210 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
for this term is hnwmh. A verb num (denominative of ne)iim), meaning "to
speak, say," does appear in postbiblical Hebrew (num I in Diet Talm, 887). The
LXX has "and sleep their sleep," which Giesebrecht notes renders the verb
num, "to slumber." Giesebrecht thinks the LXX misunderstood the Hebrew,
which it probably did, although it may also be associating sleeping with the
dreaming of dreams. It should also be noted that at Mari dreams do produce
oracles (Husser 1999: 44-46).
- Look I am against those prophesying lying dreams ... yes, they recount
them and lead my people astray with their lies and with their wantonness. This
oracle correlates closely with the opening discourse in vv 25-28a, which may
develop from it. Some commentators (Giesebrecht; Cornill; Volz; Rudolph;
Weiser; Bright; Thompson) add "the prophets" after "Look I am against," with
the LXX and Vg, which brings the wording in line with the wording in vv 30
and 31. Precise parallelism, however, is not required in three successive ora-
cles. Read therefore the MT.
and lead my people astray. In v 13 this charge was leveled, not surprisingly,
against the prophets of Baal. But prophets of Yahweh also lead the covenant
people astray when they traffic in lies and wanton behavior, which is what they
are doing.
their wantonness. The noun pabazut is a hapax legomenon in the OT, but to-
gether with its cognate verb pbz, it appears to denote immoral and reckless be-
havior, often of a sexual nature (Greenfield 1978). Greenfield suggests for the
root a meaning of "wantonness" or "licentiousness," which supports the Qal
definitions "be wanton, reckless" given in BOB. The noun pabazut he trans-
lates as "lewdness," pointing out that this meaning is well documented in Syr-
iac and Palestinian Aramaic, as well as in passages in the Testament of Levi
(Col. b II. 14-16), Sirach (19:2; 23:5; 41:17), and various texts from Qumran
(Enoch; 4Ql84). Akkadian pabazu means "behave arrogantly" (AHw 2: 811);
and in postbiblical Hebrew, pbz means "be blown up, be haughty, heedless"
(Diet Talm, 1152), where the behavior is also judged to be sinful or preliminary
to a fall. De Hoop ( 1997: 24) in a contextual analysis concludes that the verb
means "to deceive" and that the noun in the present verse means "deceit." But
the results of his contextual analysis are not compelling, and he is overly dis-
missive of the etymological evidence supporting traditional renderings. Here
in the present verse and probably also in Zeph 3:4, where the participle
pobazfm occurs, we are most likely talking about prophets' wanton behavior,
which in Jer 29:23 is seen to go hand in hand with trafficking in lies.
For I, I did not send them. This is a stereotyped disclaimer in the prose for
prophets who prophesy a lie in Yahweh's name (14:14-15; 23:32; 27:15; 29:9,
31 ), echoing what is said in the poetry of v 21 (see Holladay 1960: 3 57; and
H. Weippert 1973: 118-21).
and they are no profit whatever to this people. Hebrew weho<el lo)-yo<fiu. The
language is Jeremianic; note the expressions "No Profit(s)" in 2:8 and 11; and
"no profit" in 16: 19, where reference is to Baal or the Baals. Here it is Yahweh
prophets who profit the people nothing.
