Ezekiel 13:18

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? WOE TO THE WOMEN THAT SEW PILLOWS TO ALL ARM-HOLES - rather, 'to all elbows and wrists,' for which the false prophetesses made cushions to lean on, as a symbolical act, typifying the perfect tranquility which they foretold to those consulting them. Perhaps they made their dupes rest on these cushions in a fancied state of ecstasy, after they made them at first stand (whence the expression, "every stature," is used for, 'men of every age'). As the men are said to have "built a wall" (), so the women are said to "sew pillows," etc., both alike typifying the "peace" they promised the impenitent. Make k...

It is said, then, _woe to those who sew pillows _or _cushions_; it is the same thing — _to all armholes, and to those who make covers for the head of every stature_. There is no doubt that by these tricks they deluded the minds and eyes of the simple. It is evident from the law that some ceremonies are useful, since God commands nothing superfluous; but Satan by his cunning turns everything useful to man’s destruction. Meanwhile we must remark that false prophets were always immoderately fond of outward signs; for since they have nothing substantial to offer, they have need of ostentation to dazzle all eyes. This then is the reason why men and women who intend to deceive, always heap together a number of ceremonies. Hence Ezekiel says, _that those women had sown together pillows, and he adds, for all armholes_. Whence it appears that they laid them under the armpits of those by whom they...

17-23 It is ill with those who had rather hear pleasing lies than unpleasing truths. The false prophetesses tried to make people secure, signified by laying them at ease, and to make them proud, signified by the finery laid on their heads. They shall be confounded in their attempts, and God's people shall be delivered out of their hands. It behoves Christians to keep close to the word of God, and in every thing to seek the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Let us so trust the promises of God as to keep his commandments....

Verse Ezekiel 13:18. _THAT SEW PILLOWS TO ALL ARM HOLES_] I believe this refers to those _cushions_ which are so copiously provided in the eastern countries for the apartments of women; on which they sit, lean, rest their heads, and prop up their arms. I have several drawings of eastern ladies, who are represented on _sofas_; and often with their _arm thrown over a pillow_, which is thereby pressed close to their side, and against which they thus recline. The prophet's discourse seems to point out that state of softness and effeminacy to which the predictions of those false prophetesses allured the inhabitants of Jerusalem. A careless voluptuous life is that which is here particularly reprehended. _AND MAKE KERCHIEFS_] The word _kerchief_ is French, _couvre chef_, that which _covers the head_; hence _handkerchief_ and...

A rebuke to the false prophetesses, and a declaration that God will confound them, and deliver their victims from their snares. Women were sometimes inspired by the true God, as were Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah; but an order of prophetesses was unknown among the people of God, and the existence of such a class in the last days of the kings of Judah was a fresh instance of declension into pagan usages. Ezekiel 13:18. Render thus: “Woe to the women that” put charms on every finger-joint, that set veils upon heads of every height to ensnare souls. “Will ye” ensnare “the souls of my people,” and keep your own souls alive, and will ye profane my name “among my people for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to” keep alive “the souls that should not live, by lying to my people” wh

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 13:1 Another interval follows, and then a fresh and fuller burst of inspiration, manifestly in close connection with Ezekiel 12:21, and to be read in combination with Jeremiah 23:1; which, as Jeremiah was in communication with the exiles (Jeremiah 29:1), Ezekiel may probably have seen. There were false prophets and prophetesses among the exiles as well as in Jerusalem, and an utterance is now found for his long pent up indignation. EZEKIEL 13:2,...

AND SAY, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, WOE TO THE [WOMEN] THAT SEW PILLOWS TO ALL ARMHOLES,.... Or, "put pillows to all elbows" l; thereby signifying that they might be at ease, and rest secure, and look upon themselves as in the utmost safety, and not fear any enemy, the invasion of the Chaldeans; or that their city would be destroyed, and they carried captive, as the prophets of the Lord had foretold: AND MAKE KERCHIEFS UPON THE HEAD OF EVERY STATURE; whether taller or lower; the word stature, according to Kimchi, is used, because the people stood when they inquired of these prophetesses whether they should have peace or not, or good or evil should befall them: or, "of every age", as the Septuagint version; young or old; they put these kerchiefs, or "veils" m, as some render the word, upon all sorts of persons (for they refused none that came to them they could get any thing by), upon thei...

Ezekiel 13:1. And now the Lord speaks through Ezekiel about the false prophets in the midst of His people. They prophesied out of their own hearts; or as it might be rendered, “Who prophesy from their own mind without having seen.” Such they were and such are the false teachers of this present age 2 Peter 2:1. Of such our Lord warned: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” Matthew 7:15. Every man who prophesies out of his own heart, who utters his own mind, whose preaching and teaching is not according to the oracles of God, is a false prophet, a blind leader of the blind. Like false prophets in Israel the false teachers in Christendom are the cause of the spiritua

THE FALSE PROPHETESSES. But women, as well as men, contributed, and just as fatally, to the popular delusion. The false prophets were public men, who exercised an influence on politics; the false prophetesses corresponded roughly to our modern fortune-tellers, and wielded an enormous private influence over a people prone to superstition, and confused by the complexity of the situation. We have here a very vivid picture of their mysterious practices. They are seen sewing magic bands or amulets (not pillows) on to the wrists or elbows of their clients, and attaching long, flowing veils to their heads. The professed object of these superstitious practices is the capture and control of souls more plainly to slay and to spare, _i.e._ to determine their fate by a solemn prediction of death or good fortune, as the case may be. Ezekiel takes three objections to all this profane jugglery: (_a_) i...

SEW PILLOWS TO ALL ARMHOLES. sew together coverings upon all the joints of My hands: i.e. hide from the People the hands of Jehovah lifted up and stretched forth in judgment (Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 5:2; Isaiah 5:10). PILLOWS coverings for purposes of concealment. Hebrew. _Kesathoth_ (occurs only here and in Ezekiel 13:20), from kasah, to conceal, to hide. First occurrence (of _kasah)_ Genesis 7:19; Genesis 7:20;...