The prophets prophesied falsely
That the people would have peace and prosperity, and not be carried captive into Babylon, as Jeremiah and other true prophets of the Lord had predicted: and the priests bear rule by their means;
or rather "the princes"; for the word signifies princes as well as priests, and to the former government more properly belongs; and so Jarchi interprets it of the judges of the people, and their exactors; these governed the people according to the words of the false prophets, as the same writer explains it; they were "under" their influence and direction, they went after them, as the phrase (ry le) is sometimes used; see ( 1 Chronicles 25:2 1 Chronicles 25:3 1 Chronicles 25:6 ) ( 2 Chronicles 17:14 ) ( 31:15 ) ( 2 Samuel 15:8 ) or, as Kimchi understands it, the priests received gifts by their hands to pervert judgment, and they declined doing justice, according to their will. The Targum is,
``the priests helped upon their hands;''took the false prophets, as it were, and carried them in their hands. Some render it, "the priests remove, or depart by their means" F8; through their false prophesies they departed from the law, and the worship of God and his ordinances, from attending to them, and performing them in the manner appointed; in the whole it denotes great friendship, unity, and agreement between the priests, or princes, and the false prophets; they agreed together to keep the people in awe and in bondage; and what was of all the most surprising is what follows: and my people love to have it so;