Ezekiel 13

Ezekiel 13 serves as a divine polemic against false prophets and prophetesses who fabricate visions from their own hearts rather than receiving the word of the Lord. The passage exposes the danger of these deceivers, who offer false assurance to the people while neglecting the true spiritual breaches in the nation.

• The Lord commands Ezekiel to prophesy against the false prophets who follow their own spirit and ignore the true word of God.
• The false prophets are condemned for failing to stand in the 'gaps' (pe-rets) for Israel during the day of battle.
• The message shifts to the metaphor of a wall built with 'untempered mortar,' which symbolizes the deceptive, unfounded peace promised by these prophets; this wall is destined to collapse under divine judgment.
• The chapter concludes with a rebuke against prophetesses who exploit their positions for personal gain ('handfuls of barley') and harm the souls of the righteous while emboldening the wicked.

• Prophesying out of their 'own hearts' (lēb [H3820])
• The metaphor of 'foxes' in the deserts (v4)
• Failure to stand in the 'gaps' (pe-rets [H6556])
• The 'untempered mortar' that will be destroyed by a 'stormy wind' (rûaḥ [H7307])
• The specific condemnation of women using 'pillows' and 'kerchiefs' to 'hunt souls'

This passage establishes the critical distinction between authentic divine revelation and human-generated religious fabrication, underscoring that a prophet's authority rests solely on whether the Lord has actually spoken. It warns against any spiritual teaching that prioritizes human comfort over God's truth.

True prophecy originates exclusively from the Lord; claims made apart from His direct revelation are vain, deceptive, and ultimately subject to His judgment.

The chapter systematically dismantles the false prophetic establishment, progressing from a general indictment of male prophets to a detailed structural metaphor of their failure, and finally to a direct judgment against female practitioners of magic.

• I will deliver my people out of your hand (Ezekiel 13:21, 23)

• Prophesy against the prophets of Israel (Ezekiel 13:2)
• Hear ye the word of the Lord (Ezekiel 13:2)
• Set thy face against the daughters of thy people (Ezekiel 13:17)

• Woe unto the foolish (nābāl [H5036]) prophets (Ezekiel 13:3)
• They shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel (Ezekiel 13:9)
• Ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof (Ezekiel 13:14)

• Ezekiel serves as a prophet during the Babylonian exile. The false prophets condemned here were likely operating both in Jerusalem and among the exiles, offering false hope of a quick return or victory against Babylon.
• Matthew Henry observes regarding these prophets: 'What they delivered was not what they had seen or heard... They were not praying prophets, had no intercourse with Heaven.' This highlights the historical tension regarding the source of prophetic authority.

• The reference to 'pillows' and 'kerchiefs' (v18) likely alludes to occult practices or magical items used by prophetesses in the Ancient Near East to manipulate spiritual outcomes or 'hunt' souls through incantation.
• The 'untempered mortar' refers to lime wash or mud plaster used to hide the cracks of a structurally unsound wall, a common deceptive construction practice of the era.

• This chapter falls within the section of Ezekiel dealing with the judgment of Jerusalem (Chapters 4-24). It follows the vision of the departure of the glory of the Lord and directly precedes the oracle against the elders in Chapter 14.

• This chapter echoes the test for prophets established in Deuteronomy 18:20-22, where a prophet who presumes to speak a word in God's name that God has not commanded is to be rejected.
• The passage deals with the historic theological tension between true and false prophecy. While there is broad agreement on the necessity of testing prophecy (1 John 4:1), historic traditions differ on the continuation of the prophetic gift, with some denominations (cessationist) arguing that the age of foundational revelation closed with the Apostolic era, and others (continuationist) maintaining that the gift persists, albeit subject to strict scriptural criteria.

• The condemnation of those who say 'Peace' when there is no peace (v10, 16) echoes the language of Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11, who was a contemporary of Ezekiel in Jerusalem.

• nābā' [H5012] (prophesy): to speak or sing by inspiration; the text emphasizes that these prophets 'prophesied' (spoke) but from their own hearts rather than divine source.
• nābāl [H5036] (foolish): denotes not mere lack of intelligence but moral and religious impiety.
• rûaḥ [H7307] (spirit): often refers to wind or breath, but here refers to the false inner 'spirit' or inspiration guiding these prophets.
• lēb [H3820] (heart): used for the seat of intellect and volition; here it designates the source of their unauthorized messages.

• The repetition of 'I have not sent them' or 'I have not spoken' emphasizes that the primary sin of these prophets was not just poor advice, but claiming divine authority where none existed.
• The judgment is pronounced not just on the message, but on the prophets themselves (e.g., 'mine hand shall be upon the prophets', v9).

• Scholars debate the exact nature of the 'pillows' and 'kerchiefs'—whether they were literal magical talismans, symbolic garments used to indicate authority, or metaphorical descriptors for the comforting, deceptive messages provided by these women.