Lam 2:14, Eze 13:3, Mic 3:11, Zep 3:4 | JFB | STEP | 14. Thy prophets —not God's ( ). vain . . . for thee —to gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for false things. not discovered thine iniquity —in opposition to God's command to the true prophets ( ). Literally, " They have not taken off (the veil) which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee." burdens —Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them was heavy calamities to the people, worse than even what the prophecies of Jeremiah, which they in derision called "burdens," threatened. Hence he terms their pretended prophecies "false burdens," which proved to the Jews "causes of their banishment" [CALVIN ]. Samech.

Lamentations 2:14

14. Thy prophets—not God's (Jer 23:26).

vain . . . for thee—to gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for false things.

not discovered thine iniquity—in opposition to God's command to the true prophets (Isa 58:1). Literally, "They have not taken off (the veil) which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee."

burdens—Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them was heavy calamities to the people, worse than even what the prophecies of Jeremiah, which they in derision called "burdens," threatened. Hence he terms their pretended prophecies "false burdens," which proved to the Jews "causes of their banishment" [CALVIN].

Samech.

Ezekiel 13:3

3. foolish—though vaunting as though exclusively possessing "wisdom" (1Co 1:19-21); the fear of God being the only beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10).

their own spirit—instead of the Spirit of God. A threefold distinction lay between the false and the true prophets: (1) The source of their messages respectively; of the false, "their own hearts"; of the true, an object presented to the spiritual sense (named from the noblest of the senses, a seeing) by the Spirit of God as from without, not produced by their own natural powers of reflection. The word, the body of the thought, presented itself not audibly to the natural sense, but directly to the spirit of the prophet; and so the perception of it is properly called a seeing, he perceiving that which thereafter forms itself in his soul as the cover of the external word [DELITZSCH]; hence the peculiar expression, "seeing the word of God" (Isa 2:1; 13:1; Am 1:1; Mic 1:1). (2) The point aimed at; the false "walking after their own spirit"; the true, after the Spirit of God. (3) The result; the false saw nothing, but spake as if they had seen; the true had a vision, not subjective, but objectively real [FAIRBAIRN]. A refutation of those who set the inward word above the objective, and represent the Bible as flowing subjectively from the inner light of its writers, not from the revelation of the Holy Ghost from without. "They are impatient to get possession of the kernel without its fostering shell—they would have Christ without the Bible" [BENGEL].

Micah 3:11

11. heads thereof—the princes of Jerusalem.

judge for reward—take bribes as judges (Mic 7:3).

priests teach for hire—It was their duty to teach the law and to decide controversies gratuitously (Le 10:11; De 17:11; Mal 2:7; compare Jer 6:13; Jude 11).

prophets . . . divine—that is, false prophets.

Is not the Lord among us?—namely in the temple (Isa 48:2; Jer 7:4, 8-11).

Zephaniah 3:4

4. light—in whose life and teaching there is no truth, gravity, or steadiness.

treacherous—false to Jehovah, whose prophets they profess to be (Jer 23:32; Eze 22:28).

polluted . . . sanctuary—by their profane deeds.