Ezekiel 13:11

11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! ¹There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out.

Ezekiel 13:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 13:11

Say unto them which daub [it] with untempered [mortar]
The false prophets, that flattered the people with peace, prosperity, and safety: that it shall fall;
the wall they have built and daubed over; the city of Jerusalem shall be taken and destroyed; the predictions of the prophets shall prove lies; and the vain hopes and expectations of the people fail: there shall be an overflowing shower;
that shall wash away the wall with its untempered mortar; meaning the Chaldean army, compared to an overflowing shower of rain, for the multitude of men it, and the force, power, and noise, with which it should come, bearing down all before it; see ( Isaiah 8:7 Isaiah 8:8 ) ; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall;
upon the wall, and break it down: or, "ye, O great hailstones, shall cause [it] to fall" ^F8; or, "I will give great hailstones, [and] it shall fall" ^F9. The word "elgabish", which in some copies is one word, and in others two, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, is either the same with "gabish", which signifies a precious stone, and is rendered pearl in ( Job 28:18 ) ; or it may be, as it seems to be, an Arabic word; and Hottinger ^F11 takes it to be "gypsus", or lime, or the "lapis laminosus", or slate; so the Lord threatens to rain down lime or slate upon them from heaven, which should destroy the wall built with untempered mortar: and a stormy wind shall rend [it];
this seems to signify the same as the overflowing shower, the Chaldean army, compared to a strong tempestuous wind; see ( Jeremiah 4:11-13 ) ; as the hailstones, may signify the king of Babylon, with his princes, nobles, and generals.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (hnlpt vybgla ynba hntaw) "et vos, O lapides grandinis, ruere facietis [aedificium]", Munster.
F9 "Et dabo lapides grandinis, qui corruere facient [parietem]", Pagninus.
F11 Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 7. p. 119.

Ezekiel 13:11 In-Context

9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,

11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out.

12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the coating with which you smeared it?'

13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 38:22; Isaiah 28:2, 17; [Isaiah 30:13]