False Prophets in the Book of Jeremiah: Did They All Prophesy and Speak Falsehood?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholars have often considered the conflict between Jeremiah and the other prophets in the book as fundamental traits of his prophetic career and biographical accounts of the life of Jeremiah. This article defends an alternative view: prophetic conflicts in Jeremiah are literary creations produced by later redactors to strengthen Jeremiah’s status of true prophet of Yhwh, as it appears clear in addressing the clash between Jeremiah and some of other prophets in the book: Passhur, Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah. In fact, none of these characters was originally a prophet nor was he connected to any prophetic activities. It was the work of later redactors that turned these characters into prophets of falsehood, in so reinforcing Jeremiah’s prophetic prerogatives in comparison.