Ezekiel 13:4
New International Version
Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins.

New Living Translation
“O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins.

English Standard Version
Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins.

King James Bible
O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

New King James Version
O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.

New American Standard Bible
Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins.

NASB 1995
“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.

NASB 1977
“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.

Legacy Standard Bible
O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among waste places.

Amplified Bible
O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among the ruins.

Christian Standard Bible
Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins.

American Standard Version
O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

Contemporary English Version
Israel's prophets are no better than jackals that hunt for food among the ruins of a city.

English Revised Version
O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Israel, your prophets are like foxes among the ruins [of a city].

Good News Translation
People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city.

International Standard Version
Israel, your prophets have become like foxes among ruins.

Majority Standard Bible
Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins.

NET Bible
Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel.

New Heart English Bible
Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

Webster's Bible Translation
O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

World English Bible
Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Your prophets have been "" As foxes in the wasteland, O Israel.

Young's Literal Translation
As foxes in the wastes, Thy prophets, O Israel, have been.

Smith's Literal Translation
Thy prophets were as the foxes in the sterile regions, O Israel.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thy prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Your prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.

New American Bible
Like foxes among ruins are your prophets, Israel!

New Revised Standard Version
Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the ruins.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Like foxes among the ruins they have been your Prophets, oh Israel!
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in ruins.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thy prophets, O Israel, are like foxes in the deserts.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Reproof of False Prophets
3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing. 4Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. 5You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 23:16-17
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. / They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’

Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.

2 Peter 2:1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:

Matthew 24:11
and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

Jeremiah 23:21-22
I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. / But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Zechariah 10:2
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. / So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

Acts 20:29-30
I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. / Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.

Lamentations 2:14
The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. / And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. / It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

Isaiah 56:10-11
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber. / Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:


Treasury of Scripture

O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

like

Song of Solomon 2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Micah 2:11
If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

Micah 3:5
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

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Ezekiel 13
1. The reproof of false prophets
10. and their untempered mortar
17. Of prophecies and their pillows














Your prophets
The term "prophets" in this context refers to those who claim to speak on behalf of God but are false in their declarations. In Hebrew, the word for prophet is "נביא" (navi), which traditionally denotes someone who is a spokesperson for God. However, in this passage, these prophets are not true messengers. Historically, Israel had many false prophets who led the people astray, contrasting with true prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah who called for repentance and adherence to God's covenant.

O Israel
"Israel" here is a collective term for the people of God, the descendants of Jacob, who was renamed Israel. This term is significant as it reminds the audience of their covenant relationship with God. The nation of Israel was chosen to be a light to the nations, yet they often strayed from their divine purpose. The use of "O Israel" is a call to the entire community, emphasizing the widespread nature of the problem of false prophecy.

are like foxes
The imagery of "foxes" is powerful and evocative. In the Hebrew Bible, foxes are often seen as cunning and destructive animals. The Hebrew word "שׁוּעָלִים" (shu'alim) can denote creatures that are sly and opportunistic. This metaphor suggests that the false prophets are deceitful and self-serving, exploiting the vulnerabilities of the people for their gain. Foxes, being small and elusive, can cause significant damage to vineyards and fields, symbolizing how these prophets undermine the spiritual integrity of the nation.

among the ruins
The phrase "among the ruins" paints a picture of desolation and destruction. The Hebrew word for "ruins" is "חֳרָבוֹת" (choravot), which can refer to places that have been laid waste. This imagery suggests that the false prophets operate in a context of spiritual and moral decay. Instead of rebuilding and restoring, they thrive in chaos and contribute to the further downfall of the community. Historically, this reflects the period of the Babylonian exile when Jerusalem was in ruins, and the people were in desperate need of true guidance and hope.

(4) Like the foxes in the deserts.--The comparison is sufficiently close if it is considered as extending only to these mischievous men living unconcerned among the ruins of their state and country, as the foxes find their home in desolated cities (Lamentations 5:18); but many extend the simile to the undermining of the ground by the foxes, as these prophets accelerated the ruin of their people.

Verse 4 - Like the foxes in the deserts, etc. The points of comparison are manifold. The fox is cunning (Luke 13:32, where the term is applied to Herod Antipas). It spoils the vine and its fruits (Song of Solomon 2:15); it burrows among ruins (Nehemiah 4:3; Lamentations 5:18). So the false prophets were crafty, laid waste the vineyard of the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 5:7), made their profit out of the ruin of Israel, and made that ruin worse. The 'Reineke Fuchs,' in satirizing the monks and priests of the sixteenth century under the same comparison, presents a curious, though probably unconscious, analogue. In Matthew 7:15 and Acts 20:29 wolves appear as the types of the false prophet.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Your prophets,
נְבִיאֶ֥יךָ (nə·ḇî·’e·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5030: A spokesman, speaker, prophet

O Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

are
הָיֽוּ׃ (hā·yū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

like jackals
כְּשֻׁעָלִ֖ים (kə·šu·‘ā·lîm)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7776: Fox, perhaps jackal

among the ruins.
בָּחֳרָב֑וֹת (bā·ḥo·rā·ḇō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 2723: Waste, desolation, ruin


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 13:4 Israel your prophets have been like foxes (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
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