Jeremiah 5:13 · Bible study
Jeremiah 5:13 Commentary: Mocking the Prophetic Word
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Jeremiah 5:13 exposes the people's cynical rejection of prophecy.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The people of Judah mock the prophetic warnings as empty wind, denying that God speaks through the prophets and wishing harm on them.
- Key words: רוּחַ (ruach, wind/empty), נְבִיאִים (nevi'im, prophets, possibly false prophets, possibly true), דִּבֵּר (dibber, word/speaker).
- Main debate: Are the prophets true prophets being blasphemously rejected, or false prophets whose emptiness justifies the people's disbelief? Both views have strong support.
- Theological theme: The authority of God's word and the danger of hardening the heart against it; the connection between rejecting the messenger and rejecting God.
- Best use: A warning against using the failures of human messengers as an excuse to stop listening to God; a call to examine how we receive challenging truth.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them.”
KJV King James Version 1769
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them,' --thus it is done by them.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Antes los profetas serán como viento, y no hay en ellos palabra; así se hará á ellos.
e até os profetas serão como o vento, pois a palavra não está neles; assim acontecerá a eles mesmos.
Les prophètes ne sont que du vent,
Ja, die Propheten sind Schwätzer und haben auch Gottes Wort nicht; es gehe über sie selbst also!”
Ja, die profeten zullen tot wind worden, want het woord is niet bij hen; hun zelven zal zo geschieden.
i profeti non sono che vento, e nessuno parla in essi. Quel che minacciano sia fatto a loro!”
A ci prorocy pominą z wiatrem, a żadnego słowa Bożego niemasz u nich; i owszem tak się im samym stanie.
И пророки станут ветром, и слова [Господня] нет в них; над ними самими пусть это будет".
先知 的話必成為 風；道 也不 在他們裡面。 這災必臨到 他們身上。
And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them; so it will be done to them.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 5:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse records a speech by the people of Judah, not a direct word from God. The tone is contemptuous. The people dismiss the prophets' warnings as empty air, 'wind' (רוּחַ, ruach). As Adam Clarke puts it, 'Their words are wind; we hear the sound of their threatenings but of the matter we shall hear no more.' Gill and the Targum take this as the people's cynical excuse to ignore all prophecy: the prophets are false, so their threats are hollow.
Yet there is deeper agreement on what is at stake. Whether the prophets are true or false, the people are rejecting any word that confronts them. Calvin saw this as an assault on God's own authority: 'if his word is not allowed to have authority, it is the same as though its despisers attempted to thrust God from heaven.' The verse, then, is a window into the human heart's capacity to twist any excuse, even the existence of false prophets, into a reason to stop listening to God altogether.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- True prophets rejected: The surrounding context shows the people denying God (v.12) and rejecting Jeremiah's warnings. Calling the prophets 'wind' is part of their blasphemy.
- False prophets dismissed: The phrase 'the word is not in them' fits false prophets, and the people are cynically using this truth as an excuse to ignore all prophecy.
- Both categories fused: The people do not distinguish between true and false prophets; they dismiss all prophetic speech as unreliable.
What is clear: The verse records a speech of contempt toward prophetic warnings, rooted in the people's practical denial of God's judgment.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the prophets | The verse records a speech by the people, not a divine oracle. The speech is contemptuous toward prophetic warnings. | Some commentators (Gill, Targum, Kimchi, Keil & Delitzsch) argue the prophets are false prophets, so the people's dismissal is reasonable. Others (Calvin, Matthew Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) see the prophets as true prophets (especially Jeremiah), making the people's words a blasphemous rejection of God's messenger. |
| Meaning of 'wind' and 'word is not in them' | Both sides agree that the phrase dismisses the prophets' message as empty or without divine origin. | Some (Barnes) read 'the word' as 'the speaker', i.e., there is no divine speaker in them. Others read it as a denial that any divine word is present. The ambiguity affects whether the criticism is about the messenger's character or the message's content. |
| Who speaks verse 13? | All agree the verse continues the speech of the people that begins in verse 12 ('They have denied Yahweh and said…'). | Some (e.g., the Cambridge Bible) note that the last clause 'Thus it will be done to them' may be an editor's addition or a later gloss, as Codex A of the LXX omits it. Others see it as integral, an imprecation by the people against the prophets. |
| Nature of the imprecation | The final clause is a wish or prediction of harm coming upon the prophets. | Is it a declarative prophecy ('this will happen to them') or an imprecation ('may it happen to them')? The Niphal form allows either. The context of the people's defiance favors an imprecation, as they are hoping the threats fall on the prophets. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jeremiah 5 stands in the middle of a courtroom scene. God, through the prophet, has charged Jerusalem with universal corruption, no one does justice, oaths are false, adultery is rampant, and the people have 'dealt very treacherously' (v.11) against Yahweh. The surrounding verses (v.12) show the people blatantly denying God: 'It is not he. Evil won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine.' This is not theological doubt but practical atheism, they live as if God neither sees nor acts.
Jeremiah ministered in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC, during the decline of Assyria and the rise of Babylon. The political situation was unstable. False prophets, like Hananiah in Jeremiah 28, were promising peace and safety, telling the people what they wanted to hear. The true prophets like Jeremiah were bringing warnings of judgment. In this context, the people's cry in verse 13 becomes a way to neutralise all prophecy: 'the prophets will become wind.' If all prophets are dismissed as windbags, no word from God can disturb their false peace.
The phrase 'thus it will be done to them' is grammatically ambiguous in Hebrew. It can be read as a declarative statement, 'this is what will happen to them', or as an imprecation: 'may it happen to them!' The Niphal imperfect (יֵעָשֶׂה) allows either, and the surrounding verses show the people are bold enough to curse the prophets. They want the threatening words to fall back on the speakers. This fits the pattern of rebellion: they not only ignore the warning, they wish harm on the messenger.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note one significant variant. Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the Septuagint omits the final clause, 'Thus it will be done to them.' This may have been an intentional omission by a copyist who found it too harsh that the people would curse the prophets, or it may reflect a different Hebrew Vorlage. The Cambridge Bible suggests the clause might be a later gloss, added under the erroneous impression that the verse refers to false prophets. The Masoretic Text, supported by other versions, includes the clause, and its metre is only slightly affected. Overall, the Hebrew text is stable, and the interpretive debate does not hinge on textual variants.
Reception History
Jeremiah 5:13 has been read across Christian traditions primarily as a warning against despising prophetic ministry. Reformed commentators like John Calvin used it to argue that rejecting the preaching of the word is tantamount to rejecting God himself. Methodist expositors such as Adam Clarke and John Wesley saw it as describing the people's cynical attitude toward threatened judgment, a stubbornness that leads to ruin. In more contemplative traditions, the verse has been cited in discussions about the discernment of spirits, how to distinguish true prophecy from false, drawing on the phrase 'the word is not in them.' The verse has also served as a caution against the human tendency to dismiss any challenging message as 'just wind,' a theme echoed in hymns about the power of God's enduring word. Modern application often focuses on the test of true prophecy: does it align with God's revealed character and call to repentance?
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The anatomy of a hardened heart: The people do not simply doubt the prophets, they mock them, reducing God's word to empty wind.
- The danger of using false prophets as an excuse: Even if there are false prophets, that does not justify deafness to the true word. The heart that wants to disobey will find a reason.
- God's word does not return empty: In v.14 God answers: 'I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.' Mocked prophecy becomes judgment.
Five-point outline
- The root sin: practical denial of God and his threats (v.12).
- The rationalisation: 'Prophets are wind', a dismissal that steals authority from all prophecy.
- The internal contradiction: The people trust false prophets for comfort but reject true prophets for discomfort, yet they lump them together.
- The boomerang: Their curse against the prophets ('thus it be done to them') returns on their own heads, as God's fire devours them.
- The faithful remnant: God does not make a full end (v.18); judgment is not the last word.
Illustration hooks
- The false prophet test: When a friend who has cried wolf too often speaks a true warning, the temptation is to dismiss it. The verse shows how we can use past failures of prophets as a blanket excuse to avoid uncomfortable truth.
- The echo chamber: In our age, people surround themselves with voices that affirm their choices and silence those who challenge them. Jeremiah 5:13 is the ancient version of 'they're just haters.'
- Wishing the messenger ill: When someone delivers a hard truth, the human reflex is to lash out. This verse exposes that impulse and invites us to ask: Are we rejecting the word because it is false, or because it hurts?
Questions your congregation is asking
- How do I know whether a prophet (or preacher) is speaking for God? What tests does the Bible give?
- Is it possible that I have become deaf to God's word because I have heard too many false alarms?
- What do I do when I find myself hoping that a hard message will not come true?
Leading a Discussion
This verse captures a moment when God's people openly mocked the prophetic word. It invites us to examine how we receive messages we do not want to hear, and whether we have created excuses that keep us from listening to God.
Discussion questions
- Read Jeremiah 5:12-13. What do the people say about God? What do they say about the prophets? What picture of their hearts emerges?
- Verse 13 says 'the prophets will become wind.' In what ways do people today treat God's messengers as empty or irrelevant?
- The identity of the prophets (true or false) is debated. Why does this matter for how we interpret the verse? Does the people's motivation change depending on who the prophets are?
- Look at the Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach). It can mean wind, spirit, or something empty. How does this range of meaning deepen the insult the people are making?
- The people say, 'Thus it will be done to them', an imprecation against the messengers. Have you ever felt anger toward someone who brought you a hard truth? What did you do with that feeling?
- God answers in v.14 by making his word fire. What does this tell us about the power of God's word even when it is rejected?
- How can a small group help each other stay open to correction and challenge, rather than dismissing hard words as 'just wind'?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 6:26 | Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind? |
| Job 8:2 | “How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? |
| Jeremiah 14:13 | Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” |
| Jeremiah 14:15 | Therefore Yahweh says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, but I didn’t send them, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine. |
| Jeremiah 18:18 | Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.” |
| Jeremiah 20:8 | For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, “Violence and destruction!” because Yahweh’s word has been made a reproach to me, and a derision, all day. |
| Jeremiah 20:11 | But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten. |
| Jeremiah 28:3 | Within two full years I will bring again into this place all the vessels of Yahweh’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Adam Clarke reads this as a complete dismissal of false prophets: they lack any divine inspiration, so their words are mere empty wind. The threats they speak will not happen, and the judgment they announce falls back on their own heads.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes insists the underlying word means "speaker," not "word." His point is that these prophets have no divine speaker within them, so their words carry no authority from above. The phrase "thus" then becomes an imprecation, calling the evil they threaten down onto their own heads.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists that rejecting the authority of God's preached word is as serious as denying God's existence outright. He observes that people who scoff at prophetic warnings, dismissing them as empty wind, show the same contempt for God whether they say it aloud or demonstrate it by their actions.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator suggests that the people's curse against the prophets may have been a later addition. The Alexandrian Codex of the Septuagint omits it, possibly because scribes found it too shameful that Israelites would curse God's prophets. Metrically, the verse reads better without the imprecation.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes point out the hollow nature of false prophets: they are like wind, lacking any true word from God. Consequently, their punishment will be just as empty and fleeting as their message—they will receive exactly what they have given to others.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads the phrase as a dismissal of false prophets: their predictions are empty wind, never fulfilled, because God never spoke through them. He notes the words can also be taken as an imprecation, that the same evils they forecast for others should fall on them instead.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights the ironic self-deception of the Jews: they dismiss the true prophets as having no divine word in them, but the very prophecies they reject will come true on their own heads. The ill-omened warnings they mock will indeed fall back on the mockers.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch reads the summons to destroy as directed against the walls of God's vineyard, the theocracy, where the command to spare the vine means only spurious members are removed. They interpret
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry emphasizes that the people's sin is twofold: they have forsaken God's law and claimed the Lord is not involved in their affairs. Their punishment fits the crime—as they served foreign gods in their own land, they will serve foreign masters in a land not theirs. Yet God tempers judgment by promising not to make a full end.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley interprets the phrases "became wind" and "the word" as the people's dismissive response to a true prophet. They claim his threats are empty and his message is not from God, but this rejection will rebound on their own heads.