O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.
As foxes in the wastes, Thy prophets, O Israel, have been.
O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in desert places.
Ezekiel — The exile prophet — priest taken to Babylon in 597 BC, writing to a community still convinced the exile is temporary. Wheels within wheels, the glory departing, dry bones coming to life, and the city whose new name is YHWH Shammah — ‘the LORD is there.’
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices3
The prophets of Israel are like foxes, committing thefts of domestic birds every day: those who live, according to Aquila and the Septuagint, in the deserts; according to Symmachus and Theodotion, in walls and ruins: who cannot advance opposite, nor oppose a wall for the house of Israel. We read that Aaron stood in the middle against the fire devouring the people of Israel, and opposed a wall for the salvation of the people. It is also said of Jeremiah, 'Do not confront the Lord, nor stand against His wrath with persevering prayer.'
Jerome· Commentary on Ezekiel, 420patristic
O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes of the deserts.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
Thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts - The cunning of the fox in obtaining his prey has been long proverbial. These false prophets are represented as the foxes who, having got their prey by great subtlety, run to the desert to hide both themselves and it. So the false prophets, when the event did not answer to their prediction, got out of the way, that they might not be overwhelmed with the reproaches and indignation of the people.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical
The verses this one reaches12
Catch for us the foxes— the little foxes that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in bloom.
But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’
But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
3 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓
Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.
Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Revelation 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…
leads to
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot…
Through
Micah 3:5This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
leads to
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
