Ezekiel 13:3
in Ezekiel 13This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
KJV
Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
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This verse in Ezekiel 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 3.) Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and see nothing. LXX: Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart and do not see at all, forsaking what is proposed by us and following their own spirit. Although the name of prophets, according to the rule of the Scriptures, is common to both the good and the bad, they differ in that the good prophets are said to be wise, while the bad ones are foolish and ignorant.
This site's exposition
Then the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 13:1-3
The word turns to their prophets, “those who prophesy out of their own imagination” while claiming to speak for the Lord. The woe is aimed at “the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.” They invented the source itself, calling it the word of the LORD.
This site's exposition
Woe to the foolish prophets
The Hebrew pairs nebiim, prophets, with nebalim, foolish ones. These prophets follow their own spirit, yet they speak as men who see visions. Calvin says they promised the captives a speedy return home.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
In the same way that a saint prays with the Spirit and prays with understanding and sings with the spirit and sings with understanding, so the false prophet prophesies according to his own heart and follows not the Spirit of God but his own spirit.
The Reformation1 voice
But the end which they proposed to themselves was to promise the people a speedy return, and so to will the favor of the multitude. For the captives were already almost broken-hearted by weariness: and seventy years was a long period.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For they have seen nothing, they have not really had any heavenly vision; they pretend that what they say the Lord saith it, but God disowns it: " I have not spoken it, I never said it, never meant any such thing." What they delivered was not what they had seen or heard, as that is which the ministers of Christ deliver ( 1 John i.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thus saith the Lord God, woe unto the foolish prophets,....
Let us see what is here laid to their charge. They pretend to have a commission from God, whereas he never sent them. They thrust themselves into the prophetic office, without warrant from him who is the Lord God of the holy prophets, which was a foolish thing; for how could they expect that God should own them in a work to which he never called them?
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A refutation of those who set the inward word above the objective, and represent the Bible as flowing subjectively from the inner light of its writers, not from the revelation of the Holy Ghost from without. "They are impatient to get possession of the kernel without its fostering shell--they would have Christ without the Bible" [BENGEL].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That follow ... nothing - Better in the margin. A true prophet (like Ezekiel) spoke “the word of the Lord,” and declared what he had seen “in the visions of God.” These pretenders are stigmatized in scorn “prophets out of their own hearts,” “seers of what they have not seen.”
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| ה֖וֹי | ho | woe! | H1945 → | 51 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַנְּבִיאִ֣ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| הַנְּבָלִ֑ים | hanevalim | the fools | H5036 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֹלְכִ֛ים | holekhim | [are] walking | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַחַ֥ר | ʾachar | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| רוּחָ֖ם | rucham | own spirit their | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וּלְבִלְתִּ֥י | ulevilti | and to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| רָאֽוּ׃ | rau | they have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
ה֖וֹיwoe!
hoH1945 →51 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַנְּבִיאִ֣יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
הַנְּבָלִ֑יםthe fools
hanevalimH5036 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֹלְכִ֛ים[are] walking
holekhimH1980 →1546 times
אַחַ֥רafter
ʾacharH310 →715 times
רוּחָ֖םown spirit their
ruchamH7307 →378 times
וּלְבִלְתִּ֥יand to not
uleviltiH1115 →112 times
רָאֽוּ׃they have seen
rauH7200 →1300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:21
For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
- Zechariah 11:15–17
And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
- Ezekiel 34:2–10
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the…
- Matthew 9:36
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
- Jeremiah 12:10
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
- Jeremiah 10:21
Through
Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 3:15
Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Jeremiah 23:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 2:3.