Bible Strands
Ezekiel 13:11
tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel delivers a divine command to the false prophets who were preaching peace while plastering a structurally unsound wall. He addresses these whitewashers at the moment their deceptive work is about to be exposed by impending judgment.
The words — אֱמֹ֛ר ('eMor) means "say" and אֶל\־ ('el-) means "to," forming the directive to speak to the טָחֵ֥י (taChei), or "plasterers," who are applying the whitewash. The verb וְ/יִפֹּ֑ל (ve/yiPol) literally means "it may fall," announcing the wall's collapse before the text lists the coming elements.
The thread — The combined imagery of torrential rain, plunging hailstones, and a bursting windstorm appears in Ezekiel 38:22 and Isaiah 28:2 as markers of divine intervention. Job 27:21 also references the sweeping east wind that removes the wicked, though it contains no rain or hail imagery.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that artificial coverings cannot prevent structural collapse under divine judgment. It asks the reader to stop trusting in superficial repairs and confront the reality of impending ruin.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 38:22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.
- Job 27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Psalms 18:13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.
- Psalms 32:6 Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
- Isaiah 25:4 For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,
- Isaiah 28:15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
- Isaiah 29:6 you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
- Isaiah 32:19 But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.