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Ezekiel 13:11

in Ezekiel 13

tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

say unto them that daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.

KJV

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.

This verse in Ezekiel 13

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

There shall be an overflowing shower - That shall wash off this bad mortar; sweep away the ground on which the wall stands, and level it with the earth. In the eastern countries, where the walls are built with unbaked bricks, desolations of this kind are often occasioned by tempestuous rains. Of this sort of materials were the walls of ancient cities made, and hence the reason why no vestige of them remains. Witness Babylon, which was thus built. See the note on Eze 4:1.

This site's exposition

whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built

on Ezekiel 13:10-12

A “flimsy wall” is built, and the prophets follow behind whitewashing it, a smooth coat over a structure that cannot bear weight. The whitewash is the false peace of verse 10, for they have led the people astray, “saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace.”

This site's exposition

Rain will come in torrents

Clarke notes that eastern walls were often built of unbaked brick, which torrents of rain dissolve. Whitewash only hid the weakness. The storm is the judgment of the LORD on Jerusalem, and the whitewashed wall will fall with the prophets who covered it.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 10 and following) Because they have deceived my people, saying: peace, and there is no peace. And he was building a wall: but they were plastering it with mud without straw. Say to those who plaster without mortar, that it will fall. For there will be a overflowing rain: and I will give great stones falling from above, and a stormy wind blowing. Indeed, behold, the wall has fallen. Will it not be said to you, where is the whitewash that you plastered? Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I will unleash the spirit of storms in my anger; and there will be a torrential rain in my fury, and great stones of wrath will be poured out, and I will destroy the wall that you have whitewashed without mortar, and I will level it to the ground; its foundation will be exposed, and it will fall and be consumed in its midst; and you will know that I am the Lord. And I will fulfill my anger against the wall and against those who whitewashed it without mortar; and I will say to you: The wall is no more, and there are no longer any who whitewash it. The prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem see a vision of peace, but there is no peace, says the Lord God. LXX: For they have deceived my people, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. And this one builds a wall, and these ones plaster it with folly. Say to those who plaster with folly, it will fall. There will be a flooding rain, and I will give great stones for their joints and they will fall. And a wind will come and tear it apart. And behold, the wall has fallen, and they will not say to you, 'Where is the whitewash that you whitewashed with?' Therefore, thus says the Lord Adonai: I will break the spirit of fury that carries away, and rainwill overflow in my anger, and I will bring great stones in fury to a consummation, and I will dig up the wall that you have plastered, and it will fall. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But that which makes this rain, and hail, and wind, most terrible is that they arise from the wrath of God, and are enforced by that; it is that which sends them; it is that which gives them the setting on (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

These last in the East are more out of the regular course of nature and are therefore often particularly specified as the instruments of God's displeasure against His foes (Ex 9:18; The Hebrew here is, literally, "stones of ice." They fall in Palestine at times an inch thick with a destructive velocity.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

EZEKIEL was sent to arouse the people of Jerusalem to a sense of danger. This task was in itself difficult enough since he had to deal with a slumbering people who were carnally secure. But the difficulty was much increased by the fact that a large number of base pretenders to prophecy, both male and female, sprang up at that time and exercised great influence among the people. They imitated the Prophet's speech. They came forward with their lies and prefaced them with the solemn words, "Thus says the Lord," pretending to have a commission from the Lord of Hosts. Thus the people of Jerusalem scarcely knew which to believe—Ezekiel prophesying terrors—or these pretenders saying, "Peace, peace." Their evil hearts always leaned to the side of the false prophets because they flattered them grossly. They heaped to themselves teachers who, for a piece of bread, prophesied as they desired. You may well believe that the Prophet's blood often boiled within him as he saw his own labors spoiled, and the souls that he loved so well so fearfully deluded by the baseborn hirelings who wore a rough mantle to deceive. He was not of those who could be content to deliver his message and let others alone, as we nowadays are bid to do, but he turned upon the deceivers and denounced them with terrible earnestness because he saw them to be wolves in sheep's clothing devouring the flock. Now, in these days we are somewhat similarly circumstanced. The true servant of God in his ministry dares not prophesy smooth things to unconverted men and women. He is the bearer of glad tidings to such as turn unto the Lord, but while "the burden of the Lord" is upon him concerning the impenitent, and such as believe not on the Lord Jesus Christ, he has heavy tidings for those who live estranged from God. These he warns of a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

EZEKIEL was sent to arouse the people of Jerusalem to a sense of danger. This task was in itself difficult enough since he had to deal with a slumbering people who were carnally secure. But the difficulty was much increased by the fact that a large number of base pretenders to prophecy, both male and female, sprang up at that time and exercised great influence among the people. They imitated the Prophet's speech. They came forward with their lies and prefaced them with the solemn words, "Thus says the Lord," pretending to have a commission from the Lord of Hosts.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 13:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Where is the plaster When the calamity comes, such will be said to you: “Where is the peace that you promised?”
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 13:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Because they prophesied falsehood, and because they misled My people, saying, 'Peace,' but there is no peace; and they are like one who builds a partition wall and smears it with untempered clay that has no straw.
Targum · Targum Jonathan on Ezekiel 13:10, via Sefaria, Sefaria Community Translation

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • אֱמֹ֛רsay

    ʾemorH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • טָחֵ֥י[the] plasterers of

    tacheiH2902 →12 times

  • תָפֵ֖לwhitewash

    tafelH8602 →7 times

  • וְיִפֹּ֑לso it may fall

    veyipolH5307 →435 times

  • הָיָ֣ה׀it will come

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • גֶּ֣שֶׁםrain

    geshemH1653 →35 times

  • שׁוֹטֵ֗ףoverflowing

    shotefH7857 →31 times

  • וְאַתֵּ֜נָהand you

    veatenahH859 →1094 times

  • אַבְנֵ֤יO stones of

    ʾavneiH68 →273 times

  • אֶלְגָּבִישׁ֙hail

    ʾelgavishH417 →3 times

  • תִּפֹּ֔לְנָהyou will fall

    tipolenahH5307 →435 times

  • וְר֥וּחַand a wind of

    veruachH7307 →378 times

  • סְעָר֖וֹתtempests

    searotH5591 →24 times

  • תְּבַקֵּֽעַ׃it will break through [the wall]

    tevakea'H1234 →51 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Nahum 1:3

    The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 147:5

      Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.

    • Exodus 34:6–7

      Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

    • Nehemiah 9:17

      They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a…

    • Psalms 103:8

      The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.

    • Psalms 104:3

      laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

  • Through

    Isaiah 29:6

    you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.

    it leads to

    • Mark 13:8

      Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

    • Revelation 16:18

      And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake the likes of which had not occurred since men were upon the earth—so mighty was the great quake.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 38:22

    I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 11:6

      On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 816: “The Wall Daubed with Untempered Mortar” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.