Jeremiah 23:30-32 - Exposition

The punishment solemnly introduced by a three times repeated, Behold, I am against , etc; corresponding to three several features of the conduct of the false prophets. First we are told that the prophets steal my words every one from his neighbor . The latter part of the phrase reminds us of Jeremiah 23:27 , but the neighbor in this case must mean, at any rate primarily, a fellow-prophet, one who has really received a revelation at first-hand from Jehovah. The "false prophets," not trusting to their "dreams" alone, listen greedily to the discourses of men like Jeremiah, not with a view to spiritual profit, but to making their own utterances more effective. We must remember that they lived by their prophesying ( Micah 3:5 ).