Jeremiah 29:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 29:21
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֨הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֜וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Ahab
אַחְאָ֤ב'ach.'Av
H256
Achab · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּן
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
Jeremiah 14:14-15 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them:…
Jeremiah 29:8-9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neit…
Lamentations 2:14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have s…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 29:15-23
Jeremiah, having given great encouragement to those among the captives whom he knew to be serious and well-affected, assuring them that God had very kind and favourable intentions concerning them, here turns to those among them who slighted the counsels and comforts that Jeremiah ministered to them and depended upon what the false prophets flattered them with. When this letter came from Jeremiah they would be ready to say, "Why should he make himself so busy, and take upon him to advise us? The Lord has raised us up prophets in Babylon, Jer 29:15. We are satisfied with those prophets, and can depend upon them, and have no occasion to hear from any prophets in Jerusalem." See the impudent wic…
Zedekiah--brother of Zephaniah (Jer 29:25), both being sons of Maaseiah; probably of the same family as the false prophet under Ahab in Israel (Kg1 22:11, Kg1 22:24).
John Gill on Jeremiah 29:21
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... See Gill on Jeremiah 29:4;
of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you: two false prophets, of whom we have no account any where else but here; and are, no doubt, the prophets, or however two of them, that they of the captivity boasted of that God had raised unto them in Babylon, Jeremiah 29:15. The Jews (c) say, and so Jerom relates, that these are the two elders that attempted the chastity of Susannah:
behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon: they should be suffered to commit some crime against the state, of which notice should be given, and they sho…
Jeremiah 29:20-21
20. Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
20. Et vos audite sermonem Jehovae cuncta captivitas, quam misi Jerosolyma Babylonem;
21. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
21. Sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus Israel, ad Achab filium Colaniah, et ad Zedechiam filium Maassiae, prophetantes vobis in nomine meo mendacium, Ecce ego ponam eos (vel, tradam) in manum Nebuehadne…
The Church Fathers
(Verses 21-23) This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says to Ahaziah son of Coliah, and to Zedekiah son of Maasiah, who prophesy to you falsely in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes. And a curse will be taken up against all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, 'May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahaziah, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, because they have done foolishness (or wickedness) in Israel and have committed adultery with the wives of their friends (or fellow citizens); and they have spoken a false word in my name, which I did not command them. I am the judge and witness, says the Lord.' The Hebrews say that these are the elders who have done foolishness in Israel and have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors. To one of them, Daniel speaks: Old age of evil days. And to another: The seed of Chan has deceived you, not Judah, and desire has undermined your heart. This is what you did to the daughters of Israel, and they, being afraid, spoke with you; but the daughter of Judah did not endure your wickedness. And what the Prophet now speaks: And they have spoken a word in my name falsely, which I did not command them; they think that it signifies that those wretched women who are carried about by every wind of doctrine have deceived them, by saying to them that because they were of the tribe of Judah, Christ was to be born from their own seed; enticed by desire, they offered their bodies as if they were future mothers of Christ; But what is said at present: whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, seems to contradict the story of Daniel. For he asserts that they were stoned to death according to the judgment of Daniel by the people: but here it is written, that the king of Babylon cast them into the fire. Hence, by most and almost all Hebrews, it is not received as a true story, nor read in their synagogues, as if it were a fable itself. For, say they, how could it happen that captive princes and their prophets had the power of stoning? And they affirm more strongly that this is true, which Jeremiah writes, that the elders were convicted indeed by Daniel, but that the judgment against them was pronounced by the king of Babylon, who held dominion over the captives as a victor and lord. How…
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
Ahab — Father’s brother. (1.) The son of Omri, whom he succeeded as the seventh king of Israel. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 16-22. His wife was Jezebel (q.v.), who exercised a very evil influence…
Kolaiah — (voice of Jehovah).
Maaseiah — The work of Jehovah. (1.) One of the Levites whom David appointed as porter for the ark (1 Chr. 15:18, 20). (2.) One of the “captains of hundreds” associated with Jehoiada in restoring king Jehoash…
Zedekiah — Righteousness of Jehovah. (1.) The last king of Judah. He was the third son of Josiah, and his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, and hence he was the brother of Jehoahaz…
Ahab · 2. A false prophet — 2. A false prophet
Kolaiah · 2. Father of the false prophet Ahab — 2. Father of the false prophet Ahab
Maaseiah · 12. Father of a false prophet — 12. Father of a false prophet
Zedekiah · 3. A false prophet — 3. A false prophet
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).
ben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Kolaiah
קֽוֹלָיָה֙ko.la.Yah
H6964
Kolajah · proper noun, a man's name
Zedekiah
צִדְקִיָּ֣הוּtzid.ki.Ya.hu
H6667
Tsidkijah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Maaseiah
מַֽעֲשֵׂיָ֔הma.'a.se.Yah
H4641
Maasejah · proper noun, a man's name
prophesy
הַֽנִּבְּאִ֥יםha.ni.be.'Im
H5012
to prophesy · definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
lie
שָׁ֑קֶרSha.ker
H8267
an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
name
בִּשְׁמִ֖יbish.Mi
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
deliver
נֹתֵ֣ןno.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
hand
בְּיַד֙be.Yad
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
Nebuchadrezzar
נְבֽוּכַדְרֶאצַּ֣רne.vu.khad.re.Tzar
H5019
Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh-
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Babylon
בָּבֶ֔לba.Vel
H894
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
slay
וְהִכָּ֖םve.hi.Kam
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
eyes
לְעֵינֵיכֶֽםle.'ei.nei.Khem
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
After having set forth the divine determination, the prophet's letter addresses itself specially against the false prophets and tells them their punishment from God. Jer 29:21. "Thus saith Jahveh, the God of hosts, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy to you in my name falsely: Behold, I give them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, that he may smite them before your eyes. Jer 29:22. And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the exiles of Judah that are in Babylon, saying: Jahveh make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, Jer 29:23. Because they have done folly in Israel, and have committed…
Although Jeremiah was in Jerusalem, God was able to tell him what was happening in Babylon, just as he was able to tell Ezekiel in Babylon what was happening in Jerusalem (Ezek 8). • The Lord named two prophets who were telling . . . lies in his name, and sentenced them to death (Deut 18:20-22; cp. Jer 26:14-15; 28:16-17).
Rashi on Jeremiah 29:18
and for a reproach That they will reproach them, and so is every expression of ירפה in Scripture.
