206 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSQumran, that the distinction between the terms had become blurred (J. E.
Miller 1990: 403-4). Dreams are distinguished from (words spoken by) proph-
ets in 1 Sam 28:6 and 15.
In postexilic Judaism dreams fell into disrepute (Zech 10:2; Ecc 5:2,
6(Eng 5:3, 7]; Sir 34:1-8), doubtless because of attacks such as the present
one and because prophets of dreams were held responsible for the destruc-
tion of the nation and the Temple. This did not continue, however. A dream
of Judas Maccabeus, in which the prophet Jeremiah presents him with the
sword to strike down his enemies, is said to be worthy of belief in 2 Mace
15: 11. In Wis Sol 18: 19 a dream also forewarns people of impending punish-
ment. And in the NT dreams are again genuine vehicles of revelation, par-
ticularly in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22; 27:19).
Josephus and Philo attached importance to dreams, even as the entire Helle-
nistic world did (Zeitlin 197 5: 8-14).the prophets ... who are prophesying a lie in my name. A stereotyped expres-
sion appearing variously in the Jeremiah prose ( 14: 14, 15; 23:25, 26; 27: 10, 14,
15, 16; 29:9, 21), for which Holladay (1960: 354-55) finds a "prototype" in the
poetry of 5:31: "The prophets, they prophesy by The Lie." There, however,
basseqer (with the article) has to be translated "by The Lie," i.e., "by Baal."
Here and following, seqer with or without the article means simply "lie, false-
hood," i.e., the preaching of peace and security for Judah, disobedience to
Nebuchadnezzar, and a quick end to the exile of 597 B.C. (see Note for 23: 14).
In v 27, Baal worship is referred to as a problem of the past.
'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' Hebrew l;alamtf l;alametf. A taunt, where
the repetition is for emphasis (KimQ.i), whether or not the prophets are guilty of
boasting. The repetition could also be to portray the giving of one dream report
after another. For other repetitions of this type, called geminatio in the rhetorical
handbooks, see "my innards, my innards" in 4: 19; "came, came" in 46:20; and
"will bend, will bend" in 51:3. On threefold repetitions, see Note for 7 :4. There
is no reason, with Duhm (and BHS), to emend the beginning of v 26 to get a
threefold repetition here. The term "I have dreamed" (spoken once) may well
be stereotyped. Gideon heard one of the Midianites saying to his fellow: "Look,
I have dreamed (l;alamtf) a dream ... " (Judg 7: 13). In the Mari texts, dream re-
ports often begin ina suttiya ... , "In my dream ... " (ARM X 50: "In my dream,
I entered the temple ... ; ARM X 51: "In my dream, Belet-biri stepped up to
me ... "), which Moran ( l 969a: 28) says is apparently a convention. On the
Akkadian parallel to the Hebrew expression, see also Husser (1999: 142).
26-27. How long will there be in the mind of the prophets prophesying the
lie-yes, prophets of their deceitful mind, those who plan to make my people for-
get my name with their dreams, which they recount each person to his fellow, as
their fathers forgot my name through Baal? The question is rhetorical, pointing
to a disputation currently taking place (Calvin); however, the long sentence
dangles without a predicate nominative for the verb ha.yes, "will there be?"
Commentators (Blayney; Duhm; Peake; Cornill; Volz; Rudolph; Holladay) re-