Ezekiel 13:21
in Ezekiel 13I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 13
Commentary
8 notes on this verseYour kerchiefs also will one tear,.... From their heads; discover their tricks, and expose them to the contempt of the people, and destroy both them and their works: and deliver my people out of your hand; from being hunted, ensnared, and deceived by them: and they shall be no more in your land to be hunted; but should either flee into Egypt, and other countries, for shelter, or be carried captive into Babylon: and ye shall know that I am the Lord; see Eze 13:9.
This site's exposition
the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds
on Ezekiel 13:20-21
The Lord answers the hunting language with hunting language of his own, undoing the charm and freeing the souls that were taken. Henry reads the reversal as exact, the tools of the trade destroyed rather than merely forbidden, so the practice cannot simply resume with new materials.
This site's exposition
tear off your veils
Gill reads the torn veils as the women's tricks exposed before the people. The rescued would stop being their prey in the land. Gill adds that some would flee to Egypt and the rest go captive to Babylon.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
We flee what is bitter, even though it is good for us, and we do not want to labor, because we are softened by pleasures, because we do not know that it is impossible to be a friend of pleasure and at the same time a friend of God.
(Verse 17 and following) And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy against them, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those who sew cushions for all armholes and make veils for the heads of people of every height, to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But it is observable that Israel was never imposed upon by pretenders to prophecy till after they had rejected and abused the true prophets; as, afterwards, they were never deluded by counterfeit messiahs till after they had refused the true Messiah and rejected him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in your hand--in your power. "My people" are the elect remnant of Israel to be saved. ye shall know--by the judgments which ye shall suffer.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Your kerchiefs - Nets, or amulets, as some think.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְקָרַעְתִּ֞י | vekara'ti | and I will tear away | H7167 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִסְפְּחֹֽתֵיכֶ֗ם | mispechoteikhem | long veils your | H4555 → | |
| וְהִצַּלְתִּ֤י | vehitzalti | and I will deliver | H5337 → | 212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּי֙ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִיֶּדְכֶ֔ן | miyedkhen | from hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְי֥וּ | yihyu | they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ע֛וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| בְּיֶדְכֶ֖ן | beyedkhen | in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לִמְצוּדָ֑ה | limtzudah | <into> prey | H4686 → | 21 times |
| וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ן | vida'ten | and you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְקָרַעְתִּ֞יand I will tear away
vekara'tiH7167 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִסְפְּחֹֽתֵיכֶ֗םlong veils your
mispechoteikhemH4555 →
וְהִצַּלְתִּ֤יand I will deliver
vehitzaltiH5337 →212 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּי֙people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
מִיֶּדְכֶ֔ןfrom hand your
miyedkhenH3027 →1618 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְי֥וּthey will become
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
ע֛וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
בְּיֶדְכֶ֖ןin hand your
beyedkhenH3027 →1618 times
לִמְצוּדָ֑ה<into> prey
limtzudahH4686 →21 times
וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ןand you will know
vida'tenH3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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
Psalms 91:3Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
it leads to
- Psalms 124:7
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
- Psalms 141:9
Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the lures of evildoers.
- Job 5:10–22
He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
- Proverbs 7:23
until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
- Proverbs 6:5
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
- Psalms 124:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 3:5.