The prophets that have been before me, and before thee from the beginning, and have prophesied concerning many countries, and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of affliction, and of famine.

The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old, prophesied also concerning many countries and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.

The prophets who have been before me, and before thee, from of old, even they prophesy concerning many lands, and concerning great kingdoms, of battle, and of evil, and of pestilence.

The prophets, who were before me and before you, from early times gave word to a number of countries and great kingdoms about war and destruction and disease.

The prophets, who were before me and before you, from the beginning, have prophesied over many lands and over great kingdoms, about war, and about affliction, and about famine.

Prophetae qui fuerunt ante me et ante to a seculo, et prophetarunt super terras multas (vel, magnas) et regna magna de praelio, de malo et de peste:

The prophets that have been before me - Namely, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and others; all of whom denounced similar evils against a corrupt people.

The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old (f) prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
(f) Meaning, that the prophets that denounced war or peace were tried either true or false by the success of their prophecies, even though God makes to come to pass sometimes that which the false prophet speaks to try the faith of his, (Deuteronomy 13:3).

The prophets that have been before me, and before thee of old,.... Such as Isaiah, Hoses, Joel, Amos, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others: these
prophesied both against many countries and against great kingdoms; as Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Ethiopia, Moab, &c. as Isaiah particularly did:
of war, and of evil, and of pestilence; by evil some think is meant famine, because that usually goes along with the other mentioned, and there being but one letter in which the words for evil and famine differ; and now the prophets that prophesied of these were sent of God, were the true prophets of the Lord; and therefore this ought not to be objected to the prejudice of Jeremiah, that his prophecies were of this sort: yea, if they should not come to pass, yet a man is not to be counted a false prophet, because such things are threatened in case nations do not repent of their sins and reform, which they may do; and then the evils threatened are prevented, as in the case of the Ninevites.

prophets . . . before me--Hosea, Joel, Amos, and others.
evil--a few manuscripts, read "famine," which is more usually associated with the specification of war and pestilence (Jeremiah 15:2; Jeremiah 18:21; Jeremiah 27:8, Jeremiah 27:13). But evil here includes all the calamities flowing from war, not merely famine, but also desolation, &c. Evil, being the more difficult reading, is less likely to be the interpolated one than famine, which probably originated in copying the parallel passages.