his stern denunciations, and even his promises were not exactly suited to the popular taste. These prophets were prepared to cater for the average religious appetite in the most approved fashion--in other words, they were masters of cant. Their office had been consecrated by the work of true men of God like Elijah and Isaiah. They themselves claimed to stand in the genuine prophetic succession, and to inherit the reverence felt for their great predecessors, quoting their inspired utterances and adopting their weighty phrases. As Jeremiah's contemporaries listened to one of their favourite orators, they were soothed by his assurances of Divine favour and protection, and their confidence in the speaker was confirmed by the frequent sound of familiar formulæ in his unctuous sentences. These had the true ring; they were redolent of sound doctrine, of what popular tradition regarded as orthodox. The solemn attestation NE'UM YAHWE, "It is the utterance of Jehovah," is continually appended to prophecies, almost as if it were the sign-manual of the Almighty. Isaiah and other prophets frequently use the term MASSA (A.V., R.V., "burden") as a title, especially for prophecies concerning neighbouring nations. The ancient records loved to tell how Jehovah revealed Himself to the patriarchs in dreams. Jeremiah's rivals included dreams in their clerical apparatus:-- "Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams-- _Ne'um Yahwe_-- And tell them, and lead astray My people By their lies and their rodomontade; It was not I who sent or commanded them, Neither shall they profit this people at all, _Ne'um Yahwe_" These prophets "thought to cause the Lord's people to forget His name, as their fathers forgot His name for Baal, by their dreams which they told one another." Moreover they could glibly repeat the sacred phrases as part of their professional jargon:-- "Behold, I am against the prophets, It is the utterance of Jehovah (_Ne'um Yahwe_), That use their tongues To utter utterances (_Wayyin'amu Ne'um_)."