The Whitewashed Wall
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: 3 The Lord Yahweh says, “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps or built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in Yahweh’s day. 6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but Yahweh has not sent them. They have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. 7 Haven’t you seen a false vision, and haven’t you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but I have not spoken?” 8 “‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Yahweh. 9 “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of my people, neither will they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither will they enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” 10 “‘Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, “Peace;” and there is no peace. When one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash. 11 Tell those who plaster it with whitewash that it will fall. There will be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, will fall. A stormy wind will tear it. 12 Behold, when the wall has fallen, won’t it be said to you, “Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?” 13 “‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath. There will be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it. 14 So I will break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered. It will fall, and you will be consumed in the middle of it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 15 Thus I will accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it with whitewash. I will tell you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it— 16 to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,’” says the Lord Yahweh.’” 17 You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them, 18 and say, “The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all elbows and make veils for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people and save souls alive for yourselves? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.’ 20 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I am against your magic bands, with which you hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms. I will let the souls fly free, even the souls whom you ensnare like birds. 21 I will also tear your veils and deliver my people out of your hand; and they will no longer be in your hand to be ensnared. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 22 Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive. 23 Therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’”
The false prophets are charged with a failure to build and a success at decorating, and the storm is sent to find out which the wall was.
The charge is stated in one phrase before any image is used. They prophesy out of their own heart and have seen nothing — the offense is not error but invention. The book adds that they have made men hope the word would be confirmed. What is missing is stated as a failure of engineering: You have not gone up into the gaps or built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in Yahweh's day. A prophet's work is defined here as masonry on a defensive line, and these men have done none of it.
What they have done instead is the chapter's central image. Someone builds a flimsy wall, and the prophets come along and plaster it with whitewash. Whitewash is cheap, quick and entirely cosmetic. It makes a bad wall look like a good one. It makes the difference between them invisible until the weather comes. That is the most exact account of a comfortable message anyone has given. It does not build anything, and it removes the evidence that nothing has been built.
So the test is a storm — an overflowing shower, great hailstones, a stormy wind — and the question put afterward is the one that matters: Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it? The wall falls, and the plasterers fall with it, inside it. And the summary at the end of the section names their message in the same words another prophet used of it. They see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace Jeremiah 6:14.
The second half turns to women practicing a trade in the same market, and the details are unusual — magic bands sewn for the arms, veils made for heads of every size, souls hunted like birds. The price is named and it is pitiful: for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread. But the charge against them is identical to the charge against the men, and it is stated in terms of effect rather than technique. They have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad. They have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way. Distress the people who should be reassured; reassure the people who should be disturbed. Both halves of the chapter measure a ministry by which way it moves people. Neither asks what the practitioners believed.
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