Ezekiel 13:17 - Exposition

Set thy face against the daughters of thy people. Here we note that the formula, "thy people," of Ezekiel 3:11 reappears. The section which follows ( Ezekiel 3:17-23 ) throws an interesting side light on the position of women in the religious life of Israel. For good as for evil, their influence was stronger there than in most other nations. Miriam had led the way ( Exodus 15:21 ), and had been followed by Deborah ( 5:4 ). Huldah had been almost as prominent in Josiah's reformation as Hilkiah the high priest ( 2 Kings 22:14-20 ; 2 Chronicles 34:22 ). It was but natural that there should be women on the other side also, guiding their own sex; and it is probable that Ezekiel had in his thoughts some special leaders who headed the women of Jerusalem in their opposition to Jeremiah, as afterwards at Pathros ( Jeremiah 44:15 ). So, later on, we have the prophetess Noadiah heading the opposition to Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 6:14 ); and in the New Testament, on the one hand, Anns ( Luke 2:36 ) and the daughters of Philip ( Acts 21:9 ), and on the other, the ill-regulated prophetesses of Corinth ( 1 Corinthians 11:5 ) and the woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess ( Revelation 2:20 ).