Ezekiel 13:17-23

B. The Condemnation of the Prophetesses 13:17-23

TRANSLATION

(17) And as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their heart, and prophesy against them. (18) And you shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to those who sew bands for every joint of the arm, and make veils for the head of every height to lie in wait for souls. Will you lie in wait for My people, while you save your own lives? (19) And will you profane Me among My people in exchange for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread to slay souls who should not die, and to save souls who should not live by your lying to My people who hear (your) lies? (20) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold I am against your pillows by which you lie in wait for souls there to make them like birds,[286] and I will rend them from upon your arms and I will send forth the souls, the souls for whom you have been lying in wait to make them fly. (21) And I will rend your coverings, and I will deliver My people from your hands, and they shall not again be in your hand to be hunted down, that you may know that I am the LORD. (22) Because you have made sad the heart of the righteous with lies, when I did not make him sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to cause him to live. (23) Therefore you shall see no more vanity, nor engage in divination again; for I shall deliver My people from your hand, that you may know that I am the LORD.

[286] The text is difficult to translate. KJV and ASV render, to make them fly.

COMMENTS

When it came to condemnation, the Old Testament prophets were not respecters of persons. They condemned wayward women as well as wayward men.[287] The women here are not called prophetesses,[288] but women who play the role of prophet. The description of their activities suggests that they were more like witches. Times of national decay and crisis produce an abundance of female psychics, astrologers, palm readers and the like who prey on credulous and anxious minds. It is not surprising that in the turbulent first decade of the sixth century such leeches would appear. The ways of Babylon, where necromancy and divination abounded, had been adopted by the Jews. For good as for evil, the influence of women in religious life was stronger than in most other nations of antiquity.

[287] Besides the present section, the following passages are critical of women Amos 4:1-3; Isaiah 3:16 to Isaiah 4:1; Isaiah 32:9-13,

[288] The title prophetess is also bestowed on Deborah (Judges 4:4 ff.) Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Miriam (Exodus 15:20); and Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) and Isaiah's wife (Isaiah 8:1) In the New Testament compare Luke 2:36 ff ;:Acts 21:9; Revelation 2:20; 1 Corinthians 11:5.

The prophetesses as well as their male counterparts were aggravating the spiritual and political problems of Judah. In Ezekiel 13:17-19 Ezekiel lists a number of accusations against these women.

1. Like the prophets, these women prophesied out of their own heart. Their message was of human rather than of divine origin (Ezekiel 13:17).

2. These women employed magical arts by which they pre tended to foretell the future. Magic bands[289] perhaps cases containing incantations and charms were sewn on their wrists.[290] This seems to be similar to a Babylonian custom in which a sorcerer would bind the wrist of a client to symbolize the binding power of the spell or incantation which was pronounced.[291] The sorceresses would also drape their clients with full-length veils or shawls.[292] They possessed a whole wardrobe of such veils adapted to persons of various heights, so that in all cases it shrouded their whole form (Ezekiel 13:18). Just what the purpose of these veils was cannot now be determined. Some spoken spell must have accompanied the use of these objects (cf. Ezekiel 13:17).

[289] In post-biblical Hebrew hesathoth had the meaning of cushions; but here that meaning is unlikely.

[290] Lit., joints of my hands. This expression has been taken to refer to the knuckles, arm-holes and elbows as well as the wrists. The first person possessive suffix on the word is most difficult to explain. Perhaps the meaning is that the sorceresses were trying to bind or restrict the power of God by means of these magical paraphernalia. That the wrists of the sorceress rather than the client were bound is suggested by Ezekiel 13:20.

[291] Taylor, TOTC, p. 124.

[292] Mispachoth is rendered kerchiefs in KJV and ASV, The RSV prefers veils.

3. The sorceresses were not harmless cranks, Their object was to lie in wait for the souls (i.e., the lives) of God's people. They were determined to capture the attention and control the minds of those who were still trying to be faithful to the Lord.[293] Ezekiel seems to think of those magical veils as nets cast over victims, a snare from which they could not escape.

[293] Wevers, (NCB, p. 109) thinks that hunting souls is a technical term for harming opponents by magical means.

4. While they could care less about the fate of God's people, they were determined to save their own lives[294] (Ezekiel 13:18). This probably means that they were driven by the profit motive. Their sole concern was to receive their fees by which they could sustain their lives. By means of a variety of spells and incantations the prophetesses claimed the power to keep clients alive on payment of certain fees.

[294] The Hebrew literally reads: and save souls alive for yourselves.

5. They had profaned the Lord among His people (Ezekiel 13:19). Their actions caused people to deny their faith in Yahweh and trust in deceitful divinations. Thus the name of God was profaned by those who turned their backs on Him.

6. Their deceitful oracles would be cranked out with the aid of handfuls of barley and crumbs of bread (Ezekiel 13:19). Modern scholars feel that these materials were used as auguries to be examined to see whether a sick man would live or die.[295]

[295] Taylor, TOTC, p. 125. Older scholars took the sense to be that the sorceresses would put forth their spells for a mere pittance of reward.

7. They would slay the soul that should not die, i.e., foretell the death for the righteous.[296] At the same time, they would save the souls alive that should not live, i.e., they promised life to the wicked (Ezekiel 13:19).

[296] Others take the expression to mean that they led on to destruction the souls that were meant for life while they saved their own souls which were worthy of death.

8. They were lying to God's people who were inclined to listen to untruth more than truth (Ezekiel 13:19).

9. They had caused the righteous to be disheartened, and at the same time they had given encouragement to the wicked. The result of this was that the wicked had no inclination toward repentance (Ezekiel 13:22).

Following the indictment against the prophetesses, Ezekiel pronounced the divine sentence in Ezekiel 13:20-23. Compared to the condemnation of the prophets in the preceding section, these women were treated quite lightly. They would not suffer more than the loss of their influence and livelihood. Specifically, five elements are included in their condemnation.

1. God declared His absolute opposition to the pagan paraphernalia employed by these women (Ezekiel 13:20).

2. The bands (or cushions) would be ripped from the arms of these women (Ezekiel 13:20), and their veils would be torn away (Ezekiel 13:21).[297] Implied in the judgment is that the magic bands and veils in some way imprisoned the lives of the people.

[297] The suffix your on the words bands and veils is masculine. The use of the masculine form when speaking of women is not uncommon in the Old Testament. The feminine is resumed in your hand in Ezekiel 13:21.

3. The souls held captive by the magic spells would be liberated, set free like birds from a cage (Ezekiel 13:20). God's people would no longer be in the hand, i.e., under the power of these prophetesses (Ezekiel 13:21; Ezekiel 13:23).

4. The profession of which these women were a part would be abolished. No more would they make claims to see visions or employ divination to ascertain the future (Ezekiel 13:23).

5. In the day of judgment when all the magical schemes of these women fail, they would comprehend that the God who had spoken these things is Yahweh, who is faithful to per form His word of judgment as well as His word of promise (Ezekiel 13:21; Ezekiel 23)