Ezekiel 22 28

Ezekiel 22:28 kjv

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.

Ezekiel 22:28 nkjv

Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had not spoken.

Ezekiel 22:28 niv

Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'?when the LORD has not spoken.

Ezekiel 22:28 esv

And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.

Ezekiel 22:28 nlt

And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, 'My message is from the Sovereign LORD,' when the LORD hasn't spoken a single word to them.

Ezekiel 22 verses

Ezekiel 22 28 Meaning

Ezekiel 22:28 speaks of the false prophets of Jerusalem who superficially concealed the people's deep spiritual and moral corruption with deceitful pronouncements. They offered false assurances of peace and prosperity, presenting their own fabrications as divine messages from the LORD. This fraudulent spiritual leadership prevented true repentance and allowed unrighteousness to persist, thus worsening the city's condition before impending judgment.

Ezekiel 22 28 Context

Ezekiel chapter 22 details Jerusalem's manifold sins, highlighting its moral degradation and spiritual decay, presenting the city as a "bloody city" deserving of judgment. God declares Jerusalem a place filled with violence, idolatry, injustice, and sexual immorality across all societal strata: princes, priests, and people. Verse 28 specifically targets the prophets, the last group in a series of condemned leaders (princes, priests, and officials). These religious leaders, entrusted with communicating God's truth, had become complicit in the city's corruption by offering false assurances instead of calling the people to repentance. This systemic failure of leadership left the people spiritually vulnerable, allowing sin to fester unaddressed and setting the stage for divine judgment, symbolized by the "furnace" of God's wrath, which Ezekiel described previously. Historically, this occurred during the period of Judah's impending destruction by Babylon, when many sought comforting messages over the harsh reality of God's pronouncements through true prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 22 28 Word analysis

• And her prophets have daubed for them:

  • "her prophets": Refers to the prophets associated with the city of Jerusalem and its people, distinguishing them from true prophets sent by God.
  • "daubed" (Hebrew: ṭāḥâ, טָחָה): Literally means to plaster or smear. It implies a superficial covering, hiding the underlying cracks and defects rather than truly repairing them. This term emphasizes that the prophets were engaged in a deceptive cosmetic repair.

• with untempered mortar:

  • "untempered mortar" (Hebrew: ṭephel, טֶפֶל): Refers to a poor, unreliable plaster, mixed without proper consistency or materials. It signifies something flimsy, useless, or easily washed away. The metaphor suggests their teachings lacked substance, truth, and divine backing, making them worthless for spiritual building. It cannot stand against the storms of divine judgment.

• seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them:

  • "seeing vanity" (Hebrew: rā’ōh shāw’, רְאֹה שָׁוְא): "Vanity" (shāw’) here implies emptiness, worthlessness, falsehood, or deception. The prophets "saw" visions that were inherently empty of truth or substance; they were deluded by their own imaginations or demonic influence, not God's revelation.
  • "divining lies" (Hebrew: qāsōm kāzāḇ, קָסֹם כָּזָב): "Divining" refers to practicing divination, an act forbidden in Israel (Deut 18:10-12). This points to an illegitimate means of obtaining revelation. "Lies" (kāzāḇ) explicitly labels their pronouncements as fabrications and falsehoods. They were not just mistaken, but intentionally deceitful or deeply deluded in their pronouncements.

• saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken:

  • "saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD": This phrase (kōh ’āmar ’ăḏōnāy YHVH) is the quintessential prophetic formula for delivering an authentic divine message. The false prophets blasphemously mimicked this divine authority.
  • "when the LORD hath not spoken" (YHVH lō’ dibbēr): This is the decisive and damning verdict from God Himself. It completely delegitimizes all their claims, revealing the root of their deceit: a complete absence of divine communication for their purported messages. It highlights the stark contrast between their false pronouncements and the true source of authority.

Ezekiel 22 28 Bonus section

The act of "daubing with untempered mortar" is not just a general metaphor for deceit; it also carries implications of superficiality and imminent collapse in ancient architecture. Just as poorly applied plaster could not strengthen a crumbling wall and would ultimately peel away, so too the prophets' false messages offered no real spiritual stability to a nation on the brink of destruction. This highlights that the work of these prophets was not merely harmless error but actively detrimental, accelerating the decay they pretended to cover. Their false prophecies served to comfort people in their sin rather than call them out of it, ensuring that God's judgment would fall more severely upon a people unrepentant due to their deceptive spiritual guides. This directly links the prophetic activity to the severity of the coming judgment in the wider context of Ezekiel 22.

Ezekiel 22 28 Commentary

Ezekiel 22:28 powerfully exposes the spiritual malpractice of Jerusalem's false prophets, categorizing their deceptive practices as a foundational reason for the nation's spiritual ruin. The "daubing with untempered mortar" imagery (Ezek 13:10) paints a picture of spiritual leaders concealing deep moral decay with a flimsy veneer of false peace and unwarranted optimism. Instead of confronting sin, these prophets "saw vanity" and "divined lies," offering empty messages rooted in their own imaginations or demonic deception, rather than divine truth. Their most egregious sin was claiming, "Thus saith the Lord GOD," when God had not spoken, appropriating divine authority to lend credibility to their deceit. This prevented the people from discerning their true spiritual condition and turning back to God, thereby accelerating the city's destruction. This passage underscores the grave responsibility of those who claim to speak for God and the danger of both delivering and accepting messages that lack genuine divine authentication, ultimately leading to spiritual confusion and judgment.

• Example 1: A pastor tells his congregation that prosperity and comfort are guaranteed for all believers, ignoring calls to repentance or sacrificial living, even though scripture indicates suffering and self-denial for Christ.
• Example 2: A spiritual leader reassures a community that God will prevent all harm, even as they persist in immoral practices, claiming direct revelation without aligning with biblical principles or divine character.