Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 13:17-23

"And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, that prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the women that sew pillows upon all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of [persons of] every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? And ye have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hearken unto lies. Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make [them] fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Because with lies ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive: Therefore ye shall no more see false visions, nor divine divinations: and I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah." — Ezekiel 13:17-23 (ASV)

Likewise, you son of man, set your face ... —This passage deals with a class of people, the false prophetesses, who are not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. True prophetesses, as in the case of Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), and, at this very time, Huldah (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22), and somewhat later, Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), are frequently spoken of, and continued to exist in New Testament times, as in the case of Anna (Luke 2:36).

It was naturally to be expected that as false prophets dogged the steps of the true, the same thing would happen with the other sex, and we find express mention of a false prophetess in Revelation 2:20. Their course, in prophesying out of their own heart deceiving the people, was essentially the same as that of the false prophets; but they are described as doing this in ways suited to their sex. Of the general meaning of this description there can be no doubt; but it is difficult to follow it with certainty in the details, because of the occurrence of some words of uncertain meaning, found nowhere else, and of some others in an unusual sense.

Without attempting a discussion of each single word, (which would be useless except with a careful examination of the original), the following is given as the most probable translation of Ezekiel 13:18-21; but it is to be remembered that several of the words, like the similar ones in Isaiah 3:16-24, are so uncertain that there is a difference of opinion in regard to their exact meaning: Woe to those who fasten charms on every finger-joint, that place kerchiefs on heads of every height to snare souls.

Will ye snare the souls of my people, and keep your own souls alive? (19) And will ye profane me with my people for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread, to slay souls that should not die, and to make live souls that should not live, by your lying to my people who hearken to a lie? (20) Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against your charms, when ye snare the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that ye are snaring like birds. (21) Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be snared; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” (See Excursus 8 at the end of this book, on Ezekiel 13:6-7; Ezekiel 13:14.)