Ezekiel 13:20

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
saith	אָמַ֣ר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord	אֲדֹנָ֣י 'a.do.Nai	H136	the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD	יְהוִ֗ה Yah.weh	H3069	YHWH · proper noun, a title
pillows	כִּסְּתוֹתֵיכֶ֙נָה֙ ki.se.to.tei.Khe.nah	H3704	a cushion or pillow (as covering a seat or bed) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine plural
ye	אַ֠תֵּנָה 'A.te.nah	H859	thou and thee · personal pronoun, 2nd person feminine plural
hunt	מְצֹדְד֨וֹת me.tzo.de.Dot	H6679	to lie alongside (i.e. in wait) · verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
souls	הַנְּפָשׁוֹת֙ ha.ne.fa.shOt	H5315	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
fly	לְפֹ֣רְח֔וֹת le.Fo.re.Chot	H6524	to break forth as a bud · preposition + verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
tear	וְקָרַעְתִּ֣י ve.ka.ra'.Ti	H7167	to rend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
arms	זְרוֹעֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם ze.ro.'o.tei.Khem	H2220	the arm (as stretched out) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
souls	הַנְּפָשׁ֔וֹת ha.ne.fa.Shot	H5315	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
go	וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי֙ ve.shi.lach.Ti	H7971	to send away · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
souls	נְפָשִׁ֖ים ne.fa.Shim	H5315	properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
hunt	מְצֹדְד֥וֹת me.tzo.de.Dot	H6679	to lie alongside (i.e. in wait) · verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
fly	לְפֹרְחֹֽת le.fo.re.Chot	H6524	to break forth as a bud · preposition + verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ezekiel 13:18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hu…
2 Timothy 3:8-9 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
Ezekiel 13:8-9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 13:15-16 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 13:17–end

As God has promised that when he pours out his Spirit upon his people both their sons and their daughters shall prophesy, so the devil, when he acts as a spirit of lies and falsehood, is so in the mouth not only of false prophets, but of false prophetesses too, and those are the deceivers whom the prophet is here directed to prophesy against; for they are not such despicable enemies to God's truths as deserve not to be taken notice of, nor yet will either the weakness of their sex excuse their sin or the tenderness and respect that are owing to it exempt them from the reproaches and threatenings of the word of God. No: Son of man, set they face against the daughters of thy people, Eze 13:17.…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 13:20

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. "Fly" is peculiarly appropriate as to those lofty spiritual flights to which they pretended to raise their dupes when they veiled their heads with kerchiefs and made them rest on luxurious arm-cushions (Eze 13:18). let . . . souls go--"Ye make them fly" in order to destroy them; "I will let them go" in order to save them (Psa 91:3; Pro 6:5; Hos 9:8).

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 13:20

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.

John Gill on Ezekiel 13:20

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against your pillows,.... Not only had an abhorrence of them, but was determined to destroy them, detect their fallacies, and expose the folly of such actions, and them to shame and contempt: wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly; to the places where they prophesied; into the toils and nets they spread for them, in order to catch them with their divinations and prophecies, and make a gain of them: or, "into the gardens", or "groves" (o); there to commit idolatry, Isaiah 65:3; and I will tear them from your arms; by which it seems that those pillows were not only put under the arms of those that came to inquire of these female pro…

Dictionary and topics

Bolster — The Hebrew word kebir, rendered “pillow” in 1 Sam. 19:13, 16, but in Revised Version marg. “quilt” or “network,” probably means some counterpane or veil intended to protect the head of the sleeper. A…
Dwellings — The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Lev. 14:40, 42), which were held together by cement (Jer. 43:9) or bitumen (Gen. 11:3). The exterior was usually…
Pillow · .Of false teachers — .Of false teachers

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezekiel 13:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 13:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 13:20

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 13:20

John Gill on Ezekiel 13:20

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 13:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 13:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 13:20

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 13:20

John Gill on Ezekiel 13:20

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Ezekiel 13:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 13:20–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 13:20-23

Rashi on Ezekiel 13:20