Jeremiah 27:9

Therefore they must not hearken to their prophets, soothsayers, and sorcerers, that prophesy the contrary. The mention of dreams between the prophets and soothsayers on the one hand, and the enchanters and sorcerers on the other, strikes us as singular. It is, however, to be explained from the fact, that prophets and soothsayers often feigned dreams and dream-revelations (cf. Jer 23:25); and other persons, too, might have dreams, and could give them out as significant. Cf. Jer 29:8, where dreams are expressly distinguished from the discourse of the prophets and soothsayers. Whether the reckoning of five kinds of heathen prophecy has anything to do with the naming of five kings (Hitz.), appears to us to be questionable; but it is certain that Jeremiah does not design to specify five different, i.e., distinct and separate, kinds of heathen divination. For there was in reality no such distinction. Heathen prophecy was closely allied with sorcery ad soothsaying; cf. Deu 18:9., and Oehler on the Relation of Old Testament Prophecy to Heathen Divination (Tb. 1861). The enumeration of the multifarious means and methods for forecasting the future is designed to show the multitude of delusive schemes for supplying the lack of true and real divine inspiration. כּשּׁפים, equivalent to מכשּׁפים , the same which in Deu 18:10 is used along with מעונן. The explanation of the last-mentioned word is disputed. Some take it from ענן, cloud = cloud-maker or storm-raiser; others from עין, eye = fascinator, the idea being that of bewitching with the evil eye; see on Lev 19:26. The use of the word along with מנחשׁ וּמכשּׁף, Deu 18:10, favours the latter rendering, whereas no passage in which the word is used in the Old Testament supports the sig. storm-raiser. "That I should remove you," as is…

Jeremiah the prophet, since he cannot persuade people to submit to God's precept, and so to prevent the destruction of their country by the king of Babylon, is here persuading them to submit to God's providence, by yielding tamely to the king of Babylon, and becoming tributaries to him, which was the wisest course they could now take, and would be a mitigation of the calamity, and prevent the laying of their country waste by fire and sword; the sacrificing of their liberties would be the saving of their lives. I. He gives this counsel, in God's name, to the kings of the neighbouring nations, that they might make the best of bad, assuring them that there was no remedy, but they must serve the king of Babylon; and yet in time there should be relief, for his dominion should last but 70 years (Jer 27:1-11). II. He gives this counsel to Zedekiah king of Judah particularly (Jer 27:12-15) and to the priests and people, assuring them that the king of Babylon should still proceed against them till things were brought to the last extremity, and a patient submission would be the only way to mitigate the calamity and make it easy (Jer 27:16-22). Thus the prophet, if they would but have hearkened to him, would have directed them in the paths of true policy as well as of true piety.

27:9-10 Jeremiah warned against those who delivered messages contrary to those of the Lord. False prophets made predictions that supported idol worship; fortune-tellers claimed to have special abilities to predict future events by reading the stars, staring into crystal balls, and analyzing animal livers; interpreters of dreams predicted the future by analyzing people’s dreams and explaining what would happen; mediums claimed to converse with dead people; sorcerers specialized in casting spells to hurt or bless people by saying certain words or phrases that would concentrate evil or blessing on someone. • The king of Babylon will not conquer you: This prediction was false; Nebuchadnezzar conquered the entire region beginning in 605 BC.