Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 13:10
Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and [there was] no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered [mortar]:
10 16. The prophets whitewash the tottering wall which the people build
10. Because, even because ] A solemn and emphatic introduction of the offence of the prophets; ch. Eze 36:3; Lev 26:43.
seduced ] Or, led astray.
peace; and there was no peace ] “Peace” includes security and prosperity; cf. Mic 3:5; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 23:17.
and one built up a wall ] Rather: and it (the people) buildeth up a wall, and behold they (the prophets) daub it with whitewash, or plaster. The word for “wall” (occurring only here) is not the usual one, though similar to the one common in Arab.; in usage it may have meant “a slight wall,” as marg., or a partition. The figure incisively describes the futile projects of the people, and the feeble flattery and approval of the prophets. When a weak man cannot originate anything himself, he acquires a certain credit (at least in his own eyes) by strong approval of the schemes of others, saying, Right! I give it my cordial approval, and indeed would have suggested it. What made the prophets whitewash the wall which the people built was partly the feeling that from the place they occupied they must do something, and maintain their credit as leaders even when being led; and partly perhaps that having no higher wisdom than the mass they quite honestly approved their policy. Being sharers with them in the spirit of the time they readily acquiesced in their enterprises.
11 seq. Threat of destruction under the figure of a hailstorm, which shall sweep away the wall and those who daub it with whited plaster.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wall – A partition wall; in Eze 13:12, the word used is the usual word for the outer wall of a house or city. The fall of the partition wall would perhaps involve the fall of the whole house.
Untempered morter – Or, whited plaster, employed to patch up a wall, so as to give it an appearance (without the reality) of strength and beauty. Compare Mat 23:27. In the original there is a play upon a word rendered folly in Jer 23:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Eze 13:10-12
One built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar.
The wall daubed with untempered mortar
I. The text speaks of a wall. Men look about them to discover some sort of wall or other behind which to shelter from conscience and Divine threatening. I suppose this is because conscience is not quite dead in any man. In some men it has been so drugged and chloroformed that it never seems to act with anything like vigour, and when it speaks it is only with a still small voice, and not at all with the thunder which its voice ought to have to the mind of men; yet that little relic of conscience, which with a microscope you can detect in all men, needs to be pacified, and men are glad if by any lie, however barefaced, they can create an excuse by which they may go on quietly in their sins.
1. Perhaps the greatest wall behind which men shelter themselves is that of utter indifference to anything like Divine truth. Some silly dancer at the opera, some new invention, some novel trick of legerdemain, some fresh anything or nothing, and the world is all agog; but as to things which will outlast sun and moon, and stand fast when yon blue heaven, like a scroll, has been rolled up and put away–these all-important things our wiseacres think but trifles, and they continue trampling Gods eternal truth beneath their feet, as swine do trample pearls, and rushing madly after the bubbles of this world, as though they were all that men were made to hunt after.
2. Numbers, however, are not quite so stupid, so besotted, so blind, so brutalised as to put up with this. Like a crying child, their conscience will be heard. Like a horse leech, it ever cries Give, give, and will not be content. Who comes next? Who is the anointed one of Satan to quiet this spirit? Who will yield a quietus to a mind alarmed? See the wall of ceremonies behind which many rest so contentedly.
3. You may be building another wall, namely, that of self-righteousness. How many have been piling up their wall, and gathering their wood, their hay, their stubble, with which to erect a defence to screen themselves from God by their own doings?
II. Whenever a man tries to build a wall behind which to shelter, he always finds a volunteer band of ready assistants.
1. For instance, a man who is easy in his pleasures, how many will help him to continue at his ease! He is right, says one; You are a good fellow, says another; and they both try to keep him in countenance by their company.
2. Another company of scoffers will loudly boast themselves, and cry, Yes, you are all right in continuing in neglect of God and of Divine truth, because the saints are no better than they should be. I remember what So-and-so did once–he was a deacon; and I know the inconsistencies of Mr. Zealous, and he is one of the parsons.
3. A numerous body of daubers gather at the sign of the Sneerer, in Atheist Street; and with their doubts, or their supposed doubts, of inspiration and biblical authenticity, are ready to daub and plaster any amount of wall an inch thick.
4. If the wall be built of ceremonies, how many are busy daubing that! What multitudes of books are streaming from the press, books of ability, too, all going to show that salvation is infallibly connected with a mechanical process, conducted by specified officials, and not a spiritual work independent of all outward performances!
III. The Word of God declares that this wall will not stand. The wall to which Ezekiel alludes is one of the cob walls in the East, daubed with bad mortar, which had not been well tempered, that is to say, not well mixed with the straw which they use in place of the hair which we use in England; when the rain comes, it softens the whole structure of such a wall, melts it, and washes it quite away. Such a deluge as that is coming ere long to try and test every human hope.
1. It comes to some men when they enter upon times of spiritual trial.
2. But if the test come not thus it will usually come at death.
3. And if death does not do it–for some men die like lambs, and like sheep are they laid in the grave; but the worm shall feed upon them–if death does not do it, the judgment shall.
IV. If we shall be found lost at the last, it will be an everlasting reproach to us that we once accepted the false helps of our friends. Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? That voice may proceed from many lips.
1. It may come from the lips of Jesus. I said unto you, Come unto Me and live, but you would not come; you refused the refuge which I presented to you, and you chose your own works, and rested in ceremonies of your own devising, and now where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
2. I could imagine such a voice as that coming from a faithful minister, or other Christian labourer, who may have honestly pointed out to you the one and only way of salvation.
3. And there shall come another voice, with quite another tone-a hoarse and horrible voice–a voice full of malice and grim laughter, which shall say, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? You shall understand it to be the voice of him who once deceived you–the fallen spirit, the devil.
4. There shall be heard amidst that thick darkness and horrid gloom, that never shall be broken by a ray of light, another voice which once you knew. Perhaps the husband shall hear the voice of the wife, who shall say, Ah! where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? You would not let me go to the house of God; you laughed me out of my religion. I was once a young woman unmarried, who cared for the things of God in some respects; you courted me and enticed me away from my fathers God, and then you laughed me out of my prayers and Sabbath worship; you have laughed me into hell, but you cannot laugh me out of it again.
5. And then, last of all, your own conscience, from which you never can escape, which is, perhaps, the worm that never dies, and the flame which kindles the fire of remorse that never shall be quenched, your conscience will say to you, Where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed it? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Prophets feeble and yielding
The figure incisively describes the futile projects of the people and the feeble flattery and approval of the prophets. When a weak man cannot originate anything himself, he acquires a certain credit (at least in his own eyes) by strong approval of the schemes of others, saying, Right! I give it my cordial approval, and, indeed, would have suggested it. What made the prophets whitewash the wall which the people built was partly the feeling that from the place they occupied they must do something, and maintain their credit as leaders even when being led; and partly, perhaps, that, having no higher wisdom than the mass, they quite honestly approved their policy. Being sharers with them in the spirit of the time, they readily acquiesced in their enterprises. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
False hopes
I. What are the foundations of this fabric?
1. It is built upon falsehood. Observe, it is here imputed to these false prophets that they led the people to suppose that their state by nature was not one of enmity with God,–that, in fact, they were at peace with Him. Now, this falsehood is manifest. We are not at peace by nature. We all know that God has a strife with man, a righteous ground of controversy with every man born into the world. Our first conscious thoughts are those of disaffection and dislike to holiness; and our first voluntary actions are to take up arms against God. We, then, are not at peace, but at enmity with God. How was this breach to be made up? Usually, a vanquished foe expects to buy peace at a large price; but we had nothing to pay. It remained, therefore, that the benignant Being with whom we had been carrying on this fruitless and ungrateful warfare should Himself originate a scheme of reconciliation. We know that Christ is our peace, and our only peace. He brings peace, He preaches peace, He bestows peace. To as many as received Him, gave He power to become the sons of God. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. This is the foundation, and other can no man lay. He who shall dare to build on any other shall see the fabric perish before the overflowing shower, and the stormy wind shall rend it.
2. It is not laid deeply enough. In the fourteenth verse it is said, with regard to this foundation, The foundation thereof shall be discovered, laid bare, open to the sight of the beholder. The image is commonly used in Scripture to denote that which is superficial and unsound. Everything that is to be firm strikes deeply into the ground. Job speaks of having the root of the matter in himself; and the stony ground, hearer, fell, we are told, because there was in him no depth of earth. What is the kind of foundation here spoken of? Doubtless, we must take it as applying here to a religion which rests upon slight convictions of sin,–little sense of its heinousness and guilt. The Spirit convinces of sin, to lead to Him that shall take all sin away. The Spirit of God opens no wounds, except with a view the more effectually and kindly to bind them up.
3. Another element of this unstable foundation is presumption, an unwarrantable appropriation of the promises; as if the benefit of an amnesty could be extended to those who were still in an attitude of rebellion; as if the promises of salvation could still be held out to those who continued in unrepented sin. This is strongly marked in the latter part of the twenty-second verse. It may be a grievous error in a teacher, according to the first part of that verse, to make the hearts of the righteous sad, whom God hath not made sad; but surely it is a much more grievous error to hold out the promise of life to those to whom, as yet, God has not given peace. Our Lord must be our example here.
II. What are the walls of this fabric? In other words, by what supports and excuses do men keep this unsound and unscriptural hope together? One built up a wall, and others daubed it with untempered mortar. The meaning of the prophets allusion will be best explained by a reference to Jewish domestic architecture. Although hewn stones were employed for the purpose of very large buildings, for small houses a tile was commonly used, formed of white clay and baked in the sun. These tiles were cemented together by mortar, which, as among ourselves, was made to acquire a certain adhesive property by means of straw and chaff. Travellers tell us that whole villages are formed of houses built with this white clay or tile, and they tell us, further, that after rain the filth occasioned by the dissolving of the cement will make the ways in front of the houses perfectly impassable; whilst, if the mortar which has been used has been very badly tempered, that is, very imperfectly mixed with the straw or the chaff, it is no uncommon thing to see the house fall down entirely, under the violence or dissolving action of the rain, the very effect which we see alluded to in the text. What a picture have we here of the refuges which worldly men make for themselves against that day, when judgment shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet! Oh, how many of these slight walls are people running up every day! There is the wall of evil example, by which a man fortifies himself in his low standard of personal and practical godliness by what he sees in someone around him. There is the wall of pretended necessity; the urgent claims of daily life making it, as he alleges, impossible for him to attend to the cares of his family and the interests of his soul. There is the wall of constitutional impediment, the pretence that something in our peculiar temperament and constitution or circumstances makes it so difficult for us to attend to the things of our salvation. There is the wall of perverted doctrine, where men, waiting for some impulse from above, knowing that Divine grace must begin the work, say, they can do nothing themselves, they must wait till God by His Spirit changes their hearts. And then there is the wall of good intentions, the purpose of serving God, but not now, the miserable promise that we will give to God the remnant of our days, that He shall have the reversion of our convenient season. Oh, how many of these flimsy fabrics will fall, and do fall daily, before the first breath of the Divine displeasure. But observe, further, it is said that when one built the wall, another daubed it with untempered mortar. This seems to intimate to us that foolish and unconverted men are in the habit of encouraging each other in their foolish hopes: justifying one another in their vain excuses; each confirming the reasonableness of the others pretences, and then going away confirmed and strengthened in his own.
III. These false hopes shall be thrown down. This false builder shall wake and see the crumbling of his own wretched wall; this mere dauber shall see the melting and dissolving of his own untempered mortar, that God alone may be exalted in that day, and that every unscriptural and unauthorised, unsanctioned hope may perish. And oh, will not the weakness and instability of this wall appear before this hurricane of Divine indignation comes upon us? When the silver cord is loosed, and the golden bowl is broken; when the pitcher is broken at the fountain, shall we not then perceive that we have been building upon a treacherous foundation? But then, if we feel it in that day, what shall we feel in that remoter time, when the storm of the Divine indignation shall come upon the whole world? (D. Moore, M. A.)
The false prophet
The false prophets are much in evidence up to the point of the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel accuses them of the crime of the hireling shepherd: they used the flock to make wages, and so became the type for all time of those who make
The symbols of atoning grace
An office key.
The false prophet gained favour with the military party in the nation, by his telling advocacy of a vast and well-prepared army and of brilliant foreign alliances, he won favour with the clerical party by not demanding too much virtue, either from the individual or from the State. As a class they had a ready apology for every shifting policy. True, the apology, although always ready, was only an apology–or, to use the prophets own figure, it was only a daubing of the ill-built wall with untempered mortar (Eze 13:8-16)–that is to say, when any project or scheme of policy is being promoted, they stand by glozing it over with fine words, flattering its promoters, and uttering profuse assurances of its success. The daub, in hiding the infamy, hurries the disaster. Ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. When the scheme has failed, when God has suddenly intercepted a peoples mad pride, the false prophet may be–may be–called to account: Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? But it may happen, in a nations downfall and the daze of its calamity, that the moral collapse is so complete that the man who daubed the wall escapes unblamed–but not the man who was honest enough to say plainly from the first that it was a mere daub! But, blamed or not of the men he has misled, the false prophet shall not go unpunished. I the Lord will answer him by Myself. Above all things, may Gods mercy save us from having, under such conditions, to bear Gods answer, by Himself! (H. E. Lewis.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. One built up a wall] A true prophet is as a wall of defense to the people. These false prophets pretend to be a wall of defense; but their wall is bad, and their mortar is worse. One gives a lying vision, another pledges himself that it is true; and the people believe what they say, and trust not in God, nor turn from their sins. The city is about to be besieged; it needs stronger fortifications than what it possesses. The prophet should be as a brazen wall for its defence; and such my prophets would have been had the people received the word from my mouth. But ye have prevented this by your lying vanities; and when you have perverted the people, you pretend to raise up a rampart of specious prophecy, full of fine promises, for their defence. What one false prophet says, another confirms; and this is like daubing over a bad wall with bad mortar, which prevents its blemishes and weaknesses being discovered, though it has no tendency to strengthen the building.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The verse is a transition to a new subject, or rather to a new manner of discovering and condemning the sin of the false prophets.
They have seduced my people; made my people to err, both in their apprehension of their sin and danger, and of my displeasure and threats, as if all were less than it was, and there needed no repentance, or submission to the Babylonish king.
Peace; all will be well; no war, or else victory; no more going into captivity, but a speedy return of those that are in captivity: when nothing of all this, but the contrary, was to be told them; universal calamity was at the door, and these varlets promise universal tranquillity and plenty.
One; some one or other chief among the false prophets, as Hananiah, Jer 28:15, and Shemaiah, Jer 29:31, or Ahab son of Kolaiah, Jer 29:21,22. When the state of the church was shattered and ready to fall, these chief false prophets would undertake to repair and build it, but indeed all was a mere contrived cheat, like as if a pretended architect should promise to build a wall substantial and sound, but a pack of deceitful builders in confederacy with this one set to laying the stones, and then with dirt instead of mortar, with melting and dissolving mire instead of holding and well-tempered cement, daub the wall. So the chief seducers cry, Peace, peace, and all the kennel of lesser cheats follow full cry, Peace, peace. Within two years shall the king of Babylon cease, saith one, Jer 28:11, and all the inferior prophets applaud the conjecture, and persuade the people to believe it; but the end will evince them liars, as in the following verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Because, even becauseTherepetition heightens the emphasis.
Peacesafety tothe nation. Ezekiel confirms Jer 6:14;Jer 8:11.
oneliterally, “thisone”; said contemptuously, as in 2Ch28:22.
a wallrather, “aloose wall.” Ezekiel had said that the false prophets did not”go up into the gaps, or make up the breaches” (Eze13:5), as good architects do; now he adds that they make abustling show of anxiety about repairing the wall; but it is withoutright mortar, and therefore of no use.
one . . . othersbesidesindividual effort, they jointly co-operated to deludethe people.
daubed . . . with untemperedmortaras sand without lime, mud without straw [GROTIUS].FAIRBAIRN translates,”plaster it with whitewash.” But besides the hypocrisy ofmerely outwardly “daubing” to make the wall lookfair (Mat 23:27; Mat 23:29;Act 23:3), there is implied theunsoundness of the wall from the absence of true uniting cement;the “untempered cement” answering to the lie of theprophets, who say, in support of their prophecies, “Thussaith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken” (Eze22:28).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Because, even because they have seduced my people,…. Who were so by profession; otherwise such who are truly the people of God, though they may be deceived in civil things, yet not in religious matters, at least not totally and finally; in this sense it is impossible to deceive the elect of God; but as false teachers are deceivers, they lie in wait, and use all means to deceive them, and do deceive nominal professors, which is resented by the Lord; and this is given as a reason of their punishment; and which is doubled, as in
Le 26:43; to show the heinousness of their sin, and the certainty of their punishment:
saying, peace, and [there was] no peace; giving out that peace would be made with the king of Babylon; that the captives would return to their own land, where, with those that were in it, they would enjoy great prosperity; when no such thing came to pass, nor would; but the contrary was certain, by the predictions of the true prophets sent by the Lord:
and one built up a wall; one of the false prophets, and of the chief of them, gave out that Jerusalem would continue a walled city, and abide firm and impregnable against the Chaldean army, and would never be taken:
and, lo, others daubed it with untempered [mortar]; others of the false prophets, observing that what the first had delivered out was pleasing to the people, not only assented to it, but strongly affirmed it; and, with colourings and specious arguments, made it look more plausible and probable; when, alas! the whole was no other than like putting a parcel of loose stones or bricks together, and throwing some slushy stuff upon them, as, moistened sand without lime, or clay without straw, as the Targum and Vulgate Latin versions render it; which would never cement the bricks or stones together. R. Joseph Kimchi interprets it of bricks not burnt: so false teachers imitate the true ministers of the word, in preaching peace; but then they do not direct aright where it is to be had, which is only in Christ; or the proper persons, sinners pressed with the guilt of sin, and seeking for ease and peace in a right way; but publish it to those to whom it does not belong, for there is no peace to the wicked; and put them upon making peace themselves by their own works of righteousness, and their legal repentance, and outward humiliation; or promise it to them, though they have no faith in Christ, and are not sensible of their sin and danger: these men are builders, but not wise master builders; they do not build upon the foundation Christ, but build up a wall without him; leaving him out of the building who is the chief corner stone; deliver out some loose and unconnected doctrines, that are not according to the Scriptures, nor consistent with each other; and encourage the people to perform some loose duties and cold services, without the cement of faith and love; and which is no other than building upon the sand, or with it; though they fancy it to be a wall, a shelter, and protection to them, from the wrath and justice of God, and by which they shall climb up to heaven; which will prove a bowing wall, and a tottering fence; and in these mistakes they are buoyed up by false teachers, and are flattered as being in a fair way for eternal happiness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Punishment of False Prophets; The Doom of False Prophets. | B. C. 593. |
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: 11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
We have here more plain dealing with the false prophets, and some further articles of their doom. We have seen the people made ashamed of the false prophets (though sometimes they had been fond of them) and casting them away, as they shall do their false gods, with indignation; now here we find them as much ashamed of their false prophecies, which they had sometimes depended upon with much assurance. Observe,
I. How the people are deceived by the false prophets. Those flatterers seduce them, saying, Peace, and there was no peace, v. 10. They pretended to have seen visions of peace, v. 16. But that could not be, for there was no peace, saith the Lord God. There was no prosperity designed for them, and therefore there could be no ground for their security; yet they told them that God was at peace with them, and had mercy in reserve for them, and that the war they were engaged in with the Chaldeans should soon end in an honourable peace, and their land should enjoy a happy repose and tranquillity. They told the idolaters and other sinners that there was neither harm nor danger in the way they were in. Thus they seduced God’s people; they put a cheat upon them, led them into mistakes, and drew them aside out of that way of repentance and reformation which the other prophets were endeavouring to bring them into. Note, Those are the most dangerous seducers who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin and their fear of God. Now this is compared to the building of a slight rotten wall, or, according to our Saviour’s similitude, which is to the same purport with this (Matt. vii. 26), the building of a house upon the sand, which seems to be a shelter and protection for a while, but will fall when a storm comes. One false prophet built the wall, set up the notion that God was not at all displeased with Jerusalem, but that the city should be confirmed in its flourishing state, and be victorious over the powers that now threatened it. This notion was very pleasing, and he that started it made himself very acceptable by it and was caressed by every body, which invited others to say the same. They made the matter look yet more plausible and promising; they daubed the wall, which the first had built, but it was with untempered mortar, sorry stuff, that will not bind nor hold the bricks together; they had no ground for what they said, nor had it any consistency with itself, but was like ropes of sand. They did not strengthen the wall, were in no care to make it firm, to see that they went upon sure grounds; they only daubed it to hide the cracks and make it look well to the eye. And the wall thus built, when it comes to any stress, much more to any distress, will bulge and totter, and come down by degrees. Note, Doctrines that are groundless, though ever so grateful, that are not built upon a scripture foundation nor fastened with a scripture cement, though ever so plausible, ever so pleasing, are not of any worth, nor will stand men in any stead; and those hopes of peace and happiness which are not warranted by the word of God will but cheat men, like a wall that is well daubed indeed, but ill-built.
II. How they will be soon undeceived by the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth. 1. God will in anger bring a terrible storm that shall beat fiercely and furiously upon the wall. The descent which the Chaldean army shall make upon Judah, and the siege which they shall lay to Jerusalem, will be as an overflowing shower, or inundation (such as Solomon calls a sweeping rain that leaves no food, Prov. xxviii. 3), will bear down all before it, as the deluge did in Noah’s time: You, O great hailstones! shall fall, the artillery of heaven, every hailstone like a cannon-ball, battering this wall, and with these a stormy wind, which is sometimes so strong as to rend the rocks (1 Kings xix. 11), much more an ill-built wall, v. 11. But that which makes this rain, and hail, and wind, most terrible is that they arise from the wrath of God, and are enforced by that; it is that which sends them; it is that which gives them the setting on (v. 13); it is a stormy wind in my fury, and an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in my fury. The fury of Nebuchadnezzar and his princes, who highly resented Zedekiah’s treachery, made the invasion very formidable, but that was nothing in comparison with God’s displeasure. The staff in their hand is my indignation, Isa. x. 5. Note, An angry God has winds and storms at command wherewith to alarm secure sinners; and his wrath makes them frightful and forcible indeed; for who can stand before him when he is angry? 2. This storm shall overturn the wall: it shall fall, and the wind shall rend it (v. 11), the hailstones shall consume it (v. 13); I will break it down (v. 14) and bring it to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered; it will appear how false, how rotten it was, to the prophetical reproach of the builders. When the Chaldean army has made Judah and Jerusalem desolate then this credit of the prophets, and the hopes of the people, will both sink together; the former will be found false in flattering the people and the latter foolish in suffering themselves to be imposed upon by them, and so exposed to so much the greater confusion, when the judgment shall surprise them in their security. Note, Whatever men think to shelter themselves with against the judgments of God, while they continue unreformed, will prove but a refuge of lies and will not profit them in the day of wrath. See Isa. xxviii. 17. Men’s anger cannot shake that which God has built (for the blast of the terrible ones is but as a storm against the wall, which makes a great noise, but never stirs the wall; see Isa. xxv. 4), but God’s anger will overthrow that which men have built in opposition to him. They and all their attempts, they and all the securities wherein they intrench themselves, shall be as a bowing wall and as a tottering fence (Psa 62:3; Psa 62:10); and when their vain predictions are disproved, and their vain expectations disappointed, then it will be discovered that there was no ground for either, Hab. iii. 13. The day will declare what every man’s work is, and the fire will try it, 1 Cor. iii. 13. 3. The builders of the wall, and those that daubed it, will themselves be buried in the ruins of it: It shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst thereof, v. 14. And thus the threatenings of God’s wrath, and all the just intentions of it, shall be accomplished to the uttermost, both upon the wall and upon those that have daubed it, v. 15. The same judgments that will prove the false prophets to be false will punish them for their falsehood; and they themselves shall be involved in the calamity which they made the people believe there was no danger of, and become monuments of that justice which they bade defiance to. Thus, if the blind lead the blind, both the blind leaders and the blind followers will fall together into the ditch. Note, Those that deceive others will in the end prove to have deceived themselves; and no doom will be more fearful than that of unfaithful ministers, that flattered sinners in their sins. 4. Both the deceivers and the deceived, when they thus perish together, will justly be ridiculed and triumphed over (v. 12): When the wall has fallen shall it not be said unto you, by those that gave credit to the true prophets, and feared the word of the Lord, “Now where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed the wall? What has become of all the fine soft words and fair promises wherewith you flattered your wicked neighbours, and all the assurances you gave them that the troubles of the nation should soon be at an end?” The righteous shall laugh at them, the righteous God shall, righteous men shall, saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength,Psa 52:6; Psa 52:7. I also will laugh at your calamity, Prov. i. 26. They will say unto you (v. 15), “The wall is no more, neither he that daubed it; your hopes have vanished, and those that supported them, even the prophets of Israel,” v. 16. Note, Those that usurp the honours that do not belong to them will shortly be filled with the shame that does.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
FALSE PEACE AND UNTEMPERED MORTAR
Verses 10-16:
Verse 10 explains why this judgment fell upon the lying prophets. They had cried, repeatedly prophecying that peace was at hand;
and there was no peace promised to them. They lied to the people; and they have their offspring doing similar things, as false prophets today, Isa 57:21; Jer 4:10; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 14:13; Jer 23:17; Jer 28:9; Mal 3:15; Mat 7:21-23; 2Co 11:13-15. It is added against them that “one built up a wall (one false prophet) and, lo, others daubed it, the thin wall, with untempered mortar;” another false prophet had tried to “prop up” the lie that the former lying prophet had told; In collusion they deceived the people. See? 2Ch 18:12; Isa 30:10; Eze 22:28. They were hypocritical, white-washed prophets, in sheepskins, Mat 7:15; Mat 23:27; Mat 23:29; Act 23:3.
Verse 11 directs Ezekiel to chide or reprimand the lying, perverting, hypocritical, false prophets. in Israel who daubed the wall with untempered mortar, which was no better than whitewash to strengthen the wall. He was to tell them that it would fall. An overflowing shower, a windstorm, and hailstones of God’s displeasure against what they had done, as foes of truth, Exo 9:18; Jos 10:11; Psa 18:12-13; Isa 28:2; Isa 30:30; Eze 38:22. The Chaldeans were to be these hailstones to fall upon them and their testimonies.
Verse 12 adds that when the wall was fallen, which they had daubed or propped up with untempered mortar, they as lying prophets, will be asked, “where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?” The answer is that no “false-peace-hope” would be left. Their lying vanity would become a proverb, leaving them as objects of scorn, even as lying prophets will be in the day of judgment, of which our Lord warned, Mat 7:15; Mat 7:21-23.
Verse 13 further warns that God will rend the wall (tear it down) with a storm-wind in the fury of His wrath against the evils in Israel, condoned by the false prophets. He repeats that in “His name,” what had been generally expressed regarding destruction and calamity, v. 11, by means of wind, water, and hail, would surely befall the prophets and their people whom they had duped with false promises of peace.
Verse 14 adds that like natures full fury, which He controls, having “His way in the wind and the storm,” (Nah 1:3) will He break down, lay bare, the wall the false prophets had daubed (propped up) or whitewashed with untempered mortar. Their labors were to be destroyed, all they had built up, laid bare to the foundations, to their open shame. They should then know that He who destroyed and exposed their sham work was the Lord, as stated v. 9, 21, 23; Eze 14:8.
Verse 15 declares (with repetition) or tautology that thus or “just like this,” after this manner, by use of storm, rain, and hail to destroy an untempered mortar building, even so would He bring judgment upon the work and testimony of these false prophets and their people in Israel until they should recognize that He was the Lord God whom men were to serve; and lying prophets would be gravely judged among His people, Hos 8:7; Hos 10:12-13. The judgment would last till the wall and they who daubed it were destroyed.
Verse 16 concludes that such will be the certain end of all those lying prophets of Israel which prophecy visions of peace and preservation of Israel from the Chaldean judgment, when the Lord said there would be no peace for them until the people, the city, the temple, and the land had been overrun and destroyed, as repeatedly stated before, Jer 6:14; Jer 28:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here Ezekiel pursues the same metaphor which he had used with a very slight difference, for there is such an agreement that the connection is apparent between the former and the present sentence. He had said that the false prophets did not go up to the breaches, and did not restore the hedges of the house of Israel: we have explained these words thus — teachers who discharge their duties honestly and sincerely are like builders, who, if they see a breach in a wall, instantly and carefully repair it: they are like gardeners who do not allow either a field or a vineyard to be exposed to wild beasts. As, then, he had formerly said that these false prophets did not go up to the breach through their not being affected by the dispersion of the people, but knowingly and willingly betrayed the people’s safety through open and gross perfidy; so also he now says, that they built a wall indeed, but without mortar. The word תפל, thephel, “untempered,” is variously explained, but I doubt not the Prophet meant sand without lime. Jerome thinks it to be mortar without chaff; but my view is better, namely, that they built only in appearance; and in this the image which the Prophet now uses differs from the preceding one. He had said before, they did not go up to the breach; he now grants them more — that they really built; but it is easy to reconcile the two assertions: since they did not go up to the breach to provide safety for the people; and yet they feigned themselves anxious, and seemed as if they wished to restore the ruins. But while the Prophet merely grants their intention, he adds that they were bad builders, just as if any one should heap together a quantity of sand, and moisten it with water, yet it would profit him nothing; for the sand disperses by itself, and grows solid by lime alone, and thus becomes cement. Therefore the Prophet means that those impostors accomplish nothing seriously; and when they show great anxiety and care, that is in vain, because they only heap up sand and dust when they ought to temper the mortar with sand and lime. We understand then how these two places mutually agree: because, even because they have deceived my people: this is without a figure. Now he adds figuratively, they have built up a wall, but they have daubed it only with untempered mortar, that is, sand.
The kind of fallacies are now mentioned : because they said, Peace, when there was no peace. We yesterday reminded you that impostors have something in common with God’s true servants, just as Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. (2Co 11:14.) We know that all the prophets were always messengers of peace: now this agrees chiefly with the good news, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. (Isa 52:7; Rom 10:15.) Whenever God commends his own word, he adds its character of peace. For when he is justly at enmity with us, there is one way of reconciliation and remission of sin. This springs from the preaching of the gospel. The prophets formerly discharged this duty; and when these impostors strove to deceive the people, they stripped off their masks and deceived the simple through the difficulty of discerning between themselves and the true servants of God. And yet, as we said yesterday, no one could be deceived except through their own fault. For God, indeed, offers us peace, and invites us to reconciliation by his own prophets; but on this condition, that we make war with our own lusts. This, then, is one way of being at peace with God by becoming enemies to ourselves, and fighting earnestly against the depraved and vicious desires of the flesh. But how do false prophets preach peace? Why! so that miserable and abandoned men may sleep in the midst of their sins. We must diligently attend, then, to this difference, that we may safely embrace the peace which is offered us by true prophets, and be on our guard against the snares of those who fallaciously flatter us with peace, because under promise of reconciliation they foment hostilities between God and ourselves.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) One built up a wall.The original word is used for a partition wallof course a comparatively slight wallas noted in the margin; in Eze. 13:12, however, the ordinary word for an outer, or a city wall, is used. One of the false prophets would build a wall, set up of his own devicesome vision as a defence against the warnings of calamity; and his fellows would join in his deceit by covering this wall with untempered mortar. The word is not the usual one for plaster, and indeed is used in this sense only in these verses and in Eze. 22:28. Elsewhere, the word is used in Job. 6:6 = unsavoury, Lam. 2:14= foolish things, and a closely-related form in Jer. 23:13=folly (marg., an absurd thing). Here (and also in Eze. 13:11; Eze. 13:14-15) it must mean plaster, but the use of the word elsewhere shows plainly enough what sort of plaster is intended. Calvin understands it of mortar mixed with sand and water only, the lime being left out. It is still a common practice in the East, as it has always been, to cover over their walls with stucco. In this case the other false prophets are represented as joining with the one who built the wall by covering over its weaknesses and defects with a fair-seeming plaster. (Comp. Mat. 23:27; Act. 23:3.) They helped on the delusion by giving it the weight of their influence, and persuading the people to believe a lie.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. One built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar Literally, it [the people] buildeth up a little wall, and they [the prophets] daub it with whited plaster. The people, believing that no danger is ahead, build their defenses carelessly and the false prophets approve the policy. They whitewash the actions of the godless government officials and declare that the city is perfectly safe. But in vain do they seek with their whited plaster to hide the imperfections of the city wall and fill in with mortar what should have been laid with solid stone.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Because, even because they have led my people astray, saying ‘Peace’, and there is no peace. And when someone builds up a flimsy wall they daub it with whitewash.”
The word for whitewash comes from a root meaning to talk nonsense. Some in Israel have built up for themselves ideas, empty hopes, which are the equivalent of a flimsy wall which will not stand the test (compare Eze 13:5 and Eze 13:16) and the prophets contribute to their folly by whitewashing it to hide the cracks. What they speak is nonsense. They declare peace, but there will be no peace. They promise safety and prosperity for Jerusalem when there will be no safety or prosperity. Thus they lead the people astray.
It is always a temptation to a preacher to speak what people wish to hear, to reinforce their prejudices, to make them satisfied with a low level life and a lesser morality. They please men and not God. But such preachers too will be disqualified by God from His purposes. If we never disturb people we must question our ministry.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 13:10. And one built up a wall “The false prophets have deceived my people, by telling them that none of those judgments should overtake them which Jeremiah and the other prophets had foretold; and instead of providing such a defence and bulwark as might secure the people against the judgment threatened them, they raised only a slight fence, without any cement to strengthen it; that is to say, they applied slight and palliating remedies to public calamities, which will never give true peace to the consciences of men, nor be of any service to them.” The apostrophe to the hail-stones, in the next verse, is noble and sublime.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1103
DELUSIVE CONFIDENCE REPROVED
Eze 13:10-12. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an over-flowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
SO deeply is unbelief rooted in the heart of man, that scarcely any testimony from God is ever received with the confidence it deserves. This appears throughout all the sacred history: and our own lives are one continued exemplification of it. To his people of old God was pleased to give many repeated warnings of the judgments that were coming upon them: but the assertions of false prophets were always credited, in opposition to the declarations of God himself. By the Prophet Ezekiel God forewarned the people of the captivity to which they would soon be reduced by their Chaldean invaders. He directed the prophet to set before their eyes symbolic representations of the calamities that awaited them; to dig through the wall of his house, and carry forth his goods by night, and to eat bread, and drink water, with quaking and trembling [Note: See the whole preceding chapter.]. But false prophets persuaded the people that they had no cause for alarm; for that these signs related to distant times; and that there would soon be an end of the impending dangers. It seems that some, women, as well as men, conspired thus to counteract the influence of Gods word upon the people; and that they sewed pillows to the armholes, or elbows, of persons, and covered their heads with kerchiefs, in order to intimate to them, that they might repose themselves in perfect ease and safety. To reprove these persons, and to confirm his former assertions, is the prophets object in the chapter before us. He compares the men to persons building an ill-constructed wall, and daubing it with untempered mortar, which would be washed away by the first shower; and to the women he declares, that God would soon tear from the arms of their deluded followers the emblems of their delusion, and undeceive those whom they had so fatally led astray [Note: See the whole chapter.].
But it is not our intention to confine our remarks to that particular occasion. Similar conduct obtains amongst us at this day; and it calls for similar reproof. We propose therefore to consider,
I.
Who are obnoxious to this reproof
All ranks and orders of men who attempt to invalidate the messages of the Most High, are guilty of the evil here spoken of. It is justly imputable to
1.
Unfaithful ministers
[Not only amongst the Jews, but even in the Christian Church, there were many, who, professing themselves to be ambassadors of heaven, were only deceivers of the people [Note: 2Co 11:13. Gal 1:6-8. 1Ti 4:1. 2Pe 2:1-2.]. Their habit has at all times been, to say, Peace, peace, when there was no peace [Note: ver. 10. with Jer 6:14.]. Would to God that none of this character yet existed in the world! But are there not still some who keep out of view the desperate depravity of the human heart, the absolute necessity of a new birth, the impossibility of being saved by any righteousness of our own, and the duty of giving up ourselves wholly and unreservedly to God as his redeemed people? Are there not those who decry these things as enthusiasm; and who tell their hearers, that there is a smoother and an easier way to heaven than what the Scriptures have marked out? If then such persons exist, say whether they do not resemble the prophets and the prophetesses spoken of in our text? ]
2.
Unbelieving people
[Whether seduced by others or not, all are prone of themselves to speak peace unto their own souls: they will not receive the declarations of God concerning them: they cannot endure to think that they are in such danger as Gods word declares them to be; or that the way to heaven is so strait and narrow as his Gospel represents it. They substitute some terms of their own in the place of those which God has prescribed; and they persuade themselves that they shall be saved at last, though they conform themselves in no respect either to the principles or practice of the Christian code Are not these then daubing their wall with untempered mortar, and sewing to their arms pillows which shall he rent away? ]
Let us then proceed to notice,
II.
The warning here given them
Their labour is, alas! and must ever be, in vain: it will end,
1.
In certain and bitter disappointment
[Their wall will surely fall: and shall it not then be said to them, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? Sad indeed will be the reproaches which both the deceivers and the deceived will cast on each other: the one will say, Why did ye mislead me? the others will say, Why did ye believe me in preference to the word of God? Sad reflections too will all cast upon themselves: Why did I set up my own opinion against the most express declarations of my God? The very disappointment which the Jews experienced, when Ezekiels prophecies were verified in the destruction of their city, and in their own captivity, will ere long be realized by all who now buoy themselves up with their own delusions. If they should entreat their God to give them an opportunity of undeceiving their surviving relatives, the answer will be, No: they have Moses and the Prophets; and if they will not attend to their voice, they must receive their deserved recompence.]
2.
In irremediable and endless ruin
[No further means of salvation will be afforded them. Their day of grace is irrecoverably gone: their state is fixed for ever. O to what anguish of heart are they now a prey! What weeping, what wailing, what gnashing of teeth do they now experience, under a sense of Gods wrath, and in the prospect of its everlasting duration! This must assuredly be the end of all our self-deception. As Ezekiel was a sign to the Jews [Note: Eze 12:14.], so have we signs in plenty, that the threatened vengeance shall come [Note: 1Co 10:5-11. 2Pe 2:4-9. Jude, ver. 6, 7. Set forth for an example.], and that they who will not believe Gods word shall find it true at the last [Note: Jer 44:28.] ]
Address
1.
To careless sinners
[You will persuade yourselves that no evil consequence shall arise to you from your neglect of God and of your own souls. But will God falsify his word to save you? Do not entertain so vain, so impious, a thought. He will not, he cannot, deny himself: nor shall one jot or tittle of his word ever fail ]
2.
To self-complacent formalists
[You profess to reverence the word of God, and to comply with its commands: but, whilst you rest in mere forms and ceremonies of religion, you greatly err. God requires the religion of the heart: you must have the power of godliness as well as its form. The wall that you are constructing may look fair to the eye; but it will not stand: it is raised on a sandy foundation: it is formed of bad materials: it wants the cement of the Spirit: the showers shall soon wash off its external covering; and the stormy wind shall scatter the loose materials: in the name of God we declare to you, that it shall fall. Nothing will ever stand, but that which is laid on Christ as the foundation, and has all the graces of the Spirit for its superstructure ]
3.
To inconsistent professors
[Be it granted, that, as far as relates to your views of the Gospel, you are right: still we must look to the effects of the Gospel on your heart and life; and must declare unto you, that, if you do not manifest by your life and conversation that you have the same mind as was in Christ, you only deceive your own souls: you may have a faith indeed; but it is no better than the faith of devils. From this point we cannot recede a hairs breadth. We do not say that you must possess sinless perfection; for then who could be saved? But we say, that no sin must have allowed, or habitual, dominion over you: the right eye, or right hand, if knowingly retained contrary to the will of God, will as effectually cast you into perdition, as any number of sins whatever: your condemnation indeed may be increased by a multitude of sins; but it will not be rendered more certain, than it is by one reigning sin. O that those who are worldly-minded, or covetous, or proud, or passionate, or impure, or slothful, or addicted to any one sinful disposition, would consider this! God says, By their fruits ye shall know them: and by their fruits they shall be known. If ever we would be Christs, we must walk as Christ walked.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 13:10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and [there was] no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered [morter]:
Ver. 10. Because, even because. ] Heb., For that, and for that; an angry epizeuxis. a See Eze 13:8 .
Saying, Peace, peace.
And one built up a wall.
And, lo, others daubed it.
With untempered mortar.
a A figure by which a word is repeated with vehemence or emphasis. D
b Jun
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Because, even because. Figure of speech Epizeuxis. App-6.
one built = be: i.e. one = a false prophet.
a wall = the outer wall of a house.
lo. Fig, Asteriemos. App-6.
others: i.e. the false prophets. Compare Eze 13:16.
daubed = coated,
untempered mortar = whitewash. Compare Mat 28:29. Act 23:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 13:10-16
Eze 13:10-16
“Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying Peace, and there is no peace; and when one buildeth up a wall, behold, they daub it with untempered mortar. Say unto them that daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye daubed it? Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar; and I will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; to wit, the prophets of Israel that prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and that see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord Jehovah.”
THE SECOND DENUNCIATION OF FALSE PROPHETS
The utter lack of integrity among the false prophets is here illustrated by the work of a foolish, incompetent builder who uses worthless mortar in the construction of a wall. We do not know exactly what the “untempered mortar” actually was, but it makes no difference. Whatever it was, it was worthless, and the first shower totally ruined it; but God promised them that it would be no ordinary shower at all, but an “overflowing one” in God’s anger, with great hailstones and a tornadic wind. Their wall would fall … fall … fall … come down to the ground… be consumed … its foundation uncovered … and even. the builders of it consumed with it!
This is not a reference to any literal wall, but to the rotten, worthless, and unbelieving “prophecies” these sinful men were preaching in place of the true Word of God; and we must add that there is today, in our society, a lot of daubing going on with the same kind of untempered mortar! Keil identified the daubing with untempered mortar as, “A figurative description of deceitful flattery and hypocrisy, the covering up of inward corruption with outward appearances, as in Mat 23:27, and Act 23:3.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
seduced: 2Ki 21:9, Pro 12:26, Jer 23:13-15, 1Ti 4:1, 2Ti 3:13, 1Jo 2:26, Rev 2:20
Peace: Eze 13:16, Isa 57:21, Jer 4:10, Jer 6:14, Jer 8:11, Jer 8:15, Jer 14:13, Jer 23:17, Jer 28:9, Mal 3:15
and one: These false prophets pretend to be a wall of defence; but their wall is bad, and their morter is worse. One gives a lying vision; another pledges himself that it is true; and the people believe what they say, and trust not in God, nor turn from their sins.
a wall: or, a slight wall
others: Eze 22:28, 2Ch 18:12, Isa 30:10, Jer 5:31, Mic 2:11
Reciprocal: 1Ki 13:18 – But Isa 5:18 – draw Isa 28:17 – and the hail Isa 30:13 – as a breach Jer 37:19 – your Eze 13:18 – that sew Eze 21:29 – to bring Eze 22:25 – a conspiracy Eze 33:8 – if thou Eze 36:3 – Because Hos 9:7 – the prophet Mic 3:5 – concerning Mat 7:27 – General Act 13:6 – a false 1Co 2:4 – not 1Co 3:13 – and the fire 2Co 11:15 – whose Eph 5:6 – no Rev 8:7 – hail
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 13:10. This verse is figurative and refers to the general attitude of confidence that was shown by the people in Jerusalem. That condition of peace was the wall and the mortar was the lies of the preceding verse. Untempered is from TAPHEL which Strong defines, “To smear: plaster tas gummy) or slime; (figurative) frivolity. A smeary or pasty material would not make a strong protection for a wall, hence it was a fitting comparison for the useless lies by which the false prophets had built up the ”wall” of confidence In the minds of the people.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 13:10-15. They have seduced my people, &c. Have made my people to err, both with respect to the greatness of their own guilt, and my displeasure on account of it, as if both were less than they really are, and no great danger was to be apprehended. They deceived them, by assuring them that none of those judgments should overtake them which Jeremiah and the other true prophets threatened them with, and they spoke peace to mens consciences upon false grounds and principles. Thus they obstructed and drew them out of the way of that repentance and reformation into which the other prophets were endeavouring to bring them. And, observe, reader, those are the most dangerous seducers who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin, or their fear of God. These are compared to men who build a slight tottering wall, which others daub with untempered mortar; sorry stuff which will not bind nor hold the bricks together; doctrines not grounded on, nor according with, the word of God. Say unto them that it shall fall When they have the greatest need of defence, and when they least apprehend such an event. There shall be an overflowing shower, &c. Terrible judgments from God, often compared in Scripture to storms and tempests, the artillery of heaven, especially when he executes his judgments by a victorious army. Shall it not be said, Where is the daubing? &c. Then it will be asked, by way of taunt and reproach, where are the remedies you had provided, and in which you persuaded all to put confidence? I will even rent it with a stormy wind in my fury Rather, in my indignation. Under these metaphors is foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jewish state by the Chaldean army. Thus the Chaldee paraphrase expounds it: I will bring a mighty king with the force of a whirlwind, and a destroying people, as it were an overflowing storm, and powerful princes like great hailstones. So will I break down the wall, &c. Thus will I overthrow all your false confidences, and all the remedies which ye have provided against the ruin of the state; and ye yourselves that were so confident of safety shall be consumed. The Chaldee paraphrase reads, I will destroy the city wherein ye have uttered these false prophecies, which exposition accords with the next words, And ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof; that is, shall be destroyed in the same common calamity. And ye shall know, &c. Those that deceived others will in the end be found to have deceived themselves. And no doom will be more fearful than that of unfaithful ministers. Thus will I accomplish my wrath, &c. Fulfil what my prophets foretold; and will say unto you Will show by the awful event; The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it The city is no more, nor the false prophets.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, {f} Peace; and [there was] no peace; and one built up a {g} wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered [mortar]:
(f) Read Geneva “Jer 6:14”
(g) While the true prophets prophesied the destruction of the city to bring the people to repentance, the false prophets spoke the contrary, and flattered them in their vanities, so that what one false prophet said
which is here called the building of the wall) another false prophet would affirm, though he had neither opportunity nor good ground to hear him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Judgment would come on them for misleading the Lord’s people by falsely predicting peace when no peace was coming.
There are two interpretations of the references to whitewashing, the literal and the metaphorical. The literal interpretation understands God to be saying that when the residents of Jerusalem built their walls (Heb. hayis, a flimsy partition) and houses, believing that they were secure, the false prophets supported their efforts by adding the whitewash. They should have warned them to prepare for coming judgment rather than helping them beautify the walls of their homes. The coming divine judgment would descend on Jerusalem like a rainstorm with hailstones and violent winds and destroy their beautifully whitewashed walls. [Note: See ibid., pp. 801-2.]
The metaphorical interpretation, which most commentators took and which I prefer, understands God to be saying that these false prophets were putting a good front on the situation in Jerusalem, saying peace rather than judgment was coming. They were compounding Israel’s difficulties by hiding problems that needed to be exposed and corrected. Ezekiel was to tell them that invasion would come, like a rainstorm with hailstones and violent winds, and that their facade of a future for the people would then come crashing down (cf. Mat 7:24-29).
"The false prophets were compared to those who build an unsafe wall and cover up its defects. The untempered mortar [AV] was actually whitewash, which is useless for strengthening insecure walls. Smooth words of false messengers hid from the people the actual seriousness of their spiritual condition. To daub with untempered mortar [or plaster with whitewash], in the metaphorical sense, is to flatter, to use hypocrisy. When the false prophets confirmed the people in their evil ways, by their approval they were whitewashing the flimsy spiritual structure of Israel." [Note: Feinberg, p. 75.]