TRV
Translation
King James Version
They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
Complete Jewish Bible
Their visions are futile and their divination is false; they say, 'ADONAI says,' when ADONAI has not sent them; yet they hope that the word will be confirmed.
Berean Standard Bible
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
American Standard Version
They have seen falsehood and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith; but Jehovah hath not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.
World English Bible Messianic
They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, the LORD says; but the LORD has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.
Geneva Bible (1599)
They haue seene vanitie, and lying diuination, saying, The Lord sayth it, and the Lord hath not sent them: and they haue made others to hope that they would cofirme the word of their prophecie.
Young's Literal Translation
They have seen vanity, and lying divination, Who are saying: An affirmation of Jehovah, And Jehovah hath not sent them, And they have hoped to establish a word.
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In the KJVVerse 20,715 of 31,102
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Commentary on Ezekiel 13 verses 1–9
1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
The false prophets, who are here prophesied against, were some of them at Jerusalem (Jer 23:14): I have seen in the prophets at Jerusalem a horrible thing; some of them among the captives in Babylon, for to them Jeremiah writes (Jer 29:8), Let not your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you. And as God's prophets, though at a distance from each other in place or time, yet preached the same truths, which was an evidence that they were guided by one and the same good Spirit, so the false prophets prophesied the same lies, being actuated by one and the same spirit of error. There were little hopes of bringing them to repentance, they were so hardened in their sin; yet Ezekiel must prophesy against them, in hopes that the people might be cautioned not to hearken to them; and thus a testimony will be left upon record against them, and they will thereby be left inexcusable.
Ezekiel had express orders to prophesy against the prophets of Israel; so they called themselves, as if none but they had been worthy of the name of Israel's prophets, who were indeed Israel's deceivers. 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. These false prophets must be required to hear the word of the Lord. They took upon them to speak what concerned others as from God; let them now hear what concerned themselves as from him. And two things the prophet is directed to do: -
I. To discover their sin to them, and to convince them of that if possible, or thereby to prevent their proceeding any further, by making manifest their folly unto all men, Ti2 3:9. They are here called foolish prophets (Eze 13:3), men that did not at all understand the business they pretended to; to make fools of the people they made fools of themselves, and put the greatest cheat upon their own souls. Let us see what is here laid to their charge. 1. 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? They are prophets out of their own hearts (so the margin reads it, Eze 13:2), prophets of their own making, Eze 13:6. They say, The Lord saith; they pretend to be his messengers, but the Lord has not sent them, has not given them any orders. They counterfeit the broad seal of heaven, than which they cannot do a greater indignity to mankind, for hereby they put a reproach upon divine revelation, lessen its credit, and weaken its credibility. When these pretenders are found to be deceivers atheists and infidels will thence infer, They are all so. The Lord has not sent them; for though crafty enough in other things like the foxes, and very wise for the world, yet they are foolish prophets and have no experimental acquaintance with the things of God. Note, Foolish prophets are not of God's sending, for whom he sends he either finds fit or makes fit. Where he gives warrant he gives wisdom. 2. They pretend to have instructions from God, whereas he never made himself and his mind known to them: They followed their own spirit (Eze 13:3); they delivered that as a message from God which was the product either of their subtle invention, to serve a turn for themselves, or of their own crazed and heated imagination, to give vent to a fancy. 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 (Jo1 1:1), but either what they had dreamed or what they thought would please those they coveted to make an interest in; this is called their seeing vanity and lying divination (Eze 13:6); they pretended to have seen that which they did not see, and produced that as a divine truth which they knew to be false. To the same purport (Eze 13:7): You have see a vain vision and spoken a lying divination, which had no divine original and would have no effect, but would certainly be disproved by the event; the words are changed (Eze 13:8): You have spoken vanity and seen lies; what they saw and what they said was all alike, a mere sham; they saw nothing, they said nothing, to the purpose, nothing that could be relied on or that deserved regard. Again (Eze 13:9), They see vanity and divine lies; they pretended to have had visions, as the true prophets had, whereas really they had none, but either it was the creature of their own fancy (they thought they had a vision, as men in a delirium do, that was seeing vanity) or it was a fiction of their own politics, and they knew they had none, and then they saw lies, and divined lies. See Jer 23:16, etc. Note, Since the devil is universally know to be the father of lies, those put the highest affront imaginable upon God who tell lies, and then father them upon him. But those that had put God's character upon Satan, in worshipping devils, arrived at length at such a pitch of impiety as to put Satan's character upon God. 3. They took no care to prevent the judgments of God that were breaking in upon the kingdom. They are like the foxes in the deserts, running to and fro, and seeming to be in a great hurry, but it was to get away and shift for their own safety, not to do any good: The hireling flees, and leaves the sheep. They are like foxes that are greedy of prey for themselves, crafty and cruel to feed themselves. But (Eze 13:5), "You have not gone up into the gaps, nor made up the hedge of the house of Israel. A breach is made in their fences, at which judgments are ready to pour in upon them, and then, if ever, is the time to do them service; but you have done nothing to help them." They should have made intercession for them, to turn away the wrath of God; but they were not praying prophets, had no interest in heaven nor intercourse with heaven (as prophets used to have, Gen 20:7) and so could do them no service that way. They should have made it their business by preaching and advice to bring people to repentance and reformation, and so have made up the hedge, and put a stop to the judgments of God; but this was none of their care: they contrived how to pleased people, not how to profit them. They saw a deluge of profaneness and impiety breaking in upon the land, waging war with virtue and holiness, and threatening to crush them and bear them down, and then they should have come in to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty, by witnessing against the wickedness of the time and place they lived in; but they thought that would be as dangerous a piece of service as standing in a breach to make it good against the besiegers, and therefore they declined it, did nothing to stem the tide, stood not in the battle against vice and immorality, but basely deserted the cause of religion and reformation, in the day of the Lord, when it was proclaimed, Who is on the Lord's side? Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Psa 94:16. Those were unworthy the name of prophets that could think so favourably of sin, and had so little zeal for God and the public welfare. 4. They flattered people into a vain hope that the judgments God had threatened would never come, whereby they hardened those in sin whom they should have endeavoured to turn from sin (Eze 13:6): They have made others to hope that all should be well, and they should have peace, though they went on still in their trespasses, and that the event would confirm the word. They were still ready to say, "We will warrant you that these troubles will be at an end quickly, and we shall be in prosperity again." as if their warrants would confirm false prophecies, in defiance of God himself.
II. He is directed to denounce the judgments of God against them for these sins, from which their pretending to the character of prophets would not exempt them. 1. In general, here is a woe against them (Eze 13:3), and what that woe is we are told (Eze 13:8). Behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. Note, Those are in a woeful condition that have God against them. Woe, and a thousand woes, to those that have made him their enemy. 2. In particular, they are sentenced to be excluded from all the privileges of the commonwealth of Israel, for they are adjudged to have forfeited them all (Eze 13:9): God's hand shall be upon them, to seize them and bring them to his bar, to shut them out from his presence, and they will find it a fearful thing to fall into his hands. They pretend to be prophets, particular favourites of heaven, and authorized to preside in the congregation of his church on earth; but, by pretending to the honours they were not entitled to, they lost those that otherwise they might have enjoyed, Mat 5:19. Their doom is, (1.) To be expelled from the communion of saints, and not to be looked upon as belonging to it: They shall not be in the secret of my people; their folly shall be so clearly manifested that they shall never be consulted, nor their advice asked; they shall not be present at any debates about public affairs. Or, rather, they shall not be in the assembly of God's people for religious worship, for they shall be ashamed to show their heads there, when they are proved by the events to be false prophets, and, like Cain, shall go out from the presence of the Lord. The people that are deceived by them shall abandon them, and resolve to have no more to do with them. Those that usurped Moses's chair shall not be allowed so much as a door-keeper's place. In the great day they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous (Psa 1:5), when God gathers his saints together to him (Psa 50:5, Psa 50:16), to be for ever with him. (2.) To be expunged out of the book of the living. They shall die in their captivity, and shall die childless, shall leave no posterity to take their denomination from them, and so their names shall not be found among those who either themselves or their posterity returned out of Babylon, of whom a particular account was kept in a public register, which was called the writing of the house of Israel, such as we have Ezra 2. They shall not be found among the living in Jerusalem, Isa 4:3. Or they shall not be found written among those whom God has from eternity chosen to be vessels of his mercy to eternity. We read of those who prophesied in Christ's name, and yet he will tell them that he never knew them (Mat 7:22, Mat 7:23), because they were not among those that were given to him. The Chaldee paraphrase reads it, They shall not be written in the writing of eternal life, which is written for the righteous of the house of Israel. See Psa 69:28. (3.) To be for ever excluded from the land of Israel. God has sworn in his wrath concerning them that they shall never enter with the returning captives into the land of Canaan, which a second time remains a rest for them. Note, Those who oppose the design of God's threatenings, and will not be awed and influenced by them, forfeit the benefit of his promises, and cannot expect to be comforted and encouraged by them.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–9. Public domain.
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Origen of AlexandriaAD 253
HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 2:5
All that they want is false, and they can never see the truth. Take an example. To read the Scripture and to hear something other than what is written is to have an untruthful picture of Scripture; but to hear Scripture and interpret it in accordance with the truth, that is to see the truth.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Versed 4 et sequentia) Your prophets, Israel, will be like foxes in the desert. You did not go up to face the enemy or build a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord. They see false visions and speak deceptive divinations, saying, 'The Lord declares,' when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their words. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination when you say, 'The Lord declares,' though I have not spoken?' LXX: Like foxes in the deserts are your prophets, O Israel ((Add. they were or will be)). They did not stand in the firmament, and they gathered flocks over the house of Israel. Those who say in the day of the Lord did not rise: seeing falsehoods, divining vanities, those who say, says the Lord, and the Lord did not send them: and they began to stir up discourse. Did you not see false visions, and speak vain divinations? And you said, says the Lord, and I did not speak. Let us first speak according to the Hebrew. 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 (Num. XVI). It is also said of Jeremiah, 'Do not confront the Lord, nor stand against His wrath with persevering prayer' (Jer. 7). Just as a wall is set against an enemy and is usually met head-on by the adversary, so the will of God is weakened by the prayers of the saints. Therefore, Moses is also told, 'Let me alone, and I will destroy this people' (Exod. 32:10), which shows that he had the power to hold back. These people cannot stand in battle on the Day of the Lord, to fight for the people with prayers and resist the judgments of God's pleas. Therefore, because they see in vain and falsely prophesy, and claim to be sent by the Lord when they are not sent by Him, and persist in their errors, and desire to affirm their own words; they are accused of preaching empty things, saying that their lies are the words of the Lord. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, the sense here is: All heretics are like foxes because of their deceit and wickedness, about whom the Savior speaks: Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests (Matthew 8:20). And it is written about Herod: Say to this fox (Luke 13:32). And about those same foxes that deceive the innocent and plunder the vineyard of Christ, Solomon speaks: Catch for us the little foxes, who spoil the vineyards (Song of Solomon 2:15). And in the psalm about those who are deceived by their trickery, it is sung: They shall go into the depths of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall become the portion of foxes (Psalm 63:10, 11). O prophets who are like foxes, they did not stand in the firmament; nor did they deserve to hear from Peter: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church (Matthew 16:18). Nor are they like Moses, to whom it was said: You stand here with me (Deuteronomy 5:31). Nor like him who says: He has set my feet upon a rock; but they have swayed with every wind of doctrine. They have not stood in the firmament, of which we read in the eighteenth psalm: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. These gathered together the irrational ones, and due to the excessive innocence of the livestock, they are similar to the house of God. Hence, it is now said: And they gathered flocks over the house of Israel: neither they themselves rose, nor were they able to raise others; but whatever they did and do, they are full of lies. And what follows: And they began to stir up discourse, signifies that they indeed desire to rise up and lift themselves to heights; but what they desire, they cannot fulfill: and it is said to them: Have you not seen a false vision and spoken idle divinations? And what follows, and you were saying, 'Thus says the Lord,' and I have not spoken, it is not found in the Septuagint.
JeromeAD 420
HOMILY 87 (ON JOHN 1:1-14)
Whom does he mean by all those who have come before me? Those who say, “Thus says the Lord!” But the Lord has not sent them; they who have come on their own authority and have not been sent are the thieves and robbers.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15
To go up in opposition means openly to rebuke any powers that behave wickedly; and we hold fast in battle for the house of Israel on the day of the Lord and build a wall of resistance if we defend innocent believers against the unrighteousness of the wicked with the power of righteousness. Since a hireling does not do these things, he flees when he sees a wolf coming.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
PASTORAL RULE 2:4
He complains, saying, “You have not gone up against the enemy, neither built a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.” Now, to go up against the enemy is to speak boldly against the powers of this world for defense of the flock To stand in the battle in the day of the Lord is out of love of justice to resist evil people when they contend against us. For if a shepherd feared to say what is right, what else is it but to have turned his back in keeping silence? But surely, if he puts himself in front for the flock, he builds a wall against the enemy for the house of Israel.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Ezekiel 13:6 delivers a severe indictment against the false prophets in Judah, exposing their deceptive practices and the profound spiritual harm they inflicted upon the people. These individuals claimed divine inspiration, asserting that their visions and pronouncements originated from the LORD, when in reality, their messages were nothing more than empty fabrications and fraudulent divinations. By speaking presumptuously in God's name without His commission, they fostered a dangerous, false hope among the populace, leading them away from genuine repentance and the truth of God's impending judgment.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ezekiel 13:6 employs several powerful literary devices to underscore its message. Juxtaposition is central, sharply contrasting the false prophets' audacious claims ("The LORD saith") with the divine reality ("and the LORD hath not sent them"). This immediate and direct contradiction highlights the audacity of their deception and the clarity of God's judgment. Irony is also present, as those who claim to "see" visions are depicted as seeing only "vanity," emphasizing the emptiness and worthlessness of their supposed insights. The phrase "lying divination" is a form of Pleonasm or Redundancy for Emphasis, as divination itself was often associated with falsehood and forbidden practices in Israelite thought; adding "lying" intensifies the condemnation, leaving no doubt about the fraudulent nature of their practices. Furthermore, the verse uses Direct Address from God ("the LORD hath not sent them"), lending ultimate authority to the refutation of the false prophets' claims and demonstrating God's active involvement in exposing their deceit.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ezekiel 13:6 powerfully articulates the biblical concern with spiritual authenticity and the severe consequences of misrepresenting God. It underscores God's absolute truthfulness and His intolerance for those who would speak falsely in His name, thereby leading His people astray. Theologically, it affirms God's sovereignty over revelation, emphasizing that true prophecy originates solely from Him and is always consistent with His character and prior word. The false prophets' actions are not merely errors but a profound ethical and theological transgression, undermining the very foundation of trust between God and His people. This passage serves as a timeless warning against any message, however comforting, that deviates from divine truth, reminding believers of the critical need for discernment and adherence to God's revealed will.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ezekiel 13:6 serves as a timeless and urgent warning for believers in every generation. In a world saturated with information and diverse spiritual claims, the call to discernment is paramount. We are challenged to critically evaluate all teachings and prophecies, not by their emotional appeal or popularity, but by their unwavering alignment with the revealed Word of God. This verse reminds us that true spiritual authority comes only from God's commission, not from human ambition or self-proclaimed insight. It compels us to be wary of messages that offer superficial comfort or false hope, especially when such messages contradict biblical truth or encourage complacency in sin. Our hope must be anchored in the unfailing character and promises of the true God, not in the fleeting assurances of human invention. We are called to cultivate a deep familiarity with Scripture, allowing it to be the plumb line against which all spiritual claims are measured, ensuring that we are not led astray by "vanity and lying divination" but are built up by God's authentic and life-giving word.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is meant by "vanity and lying divination" in this context?
Answer: "Vanity" (Hebrew: shâvᵉʼ) refers to something empty, worthless, or deceitful. It implies that the visions and messages of these false prophets had no substance, truth, or divine origin; they were mere illusions or fabrications. "Lying divination" (Hebrew: qeçem kâzâb) emphasizes that these pronouncements were not only false but also derived from forbidden practices of divination, which were strictly condemned by God (e.g., Deuteronomy 18:10-12). It means their prophecies were fraudulent, rooted in human imagination or demonic influence, rather than being genuine revelations from the LORD.
Why was false prophecy so dangerous in ancient Israel?
Answer: False prophecy was incredibly dangerous because it directly undermined God's authority and led His people astray. By claiming to speak in God's name ("The LORD saith") when God had not sent them, these prophets usurped divine authority and diluted the true prophetic word. They offered false hope and comfort, telling the people what they wanted to hear (e.g., peace instead of judgment), which prevented them from repenting and turning back to God. This spiritual deception had severe consequences, as it fostered complacency, encouraged continued sin, and ultimately exposed the people to God's righteous judgment without adequate warning or preparation. It blurred the lines between truth and falsehood, making discernment difficult and jeopardizing the nation's spiritual well-being.
How can we identify false prophets or deceptive teachings today, based on the principles in Ezekiel 13:6?
Answer: The principles in Ezekiel 13:6 provide timeless guidance for identifying false teachings. First, examine the source and substance: Do the messages align with the established Word of God (Scripture)? If they are "vanity" or "lying divination"—empty, contradictory to biblical truth, or derived from non-biblical sources—they are false. Second, check their claims of authority: Do they claim to speak for God but contradict His character or revealed will? As Ezekiel 13:6 states, "the LORD hath not sent them" if their message is not from Him. Third, observe the fruit of their ministry: Do their teachings lead people to genuine repentance, holiness, and a deeper relationship with the true God, or do they foster false hope, complacency in sin, or self-centeredness? Jesus warned, "You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16). True spiritual messages will always point to Christ and align with the entirety of God's revelation.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Ezekiel 13:6, with its stark condemnation of false prophets, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and ministry of Jesus. He is the true Prophet par excellence, the one whom the Father truly "sent" (John 3:17, John 5:36). Unlike the false prophets who spoke "vanity and lying divination" from their own imaginations, Jesus is the very Word of God incarnate (John 1:1, John 1:14), whose every utterance is truth and life (John 6:68). He did not make people hope in a false word, but offered genuine, eternal hope grounded in His own sacrificial work and resurrection (Romans 5:5). Jesus Himself warned against false prophets and teachers who would come "in sheep's clothing" but inwardly are "ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15), demonstrating that the discernment called for in Ezekiel's day remains critical. The Holy Spirit, whom Christ sends, is the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13), guiding believers into all truth and enabling them to discern between true and false teachings, ensuring that God's people are no longer swayed by those whom the LORD has not sent. In Christ, all true prophecy finds its culmination and confirmation, and through Him, we receive the authentic and life-giving word of God.