Jeremiah 23:24-26

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 1 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 2 

the Lord asks. 3 

23:25 The Lord says, 4  “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!’ 5  23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. 6 

1 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

2 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

3 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

4 tn The words, “The Lord says” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that the Lord continues speaking.

5 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 Lord (Deut 13:1-5 [13:2-6 HT]). That was what the prophets were doing through their dreams which were “lies” and “the delusions of their own minds.” Through them they were making people forget who the Lord really was which was just like what their ancestors had done through worshiping Baal.

6 sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.