יחזקאל, פרק י״ג, פסוק י״א

False prophecies often act like a fresh layer of plaster over a crumbling foundation, hiding a fragile reality beneath an illusion of safety. The message directs a sharp architectural warning toward false prophets who attempt to stabilize a weak situation with beautiful but empty rhetoric. The outer beauty of their words lacks any real substance, and the deceptive structure they are trying to build is destined to collapse completely under pressure. The plaster they use is inherently weak and already doomed to fall [מלבי״ם]. Even if the builders convince themselves that their wall is sturdy, its destruction is inevitable [רד״ק].

The collapse will be triggered by a massive, washing downpour [מצודת ציון]. While a strong natural rain would be enough on its own to strip the plaster away from the wall [מלבי״ם], God adds His own direct and destructive intervention. He brings down exceptionally large hailstones [רש״י, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ], which shine and sparkle like precious gems [רש״י, מצודת ציון, רד״ק]. A Midrashic tradition suggests a deeper historical connection, proposing that these are the very hailstones from the plagues in Egypt, which were suspended in mid-air and never reached the ground due to the intervention of Moses [רש״י].

Now, these heavy hailstones will fall directly upon the wall [רש״י]. Combined with a fierce, stormy wind that will breach the defenses [ביאור שטיינזלץ], the entire structure will completely shatter [מלבי״ם]. Ultimately, the severe weather elements—the rain, the hail, and the wind—serve as a metaphor for a powerful, merciless enemy that is soon to arrive. The invasion of this enemy will publicly expose the emptiness and absolute failure of the false prophecies, just as a violent storm strips away the plaster and destroys a fragile wall [מצודת דוד, רד״ק].