Jeremiah 23:27 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Jeremiah 23:27 kjv
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Jeremiah 23:27 nkjv
who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
Jeremiah 23:27 niv
They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.
Jeremiah 23:27 esv
who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?
Jeremiah 23:27 nlt
By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.
Jeremiah 23 27 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 23:16-17 | "Do not listen to the words of the prophets... they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD." | Warning against false visions and imagination. |
| Jer 23:32 | "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," | Direct condemnation of false dreams. |
| Jer 14:14 | "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them..." | God disowns the messages of false prophets. |
| Jer 29:8-9 | "Do not let your prophets and diviners among you deceive you... they are prophesying lies to you in my name." | Deception by false prophets. |
| Ezek 13:6-7 | "They see false visions and utter lying divinations and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ though the LORD has not sent them..." | False visions not from God. |
| Zech 10:2 | "For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see false visions and tell false dreams..." | Idolaters and false seers promote deception. |
| Deut 13:1-5 | If a prophet or dreamer... gives you a sign or wonder... saying, "Let us follow other gods..." do not listen to him." | Warning against prophets leading to other gods. |
| Judg 2:11-13 | "They abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers... and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth." | Israel abandoning God for Baal worship. |
| Judg 3:7 | "The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs." | Explicitly "forgot God" and served Baal. |
| Ps 106:21 | "They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt." | Forgetting God's mighty acts and His identity. |
| Jer 2:32 | "Can a virgin forget her ornaments... My people have forgotten me days without number." | Forgetting God as an unthinkable act of betrayal. |
| Jer 3:21 | "From the bare heights is heard the weeping and the pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God." | Israel's spiritual decline due to forgetting God. |
| Hos 2:13 | "I will punish her for the days of the Baals, when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD." | Forgetting God in the context of Baal worship. |
| Ex 3:15 | "The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham... this is My Name forever..." | God's eternal and revelatory Name. |
| Ps 20:7 | "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the LORD our God." | Reliance and trust in God's Name. |
| Prov 18:10 | "The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe." | Safety and power in God's Name. |
| John 17:6 | "I have manifested Your Name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world." | Jesus revealing God's Name to believers. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | "For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God... and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images." | General human tendency to forsake God for idolatry. |
| 1 Kgs 18:21 | "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." | Confrontation with Baal worship. |
| 2 Kgs 17:16 | "They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molded images of two calves and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal." | Israel's comprehensive turn to idolatry. |
| Mat 7:15-20 | "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves... you will recognize them by their fruits." | Recognizing false teachers by their corrupt fruit. |
| 2 Pet 2:1-3 | "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies..." | Warning against future false teachers. |
| 1 John 4:1 | "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world." | Testing spirits to discern true from false. |
Jeremiah 23 verses
Jeremiah 23 27 meaning
This verse reveals God's judgment against false prophets, exposing their insidious intention to cause His people to abandon their true faith and relationship with Him. Their method involves spreading their own fabricated "dreams" and messages among the community, which replaces God's authentic revelation. This practice directly leads the people to "forget" God's Name—meaning His true character, authority, and the covenant established with Him—paralleling the historical apostasy where their ancestors turned away from Him to worship the foreign deity, Baal. It highlights a deliberate deception that steers the people towards spiritual amnesia and idolatry.
Jeremiah 23 27 Context
Jeremiah chapter 23 serves as a stern divine indictment against the corrupt leaders and false prophets of Judah. Immediately preceding this verse, God declares "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" (v. 1) and condemns prophets who speak lies in His name, promising peace when judgment is coming (vv. 16-17, 21-22). Verse 27 explicitly states how these false prophets perpetuate their deceit: by presenting their own deceptive "dreams" as divine revelation, thereby eroding the people's understanding and remembrance of God's true nature and commands. This spiritual amnesia inevitably leads to idolatry, mirroring the historical and recurrent apostasy of Israel, specifically naming the worship of Baal, a Canaanite deity, as the prime example of their fathers' defection from Yahweh. The entire chapter, therefore, is a call for discernment between divine truth and human deception, setting the stage for God's ultimate promise of a righteous Branch (Jesus Christ) who will shepherd His people truly (vv. 5-6).
Jeremiah 23 27 Word analysis
- who plan (הַחֹשְׁבִים - haḥōšəḇîm): The Hebrew verb here suggests active and intentional thought or purpose. It implies a deliberate, calculated scheme by the false prophets, not an accidental or misguided error. They are consciously orchestrating a move away from God.
- to make My people forget (לְהַשְׁכִּֽיחַ אֶת־עַמִּי - ləhaškîaḥ ’eṯ-‘ammî): Haškîaḥ is a Hiphil infinitive, indicating a causative action – they cause the people to forget. This "forgetting" (from shakach) is not merely losing memory but a failure to remember one's covenantal obligations, leading to spiritual indifference and neglect. It's a forgetting of God's character and what He stands for.
- My name (שְׁמִי - šəmî): In Hebrew thought, a "name" represents the entire person, their character, authority, reputation, and manifest presence. To forget God's Name is to forget His identity as the unique, covenant-making, and redeeming God of Israel. It implies a departure from the exclusive worship of Yahweh and His ways.
- by their dreams (בַחֲלֹמוֹתָם - baḥălōmôṯām): The preposition "by" (ב - bĕ) indicates the instrument or means. The dreams of these false prophets are the primary tool for their deception. Unlike true prophetic dreams (e.g., in Joseph, Daniel), these are of human origin, fabricated, or inspired by false spirits, devoid of divine truth. They contrast sharply with "My word" (Jer 23:28).
- which everyone tells to his neighbor (אֲשֶׁר יְסַפְּרוּ אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ - ’ăšer yəsaprû ’îš lərē‘ēhû): This highlights the widespread and communal nature of the deception. It's not isolated but propagated horizontally, gaining collective acceptance and reinforcing the lie within the community. The act of "telling" (סַפְּרוּ - saprû) implies narration and dissemination.
- just as their fathers (כַּאֲשֶׁר שָֽׁכְחוּ אֲבוֹתָם - ka’ăšer šāḵəḥû ’ăḇôṯām): "Just as" signifies a direct parallel and continuity in apostasy across generations. The false prophets are repeating a historical pattern of spiritual unfaithfulness. "Fathers" refers to previous generations of Israelites.
- forgot My name (אֶת־שְׁמִי - ’eṯ-šəmî): Again, the theme of forgetting God's true identity, reaffirming that the present deception is a continuation of past apostasy.
- because of Baal (מִבַּעַל - mibbá‘al): This explicit mention serves as a strong historical reference and polemic. Baal, a primary Canaanite fertility and storm god, was Yahweh's main rival in ancient Israel. His worship represented a fundamental turning away from the exclusive worship of God, often involving immoral rites and a focus on earthly prosperity. The link clarifies the ultimate destination of forgetting God's Name: idolatry.
Words-group analysis
- who plan to make My people forget My name: This phrase identifies the core intent and consequence. It is a deliberate subversion of the divine relationship, aiming to erase God's distinct identity and authority from the collective memory and consciousness of His people.
- by their dreams which everyone tells to his neighbor: This details the methodology of deception. It's a process of popularizing false narratives through communal sharing, creating an alternative "truth" that supersedes genuine divine revelation.
- just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal: This powerfully connects the present danger to a historical precedent of severe spiritual backsliding. It warns that ignoring God's truth inevitably leads down a path previously trodden, culminating in the adoption of false gods and practices.
Jeremiah 23 27 Bonus section
The repeated emphasis on "My Name" underscores its immense significance in Hebrew theology. God's Name is His self-revelation, the means by which He makes Himself known to His people and the world (Ex 3:13-15). To "forget My Name" is thus not just a lapse of memory, but a deliberate rejection of His exclusive identity and covenantal relationship, replacing Him with human-invented alternatives. The phrase acts as a metonymy for God Himself and all that He represents.
The choice of "Baal" as the historical comparison is highly significant. Baal was the embodiment of Canaanite religion, directly challenging Yahweh's authority over fertility, rain, and life itself. The return to "Baal" by earlier generations was the most severe form of religious betrayal, a complete exchange of truth for lies (Rom 1:25). By invoking Baal, Jeremiah is elevating the present-day deceit of false dreams to the level of ultimate spiritual treason, implying that its eventual outcome is nothing short of apostasy and idolatry. This is a stark polemic against syncretism and religious compromise.
Jeremiah 23 27 Commentary
Jeremiah 23:27 lays bare the calculated malevolence of false prophets: they actively engineer a spiritual amnesia within God's people. Their "dreams," products of their own invention or deceitful spirits, are mere substitutes for genuine divine revelation. When these are widely disseminated and accepted, they cause people to "forget God's Name," which signifies a loss of understanding of His unique character, covenant, and commands. This forgetting is not passive but an active rejection of truth, directly mirroring the ancestral sin of Baal worship, where the distinct worship of Yahweh was replaced by syncretism or outright idolatry. The verse is a powerful warning that superficial spiritual experiences or man-made messages, when embraced, fundamentally corrupt the pure relationship with the one true God, leading generations down a well-worn path of apostasy. For instance, prioritizing worldly "blessings" or man-made success doctrines over sound biblical teaching about holiness or sacrifice can lead to forgetting God's true character as sovereign over all, subtly introducing a new "Baal."