Speaking of Prophets (23:9-40) 199Then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their
doings. The same judgment is made somewhat differently in 23: 14. What these
prophets were supposed to have been preaching is stated in 7:3; 18:11; 25:5;
26:3; 35:15; and 36:3, 7. The LXX omits "them from their evil way and," which
could be due to haplography (homoeoarcton: m ... m). Janzen (1973: 117)
and others do not take the final mem on wisibum, "then they would have
turned them," as part of the haplography, which it should be. The LXX reading
is "then they would have turned my people."
and from the evil of their doings. A stereotyped expression appearing variously
in J eremianic poetry and prose (see Note for 21: 12).MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
Yahweh begins the primary speech by asking who has stood in the heavenly
council. Whoever has, let him see and hear Yahweh's word! In a follow-up
question, he asks who has hearkened to his word and really heard? Before the
audience can answer, or perhaps because it is unwilling to answer, Yahweh
hastens to state emphatically that he did not send prophets, yet they ran; he did
not speak to them, yet they prophesied. If they had stood in council, which
these prophets had not, they would have brought Yahweh's true message to the
people. Then, just maybe, they would have turned the refractory souls from
their evil ways. Since the audience will be made up of these very people, the
speech that began and has continued up till now as an indictment of the false
prophets will end up being an indictment on them. The conclusion is roughly
the same as that in 5: 31: "And my people, they love it [misrule of prophets and
priests] so! But what will you do at the end of it?"
Jeremiah in the intervening judgment speech directs audience attention to
Yahweh's wrath, which, as a mighty storm goes forth to dance on the heads of
the wicked. This anger, says the prophet, will not turn back until Yahweh has
accomplished what he set out to do. The audience may not understand it now,
but in future days there will be some that will.
The judgment speech, being a general condemnation of the wicked, could
have been spoken any time before the destruction of Jerusalem. Weiser dates it
to the time of Zedekiah, before the final destruction. Yahweh's indictment of
prophets who have not been in council is most likely to come from Zedekiah's
early years, when Jeremiah is known to have been in conflict with other proph-
ets. Holladay's date of 600 B.C. is not possible, for then Jeremiah is out of public
view. Sometime later, when the judgment speech had been inserted into the
indictment speech, judgment comes upon the uncredentialed prophets and
their message, although the storm will still engulf everyone.
When the indictment speech of vv 18, 21-22 is heard following the oracle of
vv 16-17, the question of who has stood in Yahweh's council will be answered,
although in the negative: Not those prophets who are prophesying "It will be