- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
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.
John Gill Bible Commentary
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
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).