Bible Strands
Jeremiah 28:8
The prophets of old who preceded you and me prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses Hananiah and the gathered people, responding directly to a claim of imminent national restoration. He anchors his rebuttal in the historical record of prior divine messages.
The words — הַנְּבִיאִים (ha.nevi'im) means "the prophets," and הָעוֹלָם (ha'olam) denotes "antiquity" or "long ago." These terms frame the verse's claim as a reference to established prophetic tradition rather than a new revelation.
The thread — The text notes that earlier prophets announced judgment against nations, a pattern echoed in 1 Kings 17:1 and 1 Kings 22:8. Deuteronomy 4:26 is excluded from this prophetic line, as it records Moses warning Israel about perishing from the land, not a prophetic declaration.
Why it lands — The passage demands readers verify prophetic claims against historical precedent and the explicit test of fulfilled words in verse 9. It requires discerning between messages of comfort and messages of judgment based on textual consistency, not cultural preference.
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
King James Version
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
- 1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
- 1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
- Leviticus 26:14 If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- 1 Samuel 2:27 Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house?
- 1 Samuel 3:11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.