Jeremiah 14:14

14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! ¹  I did not send them. I did not commission them. ²  I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, ³  and the delusions of their own mind.

Jeremiah 15:19

15:19 Because of this, the Lord said, ⁴ 

“You must repent of such words and thoughts!

If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. ⁵ 

If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,

I will again allow you to be my spokesman. ⁶ 

They must become as you have been.

You must not become like them. ⁷ 

[14:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Falsehood those prophets are prophesying in my name.” In the OT, the “name” reflected the person’s character (cf. Gen 27:36; 1 Sam 25:25) or his reputation (Gen 11:4; 2 Sam 8:13). To speak in someone’s name was to act as his representative or carry his authority (1 Sam 25:9; 1 Kgs 21:8).

[14:14]  ² tn Heb “I did not command them.” Compare 1 Chr 22:12 for usage.

[14:14]  ³ tn Heb “divination and worthlessness.” The noun “worthlessness” stands as a qualifying “of” phrase (= to an adjective; an attributive genitive in Hebrew) after a noun in Zech 11:17; Job 13:4. This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns are joined by “and” with one serving as the qualifier of the other.

[15:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “So the Lord said thus.”

[15:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “If you return [ = repent], I will restore [more literally, ‘cause you to return’] that you may stand before me.” For the idiom of “standing before” in the sense of serving see BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.e and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 10:8; 12:8; 17:1; Deut 10:8.

[15:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “you shall be as my mouth.”

[15:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “They must turn/return to you and you must not turn/return to them.”