The Original (Jeru)Salem Witch Hunt
Ezekiel 13-16-19
When it comes to wars there are always wars of words -- threats and protests, debates about critique of violence, and multiple narrative or truths for how it all started. Who gets the final word?
Then, like now, war’s horrors bring out the best and worst in us, as well as different approaches to making sense of the situation. When it comes to prophets and thought leaders - not all voices are alike, and a big question lingers - is there more than one truth? Who is a false - or harmful - prophet?
Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel points a blaming finger at the false prophets of Jerusalem who soothe the people and pretend all will be alright when that was hardly the inconvenient truth. In today’s chapter he directs his anger at these misleading leaders - and adds a twist - halfway through the chapter he directly addresses the female prophets, and he is hardly kind.
Who are these women he’s accusing of ‘prophecy out of their own imagination” and what does this accusation tell us about them, about him, and about our continued use of ‘witch hunts’ to often delegitimize other voices in our community?
To help us unpack this from a Feminist approach, here’s the first of two quotes from this helpful article by Prof. Katherine E. Southwood, a British theologian and scholar, who tackles Ezekiel’s approach to these women’s roles - as well as to the subsequent generations of mostly misogynistic interpretations and assumptions about what this text means.
Southwood quotes Prof. Kimberly B. Stratton, from her article “Naming the Witch: Magic, Ideology, and Stereotype in the Ancient World”:
“stereotypes of witches and sorcerers emerged in the ancient world as foils in the struggle to define legitimate power and authority. Similarly, in the twenty-first century, ideas about fanatical extremists arise in opposition to claims of freedom and democracy: each side of the conflict claims legitimacy by painting the Other as the barbaric and demonic rival.”
So what is Ezekiel actually saying here?
He begins by blasting the prophets who promise peace when in fact the Babylonians are already surrounding the city. Denial, he claims, is a dangerous lie and he blames the false prophets --
יַ֣עַן וּבְיַ֜עַן הִטְע֧וּ אֶת־עַמִּ֛י לֵאמֹ֥ר שָׁל֖וֹם וְאֵ֣ין שָׁל֑וֹם וְהוּא֙ בֹּ֣נֶה חַ֔יִץ וְהִנָּ֛ם טָחִ֥ים אֹת֖וֹ תָּפֵֽל׃
“Inasmuch as they have misled My people, saying, “All is well,” when nothing is well, daubing with plaster the flimsy wall that the people were building.”
Ezekiel 13:10
And then, guided by YHWH, he directly addresses the women who likewise helped plaster the flimsy wall:
וְאַתָּ֣ה בֶן־אָדָ֗ם שִׂ֤ים פָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת עַמְּךָ֔ הַמִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וֹת מִֽלִּבְּהֶ֑ן וְהִנָּבֵ֖א עֲלֵיהֶֽן׃ וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר ׀ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֗ה הוֹי֩ לִֽמְתַפְּר֨וֹת כְּסָת֜וֹת עַ֣ל ׀ כׇּל־אַצִּילֵ֣י יָדַ֗י וְעֹשׂ֧וֹת הַמִּסְפָּח֛וֹת עַל־רֹ֥אשׁ כׇּל־קוֹמָ֖ה לְצוֹדֵ֣ד נְפָשׁ֑וֹת הַנְּפָשׁוֹת֙ תְּצוֹדֵ֣דְנָה לְעַמִּ֔י וּנְפָשׁ֖וֹת לָכֶ֥נָה תְחַיֶּֽינָה׃ וַתְּחַלֶּלְ֨נָה אֹתִ֜י אֶל־עַמִּ֗י בְּשַׁעֲלֵ֣י שְׂעֹרִים֮ וּבִפְת֣וֹתֵי לֶחֶם֒ לְהָמִ֤ית נְפָשׁוֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־תְמוּתֶ֔נָה וּלְחַיּ֥וֹת נְפָשׁ֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־תִֽחְיֶ֑ינָה בְּכַ֨זֶּבְכֶ֔ם לְעַמִּ֖י שֹׁמְעֵ֥י כָזָֽב׃ לָכֵ֞ן כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר ׀ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֗ה הִנְנִ֤י אֶל־כִּסְּתוֹתֵיכֶ֙נָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַ֠תֵּ֠נָה מְצֹדְד֨וֹת שָׁ֤ם אֶת־הַנְּפָשׁוֹת֙ לְפֹ֣רְח֔וֹת וְקָרַעְתִּ֣י אֹתָ֔ם מֵעַ֖ל זְרוֹעֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי֙ אֶת־הַנְּפָשׁ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתֶּ֛ם מְצֹדְד֥וֹת אֶת־נְפָשִׁ֖ים לְפֹרְחֹֽת׃
“And you, O mortal, set your face against the women of your people, who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and say: Thus says YHWH; Woe to the women that sew bands upon all arms, and make veils upon the heads of people of every height, for hunting souls! will you hunt the souls of my people, and will you save your own souls alive?
And will you profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people who hear your lies?
Therefore, thus says YHWH; Behold, I am against your armbands, with which you hunt the souls there, whisking them off to destruction; and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls go free, namely the souls that you hunt, whisking them to destruction.”
Ezekiel 13-16-19
Many of the expressions used here have baffled scholars for generations, but the general assumption is that he’s referring to various mystical techniques and devices, some seemingly quite obscure to us today, that were employed by women who were designated as prophetic or spiritual leaders. But was what they did so bad? Or was it that whatever was done was worse because it was done - by women?
Prof. Katherine E. Southwood explores this question in depth:
“It is difficult to reach a clear understanding of women’s professional work in the Hebrew Bible. This is because sometimes the secondary literature re-tells and sometimes even repeats the texts' own polemics and values. This is the case for Ezekiel 13:17–23. For example, Eichrodt describes the anonymous women in Ezekiel 13:17–23 as “witches,” “insolent women,” “dangerous rivals … to genuine prophecy,” and women who practice “heathen demonism.” Similarly, Taylor argues that the women are “witches or sorceresses” and “quacks” who “prey upon credulous and anxious minds” with their “occult powers.” Likewise, Zimmerli designates the activity from Ezek 13:17 onward as “minor mantic acts and magic” and “lesser activities under the catchword ‘prophetic.’”
The assumption that the anonymous women must be witches and that their work must be illegitimate because of Ezekiel’s denunciation of them problematically repeats, endorses, and even gives strength to the misogynistic aspects of the text. The text does not actually state that the women are witches so these approaches could reasonably be critiqued for overlooking the potentially significant activity that the anonymous women are engaging in. By assuming the anonymous women are not Yahwists, but are witches, and that their work is not legitimate but related to magic, any attempts to understand and debate what they might potentially be doing are dismissed...
Perhaps a part of the reason why these assumptions are made in the secondary material is to do with notions of magic that “lead us to retroject later taxonomies of knowledge and values onto the past.” This could be because, as Stratton demonstrates, the idea of the magician and the witch are “powerful and enduring stereotypes in Western cultural history…
Regardless, one key simplistic binary that is often coupled with the idea of women’s work and that must be resisted is the idea of creating an interpretative dichotomy between official and popular religion. In creating this binary, popular religion is associated with women, magic, and divination, and operates in the reign of the domicile. By contrast, official practices are associated with male elites, prophecy, and the cult.”
So what is it that Ezekiel has against those women of Jerusalem? It may be that like the other prophets whom he coincides false they are misleading the people into some sort of misguided trust in the king and system. But it could be, as so many examples, ancient and modern show us, that as the priest he was, operating in a clear patriarchal male-dominated religious system -- it wasn’t just what they said or did - but the fact that they spoke and acted out in the first place.
Either way, Ezekiel’s wrath is poured equally on all, with rage and regret. He finds them all guilty of falsehood.
From his spot in Babylon, fully aware of so many other religious systems and folk-ways that give people comfort, hope and some sort of connection to the mysteries that he himself is so attached to -- he will keep on finding ways of navigating the worlds, and making meaning of realities.
We’ll never know how many other prophets and prophetesses, lesser known or silenced, existed in our history - seers with magical powers and approaches, negated, left behind - but somehow, not forgotten.
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