Yechezkel 13:20

20 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hineni, I am against your magic charms, wherewith ye there hunt to ensnare the nefashot like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the nefashot go, even the nefashot that ye hunt like birds.

Yechezkel 13:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 13:20

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I [am] against
your pillows
Not only had an abhorrence of them, but was determined to destroy them, detect their fallacies, and expose the folly of such actions, and them to shame and contempt: wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly;
to the places where they prophesied; into the toils and nets they spread for them, in order to catch them with their divinations and prophecies, and make a gain of them: or, "into the gardens", or "groves" F15; there to commit idolatry, ( Isaiah 65:3 ) ; and I will tear them from your arms;
by which it seems that those pillows were not only put under the arms of those that came to inquire of these female prophets or fortune tellers; but they put them under their own arms, and lay upon them as if they were asleep, and in a trance or ecstasy; and so the kerchiefs or veils were upon their heads, which covered their faces, to show that they were quite retired from the world, and wholly attentive to the visions and revelations they pretended were made them by the Lord; and which they gave out, in this superstitious way, to the credulous people that flocked about them: and will let the souls go, [even] the souls that ye hunt to make [them]
fly;
which were captivated with their superstitions; drawn into their nets and snares; decoyed into the gardens, where they were prevailed upon to sacrifice to idols, and were taken with their soothsaying and lying divinations; these the Lord promises to break the snare for them, and set them at liberty, and preserve them from that ruin and destruction they were ready to come into; see ( Psalms 124:7 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F15 (twxrpl) "in floralia", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius; "in floridis hortis", Piscator.

Yechezkel 13:20 In-Context

18 And say, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hoy (woe, doom) to the seamstresses of magic charms on wrists, who make mispachot (amulets) for the rosh of every size to hunt nefashot! Will ye hunt the nefashot of My people, and yet save your own nefashot alive?
19 And will ye profane Me among My people for handfuls of seā€™orim and for pieces of lechem, to slay the nefashot that should not die, and to save the nefashot alive that should not live, by your kazav (lying) to My people that hear your kazav?
20 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hineni, I am against your magic charms, wherewith ye there hunt to ensnare the nefashot like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the nefashot go, even the nefashot that ye hunt like birds.
21 Your mispachot (amulets) also will I tear off, and I will save My people out of your yad, and they shall be no more in your yad (hand, power) to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
22 Because with sheker (falsehood) ye have made the lev tzaddik sad, to whom I have not brought sadness; and strengthened the hands of the rasha, that he should not turn from his derech harah to save his life;
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.