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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
13:1-14:11 False Prophecy, True Prophecy. Chapters 13-14 express condemnation of speaking false prophecy and of ignoring true prophecy. The subject has already been broached in 12:24 in terms now repeated throughout ch. 13. The passage falls into two main sections: the condemnations against false speaking (ch. 13) and against false seeking (14:1-11).
13:1-23 False Prophets. Two groups come in for condemnation: male "prophets" who simply prophesy delusions (vv. 1-16), and women who are prophets by pretense (vv. 17-23). Each group is addressed twice, so that the broad architecture of ch. 12 is also seen here (two groups of two oracles). The masculine and feminine references tend to break down toward the end of the chapter. Although the text is difficult, it remains clear that the issue is not gender. The themes developed here appear in concentrated form in Mic. 3:5-7.
13:1-9 Introductory and concluding formulas as well as distinctive content bracket these verses from those that follow. The basic indictment--prophets speak their own delusions--is voiced in vv. 2-3 and developed throughout. The metaphors of vv. 4-5 are striking: like jackals (v. 4; cf. Jer. 9:11) they are no more than scavengers, when they ought to have been sentinels (Ezek. 15:5; cf. 22:30; Ps. 106:23). Hammering home the point, Ezek. 13:6, 7, and 9 each make explicit reference to false visions and lying divinations, the latter referring to the manipulation of some object to discern a divine message (v. 8 varies this pattern slightly). For this combination, cf. Jer. 14:14.
13:9 The punishment is total exclusion. The council (Hb. sod) of my people provides an oblique contrast with the "council of the Lord" (Jer. 23:18, 22), where the prophet should stand.
13:10-16 A further connection with Jeremiah (Jer. 6:14; 8:11) brackets this second oracle: the false declaration of peace (also Ezek. 13:16). The false prophets' word of peace puts a delusive veneer on people's hopes.
13:17-21 Attention turns to women who give prophecies of their own devising. The term "prophetess," usually found with genuine agents of God (e.g., Miriam in Ex. 15:20; Deborah in Judg. 4:4; Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14), is avoided with reference to these impostors. Focus shifts resolutely onto magical practices that are very difficult to clarify any further. The striking language of hunt for souls (Ezek. 13:18, 20) identifies this generally as illicit spiritual manipulation. Such behavior is forbidden (e.g., in Lev. 19:26, 31; Deut. 18:10-14).
13:17 minds. The same Hebrew word (leb) is translated "hearts" in v. 2 (the word can take either meaning).
13:22-23 Those with spiritual power ought to strengthen the righteous and cast down the wicked; however, this has been inverted. The Hebrew of v. 22 is ambiguous in its reference, but the announcement of v. 23 (you shall no more) identifies the targets as the female false prophets of the preceding oracle. The conclusion (v. 23) forms a doublet with v. 21: God will deliver his people from this malicious power.
14:1-11 False Inquirers. That the theme of false prophecy continues is clear from vv. 9-11, although now the problem is viewed from the side of the recipients rather than the producers of false oracles. A second occasion of being approached by the elders (v. 1) in exile (cf. 8:1; 20:1) sets the context for this oracle against idolaters seeking a word from the Lord. Although the exilic setting is not required to explain the idolatry of these elders, the new cultural setting and dislocation could promote unthinking syncretism. This section turns on God's question in 14:3, which brings three successive responses. Verses 4-5 give an apparent "yes," but what it might mean to lay hold of the hearts (v. 5) is unpacked in the following verses. The second response comes in vv. 6-8: any divine answer to idolatrous inquirers will be tuned to their repentance (v. 6)--which, if not forthcoming, leads to their rejection by God (v. 8). The third response (vv. 9-11) joins inquirer and false prophet, as God asserts responsibility for deceptions that ensure punishment for both partners in delusion (cf. 1 Kings 22:13-28).
14:7 The strangers (Hb. ger) and native Israelites were to have one and the same code for life, according to priestly law (cf. Lev. 19:33-34; Num. 15:13-16).
14:9 I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. One of the forms of God's judgment is allowing people to believe falsehood, or even (as in this verse) leading them to believe falsehood. Yet Scripture also consistently affirms the human decision to sin and human responsibility for that decision (note the idolatry [v. 7] that preceded this deception, and the just punishment from God [vv. 9-10]). Moreover, Scripture never says that God himself speaks falsehood (he cannot; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18), and it never excuses human beings for speaking or believing falsehood.
