Jeremiah 29 15

Jeremiah 29:15 kjv

Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

Jeremiah 29:15 nkjv

Because you have said, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon"?

Jeremiah 29:15 niv

You may say, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,"

Jeremiah 29:15 esv

"Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,'

Jeremiah 29:15 nlt

You claim that the LORD has raised up prophets for you in Babylon.

Jeremiah 29 verses

Jeremiah 29 15 meaning

Jeremiah 29:15 presents God's direct refutation of the exiles' belief that He, Yahweh, had genuinely appointed prophets among them in Babylon. The verse directly quotes the exiles' flawed reasoning and self-justification, showing their reliance on voices that confirmed their desires for a swift return to Judah, rather than accepting God's true and more challenging message delivered through Jeremiah regarding a prolonged exile.

Jeremiah 29 15 Context

Jeremiah 29:15 is found within a pivotal letter sent by the prophet Jeremiah from Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon. This letter, written around 597 BC after the first major deportation under King Jehoiachin, addresses a critical spiritual and psychological crisis among the captives. While false prophets both in Jerusalem and among the exiles were promising a swift return within two years, Jeremiah's letter conveyed God's authentic, yet hard-to-accept, message: the exile would last 70 years. God instructed them to settle, build houses, plant gardens, marry, and seek the welfare of Babylon (vv. 5-7). Verse 15 specifically calls out the exiles' flawed reasoning and resistance to this divine plan. They clung to the comforting delusion that the LORD Himself had commissioned prophets to affirm their desires for a speedy restoration, directly contradicting Jeremiah's inspired message and fostering an atmosphere of false hope that hindered their submission to God's difficult, yet ultimately good, purpose (vv. 10-14).

Jeremiah 29 15 Word analysis

• For (Hebrew: Kî, כִּ֣י):

  • Word: Introduces the reason or justification offered by the exiles for their belief. It frames the following statement as their premise, exposing the faulty foundation of their hope.
  • Significance: Indicates a cause-and-effect relationship from the exiles' perspective, linking their current actions (listening to false prophets) to their professed understanding of God's involvement.

• you have said (Hebrew: 'ămārtem, אֲמַרְתֶּ֔ם):

  • Word: A masculine plural perfect form of the verb "to say" or "to tell."
  • Significance: Emphasizes that this was a collective and firm declaration made by the exiles themselves. It wasn't a question but an assertion, highlighting their settled conviction, which stood in direct opposition to God's true word through Jeremiah.

• The LORD (Hebrew: YHWH, יְהוָ֤ה):

  • Word: The sacred covenant name of God.
  • Significance: The exiles use God's covenant name, seemingly to legitimize their claims, yet they profoundly misunderstand and misrepresent His character and actual will. Their appeal to "the LORD" for backing of false prophecy reveals a superficial acknowledgment of God but a deep spiritual disconnect from His truth.

• has raised up (Hebrew: hēqîm, הֵקִ֨ים):

  • Word: The Hifil perfect form of the verb qûm (קוּם), meaning "to rise," "to stand," or "to establish/appoint" when in the Hifil stem.
  • Significance: Implies divine initiative and authority. The exiles are wrongly attributing the "raising up" or "appointing" of these prophets to Yahweh, bestowing divine approval on messages that originated from human invention or deceptive spirits.

• prophets (Hebrew: nevī'îm, נְבִאִים֙):

  • Word: The plural form for "prophet," indicating multiple individuals making claims of divine revelation.
  • Significance: Refers specifically to those false prophets in Babylon who were propagating messages of a quick return, feeding into the exiles' desires for immediate comfort rather than challenging them to align with God's long-term plan.

• for us (Hebrew: lānû, לָ֙נוּ):

  • Word: A prepositional phrase meaning "to us" or "for us."
  • Significance: Suggests a sense of entitlement or a self-centered view of prophecy. The exiles likely believed these prophets were raised for their benefit and comfort in their suffering, implying God's primary purpose was to fulfill their immediate desires rather than call them to obedience.

• in Babylon (Hebrew: Bāvel, בָּֽבֶל׃):

  • Word: The geographical location of the exiles.
  • Significance: Specifies where these false prophets operated. The problem was not the location itself but that these specific individuals in Babylon were uttering false prophecies, undermining God's true message for that particular context of exile.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "For you have said": This opening phrase underscores the human agency in propagating false belief. It highlights that the exiles were actively verbalizing and collectively assenting to a counter-narrative, showing their resistance to God's word and their readiness to embrace self-serving explanations.

• "The LORD has raised up": This critical phrase captures the essence of their deception: misattributing divine authority to human deceit. They were not merely listening to false prophets; they were convinced that Yahweh himself was behind these voices, ironically twisting the very concept of divine commissioning.

• "prophets for us in Babylon": This segment pinpoints the nature and location of the false teachings. It emphasizes the perceived utility of these false prophets ("for us") and the specific context ("in Babylon"), where a message of immediate hope would naturally be appealing but was ultimately a diversion from God's true and difficult plan.

Jeremiah 29 15 Bonus section

• This verse represents a direct spiritual conflict between truth and deception, highlighting how deeply entrenched false narratives can become within a community, even when ostensibly invoking God's name.
• The exiles' statement effectively challenges Jeremiah's own authority as a true prophet. By saying "the LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon," they were implicitly saying, "Jeremiah, you are wrong, God is speaking to us through these others."
• The phrase "raised up" implies an intentional act by God. The exiles' error was in assuming God's intentions aligned with their immediate comfort, not His sovereign, long-term plan of restoration and purification that necessitated a difficult period of exile.
• The deceptive nature of false prophecy is magnified when it appeals to communal identity and offers what appears to be a direct solution to current suffering, bypassing the often painful truth that God requires patient obedience.

Jeremiah 29 15 Commentary

Jeremiah 29:15 is a potent verse that lays bare the exiles' spiritual predicament and reveals a perennial human tendency. It captures their attempt to legitimize their false hopes by claiming divine backing, creating a "God-said" narrative for what was merely self-serving comfort. The verse shows that people often prefer to hear what affirms their desires rather than accept difficult truths from God. This rejection of God's real prophetic word, favoring instead the "prophets for us," ultimately prevented them from embracing the divine path of patient endurance and prayerful submission in exile. It serves as a stark reminder of the danger of selective hearing and attributing one's own wishes or manufactured consolations to God.