פרשת ראה תש"ד - נביא שקר

If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams—and he give thee a sign or a wonder,

או מופת OR A WONDER showing itself on the earth. — Nevertheless you shall not hearken unto him (although the sign or the wonder come to pass; cf. v. 3). But if you ask, why then does God give him the power to perform a sign? Scripture replies, (v. 4) “for the Lord your God trieth you, [to know whether you really love the Lord your God]” (Sifrei Devarim 84:1; cf. Sanhedrin 90a).

if a prophet arises among you The meaning of among you is that a prophet must be from the nation of Israel. The common thread connecting this passage with the previous passage is the prohibition against idolatry (the burning of children [12: 31] was an idolatrous practice). The word prophet here denotes someone who claims that God , or a messenger of God , spoke to him while awake . The other possibility is that it occurred in a dream. Some say, that the prophet discussed here is likely one of the “thieves of God ’s words” [cf . Jeremiah 23: 30] — to wit: A true prophet announces that a certain miracle will come, to justify him; someone else overhears this, and then asserts that the miracle applies to himself . Others say, that we do not believe him, even if the signal or marvel comes to pass, because he says things that are contrary to logic. In my opinion, the Hebrew words signal and marvel here have the sense of “sign” [and not any supernatural event — Translator]: 1) The words of Isaiah provide evidence for this interpretation. He said “Behold, I, and the children whom God has given me, are for signs and for portents” [Isaiah 8: 18] (the prophet’s own sign was “…just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot…” [Isaiah 20: 3]; the sons’ signs were their names, each being named after an event which was to occur in his lifetime, i.e., “Immanu כ el” [Isaiah 7: 14], “Maher-Shalal-Ḥash-Baz” [Isaiah 8: 3], and “Sh әכ ar-Yashuv” [Isaiah 7: 3]). 2) With respect to plagues, Scripture says “They will serve you as signs and proofs” [28: 46]. Many similar examples exist.

test in that He let him be, and did not kill him. God tests people to reveal the virtue of him who is tested.

ובא האות והמופת, these false prophets came by their knowledge by means of their dealings with the necromancers, etc., people whom we are supposed to put to death.

לא תשמע אל הנביא ההוא, do not even turn to listen to find out if his words have even partial substance, for there can be no question that the man is full of lies and tells you things he has made up, all for an evil purpose; כי דבר סרה, for what he portrays as a miracle is nothing but sleight of hand or forgery of some other kind.

או אל חולם החלום ההוא, to see if even part of what he dreamt reflected some truth of what was going to happen; you may be sure that the dreamers did not actually dream any part of what he claimed to have dreamt, but he invented all of it in order to seduce you;

כי מנסה ה' אלוקיכם אתכם, by referring with hostility to a person who spoke out against G’d, you will be proven as truly loving G’d.

If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams—and he give thee a sign or a wonder,

if a prophet arises among you The meaning of among you is that a prophet must be from the nation of Israel. The common thread connecting this passage with the previous passage is the prohibition against idolatry (the burning of children [12: 31] was an idolatrous practice). The word prophet here denotes someone who claims that God , or a messenger of God , spoke to him while awake . The other possibility is that it occurred in a dream. Some say, that the prophet discussed here is likely one of the “thieves of God ’s words” [cf . Jeremiah 23: 30] — to wit: A true prophet announces that a certain miracle will come, to justify him; someone else overhears this, and then asserts that the miracle applies to himself . Others say, that we do not believe him, even if the signal or marvel comes to pass, because he says things that are contrary to logic. In my opinion, the Hebrew words signal and marvel here have the sense of “sign” [and not any supernatural event — Translator]: 1) The words of Isaiah provide evidence for this interpretation. He said “Behold, I, and the children whom God has given me, are for signs and for portents” [Isaiah 8: 18] (the prophet’s own sign was “…just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot…” [Isaiah 20: 3]; the sons’ signs were their names, each being named after an event which was to occur in his lifetime, i.e., “Immanu כ el” [Isaiah 7: 14], “Maher-Shalal-Ḥash-Baz” [Isaiah 8: 3], and “Sh әכ ar-Yashuv” [Isaiah 7: 3]). 2) With respect to plagues, Scripture says “They will serve you as signs and proofs” [28: 46]. Many similar examples exist.

and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee—saying: ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them’;

thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken perversion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

And if thou say in thy heart: ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?’

וכי תאמר בלבבך AND IF THOU SAY IN THINE HEART [HOW SHALL WE KNOW THE WORD WHICH THE LORD HATH NOT SPOKEN]? — you will once ask this — when Hananiah the son of Azur (the false prophet) comes and prophesies (Jeremiah 27:16) “Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon”, whilst Jeremiah (the true prophet) stands and proclaims (Jeremiah 27:19—22) “concerning the pillars, and concerning the laver, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels [which remain in this city which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not,…]” which did not go into exile to Babylon with Jeconiah, king of Judah, “they shall be carried to Babylon [and there they shall remain]” together with Zedekiah when he will go into exile (Sifrei Devarim 178:2).

thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

After the LORD your God shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave.

אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו, similarly phrased to והלכת בדרכיו in Deut. 28,9. You are not to seek out new paths which the “prophet” or “dreamer” employs to make you depart from the ways of the Lord.

After the LORD your God shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave.