Jeremiah 23:27

They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — YHWH addresses the false prophets and the covenant community during a period of widespread spiritual apostasy. The oracle directly confronts prophets who prioritize personal visions over divine instruction.

The words — חֹשְׁבִים (ḥōšəḇîm) means "who plan" or "who suppose," and הַשְׁכִּיחַ (haškîaḥ) translates literally to "to make forget." The text states that these prophets calculate their dreams will erase YHWH's name from their people, mirroring the ancestral apostasy under Baal worship.

The thread — The pattern of forgetting God through Baal worship appears in Judges 3:7 and Judges 8:33, where Israel's cyclical rebellion repeats the ancestral failure. Deuteronomy 13:1 also warns against prophets whose dreams and signs actively lead people away from YHWH's commands.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to distinguish between human imagination and authoritative revelation. It demands that every claimed spiritual message be measured against the established word of God rather than personal fantasy.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

הַחֹשְׁבִ֗יםha./cho.she.Vimwho/ plan לְהַשְׁכִּ֤יחַle./hash.Ki.achto/ make forget אֶת־'et-<obj.>עַמִּי֙'a.M/ipeople/ my שְׁמִ֔יshe.M/iname/ my בַּחֲל֣וֹמֹתָ֔םba./cha.Lo.mo.Ta/mby/ dreams/ their אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich יְסַפְּר֖וּye.sa.pe.Ruthey recount אִ֣ישׁ'isheach לְרֵעֵ֑הוּle./re.'E./huto/ neighbor/ his כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רka./'a.Sherjust/ as שָׁכְח֧וּsha.khe.Chuthey forgot אֲבוֹתָ֛ם'a.vo.Ta/mancestors/ their אֶת־'et-<obj.>שְׁמִ֖יshe.M/iname/ my בַּבָּֽעַל׃ba./Ba.'alfor <the>/ Baal

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Judges 8:33 And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
Judges 3:7 So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
Judges 10:6 And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
2 Timothy 2:17 and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
2 Timothy 3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,