John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 29:8

"For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed." — Jeremiah 29:8 (ASV)

As the minds of almost all were preoccupied, as we have seen, with that vain and false confidence they had absorbed from false prophecies—that they would return after two years—the Prophet gives this answer and reminds them to beware of such impostures. Thus we see that it is not sufficient for one simply to teach what is right, unless he also restores from error those who have already been deceived or are in danger of being deceived. For to assert the truth is only one-half of the office of teaching, because Satan always leads his ministers to corrupt the pure doctrine with falsehoods.

So it is not enough to proclaim the truth itself, unless all the fallacies of the devil are also dispelled. There is a manifest instance of this today under the Papacy. For as the minds of almost all are there intoxicated with many corrupt inventions, if anyone were only to show that this or that is right, he would certainly never in this way eradicate errors from the hearts of men. And hence Paul instructs bishops not only to be equipped with doctrine in order to show the right way to the teachable, but also to be so armed that they can resist adversaries and close their mouths (Titus 1:9).

Therefore, since from the beginning of the world Satan has never ceased to try, as far as he could, to corrupt the truth of God, or to immerse it in darkness, it has therefore always been necessary for God’s servants to be prepared to do these two things: to faithfully teach the meek and humble, and to boldly oppose the enemies of truth and break down their insolence. This is the rule that the Prophet now follows. He had exhorted the Jews to bear patiently the tyranny to which they were subjected, because it was God’s yoke; but as, on the other hand, the false prophets boasted that there would be a return in two years, it was necessary for him to oppose them. So he now speaks on this point.

And so that what he was going to say might have more weight, he speaks again in God’s name: Let not your prophets who are in the midst of you deceive you. For while Jeremiah had many adversaries at Jerusalem, the devil was also deceiving the miserable exiles in Chaldea. He then warns them not to believe these impostors. And though as a concession he calls them prophets who were completely unworthy of so honorable a name, he yet, as a reproach, later gives them the name of diviners. Then the first name refers to that outward profession in which they gloried, when they boasted that they were sent by God and brought His commands.

He then conceded to them the name of prophets, but improperly, or, as it is termed, catachrestically (that is, by misusing the word); as is the case today. For we do not always fight about names, but we call those priests, bishops, or prelates, who are so brutal that they ought not to be classed among men.

Likewise, as has often been apparent, the prophets spoke freely, and never hesitated to call those prophets who had already gained some esteem among the people. But so that they might not be proud of such fallacious boasting, he afterwards designated them by another name; he called them diviners, and then dreamers; and afterwards he adds, Attend not to your dreams. He addresses here the whole people; and there were a few who, under the guise and pretense of having a prophetic spirit, announced prophecies.

But Jeremiah, not without reason, attributed to the whole people what belonged to a few; for we know that the devil’s ministers are cherished not only through the foolish credulity of men, but also through a depraved appetite. For the world is never deceived but willingly. Men, as though they were given up to their own destruction, seek falsehoods for themselves in every direction. And though unwilling to be deceived, they yet for the most part seek to be deceived.

If anyone were to ask, “Does the world wish to be deceived?” all would cry out, from the least to the greatest, that they shun and fear nothing so much. And yet why is it that as soon as Satan gives any sign, he attracts vast multitudes, if not because we are by nature prone to what is false and vain? Then there is another evil: that we prefer darkness to light. Jeremiah then did no wrong to the people by telling them to beware of the dreams they dreamed.

Some indeed take מחלמים, mechelmim, in a transitive sense, as it is in Hiphil, and should have been written here מחלימים, mechelimim; but it can be taken as neuter.

However this may be, the meaning of the Prophet is not ambiguous; for he imputes this to all the Jews, that they were deceived by vain dreams, and that the fault could not be confined to a few impostors, for it was an evil common to them all. And the pronoun אתם, atere, is emphatic: ye, he says, dream; for he sets these false dreams in opposition to prophecies.

We know that God formerly revealed His will either by visions or by dreams. There were then dreams, which were divine, of which God was the author. But he shows here that the people devised all these impostures for themselves, so that it was of no use to them to pretend that they were prophets, the interpreters of God, and that they announced what they had received by dreams. For what makes the difference is whether one dreams from his own mind, or whether God reveals to him in a dream what ought to be deemed oracular. We now, therefore, understand the Prophet's intention.