[10] Dylan echoed these sentiments nearly a quarter of a century later when speaking to Ed Bradley for a 60 Minutes interview in 2004: "You’re just not that person everybody thinks you are, though they call you that all the time: ’You’re the prophet.

In a memoir about his predecessor published in 2007, Benedict wrote in reference to Dylan's performance that he "doubts to this day whether it was right to let this kind of so-called prophet take the stage" in front of the Pope.

[15] Dylan referred to "False Prophet" as one of three "12-bar structural things" on Rough and Rowdy Ways (the other two being "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" and "Crossing the Rubicon") while praising guitarist Charlie Sexton in an interview with Douglas Brinkley that appeared in The New York Times.

The YouTube video consists of the song accompanied by a gruesome still image, reminiscent of pulp magazine covers, of a skeleton wearing a tuxedo and top hat who is carrying a gift-wrapped box in one hand and a syringe in the other.

Some commentators, including Dylanologist A. J. Weberman, felt that the swooping-bangs hairstyle seen in the shadow's outline was meant to resemble Donald Trump, which influenced how they interpreted the song.

[20][21][22][23] The release of the single had been teased several hours before its premiere by a status update on Dylan's official Twitter account featuring the artwork and a quote from the lyrics: "What are you lookin’ at - there’s nothing to see".

[24] This artwork, a modified version of an actual magazine cover (The Shadow #96[25]), was also later included in one of the inner sleeves of the Rough and Rowdy Ways vinyl release.

[27] NME critic Mark Beaumont, reviewing the song on May 8, 2020, before the release of Rough and Rowdy Ways, interpreted it as a sly self-inquiry into the Bob Dylan persona: "If there is a touch of autobiography, Dylan is clearly proud of his work after 50-plus years in the game, taking on a boxer’s pre-match bravado ('I’m first among equals, second to none / Last of the best, you can bury the rest') and nodding to the long-standing protest tradition he epitomised.

[28] Writing at Albumism, where the song was included in the site's "New Music We Love" column, Sarah Paolantonio wrote that the "chugging beat and rhyming phrases work effortlessly as a vehicle for a man who loves to tell stories and spin tales" and praised Dylan's vocal performance, noting that his "deep rusty drawl has aged perfectly" for the electric-blues genre.

According to Arthurian legend, the Holy Grail is the cup from which Jesus drank during the Last Supper, although the phrase has also come to more generally refer to any "elusive object or goal that is sought after for its great significance".

[36] "False Prophet" received its live debut at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 2, 2021, the first concert of Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour.