Deuteronomy 18:21

But if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know if a message that someone tells us does not come from Yahweh?’

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

In Context

20But if any other person says that he is a prophet and dares to speak a message which he falsely says comes from me but which I did not tell him to speak, or if anyone who speaks a message that he says other gods [MTY] have revealed to him, he must be executed for doing that.’

22The answer is that when someone speaks a message about what will happen in the future, a message that he says was revealed by Yahweh, if what he says does not happen, you will know that the message did not come from Yahweh. That person has wrongly claimed that it was revealed to him by Yahweh. So you do not need to be afraid of anything that he says.”

Read all of Deuteronomy 18

Cross References

1 Samuel 3:20So all the people of Israel, from the northern end of the country to the southern end, realized that Samuel was truly a prophet of Yahweh.

Zechariah 2:13Everyone, everywhere, should be silent in the presence of Yahweh, because he again will come down from the sacred place where he lives in heaven to do great things for us.

1 John 4:1Dear friends, many people who have a false message are teaching it to people [MTY]. So do not trust every message that someone claims/says that God’s Spirit [MTY] gave to him. Instead, ◄test/think carefully about► the teachings that you hear in order to know whether they are from God or not.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 18:16-22

The Great Prophet; False Prophets. ( b. c. 1451.) 15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 18:21