What Does Jeremiah 23:25 Mean in the King James?
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The lie borrows God’s name as its authority, then repeats a dream as if repetition proves the source.
THE MEANING
This verse exposes the gap between a message and the authority it claims: the speakers say they prophesy “in my name,” then point to a dream. The repeated words “I have dreamed” make the claim emphatic, but emphasis does not make its source true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A message is true because its speaker invokes God’s name or insists that it came in a dream.
THE ROOT
שְׁמִי
shemi
GROWS FROM
שם
Name; recognized identity or reputation, including the character represented by a name.
“In my name” carries more than a label: the speakers claim to represent the one whose name they invoke. The verse exposes the distance between that claimed representation and the lie they speak.
ALSO GROWS
shem: Name; reputation.
שֵׁם
This is the base form behind “my name,” showing that the prophecy borrows an identity and authority.
shemo: His name.
שְׁמוֹ
The same root appears with a different possessive ending; the name remains the identity or authority being represented.
חָלַמְתִּי
chalamti
GROWS FROM
חלם
To dream; a dream.
“dreamed” in this verse is chalamti. The speakers present an experience of dreaming as the warrant for their words. The repeated claim intensifies their assertion, while the verse leaves the claimed source open to question; it does not condemn dreaming itself.
ALSO GROWS
chalom: Dream.
חֲלוֹם
The noun names the experience the speakers cite as the basis for their prophecy.
cholem: One who dreams; dreamer.
חֹלֵם
This form names the person having the dream, keeping the focus on who is making the claim and what authority they assign to it.
THE PATTERN
Invoking divine authority does not make a speaker’s words true.
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.Both verses use שֵׁם (shem, name) for the authority a prophet claims to represent. Deuteronomy makes clear that invoking the LORD’s name does not authenticate the words; the claim remains answerable to truth.
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