Ezekiel 36
DOYLYEzekiel 36:3
- — the residue] The nations which remained unconquered by the Babylonians. Abp. Newcome.
— and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers.] Your name is scornfully taken up in the lips of your busy and insulting enemies, and ye are made a byword and reproach of the people. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 36:5
- — in the fire of my jealousy] In that fervent zeal and concern that I have for my own honour, which is blasphemed among the heathen; see chap. xxxv. 12, 13. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 36:6
- — ye have borne the shame of the heathen:] The reproach and insult; see chap. xxxiv. 29.
Ezekiel 36:7
- — I have lifted up mine hand.] I have solemnly sworn; see chap. xx. 5. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 36:8
- — for they are at hand to come.] They, my people Israel, are near the time of their coming from Babylon into their own land. Abp. Newcome.
The most sensible interpreters seem to agree, that there are several expressions in this chapter, particularly in the latter part of it, which cannot be literally understood of any event, excepting of the reign of the Messiah, of the freedom that He has procured for his
of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
Ezekiel 36:10
- — and the wastes shall be builded:] Compare ver. 33. This may likewise in some measure have been fulfilled at their return from Babylon, Isa. lviii. 12; lxi. 4. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 36:12
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— bereave them of men.] By the sword, pestilence, and famine, which were God’s judgments upon his people for their idolatries. Abp. Newcome.
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— your graves.] Alluding to their being buried, as it were, in the land of their captivity. The Jews seemed as absolutely deprived of their own country, as persons committed to the grave are cut off from the land of the living. The foregoing similitude shews in a beautiful manner, that God, who could raise the dead, had power to restore them. Abp. Newcome.
The Jews, in the state of their dispersion and captivity, are called the “dead Israelites” in Baruch, chap. iii. 4. And their resurrection is described as a “resurrection” by Isaiah, chap. xxvi. 19; at which time “their bones” are said to “flourish,” or to be restored to their former strength and vigour, in the same Prophet, chap. lxvi. 14. In like manner St. Paul expresses their conversion by “life from the dead,” Rom. xi. 15. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 36:13
- — they say unto you, Thou land devourest up] The neighbouring nations observed the heavy sufferings of Israel and Judah, and accused the land of exterminating its inhabitants. Abp. Newcome. Compare Numb. xiii. 32.
Ezekiel 36:16
- — take thee one stick, and write upon it.] That is, one rod: the expression alludes to Numb. xvii. 2, where Moses is commanded to take twelve rods, one for each tribe, and to write the name of the tribe upon the rod. W. Lowth.
— For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: When Jeroboam, at the head of his companions, withdrew from his obedience to the house of David, the tribes of Benjamin, Judah, and Levi, still adhered to the government of Rehoboam. Besides these three tribes, many Israelites from the other tribes joined
themselves to the same party, as appears from 2 Chron. xi. 12—16; xv. 9; xxx. 11. 18. Hence the expression, “for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.” Calmet.
— For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all &c.] Upon Reuben’s forfeiting his birthright, that privilege was conferred upon the sons of Joseph, of whom Ephraim had the precedence, 1 Chron. v. 1; Gen. xlviii. 20; which caused him to be reckoned the head of the ten tribes. Samaria, the seat of that kingdom, was likewise situated in the tribe of Ephraim, and Jeroboam their first king was an Ephraimite. Upon these accounts the name of Ephraim signifies in the Prophets the whole kingdom of Israel, as distinct from that of Judah. W. Lowth. The union of the two sticks may be supposed to signify in a more extended sense, the assembling, not only of the Jews of all the tribes, but also of the people of all nations in the Church of Christ. Calmet.
Ezekiel 36:17
- — their way was before me as the uncleanness &c.] Their continual practice was as foul and odious to me, as can be expressed by any legal uncleanness. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 36:18
- — for the blood] They had shed the blood of Before CHRIST 587. Or, cause to fall. Israel shall be restored. The blessings Before CHRIST 587. b Isaiah 52.5. Rom. 2. 24.
the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
Ezekiel 36:19
- — which is in the hand of Ephraim.] Which is wielded as a sceptre in the hand of Ephraim, and of the other nine tribes of Israel, the companions of their chief tribe Ephraim. Abp. Newcome.
— they shall be one in mine hand.] I will make them one nation, and appoint one King to rule over them, the Messiah; see ver. 22. W. Lowth.
This prophecy was fulfilled very imperfectly in the persons of the Jews after the captivity, both because neither the tribe of Judah, nor the other tribes, returned entire, and because they were not governed by kings of the family of David. Calmet.
Ezekiel 36:20
- — they profaned my holy name.] They caused my holy name to be scorned and evil spoken of, in that it was said of these so wicked and lewd persons, Lo, these are the select people of the Lord, and those that were inhabitants of his holy land. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 36:21
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But I had pity for mine holy name.] I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted among the heathen; see chap. xx. 9; compare Deut. ix. 5; Ps. cvi. 8.
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— and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord. The return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity was taken notice of by the heathens, as a signal instance of God’s providence towards them, Ps. cxxvi. 2; and their general conversion will be a much more remarkable proof of my fulfilling the promises made to their fathers; so that the heathens themselves will be forced to take notice of it, chap. xxxvii. 28. W. Lowth.
— when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.] When I shall glorify myself by working your deliverance, and your apparent reformation before their eyes. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 36:22
- And I will make them one nation &c.] And I will unite my Church all the world over in one: and one King, even the Messiah, whom I shall send, shall be King to them all; and they shall no more be so divided in profession, as if they were different kingdoms, ruled
Ezekiel 36:25
- Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean:.] Allusion is here made to the purifications which were effected in the Jewish Church, by sprinkling pure water upon persons under legal pollution; these were types of baptism, and of that penitence
which cleanses us from our sins, through the blood of Jesus Christ, and by the invisible aspersion of his Holy Spirit and grace. It is only therefore in the general establishment of the Church of God, that the real and perfect accomplishment of this prophecy can come to pass. St. Paul may probably allude to this text, when he exhorts the Hebrew converts “to draw near to God, having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure water.” Calmet, W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 36:26
- — the stony heart out of your flesh.] I will take away your perverse and rebellious disposition; I will give you a tenderness of heart and an aptness to be wrought upon by the motions of my Spirit. Bp. Hall. Certain it is, that the Jews gave much less occasion for reproach after their return from captivity, more particularly upon the subject of idolatry, and of those other disorders with which they had been reproached by the Prophets, than before that event took place; but their conduct even then was far from being such as to resemble that picture of perfection, of purity, of docility, and of justice, which is described here, and in other places of the Prophets. It is Christianity alone which removes the “heart of stone,” and supplies “the heart of flesh.” Calmet.
Ezekiel 36:31
- — and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight] When the Prophets foretel the general conversion of the Jews, they usually mention their detestation of their former idolatries, as a necessary preparation towards it. See Isa. i. 27; xvii. 7, 8; Jer. iii. 22, &c. W. Lowth.
The resurrection of dry bones. The promises Before CHRIST about 587. up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.