of those doing evil so that they do not turn back from their evil.” For the use of the figure “strengthen the hands” meaning “encourage” see Judg 9:24; Ezek 13:22 (and cf. BDB 304 s.v. חָזַק Piel.2). The vav consecutive on the front of the form gives the logical consequence equivalent to “so” in the translation.
[23:14] 20 tn Heb “All of them are to me like Sodom and its [Jerusalem’s] inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
[23:15] 21 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[23:15] 22 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the
[23:15] 23 tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” For these same words of judgment on another group see 9:15 (9:14 HT). “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.
[23:15] 24 tn The compound preposition מֵאֵת (me’et) expresses source or origin (see BDB 86 s.v. אֵת 4.c). Context shows that the origin is in their false prophesying which encourages people in their evil behavior.
[23:15] 25 sn A word that derives from this same Hebrew word is used in v. 11 at the beginning of the
[23:25] 26 tn The words, “The
[23:25] 27 sn To have had a dream was not an illegitimate means of receiving divine revelation. God had revealed himself in the past to his servants through dreams (e.g., Jacob [Gen 31:10-11] and Joseph [Gen 37:6, 7, 9]) and God promised to reveal himself through dreams (Num 12:6; Joel 2:28 [3:1 HT]). What was illegitimate was to use the dream to lead people away from the
[23:26] 28 sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.
[23:27] 29 tn The relation of the words to one another in v. 26 and the beginning of v. 27 has created difficulties for translators and commentators. The proper solution is reflected in the NJPS. Verses 26-27 read somewhat literally, “How long is there in the hearts of the prophets who are prophesying the lie and [in the hearts of] the prophets of the delusions of their [own] heart the plotting to cause my people to forget my name…” Most commentaries complain that the text is corrupt, that there is no subject for “is there.” However, the long construct qualification “in the hearts of” has led to the lack of observation that the proper subject is “the plotting to make my people forget.” There are no exact parallels but Jer 14:22; Neh 5:5 follow the same structure. The “How long” precedes the other means of asking a question for the purpose of emphasis (cf. BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.b and compare for example the usage in 2 Sam 7:7). There has also been a failure to see that “the prophets of the delusion of…” is a parallel construct noun after “heart of.” Stripping the syntax down to its barest minimum and translating literally, the sentence would read “How long will the plotting…continue in the hearts of the prophets who…and [in hearts of] the prophets of…” The sentence has been restructured in the translation to conform to contemporary English style but attempt has been made to maintain the same subordinations.
[23:27] 31 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 39).
[23:27] 32 tn Heb “through Baal.” This is an elliptical expression for the worship of Baal. See 11:17; 12:16; 19:5 for other references to their relation to Baal. There is a deliberate paralleling in the syntax here between “through their dreams” and “through Baal.”
[23:28] 33 tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).
[23:28] 34 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:29] 35 tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[23:29] 36 tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.
[23:29] 37 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:30] 38 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:30] 39 tn Heb “who are stealing my words from one another.” However, context shows that it is their own word which they claim is from the
[23:31] 40 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:31] 41 tn The word “The
[23:32] 42 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:32] 43 tn Heb “with their lies and their recklessness.” This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns (in this case a concrete and an abstract one) are joined by “and” but one is intended to be the adjectival modifier of the other.
[23:32] 44 sn In the light of what has been said this is a rhetorical understatement; they are not only “not helping,” they are leading them to their doom (cf. vv. 19-22). This figure of speech is known as litotes.
[23:32] 45 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[28:15] 46 tn Or “You are giving these people false assurances.”
[28:16] 47 sn There is a play on words here in Hebrew between “did not send you” and “will…remove you.” The two verbs are from the same root word in Hebrew. The first is the simple active and the second is the intensive.
[28:16] 48 sn In giving people false assurances of restoration when the
[13:6] 49 sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.
[13:6] 50 sn The
[13:6] 51 tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”
[13:8] 52 tn The word h!nn@h indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[13:8] 53 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
[13:9] 54 tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the
[13:9] 55 tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).
[13:10] 57 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.
[13:11] 58 tn Heb “and you, O hailstones.”
[13:11] 59 sn A violent wind will break out. God’s judgments are frequently described in storm imagery (Pss 18:7-15; 77:17-18; 83:15; Isa 28:17; 30:30; Jer 23:19; 30:23).
[13:14] 60 tn Or “within it,” referring to the city of Jerusalem.
[13:16] 61 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:28] 62 tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.
[2:18] 63 tn Or “of what value.”
[2:18] 64 tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
[2:18] 65 tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.
[2:18] 66 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
[1:25] 68 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
