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Ezekiel 13:20

in Ezekiel 13

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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 I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

KJV

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.

This verse in Ezekiel 13

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The souls that ye hunt to make them fly - לפרחות lephorechoth, into the flower gardens, says Parkhurst. These false prophetesses decoyed men into these gardens, where probably some impure rites of worship were performed, as in that of אשרה Asherah or Venus. See Parkhurst under פרח.

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(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 Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Grow - You promise a flourishing, growing, state to all inquirers; and this is the net with which you hunt souls. Tear them - With violence, and suddenness.
Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against your pillows,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

I am against your pillows--that is, against your lying ceremonial tricks by which ye cheat the people. to make them fly--namely, into their snares, as fowlers disturb birds so as to be suddenly caught in the net spread for them.

The words behind it

28 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.

  • לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore

    lakhenH3651 →771 times

  • כֹּה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣ר׀he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • הִנְנִ֤יhere I

    hiniH2005 →316 times

  • אֶל־[am] against

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כִּסְּתוֹתֵיכֶ֙נָה֙bands your

    kisetoteikhenahH3704 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַ֠תֵּנָהyou

    ʾatenahH859 →1094 times

  • מְצֹדְד֨וֹת[are] hunting

    metzodedotH6679 →18 times

  • שָׁ֤םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַנְּפָשׁוֹת֙the persons

    hanefashotH5315 →754 times

  • לְפֹ֣רְח֔וֹתfor birds

    leforechotH6524 →36 times

  • וְקָרַעְתִּ֣יand I will tear away

    vekara'tiH7167 →

  • אֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • מֵעַ֖לfrom on

    mealH5921 →5755 times

  • זְרוֹעֹֽתֵיכֶ֑םarms your

    zerooteikhemH2220 →91 times

  • וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי֙and I will set free

    veshilachtiH7971 →845 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַנְּפָשׁ֔וֹתthe persons

    hanefashotH5315 →754 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַתֶּ֛םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • מְצֹדְד֥וֹת[are] hunting

    metzodedotH6679 →18 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נְפָשִׁ֖יםpersons

    nefashimH5315 →754 times

  • לְפֹרְחֹֽת׃for birds

    leforechotH6524 →36 times

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

The walk

5 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

    Ezekiel 13:18

    and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in…

    it leads to

    • 2 Peter 2:14

      Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

    • Jeremiah 6:14

      They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.

    • 2 Timothy 4:3

      For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

    • Ezekiel 22:25

      The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

    • Ephesians 4:14

      Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

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; 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.