Jeremiah 23:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 23:28
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
dream
חֲלוֹם֙cha.lOm
H2472
a dream · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tell
יְסַפֵּ֣רye.sa.Per
H5608
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
dream
חֲל֔וֹםcha.Lom
H2472
a dream · noun, common masculine singular absolute
word
דְּבָרִי֙de.va.Ri
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
speak
יְדַבֵּ֥רye.da.Ber
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
word
דְּבָרִ֖יde.va.Ri
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
faithfully
אֱמֶ֑ת'e.Met
H571
stability · noun, common feminine singular absolute
chaff
לַתֶּ֥בֶןla.Te.ven
H8401
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wheat
הַבָּ֖רha.Bar
H1250
grain of any kind (even while standing in the field) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saith
נְאֻםne.'um-
H5002
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Timothy 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion…
1 Corinthians 3:12-13 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 23:9-32
Here is a long lesson for the false prophets. As none were more bitter and spiteful against God's true prophets than they, so there were none on whom the true prophets were more severe, and justly. The prophet had complained to God of those false prophets (Jer 14:13), and had often foretold that they should be involved in the common ruin; but here they have woes of their own.
I. He expresses the deep concern that he was under upon this account, and what a trouble it was to him to see men who pretended to a divine commission and inspiration ruining themselves, and the people among whom they dwelt, by their falsehood and treachery (Jer 23:9): My heart within me is broken; I am like a drunken m…
God answers the objection which might be stated, "What, then, must we do, when lies are spoken as truths, and prophets oppose prophets?" Do the same as when wheat is mixed with chaff: do not reject the wheat because of the chaff mixed with it, but discriminate between the false and the true revelations. The test is adherence to, or forgetfulness of, Me and My law (Jer 23:27).
that hath a dream--that pretends to have a divine communication by dream, let him tell it "faithfully," that it may be compared with "my word" (Co2 4:2). The result will be the former (both the prophets and their fictions) will soon be seen to be chaff; the latter (the true prophets and the word of God in their mouth)…
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream,.... These words are directed not to a true prophet of the Lord, that has a dream from him, or something communicated to him in a dream by the Lord, which he is to deliver as such; but to a false prophet, that says he has dreamed; and if he has dreamed a dream, let him tell it as a "dream" (l); so some supply it, as the fruit of his own roving fancy and imagination in sleep; and not call it a revelation from the Lord, and impose it upon the people as such. The Septuagint version is, "let him tell his dream"; let him tell it as his own, and not as a dream from the Lord;
and he that hath my word; the word of prophecy by revelation, and under…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 28, 29.) The prophet who has a dream, let him tell the dream, and the one who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is straw compared to wheat? says the Lord. Are not my words like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer (or an axe) shattering rock? It is for them to interpret the dream who are deserving of having the word of God, and to say: Thus says the Lord; to whom the Lord has spoken, in whom there is truth, and not deceitful lies. What do the heretics' chaff have to do with the wheat of the Church? about which John the Baptist speaks more fully (Matt. III), that the Lord may cleanse his threshing floor, and by the winnowing fan scatter the chaff to be burned by the winds, and leave it to be consumed by fire; but may store the wheat in the barns, that it may become heavenly bread; and let each believer say: Taste and see, for the Lord is sweet (Ps. XXXIII, 9). And fittingly is false doctrine compared to chaff, which has no substance, nor can it nourish the people of believers, but it is crushed by empty husks. And because heretics usually promise prosperity and open the kingdoms of heaven to sinners, saying, 'The kingdoms of heaven are prepared for you', you can imitate the majesty of God, so that you may be without sin; for you have received the power of free will and the knowledge of the law, by which you may attain what you desire. And they deceive the wretched with flatteries, especially the women burdened with sins, who go about listening to every wind of doctrine, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, and they deceive all their hearers with adulation (Ephesians 4); therefore the Lord, comparing his words to the chaff of heretics, says: Are not my words like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock? For my part, he said, my speech announces future punishments so as to deter people from sinning; and he threatens the fire of sinners to the chaff, so that the hardened hearts of heretics, like flint, may be crushed by the hammer of his word: taking away a heart of stone, so that he may put in its place a heart of flesh, namely, one that is soft and capable of receiving and understanding God's commands. The Lord speaks of such a thing through Ezekiel as well (Ezek. 13), because false prophets smear the wall with their seductions and without mortar, which is later destroyed by a violent…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Chaff — The refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned (Ex. 15:7; Isa. 5:24; Matt. 3:12). This word sometimes, however, means dried grass or hay (Isa. 5:24; 33:11). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive…
Chaff · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dreams · False prophets: Pretended to — False prophets: Pretended to
Faithfulness · Exhibited in: Declaring the word of God — Exhibited in: Declaring the word of God
Prophets, False · Often pretended to dreams — Often pretended to dreams
Wheat · Chaff of — Chaff of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 23:28
28. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
28. Propheta apud quem est somnium, narrabit somnium; et apud quem est sermo meus, narrabit sermonem meum veritatis: quid palae ad triticum, dicit Jehova?
We ought also to read this verse attentively, for doubtless it contains a doctrine especially useful. I have already said, that the faith of many might have failed at seeing a conflict in the Temple of God, not only among the common people, but also among the prophets of God. God did not appear from heaven, nor did he send his angels, but would have himself to…
Against the False Prophets. - Next to the kings, the pseudo-prophets, who flattered the people's carnal longings, have done most to contribute to the fall of the realm. Therefore Jeremiah passes directly from his discourse against the wicked kings to rebuking the false prophets; and if we may presume from the main substance, the latter discourse belongs to the same time as the former. It begins
Jer 23:9-11
With a description of the pernicious practices of these persons. - Jer 23:9. "Concerning the prophets. Broken is mine heart within me; all my bones totter. I am become like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of Jahveh and because of His holy words. Jer 23:10. Fo…
The Lord temporarily allowed the false prophets to tell their dreams. At the same time, the Lord had his true messengers, such as Jeremiah, to proclaim his every word. This allowed the people to see the difference between the useless dreams of the false prophets (straw) and the nourishing words of the Lord’s messengers (grain); cp. Ps 1:3-4.
Rashi on Jeremiah 23:28
let him tell a dream Let him tell it as vain talk like other dreams, and let him not presume it as words of prophecy.
What has the straw to do with the wheat? What has falsehood to do with truth?
with the wheat like עִם-הַבָּר.
