Jeremiah 23:26 - Exposition

How long shall this be in the heart , etc.? i.e. how long shall this be their purpose, viz. to prophesy lies? But this rendering leaves out of account a second interrogative which in the Hebrew follows "how long." It is better to translate this difficult passage, with De Dieu and many moderns, thus: "How long ( quousque durabit haec ipsorum impudentia ) ? Is it in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and the prophets of the deceit of their own heart; are they thinking (I say) to cause my people to forget," etc.? On this view, Jeremiah 23:27 resumes the question interrupted in Jeremiah 23:26 .