= Ezekiel 13
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== Ezekiel 13
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.
9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God.
17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
18 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
19 And will ye pollute 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 hear your lies?
20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; 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 will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
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 hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
== Notes
== Cross Reference
== Commentary
== Rashi
==== Verse 3
mad Heb. הַנְבָלִים, madmen.
their desire Heb. רוּחָם [lit. their spirit,] like רְצוֹנָם, their will.
==== Verse 4
Like foxes in ruins When a man comes upon a breach in a ruin, the fox flees through another breach, and it does not stand in the breach to fight.
==== Verse 5
You have not gone up into the breaches You did not do good deeds so that you could prevent the evil from coming.
==== Verse 6
They prophesied Heb. חָזוּ, a term for prophecy.
and expect their words to be fulfilled Heb. וְיִחֲלוּ . “Now how do they expect that their words will be fulfilled?” [The word is] an expression of hope (תּוֹחֶלֶת). Some say that it is ecuydiyant in Old French, and they hoped. [Other editions read: et croiront, and they believed.] Another explanation: An expression of waiting.
==== Verse 10
and it is building a flimsy wall And behold My people are like builders of a partition, and the prophets are plastering with daub-earth similar to lime cement, but which does not resist the rains.
daub Heb. תָּפֵל, ajo[s]tamanz in Old French, coating, layer, and others say: plastre, plaster.
==== Verse 11
then you Heb. וְאַתֵּנָה, like וְאֶתֵּן [the second person pronoun in the feminine plural].
gigantic hailstones Heb. אַבְנֵי אֶלְגָּבִישּׁ, huge hailstones, and I say that because they shine as do all [crystal] hailstones, he likens them to crystal (גָבִישּׁ), which is a precious stone, as in the way that it is stated (Job 28:18): “Coral and crystal (וְגָבִישּׁ).” Our Sages (Ber. 54b) said: [They are called] אֶלְגָבִישּׁ because they [once] stood in the air over a man עַל גַב אִישּׁ, and this is Moses, our teacher, as it is said (Exod. 9: 33): “and rain did not reach the earth”those that started to fall did not reach the earth.
will fall on the wall.
==== Verse 12
Where is the plaster When the calamity comes, such will be said to you: “Where is the peace that you promised?”
==== Verse 14
the wall That is Jerusalem.
==== Verse 18
Woe to those who sew cushions Heb. לִמְתַפְּרוֹת, coseres(es) in Old French, needle-women; coudre, to sew. They would sew something like small cushions and hang them on the armpits of those consulting them, and they would divine with those cushions with a false divination; and to those whom they wished, they would tell a favorable divination, and to whom they wished, they would tell an unfavorable divination.
armpits Heb. אַצִילֵי, aisselles in French.
armpits Heb. אַצִילֵי יָדַי, like אַצִילֵי יָדַיִם, as in (Hosea 12:12): “the furrows of the fields (שָׂדָי).”
and who make the veils on the heads of people. They, too, are made to divine with, but I do not know what they are. Since it says (verse 21), “And I shall tear them,” I say that they are of cloth, and Jonathan renders: פַּתכּוּמָרִין, embroidered cloths over the heads of idolatrous statues, and so he renders (16:16): “mounds of striped clothing” בָּמוֹתטְלֻאוֹת covered with פַּתכּוּמָרִין “cloths of idolatrous statues.”
the veils Heb. הָמִּסְפָּחוֹת, like (I Sam. 2: 36): “Allow me to join (סָפְחֵנִי).” Faltres in Old French, veils, wraps, coverings.
to ensnare souls With them they ensnare souls for Gehinnom, for they encourage the wicked by divining favorably for them, and they discourage the righteous by divining unfavorably for them.
Will you ensnare the souls, etc. This is a rhetorical question.
and sustain your own souls Heb. לָכֶנָה, like לָכֶן, for you take reward for this and thereby earn a livelihood.
==== Verse 19
for fistfuls of barley Heb. בְּשֳּׁעֲלֵי, like (Isa. 40:12): “Who measured water with his fist (בְּשָּׁעֳלוֹ)?” Jaloynes in Old French, double-handfuls. Another explanation: an expression of a measure.
and for morsels of bread E an piyezes in Old French, and with morsels, that you take as your fee.
to slay souls that will not die i.e., to say about souls that will not die, “These will die,” and to say about souls that will not live, “These will live,” for your divinations are false, and My people accept your false divinations.
==== Verse 20
to fly away To fly to Gehinnom because of you.
and I shall free the people whose souls As the Targum renders: and I shall save the people upon whose souls you cast a spell to destroy them.
whose souls The people [whose souls you ensure] to fly away.
==== Verse 22
Because you break the heart of the righteous one with falsehood When you divine unfavorably for him, and he is anguished, and his heart is broken.