כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָאֹ֗ות אַֽל־תִּשְׁמְע֞וּ עַל־דִּבְרֵ֤י הַנְּבִאִים֙ הַנִּבְּאִ֣ים לָכֶ֔ם מַהְבִּלִ֥ים הֵ֖מָּה אֶתְכֶ֑ם חֲזֹ֤ון לִבָּם֙ יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ לֹ֖א מִפִּ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, they are leading you to futility. The vision of their own heart they speak, not from the mouth of YHWH.
Morphology
- כֹּה (koh) – Root: כה; Form: Adverb; Translation: “Thus”; Notes: Introduces a prophetic declaration.
- אָמַר (ʾamar) – Root: אמר; Form: Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “said”; Notes: Refers to YHWH speaking authoritatively.
- יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת (YHWH Tsevaʾot) – Root: יהוה + צבא; Form: Proper noun + plural noun in construct; Translation: “YHWH of Hosts”; Notes: Divine title emphasizing military and heavenly authority.
- אַל (ʾal) – Root: לא; Form: Negative particle; Translation: “Do not”; Notes: Used to negate imperative verbs.
- תִּשְׁמְעוּ (tishmeʿu) – Root: שׁמע; Form: Qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “listen”; Notes: Prohibition against listening to false prophets.
- עַל־דִּבְרֵי (ʿal-divrei) – Root: דבר; Form: Preposition + construct noun masculine plural; Translation: “to the words of”; Notes: Indicates direct speech content.
- הַנְּבִאִים (han-neviʾim) – Root: נבא; Form: Definite noun masculine plural; Translation: “the prophets”; Notes: Refers to those falsely claiming divine revelation.
- הַנִּבְּאִים (han-nibbeʾim) – Root: נבא; Form: Niphal participle masculine plural; Translation: “who prophesy”; Notes: Reflexive/passive participle; they claim to be inspired.
- לָכֶם (lakhem) – Root: אתם; Form: Preposition + 2nd person masculine plural suffix; Translation: “to you”; Notes: Direct audience of the false prophets’ messages.
- מַהְבִּלִים (mahbilim) – Root: הבל; Form: Hiphil participle masculine plural; Translation: “leading to futility” or “deceiving”; Notes: Causative form indicating they are misleading others toward emptiness.
- הֵמָּה (hema) – Root: הם; Form: Independent pronoun masculine plural; Translation: “they”; Notes: Emphatic subject of the clause.
- אֶתְכֶם (etkhem) – Root: אתם; Form: Accusative pronoun 2nd person masculine plural; Translation: “you”; Notes: Direct object of the verb “leading astray.”
- חֲזֹון (ḥazon) – Root: חזה; Form: Noun masculine singular; Translation: “vision”; Notes: Refers to the supposed prophetic insight.
- לִבָּם (libbam) – Root: לב; Form: Noun masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix; Translation: “of their own heart”; Notes: Indicates the visions are self-generated, not divine.
- יְדַבֵּרוּ (yedabberu) – Root: דבר; Form: Piel imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “they speak”; Notes: Emphasizes speech as false and fabricated.
- לֹא (lo) – Root: לא; Form: Negative particle; Translation: “not”; Notes: Negates the source of their speech.
- מִפִּי (mi-pi) – Root: פה; Form: Preposition + construct noun masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix; Translation: “from the mouth of”; Notes: Refers to the divine origin of true prophecy.
- יְהוָה (YHWH) – Root: הוה; Form: Proper noun; Translation: “YHWH”; Notes: Confirms that the false prophets do not speak His words.