Daubing, Materiality, and Prophecy in Ezekiel 13: 10-16

Ezekiel 13:10-16 has long been understood by translating the word...... as "whitewash" or some kind of building material, on the assumption that v. 10 metaphorizes censured prophecy as building something in a shoddy and deceptive way. It is preferable to read...... in this passage as...... I, meaning something insipid, as a censorious reference to an underlying practice of inscribing prophecy. There are multiple examples of West Semitic inscriptions of divinatory messages, including most notably the Deir 'Alla and Amman Citadel inscriptions. This suggestion aligns the usage of...... clearly with related passages in Ezek 22:28 and Lam 2:14, and with the discussion of censured prophets (.......) and their various activities throughout Ezekiel 13. Theories of space and materiality enrich the discussion of the purpose and meaning of inscriptions of prophecy and how they might have functioned in an ancient context underlying Ezekiel 13.