Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 13:18

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezekiel 13:18. That sew pillows to all arm holes — I believe this refers to those cushions which are so copiously provided in the eastern countries for the apartments of women; on which they sit, lean, rest their heads, and prop up their arms. I have several drawings of eastern ladies, who are represented on sofas; and often with their arm thrown over a pillow, which is thereby pressed close to their side, and against which they thus recline. The prophet's discourse seems to point out that state of softness and effeminacy to which the predictions of those false prophetesses allured the inhabitants of Jerusalem. A careless voluptuous life is that which is here particularly reprehended.

And make kerchiefs — The word kerchief is French, couvre chef, that which covers the head; hence handkerchief and neck handkerchief, and pocket handkerchief are pitifully improper; because none of them is used to cover the head, from which alone, that article of dress has its name. But what are we to understand by kerchiefs here? Probably some kind of ornamental dress which rendered women more enticing, so that they could the more successfully hunt or inveigle souls (men) into the worship of their false gods. These they put on heads of every stature-women of all ages, komah, of every woman that rose up to inveigle men to idolatry.

The word מספחות mispachoth, translated here kerchiefs, and by the Vulgate cervicalia, bolsters, Calmet contends, means a sort of nets used in hunting, and in every place where it occurs it will bear this meaning; and hence the use to which it is here said to be applied, to hunt souls.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Condemnation of false prophets (13:1-23)

False prophets were a constant danger, both those in Jerusalem and those among the exiles in Babylon. They were bad guides, spiritually and morally, because they proclaimed only what they themselves wanted. They had no knowledge of the mind of God (13:1-3). Judah was falling into ruins, but the false prophets, instead of helping to repair and strengthen the nation, cunningly exploited the situation for their own benefit. They were like foxes digging holes around the city wall and so helping its ruin. They should have been like builders trying to strengthen the wall so that it would not crumble (4-7).
Ezekiel announced God’s certain punishment on the false prophets. They would lose, to begin with, their place of honour in society, then their citizenship, and finally their right to live in God’s land (8-9).
If these preachers had been true prophets, they would have destroyed the people’s mistaken hopes of peace and security. Instead they encouraged them. In Ezekiel’s illustration they white-washed an insecure wall to cover the cracks, whereas they should have demolished it. God announced that he would send a storm of rain, hail and wind, and the wall would collapse, burying the false prophets beneath it. They would perish along with the nation (10-16).
Among the false prophets were a number of women, who helped the decay of the nation by practising witchcraft. They used magic wristbands and veils in their weird rituals, casting deadly spells over their innocent victims, while protecting the evil people who consulted them (17-19). By their strange powers these witches disheartened the righteous and encouraged the wicked. God declared that he would now destroy their powers and release those whom they kept in bondage (20-23).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of my 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.”

PROPHECIES AGAINST THE FALSE PROPHETESSES

A number of prophetesses are mentioned in the Bible: Miriam in Exodus 15:20; Deborah, Judges 4:4; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14; Noadiah, Nehemiah 6:14; Elizabeth, Luke 1:41-45, Anna, Luke 2:36-38, the four virgin daughters of Philip, Acts 21:9, and Jezebel, Revelation 21:20. Isaiah’s wife is also called “a prophetess” (Isaiah 8:3); but in her case, the title is usually construed as meaning merely, “the prophet’s wife.”

The evil prophetesses mentioned here were a strange lot indeed, and Cooke stated that, “Prophetesses is too good a word for them; witches or sorceresses would suit the description better.”International Critical Commentary, p. 144. “These people were the ancient forerunners of the palmists, phrenologists, madams, fortune-tellers, card readers, and crystal ball watchers that ply their nefarious trade today in every large city on earth.”Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 725.

It is not known exactly what is meant by the pillows and kerchief’s mentioned here; but whatever they were, Bruce stated: “They evidently belonged to the paraphernalia of witchcraft.”F. F. Bruce in the New Layman’s Bible Commentary, p. 873. “It seems that the kind of witchcraft practiced by these “prophetesses” exercised a certain amount of control over individuals, like one sees in the West Indies in the voodoo cults. It was an art practiced solely from the profit motive (Ezekiel 13:19).”John T. Bunn in the Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1871), p. 268. Of course, the connecting of the holy name of the Lord Jehovah with such a crooked and shameful art was a profanation indeed.

“They did it for poor gain. If they could get no more for it, rather than refuse, they would sell you a false prophecy that would please you for the beggar’s dole, a handful of barley, or a piece of bread.”Matthew Henry Commentary (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell), p. 823.

The meaning of this paragraph is somewhat obscure, but Cooke said that, as rendered, “The passage describes the malicious, self-interested designs of these women, who victimized others by means of Witchcraft, and make a living by it for themselves.”International Critical Commentary, p. 146.

As Leal noted, “Ignorance of exactly what those women were doing derives from the fact that a number of expressions used in this chapter are used nowhere else in the Bible.”Thomas H. Leal in The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (Funk and Wagnalls), p. 142.

Although Feinberg rejected the idea, he reported that some have suggested these women could also have engaged in harlotry and licentiousness, a suggestion that we accept as reasonable enough. After all, the New Testament prophetess, Jezebel, “Taught God’s servants to commit fornication, seducing them into this sin” (Revelation 2:20); and the ambiguity of our passage here in Ezekiel makes us very reluctant to rule out this same possibility in the evil prophetesses mentioned here.

“To slay souls that should not die” This reference to the ability of those false prophetesses to “slay” or keep alive persons as their pleasure dictated cannot be a reference to what any of them could really do, but a sarcastic reference to what those evil women “claimed” they could do!

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

A rebuke to the false prophetesses, and a declaration that God will confound them, and deliver their victims from their snares. Women were sometimes inspired by the true God, as were Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah; but an order of prophetesses was unknown among the people of God, and the existence of such a class in the last days of the kings of Judah was a fresh instance of declension into pagan usages.

Ezekiel 13:18-21. Render thus: “Woe to the women that” put charms on every finger-joint, that set veils upon heads of every height to ensnare souls. “Will ye” ensnare “the souls of my people,” and keep your own souls alive, and will ye profane my name “among my people for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to” keep alive “the souls that should not live, by lying to my people” who listen to “a lie? Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold” I will come upon your charms, where ye are ensnaring the souls like birds; “and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go” free, “even the souls” which ye are ensnaring like birds. “Your” veils “also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be” ensnared; “and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

Most ancient interpreters and many modern interpreters have understood the “pillows” (or charms) and “kerchiefs” (or veils), as appliances to which the sorcerers had resort in order to attract notice. The veil was a conspicuous ornament in the east - women whatever their “stature” (or, height) putting them on - and it was worn by magicians in order to seem more mysterious and awful.

Ezekiel 13:19

Pollute me - Profane Me by your false words, which ye pretend to be from Me.

Handfuls of barley - Such were the gifts with which men used to approach a seer (compare 1 Samuel 9:7-8; 1 Kings 14:3).

Ezekiel 13:20

To make them fly - If the marginal reading “into gardens” be adopted, it must mean, Ye entice men to the gardens or groves, where magical arts are practiced. That groves were used for this purpose and for idolatrous rites is notorious.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

It is said, then, woe to those who sew pillows or cushions; it is the same thing — to all armholes, and to those who make covers for the head of every stature. There is no doubt that by these tricks they deluded the minds and eyes of the simple. It is evident from the law that some ceremonies are useful, since God commands nothing superfluous; but Satan by his cunning turns everything useful to man’s destruction. Meanwhile we must remark that false prophets were always immoderately fond of outward signs; for since they have nothing substantial to offer, they have need of ostentation to dazzle all eyes. This then is the reason why men and women who intend to deceive, always heap together a number of ceremonies. Hence Ezekiel says, that those women had sown together pillows, and he adds, for all armholes. Whence it appears that they laid them under the armpits of those by whom they were consulted, although he afterwards seems to hint that they themselves reclined upon these pillows. But now he is treating of the people. The ancients were accustomed when they reclined at table to have cushions under their arms, though this is not our habit. But there is no doubt that they wished to represent a kind of sleep, like the foolish who consult oracles, and think themselves in ecstasies, and snatched away beyond all thoughts of this world. Then they had veils or coverings which they put over their heads. In this way imposture flourished with the Roman augurs; for they veiled their head when they wished to begin their incantations. Livy says, that the augur stood at the threshold with his head covered, and uttered these words, “O Jupiter, hear;” ⁽²³⁾ so that it is probable that veils covered the heads of those who wished to consult God, that they might be as it were separated from the world, and no longer look upon human things, but have only spiritual eyesight. With this view these women used such ceremonies that wretched men thought themselves caught up above the world, and all earthly thoughts being laid aside, they dozed so as to receive the oracles, and at the same time had the head covered to avoid everything which might call them off and distract them, and to be wholly intent on spiritual meditations.

As to his saying, upon all arms, and upon the head of every stature. I doubt not that the Prophet teaches by these words that these women exercised a promiscuous trade, making no distinctions, but, gratifying all without choice, so long as they brought their money in their hands, as we shall by and by see. Hence this mark of universality ought to be noticed emphatically, because these women did not attend to the disposition with which persons came, but only grasped at their reward, and thus the gate was as open to all as that of the market-place. For shops are open to all, since all are expected to promote profit and make bargains, and merchants by their allurements entice as many as they can to purchase their goods. So also veils were provided for all heads and cushions for all arms, for there was no difference except in reference to profit from these profane and base transactions. With regard to the word “stature,” the opinion of those who think it used, because the women ordered those who consulted the oracles to stand, appears to me forced, and not in accordance with the Prophet’s intention. I have no doubt that, the Prophet uses the word for “age,” or person, as others correctly interpret it; as if he had said, that they made no difference between old and young, tall and short, but prostituted their answers to all from whom they looked for gain.

It afterwards follows, Is it not to hunt souls? Here God reproves one crime, but he will shortly add another, namely, the profanation of his sacred name. But he here speaks only of the death of souls, as if he said that the women laid those snares to deceive wretched souls. And because Ezekiel was commanded to, prophesy against them, he here addresses them more vehemently — Will ye hunt the souls of my people? It is literally the souls which belong to my people; but it will be more simple to receive it thus — will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye give life to your own souls, unless any one wishes to interpret it so as to make the Prophet repeat the same thing twice. For the souls of the people were also their own. For as we shall afterwards see, no one is deceived by the devil unless he offers himself of his own accord, and entangles himself in his snares on purpose. Since then it is always true that wretched men who catch at vain oracles devote themselves to the devil and his ministers, hence the passage may be explained in this way. But the sense which I have proposed is more simple, namely, that these women must not be yielded to because they have hunted the souls of the people; as if the Prophet had said, the people are precious to God, who has undertaken the care of them. Thus then he reasons; such is your audacity, nay, even fury, that you doubt not to seize upon God’s people: since therefore your impiety is so licentious and bold, will God suffer you to rage with impunity against the souls of which he is the guardian? Lastly, he signifies that punishment is prepared for the women who ensnare God’s people, because although those who are deceived are worthy of death, yet God will still exact punishment of Satan’s ministers who have endeavored to despoil him of his rights. It, follows —

(23) “Lib. 1. ch. 32. See also chap. 36., ‘statua Atti capite velato, referring to ‘Attus Navius, inclitus ea temptestate augur.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 13

The word of the LORD came unto me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say unto them that prophesy is out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ( Ezekiel 13:1-3 )

They're following their own imaginations; they have really seen nothing from God. They are proclaiming their own visions, their own ideas.

O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither have you made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. [They have not helped Israel, they have not stood in these gaps.] 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 ( Ezekiel 13:4-6 ).

So here were these false prophets going around. They had not really heard from the Lord, but they were saying, "Well, the Lord says," "Well the Holy Spirit told me," or, "The Holy Spirit showed me," or, "God has shown to me." And then they go around seeking for others to confirm their words.

Now, the tragedy of the church is that there are false teachers and false prophets in the church today doing the same thing. Speaking in the name of the Lord when God hasn't spoken. Saying, "Oh, the Lord says," or, "The Holy Spirit showed me," when they are talking out of their own spirits and their own hearts. Jesus warns about these men. He said, "They are wolves in sheep's clothing. Beware of these false prophets." Paul warned over and over again against these false prophets that were going around deceiving the people, speaking in the name of the Lord. Peter warns against them in a very heavy indictment, as does the little book of Jude. These men who speak in the name of the Lord have been the curse of the church from the beginning, but they've always existed. Clear back into this Old Testament period, there were those false prophets. And God spoke out against them in Jeremiah; God spoke out against them through Isaiah; and God is now speaking out against them here in Ezekiel. They have not really helped the people; they've hurt the people.

Have ye not seen a vain vision, you've spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit [God says,] I haven't spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and you've seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 13:7-8 ).

That's heavy. God just doesn't like you speaking in His name your own ideas, your own thoughts. "Well, the Lord showed me..." I had a fellow one day that was one of those, "The Lord told me" kind, you know. And the Lord told him to go out into the desert and he went out there and the Lord told him this and the Lord told him that, and the Lord told him this, and you know. And he lost all his money, and he lost all this and he got sunburned and dehydrated and everything else, and, "Why would God do that to me? Why would God...?" And it was obvious that the guy was nuts, you know, that God didn't speak to him. If God had told him to do all these things then it wouldn't have, you know, messed up; it wouldn't have ended in a calamity. And then he wants to blame God for all of the misery that he went through. "Well, the Lord told me this." I said, "Well, if the Lord told you to do all those things, then why are you asking me why the Lord would do something? Ask Him if He tells you all that stuff. The Lord didn't tell you to come to me, because I don't have any sympathy for you." But I get tired. How can you argue when a person says, "Well, the Lord told me to do it"? Well then, what can you say? You say, "Oh, man, you're nuts. The Lord didn't tell you that." But, you know, you don't want to say that to a person. But, they don't leave you anywhere to go. We need to be careful about that; "Thus saith the Lord," or, "The Lord said," or you know, "The Lord told me." We've got to be careful about that. I think that we use that much too loosely. God doesn't like that, speaking in His name when He hasn't spoken. And God said, "I'm against you. You that say, 'The Lord saith,' when I haven't spoken."

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 ( Ezekiel 13:9 ),

Ho,ho,ho, boy, that is heavy duty. When God's people are assembled together in that heavenly scene, these guys aren't going to be there.

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. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built the wall, and, lo, others came along and daubed it with untempered mortar ( Ezekiel 13:9-10 ):

So they built a wall and other guys come along and they daub it with untempered mortar, and thus, it has no strength. It's going to fall in the day of battle. But notice what they were saying. And Jeremiah was saying, rebuking, saying... it was God said through Jeremiah, "Scarcely have you healed the hurt of my daughter Israel, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." Oh, but they were making positive confessions, weren't they? Well, you don't want to say war and desolation, that's terrible, you know. That'll happen to you if you say that. Make a positive confession. Oh, but God says that positive confession is a lie. It's not going to do you any good to go around saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace, saith the Lord. And God really rebuked them for those positive confessions, because God had not promised peace and it was hurting the people. They were denying the truth; they were trying to escape the truth and denying the truth. They were actually lying when they were saying, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace. So, they're building a wall that is not going to stand, because one guy will say it and another will come along and confirm it, "Oh yes, thus saith the Lord. The Lord showed me the same thing, brother. Oh hallelujah." Untempered mortar.

Say unto them that are daubing it with that untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it [where are those prophesies that you gave us]? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones fury to consume it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 13:11-14 ).

That phrase over and over and over again, sixty-two times in this book, "And ye shall know when I bring My judgments, when I bring My word, when My word comes to pass," and that, of course, is the purpose of prophecy. Is when the prophecy comes to pass that ye shall know that He is the Lord. That it is God who has spoken and that God can speak of things before they happen. And sixty-two times God spoke and spoke of when it was fulfilled, "ye will know that I am the Lord."

Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 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. Likewise, thou son of man [talking to Ezekiel], set your face against these daughters of your people, which are prophesying out of their own heart; and prophesy against them ( Ezekiel 13:15-17 ),

Now, there were these gals there in Jerusalem also who took the title of a prophetess and they were prophesying out of their own hearts.

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the women that are sewing pillows to all the armholes, and making 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? ( Ezekiel 13:18 )

Now it sounds like they are in some kind of witchcraft, occultist kind of practice, in the sewing of these pillows onto the armholes and putting these little bonnets on, that is for every size of head, every stature, so for every size head they were making little bonnets that they could wear.

Will you pollute me among my people for hands full of barley ( Ezekiel 13:19 )

In other words, they were divining for anything, you know, "Give me a handful of barley and give me your wheat and I'll tell you your fortune, ya know. Cross my palm with a dollar, deary, and I'll a tell you what's going to come, you know." And so, God is speaking out against them.

who pollute me among the people for a hand full of barley or piece 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? ( Ezekiel 13:19 )

Now, they were slaying the souls by telling them, "Hey, things are going to be all right. You've got a bright future. There's going to be a handsome man that's going to come into your life and you're going to live happily ever after." And these people were not listening to the word of God and the warnings of God because of the comfort that they were receiving.

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 hunt to make them fly ( Ezekiel 13:20 ).

Seems like they were probably into setting up curses, you know, against people, going into these little incantations, putting pins in the dolls, and this kind of thing, in trying to create a fear in the minds of the people, "Oh, they put a hex on me."

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. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad ( Ezekiel 13:21-22 ),

And, of course, the righteous people, when they see this kind of junk it hurts. You think, "Oh God, you know, how long You going to let them go?

whom I have not made sad; and you've strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life ( Ezekiel 13:22 );

You're comforting those that are dying in their wickedness, and because of the comfort you are giving they are not repenting; they are not turning away from it. It's much like many of those ministers today who stand in the pulpits and say, "There's no hell, you don't have to worry. Every day and in every way the world is getting better and better and better. We're on the verge of the glorious millennium, the glorious age is about to be ushered in." And people are attracted. And it's interesting to me that in this religious science and spiritism and so forth, that most of the practitioners are women. Did you ever notice that? In this theosophy, religious science and all of these metaphysical type of things, most of them teaching and all are women. And so the Lord really has a word against them here.

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 ( Ezekiel 13:23 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Their practices 13:17-19

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Condemnation of the female false prophets 13:17-23

There were female as well as male prophets in Israel (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Nehemiah 6:14; Luke 2:36) and in the early church (Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5). However there were far fewer female than male prophets, and there was no formal order or class of female prophets. God raised up female prophets according to His sovereign purposes occasionally, but He usually used males for this ministry. Females who were not true prophets sometimes claimed to be such, just as males did.

"Although a limited number of oracles directed at women are found in the OT, the present prophecy against female false prophets has no equal." [Note: Block, The Book . . ., p. 412.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

He was to announce Yahweh’s judgment on these women who sewed cloth bands to place on the wrists and floor-length veils on the heads of themselves or the objects of their "prophesying." They used these aids to impress people and to cast spells on (to influence) people to bring them under their power (cf. Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:17; Jeremiah 44:19).

"The activities attributed to these women suggest that they were more like witches or sorcerers than prophets [cf. 1 Samuel 28:7]." [Note: Cooper, p. 157. See also H. W. F. Saggs, "External Souls in the Old Testament [Ezekiel 13:17-21]," Journal of Semitic Studies (1974):1-12.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And say, thus saith the Lord God, woe to the [women] that sew pillows to all armholes,.... Or, "put pillows to all elbows" l; thereby signifying that they might be at ease, and rest secure, and look upon themselves as in the utmost safety, and not fear any enemy, the invasion of the Chaldeans; or that their city would be destroyed, and they carried captive, as the prophets of the Lord had foretold:

and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature; whether taller or lower; the word stature, according to Kimchi, is used, because the people stood when they inquired of these prophetesses whether they should have peace or not, or good or evil should befall them: or, "of every age", as the Septuagint version; young or old; they put these kerchiefs, or "veils" m, as some render the word, upon all sorts of persons (for they refused none that came to them they could get any thing by), upon their heads, either as a token of victory and triumph, signifying that they should have the better of their enemies, and rejoice over them; or to make them proud, and suggest to them that they should never be stripped of their ornaments; or else, as the former sign shows that they lulled them asleep upon pillows, and led them on in a carnal security, so they kept them in blindness and ignorance: and this they did,

to hunt souls; to bring them into their nets and snares; to catch them with their false prophecies, and deceive them by their fallacious signs, and superstitious rites and ceremonies, and so ruin and destroy them n;

will ye hunt the souls of my people; that cleave to me, and regard my prophets; will ye endeavour to ensnare those, and seek to destroy their peace and comfort, and even their souls? ye shall not be able to do it:

and will ye save the souls alive [that come] unto you? and inquire of you how things will be, and listen to your lying divinations; can you save them from the ruin and destruction that is coming upon them? no, you will not be able to do it; and what wickedness is it in you to attempt the one or the other? The Targum is,

"the souls of my people can ye destroy or quicken? your souls, which are yours, can you quicken?''

the sense is they could neither do the one nor the other; and yet such was their iniquity, that they sought to do both.

l למתפרות "applicantibus, [sive] accommodantibus", Gataker; "conjungentibus, vel adunantibus", Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 947.

כסתות על כל אצילי "pulvillos super omnes cubitos manus", Calvin; "pro omnibus cubitis manuum", Piscator. m "Velamina", Polanus. So Kimchi and Ben Melech. n Gussetius thinks that by the words rendered "pillows" and "kerchiefs" are meant "nets", with which they covered their heads and arms; for, otherwise, what connection is there between the above things and hunting? Ebr. Comment. p. 395, 565.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.

      As God has promised that when he pours out his Spirit upon his people both their sons and their daughters shall prophesy, so the devil, when he acts as a spirit of lies and falsehood, is so in the mouth not only of false prophets, but of false prophetesses too, and those are the deceivers whom the prophet is here directed to prophesy against; for they are not such despicable enemies to God's truths as deserve not to be taken notice of, nor yet will either the weakness of their sex excuse their sin or the tenderness and respect that are owing to it exempt them from the reproaches and threatenings of the word of God. No: Son of man, set they face against the daughters of thy people,Ezekiel 13:17; Ezekiel 13:17. God takes no pleasure in owning them for his people. They are thy people, as Exodus 32:7. The women pretend to a spirit of prophecy, and are in the same song with the men, as Ahab's prophets were: Go on, and prosper. They prophesy out of their own heart too; they say what comes uppermost and what they know nothing of. Therefore prophesy against them from God's own mouth. The prophet must set his face against them, and try if they can look him in the face and stand to what they say. Note, When sinners grow very impudent it is time for reprovers to be very bold. Now observe,

      I. How the sin of these false prophetesses is described, and what are the particulars of it. 1. They told deliberate lies to those who consulted them, and came to them to be advised, and to be told their fortune: "You do mischief by your lying to my people that hear your lies (Ezekiel 13:19; Ezekiel 13:19); they come to be told the truth, but you tell them lies; and, because you humour them in their sins, they are willing to hear you." Note, It is ill with those people who can better hear pleasing lies than unpleasing truths; and it is a temptation to those who lie in wait to deceive to tell lies when they find people willing to hear them and to excuse themselves with this, Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur--If the people will be deceived, let them. 2. They profaned the name of God by pretending to have received those lies from him (Ezekiel 13:19; Ezekiel 13:19): "You pollute my name among my people, and make use of that for the patronising of your lies and the gaining of credit to them." Note, Those greatly pollute God's holy name that make use of it to give countenance to falsehood and wickedness. Yet this they did for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. They did it for gain; they cared not what dishonour they did to God's name by their lying, so they could but make a hand of it for themselves. There is nothing so sacred which men of mercenary spirits, in whom the love of this world reigns, will not profane and prostitute, if they can but get money by the bargain. But they did it for poor gain; if they could get no more for it, rather than break they would sell you a false prophecy that should please you to a nicety for the beggar's dole, a piece of bread or a handful of barley; and yet that was more than it was worth. Had they asked it as an alms, for God's sake, surely they might have had it, and God would have been honoured; but, taking it as a fee for a false prophecy, God's name if polluted, and the smallness of the reward heightens the offence. For a piece of bread that man will transgress,Proverbs 28:21. Had their poverty been their temptation to steal, and so to take the name of the Lord in vain, it would not have been nearly so bad as when it tempted them to prophesy lies in his name and so to profane it. 3. They kept people in awe, and terrified them with their pretensions: "You hunt the souls of my people (Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 13:18), hunt them to make them flee (Ezekiel 13:20; Ezekiel 13:20), hunt them into gardens (so the margin reads it); you use all the arts you have to court or compel them into those places where you deliver your pretended predictions, or you have got such an influence upon them that you make them do just as you would have them to do, and tyrannise over them." It was indeed the people's fault that they did regard them, but it was their fault by lies and falsehoods to command that regard; they pretended to save the souls alive that came to them,Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 13:18. If they would but be hearers of them, and contributors to them, they might be sure of salvation; thus they beguiled unstable souls that had a concern about salvation as their end but did not rightly understand the way, and therefore hearkened to those who were most confident in promising it to them. "But will you pretend to save souls, or secure salvation to your party?" Those are justly suspected that make such pretensions. 4. They discouraged those that were honest and good, and encouraged those that were wicked and profane: You slay the souls that should not die, and save those alive that should not live,Ezekiel 13:19; Ezekiel 13:19. This is explained (Ezekiel 13:22; Ezekiel 13:22): You have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; because they would not, they durst not, countenance your pretensions, you thundered out the judgments of God against them, to their great grief and trouble; you put them under invidious characters, to make them either despicable or odious to the people, and pretended to do it in God's name, which made them go many a time with a sad heart; whereas it was the will of God that they should be comforted, and by having respect put upon them should have encouragement given them. But on the other side, and which is still worse, you have strengthened the hands of the wicked and emboldened them to go on in their wicked ways and not to return from them, which was the thing the true prophets with earnestness called them to. "You have promised sinners life in their sinful ways, have told them that they shall have peace though they go on, by which their hands have been strengthened and their hearts hardened." Some think this refers to the severe censures they passed upon those who had already gone into captivity (who were humbled under their affliction, by which their hearts were made sad), and the commendations they gave to those who rebelled against the king of Babylon, who were hardened in their impieties, by which their hands were strengthened; or by their polluting the name of God they saddened the hearts of good people who have a value and veneration for the word of God, and confirmed atheists and infidels in their contempt of divine revelation and furnished them with arguments against it. Note, Those have a great deal to answer for who grieve the spirits, and weaken the hands, of good people, and who gratify the lusts of sinners, and animate them in their opposition to God and religion. Nor can any thing strengthen the hands of sinners more than to tell them that they may be saved in their sins without repentance, or that there may be repentance though they do not return from their wicked ways. 5. They mimicked the true prophets, by giving signs for the illustrating of their false predictions (as Hananiah did, Jeremiah 28:10), and they were signs agreeable to their sex; they sewed little pillows to the people's arm-holes, to signify that they might be easy and repose themselves, and needed not be disquieted with the apprehensions of trouble approaching. And they made kerchiefs upon the head of every stature, of persons of every age, young and old, distinguishable by their stature, Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 13:18. These kerchiefs were badges of liberty or triumph, intimating that they should not only be delivered from the Chaldeans, but be victorious over them. Some think these were some superstitious rites which they used with those to whom they delivered their divinations, preparing them for the reception of them by putting enchanted pillows under their arms and handkerchiefs on their heads, to raise their fancies and their expectations of something great. Or perhaps the expressions are figurative: they did all they could to make people secure, which is signified by laying them easy, and to make people proud, which is signified by dressing them fine with handkerchiefs, perhaps laid or embroidered on their heads.

      II. How the wrath of God against them is expressed. Here is a woe to them (Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 13:18), and God declares himself against the methods they took to delude and deceive, Ezekiel 13:20; Ezekiel 13:20. But what course will God take with them? 1. They shall be confounded in their attempts, and shall proceed no further; for (Ezekiel 13:23; Ezekiel 13:23) you shall see no more vanity nor divine revelations; not that they shall themselves lay down their pretensions in a way of repentance, but when the event gives them the lie they shall be silent for shame; or their fancies and imaginations shall not be disposed to receive impressions which assist them in their divinations as they have been; or they themselves shall be cut off. 2. God's people shall be delivered out of their hands. When they see themselves deluded by them into a false peace and a fool's paradise, and that though they would not leave their sin their sin has left them, and they see no more vanity nor divine divinations, they shall turn their back upon them, shall slight their predictions. The righteous shall be no more saddened by them, no, nor the wicked strengthened: The pillows shall be torn from their arms, and the kerchiefs from their heads; the fallacies shall be discovered, their frauds detected, and the people of God shall no more be in their hand, to be hunted as they had been. Note, It is a great mercy to be delivered from a servile regard to, and fear of, those who, under colour of a divine authority, impose upon and tyrannise over the consciences of men, and say to their souls, Bow down, that we may go over. But it is a sore grief to those who delight in such usurpations to have their power broken and the prey delivered; such was the reformation to the church of Rome. And, when God does this, he makes it to appear that he is the Lord, that it is his prerogative to give law to souls.