Bible Strands
Ezekiel 22:28
Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses Jerusalem during a judicial indictment of the city’s corruption. He identifies the prophets as active agents legitimizing the officials’ violent and greedy actions.
The words — The text highlights טָח֤וּ (ta.chu) and תָּפֵ֔ל (ta.fel), literally “they have plastered” and “whitewash,” describing the application of a surface coating to conceal underlying flaws.
The thread — This pattern of unauthorized prophetic speech recurs in Ezekiel 13:6, Ezekiel 13:10, and Jeremiah 23:25, where false messengers fabricate visions, declare peace without cause, and claim divine authority that God has not given.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to test every religious claim against the actual word of God rather than accepting authoritative declarations at face value. It demands vigilance against spiritual deception that sanitizes sin while masquerading as divine endorsement.
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
And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 13:6 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Ezekiel 13:10 Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,
- Jeremiah 23:25 “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
- Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jeremiah 23:21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
- Jeremiah 28:2 “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.
- Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
- Jeremiah 37:19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’?