זכריה, פרק י״ג, פסוק ה׳

In a time of profound spiritual change, those who once acted as false prophets will be overcome with deep shame for their past deeds. Confronted about their previous lifestyle, these individuals will completely deny any spiritual claims, attempting instead to blend in as simple, everyday people. If questioned about their habit of wandering and isolating themselves in the fields—a common practice among prophets—they will reject any association with a divine calling. To explain their presence in the fields, they will insist they are nothing more than ordinary farmers whose daily labor requires them to be outdoors [מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא].

To further distance themselves from their past, these former prophets will offer elaborate excuses about their upbringing and social status. Some will claim that from a young age, they were trained by others to be shepherds and farmers [רד״ק], or that they were simply hired hands tasked with guarding livestock [רש״י]. Others will take this denial a step further, asserting that another person either gave them land to work [אבן עזרא] or actually purchased them as slaves to labor in the fields [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This reveals a striking psychological shift: a person who once sought the prestige of a prophet will willingly humiliate himself, preferring the low status of a purchased servant over being exposed as a spiritual fraud [מלבי״ם].

A completely different perspective suggests that the defense offered is not an agricultural alibi at all. Instead, the individual admits to his prophetic past but entirely deflects the responsibility. In this view, the former prophet confesses to his actions but insists that God never actually spoke to him. Rather than taking ownership of his deception, he claims that another person manipulated and seduced him into taking up the mantle of a false prophet [מצודת דוד].