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The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 18:21-22

The test by which it was to be discovered which was the true prophet and which the false, was the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of his prediction. The reference here is to the prediction of proximate events—events that were to happen within a limited period, but which were not such as one not divinely instructed could foresee. When such came to pass, the pretensions of the prophet were thereby substantiated, and his authority established (cf. 1 Samuel 3:19 ; John 2:18 , etc.). This was a... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 18:15-19

The ancient fathers of the Church and the generality of modern commentators have regarded our Lord as the prophet promised in these verses. It is evident from the New Testament alone that the Messianic was the accredited interpretation among the Jews at the beginning of the Christian era (compare the marginal references, and John 4:25); nor can our Lord Himself, when He declares that Moses “wrote of Him” John 5:45-47, be supposed to have any other words more directly in view than these, the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 18:21

And if thou say in thine heart, How ... - The passage evidently assumes such an occasion for consulting the prophet as was usual among the pagan, e. g., an impending battle or other such crisis (compare 1 Kings 22:11), in which his veracity would soon be put to the test. Failure of a prediction is set forth as a sure note of its being “presumptuous.” But from Deuteronomy 13:2 ff we see that the fulfillment of a prediction would not decisively accredit him who uttered it: for the prophet or... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 18:22

Deuteronomy 18:22. If the thing follow not Which he gives as a sign of the truth of his prophecy. That is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken The falsehood of his prediction shows him to be a false prophet. He hath spoken it presumptuously Impudently ascribing his own vain and lying fancies to the God of truth. For though the mere fulfilling of a sign, or working of a bare miracle, was not to be considered as sufficient of itself to establish a false and wicked doctrine, as is... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 18:1-22

Spiritual guides, good and bad (18:1-22)Further information is given concerning the support of priests (18:1-5; see notes on Numbers 18:8-20). If a Levite from the country sold his local possessions to move to the central place of worship, he could retain the money from the sale of his goods and still be financially supported by the people, the same as other Levites (6-8; see notes on Numbers 18:21-32).Israel’s law prohibited all forms of witchcraft and magic, whether cruel practices in which... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Deuteronomy 18:19

I will require it. Compare John 12:48 , and Hebrews 4:12 , where "discerner" means "able to judge" (Greek. kritikos) . That "Word" is the "critic" (or judge), and will judge all other "critics". read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Deuteronomy 18:20

"But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? when a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him."These... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Ver. 21, 22. If thou say in thine heart, &c.— It should be observed, that this is to be understood absolutely of an Israelitish prophet. If such a prophet spoke in the name of any other god than the God of Israel, they needed no farther mark to discover him to be an impostor, see chap. Deu 13:2 but if he came to them pretending to a commission from Jehovah, it was necessary that they should have some certain criterion, whereby to know whether his pretensions were true or false; and this is... read more

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