Ezekiel 13:4

Eze 13:4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

Ver. 4. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes.] Cowardly, crafty, cruel, greedy: venatores eludunt, et cum mortuae videntur, reviviscunt. Heretics are such, and false prophets; Arius, for instance.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze_13:4

Thy prophets are like the foxes in the desert.

False prophets like foxes

1. These creatures are lovers of grapes, as we know by a common proverb; and consequently they did much damage in such countries as Judea, which abounded with vineyards, as is noted in Son_2:15, not only by devouring the grapes but also by making holes in the walls and fences, whereby they laid open the vineyards to other ravenous beasts as well as to themselves. Just so did the false prophets to the cities of Judah: they did not only beguile people of their substance, by the character which they assumed, and the figure which they made among them; but by their false doctrines and subversions of the genuine will and Word of God they broke down the walls and fences from about them; I mean that blessing and protection of the Almighty which was annexed to the obedience of His own laws.

2. In another respect did these prophets resemble the foxes in the deserts, that they could make breaches, but had not the faculty of stopping them up again. They did not call the people to repentance; or if they did, it was but such a superficial fast as we read of (Jer_36:1-32), at which they read his prophecy, and then cut it in pieces and threw it into the fire. Their making up of their breaches this way was but like the labour of unfaithful builders; one laid the stones in the wall, and others daubed it with untempered mortar.

3. These false prophets resembled foxes in their fraudulent practices. By crafty speeches and cunningly devised fables they misled the hearts of the simple. They studied how to suit their discourses to the various tempers of the people whom they conversed with; to prophesy smooth things to the stout-hearted, and terrible things to the timorous, that they might keep them all in the way which they would have them to walk in.

4. These false prophets had another property of foxes, which was a prowling ravenous appetite. When they came out of their colleges into the vineyard, they resolved that the making of their fortune, the arriving at a plentiful condition, a goodly heritage, should be the first and greatest of all their cares. So little were they concerned for the welfare of the people over whom they pretended to be guardians and spiritual watchmen, that they would sell their souls, as God complains here, for handfuls of barley and morsels of bread.

5. As foxes are of the number of unclean beasts, so these prophets were men of corrupt minds and loose morals. How prone they were to prevaricate with God, and seduce the people, to counterfeit a Divine mission, to run when they were not sent, to prophesy out of their own heart without a revelation, to proclaim their visions of peace when there was no peace, is abundantly set forth in this chapter. (W. Reading, M. A.)

False prophets like foxes

The prophets are like foxes: ruins are congenial to them; a condition of decay is their proper sphere; there they can burrow as their instincts prompt them. The main idea, however, is that their operations only increase the devastation, and Undermine and bring down anything that may yet be standing. In a declining and disastrous time the minds of men are excited and feed on the wildest schemes; and, feeling themselves helpless, they readily turn to those who pretend to speak to them in Gods name. And it only adds to their ruin when those to whom they turn have no higher wisdom than themselves. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:4-5 The false prophets are compared to jackals digging in the ruins to prey on the small animals living there. The false prophets did not repair the breaks in the walls by calling the people who were suffering at the hands of the Babylonians to repent, live holy lives, and fight evil. Instead, they gained prestige—and perhaps money—by telling lies that encouraged the people to continue to rebel. Like jackals, these false prophets were actually breaking the walls down, not building them up (cp. Neh 4:3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Watching to destroy the vineyard.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

foxes--which cunningly "spoil the vines" (Sol 2:15), Israel being the vineyard (Psa 80:8-15; Isa 5:1-7; Isa 27:2; Jer 2:21); their duty was to have guarded it from being spoiled, whereas they themselves spoiled it by corruptions.

in . . . deserts--where there is nothing to eat; whence the foxes become so ravenous and crafty in their devices to get food. So the prophets wander in Israel, a moral desert, unrestrained, greedy of gain which they get by craft.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.] The cunning of the fox in obtaining his prey has been long proverbial. These false prophets are represented as the foxes who, having got their prey by great subtlety, run to the desert to hide both themselves and it. So the false prophets, when the event did not answer to their prediction, got out of the way, that they might not be overwhelmed with the reproaches and indignation of the people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hence Ezekiel exposes the snares of the false prophets. The ten tribes had been dispersed, just as if a field or a vineyard had been removed from a habitable neighborhood into desert regions, and foxes held their sway there instead. For they have many hiding-places; they insinuate themselves through hedges and all openings, and so break into the vineyard or field, and lay waste its fruits. Such, as I have said, was the condition of the people from the time of its dispersion. While the Israelites dwelt at home, they were in some way retained within their duty, as if fortified by certain ramparts. At Jerusalem, too, the high Priest presided over spiritual trials, that no impious doctrine should creep in: but now, since the people were so dispersed, greater license was given to the false prophets to corrupt the people, since the miserable exiles were exposed to these foxes; for they were liable to injuries just as if desert regions surrounded them. Being thus destitute of protection, it was easy for foxes to enter by clandestine arts, and to destroy whatever good fruits existed. Meanwhile Ezekiel obliquely reproves the people’s carelessness. Although they were dispersed, and were so open to the snares of the false prophets, yet they thought to have been attentive and cautious, and God would doubtless have afforded them aid, as he promises to his people the spirit of discretion and judgment whenever they need it. (1 Corinthians 12:10.) But when the Israelites were wandering exiles, and attention to the law no longer flourished among them, it came to pass that foxes, meaning their false prophets, easily entered. Whence it follows that the people were not free from faults, since they exposed themselves to the snares of these false prophets. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 (Lam_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. foxes in the deserts] in the waste places, i.e. ruins. The prophets are like foxes; ruins are congenial to them; a condition of decay is their proper sphere; there they can burrow as their instincts prompt them. The main idea, however, is that their operations only increase the devastation and undermine and bring down anything that may yet be standing. In a declining and disastrous time the minds of men are excited and feed on the wildest schemes, and feeling themselves helpless they readily turn to those who pretend to speak to them in God’s name. And it only adds to their ruin when those to whom they turn have no higher wisdom than themselves.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They have seen vanity, and lying divination,.... The visions the false prophets pretended to see were nothing but the fruit of their own fancies and imaginations, and had nothing real in them; and what they divined or foretold should be were all lies, and never came to pass, and never would:

saying the Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them; they came to the people with a lie in their mouths, giving out that the Lord spoke by them; when they had no mission from him; nor any commission to say what they did; or any warrant from him for their prophecies:

and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word; or, "that the word would be confirmed" (e); that what was said by them would have its accomplishment; and that their prophecies would be fulfilled. By their solemn way of speaking; by the use they made of the name of the Lord; by the strong assurances they gave, and by their frequent repetition of their predictions, the people were brought to hope and believe that the event would answer to what they said; wherefore, instead of bringing them to a sense of their sins, and repentance for them, whereby the judgments of God would have been prevented, they hardened them in them, and hastened their ruin.

(e) "ut praestet verbum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus; "ratum fore", Grotius; "eventurum esse", Castalio.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In the deserts - Foxes find a home among ruins etc. Lam 5:18. So the prophets find their profit in the ruin of their country.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Deserts, or ruins. They sought only to gratify themselves.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

O Israel; a pathetical exclamation to awake Israel, both the dwellers at Jerusalem and those at Babylon.

Thy prophets, not mine, as Eze 13:2.

Like the foxes; hungry and ravening, crafty and guileful, and living by their wits, but not one whit helpful to those they deceive. Such are false prophets. In the deserts, where want of prey makes them more eager of their prey, and where other devouring beasts endanger travellers, but no defence to them from foxes; these flee into their holes betimes, and leave the endangered ones. Or thus, O Israel, thou art like the desert, spoiled and robbed, and thy false prophets, like foxes hungry and hunting for some prey, live upon what they can catch, but will be no more profitable to thee than foxes are to the wilderness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Like the foxes in the deserts — Foxes do not build walls, but undermine them (Neh_4:3; Lam_5:18). Having seized their prey with great subtlety they run to the desert and hide themselves and it (Adam Clarke). Those who pretend falsely to speak in the name of Jehovah are worse than open enemies — they are sly and dangerous as the greatest pest of the Orient (Son_2:15; Isa_5:7).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Like the foxes in the deserts, etc. The points of comparison are manifold. The fox is cunning. (Luk_13:32, where the term is applied to Herod Antipas) It spoils the vine and its fruits; (Son_2:15) it burrows among ruins. (Neh_4:3; Lam_5:18) So the false prophets were crafty, laid waste the vineyard of the Lord of, (Isa_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 Mat_7:15 and Act_20:29 wolves appear as the types of the false prophet.

Foxes.

Ezekiel here likens the false prophets to foxes in waste places. This cutting comparison shows the daring of the true prophet, the extremity of the evil of false prophecy, and the crying need of exposure of this evil. There is a limit to the reserve of politeness when truth is dishonoured and God insulted by those whom a culpable charity still flatters with terms of friendliness. Christ called Herod a fox. (Luk_13:32) Still, it needs the grace of Christ or the inspiration of an Ezekiel to be sure that one"s use of such a title for a fellow man is not misapplied. Consider in what respects false teachers may be compared to foxes.

I FOXES ARE WILD ANIMALS. The comparison is with creatures untamed and practically untamable. Now, to all appearance the false prophets were very different, were the very opposite in manners and demeanour. They were the trained sophists of an ancient civilization, court preachers well skilled in the use of oily phrases, masters of polite diction. To call such men foxes would seem to be an extravagant insult. Nevertheless, beneath the gracious exterior there was the heart of the untamed animal. These teachers were not submissive to the guidance of the Spirit of God. All who refuse that guidance are wandering in the wilderness of life. They are not the sheep of God"s flock, but like the foxes that range at large outside the fold.

II FOXES ARE DESTRUCTIVE ANIMALS. Among the Hebrews they were not celebrated for the cunning for which they were famous in Greek fables, but for their wasting mischief. False teachers are compared to these ravenous beasts. The wilful teachers of error are like the wreckers who hang out false lights to draw ships to the rocks. The destruction is twofold.

1. By driving from the true pastures. Thus the flock is starved in the wilderness. Error draws men off from the wholesome food of truth.

2. By direct injury. The foxes tear and devour the Iambs of the flock. Error has deadly fangs in spite of its gracious aspect.

III FOXES HAUNT RUINOUS PLACES. Ezekiel imagines the foxes among ruins. False teaching flourishes when the Church has fallen into decay. A low moral tone prepares the way for error. If the soul were in a vigorous condition, the deceitfulness of an unworthy teacher would be speedily detected. It is only spiritual degeneracy that can give an opportunity for the religious charlatan.

IV FOXES ROAM ABOUT IN THE DARK. They are creatures of the night. Deceitful teachers prey upon the ignorant and superstitious. Like the wild animals that only creep out under shelter of night, they prowl about in the shadows of dark times. They dread the day. Therefore the remedy is to be found in the spread of light. We cannot conquer error by directly refuting it so well as by fortifying people against it with a clear, strong teaching of truth. The foxes of error are on the look out liar their victims. Let the shepherds of light be to the fore in keeping the pure truth of the New Testament well in the minds and hearts of the people.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy prophets - Thy prophets, not mine. Like the foxes - Hungry, and ravening, crafty, and guileful. In the deserts - Where want makes them more eager after their prey.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Like foxes in ruins When a man comes upon a breach in a ruin, the fox flees through another breach, and it does not stand in the breach to fight.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.