Ezekiel 7

— neither shall any strengthen himself &c.] Neither shall any wicked man have cause to encourage himself in the vain confidence of impunity from sin. Bp. Hall.

Chap. VIII. ver. 1. — in the sixth year, in the sixth month.] This date is one year and two months after the commencement of the vision, chap. i. 1. Abps. Newcome and Secker, Dean Prideaux.

— and the elders of Judah sat before me.] Men of note for their age or authority, perhaps such as had been members of the greater or lesser consistories before their captivity. W. Lowth.

— sat before me.] This was the posture of those, who came to hear the instructions of any Prophet or teacher. Compare chap. xiv. 1; xx. 1; xxxiii. 31; 2 Kings iv. 38. In aftertunes the teachers sat in a chair or eminent seat, and the hearers on lower forms at the feet of their master; see Luke x. 39; Acts xxii. 3. W. Lowth. See the note on Deut. xxxiii. 3.

This chapter and the three following contain the particulars of a single vision. Calmet.

Ezekiel 7:3

3. — the form of an hand.] Just as the form of a hand appeared writing upon the wall, Dan. v. 5. W. Lowth. — in the visions of God] By mental representation; as if the Prophet had been personally present. It seems most probable that every thing to chap. xi. 24 passed while the Prophet was in a trance, chap. xi. 25. Ezekiel relates his vision to the elders who sat before him. W. Lowth, Abp. Newcome.

— the image of jealousy.] What this image was which rivalled Jehovah with the Jews, cannot be ascertained; see 2 Chron. xxxvi. 14. St. Jerome conjectures, that it was the image of Baal, which having been erected by Manasseh, and afterwards destroyed by Josiah, had been probably restored by his successors. Others think, that the expression was intended to express the false gods in general, by the worship of which the anger of God had been excited against his people; or it may be, that the false divinity was Adonis: and this conjecture is not without some appearance of reason, as the Prophet, upon his return to the northern gate, where he had first seen “the image of jealousy,”

beheld women sitting and weeping for Tammuz, and Tammuz was Adonis; see ver. 14. Abp. Newcome, Ep. Hall, Calmet.

By that time the sins of this wretched people were ripe for the punishment of their approaching captivity, they had polluted themselves with all kinds of Egyptian abominations, as appears from this famous vision of the Prophet, wherein their three capital idolatries are so clearly described. The Prophet represents himself as brought in a vision to Jerusalem, and “at the door of the inner gate that looked toward the north,” he saw “the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” This is a prelude to the visions, which describe the various idolatries of the house of Israel, where, in the noblest stretch of an inspired imagination, idolatry is itself personified and made an idol, and the image sublimely called “the image of jealousy,” which the Prophet explains by observing, that “it was that which provoked God to jealousy.” He then proceeds to the various scenery of the inspired vision. Ep. Warburton.

Ezekiel 7:4

4. — thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee:] The punishment of your abominable idolatries shall be manifest among you. Abp. Newcom.

5. — in the plain.] See chap. iii. 22, 23.

Ezekiel 7:5

5. — an only evil.] That evil is come upon thee which alone shall make a despatch of thee: there shall need no other to second it. Bp. Holl.

6. — at the gate of the altar] Probably so called from the time of Ahaz, who placed the brasen altar to the north of the altar, built according to the model of that which he had seen at Damascus, 2 Kings xvi. 14. Abp. Newcome.

Ezekiel 7:6

6. — it watcheth for thee:] Literally, “it awaketh against thee;” see the margin: see ver. 10 of this chapter, and Jer. i. 12. The anger of the Lord, which had slept, is now roused against thee. Calmet.

7. — go far off from my sanctuary?] That I should forsake it, and deliver it up to the heathen to be polluted, chap. vii. 21, 22. W. Lowth. We may suppose a reference to chap. ix. 3; x. 18: in both which texts the glory of the Lord is said to have changed its place. Michaelis.

Ezekiel 7:7

7. The morning is come unto thee.] The expression alludes to the time when the magistrates used to give sentence against offenders, which was in the morning. W. Louth.

— and not the sounding again of the mountains.] The day of thy grievous trouble is actually and really come; which thou shalt find sensibly to be no empty and vain sound of an echo among the mountains, but a true and feeling destruction. Bp. Holl.

7. — the door of the court:] The east gate of the inner court, over which was the council chamber where the Sanhedrim used to meet. Dr. Lightfoot.

Ezekiel 7:8

8. — dig now in the wall:] We have here a very lively and circumstantial description of the celebrated mysteries

The various idolatry practised in Jerusalem. Before CHRIST 594. behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

Ezekiel 7:10

10. — the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.] The rod of oppression and of wickedness, ver. 11, prevails among the Jews, and their pride increases. Abp. Newton.

11. — of creeping things, and abominable beasts.] This practice, so strongly reprobated here, was probably borrowed from the Egyptians. Diodorus Siculus says, “Round the room in Thebes, where the body of king Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers was built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” Abps. Secker and Newcome. See the note from Bryant on Deut. iv. 18. Pictures were as much prohibited by the law as carved images, Numb. xxviii. 52; Lev. xxvi. 1. W. Louth.

12. — Jazaniah, Probably a prince of the people. See the close of chap. xi. 1. Abp. Newcome. Shaphan was well known under the reign of king Josiah. See 2 Kings xxii. 3. 9. The seventy “ancients,” or elders with him, were probably the members of the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews. Bp. Holl.

Ezekiel 7:11

11. — into a rod of wickedness.] This appears to be a continuation of the figure in the former verse; the rod had blossomed, and hath now produced the fruit of wickedness, and all is ripe for judgment. Calmet.

Ezekiel 7:12

12. — let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn:] The buyer will have no reason to rejoice because he will not enjoy what he hath bought; nor the seller cause to mourn for the loss of his possessions, which the approaching captivity will for ever deprive him of. W. Louth.

13. — in the dark.] No darkness or secrecy can hide the knowledge of men’s sins from Him who knoweth all things: no concealment can shelter sinners from his judgment. Ostervald.

Ezekiel 7:13

13. — although they were yet alive:] By the privilege of the law, (see Lev. xxv. 13,) he who had sold his heritage had a right to re-enter upon it at the year of jubilee. But here the Prophet informs the sellers, that even if they should outlive the general calamity,

The mourning of them that escape. The enemies defile the sanctuary. Or, whose life is in his iniquity.

shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself || in † the iniquity of his life.

Ezekiel 7:14

14. — but none goeth to the battle:] Such is the judicial cowardice that prevails; see ver. 17. Abp. Newcome.

15. — weeping for Tammuz.] The ancient expositors consider Tammuz as Adonis.

This was the Phoenician superstition. It was derived from the Egyptians, and afterwards the Phoenicians improved it. Bp. Warburton, W. Louth.

The ancient Greeks used to place their dead near the doors of their houses, and to attend them there with

Ezekiel 7:15

15. — turn thee yet again, &c.] This is a description of the Persian superstition. It is to be observed, that, when the Prophet is bid to turn from the Egyptian to the Phoenician rites, he is then said to look towards the north, ver. 14, the situation of Phoenician with respect to Jerusalem; consequently, he before stood southward, the situation of Egypt with respect to the same place. And when from thence he is bid to turn into the inner court of the Lord’s house, to see the Persian rites, this was cast, the situation of Persia: with so much exactness of representation is the whole vision conducted. Again, as the mysterious rites of Egypt are said, agreeably to their usage, to be held in secret by their “elders” and rulers only, so the Phoenician rites, for the same reason, are shown as they were celebrated by the people in open day. And the Persian worship of the same, which was performed by the Magi, is here said to be observed by the priests alone; “five and twenty men with their faces toward the east.” Bp. Warburton.

Ezekiel 7:16

16. — like doves of the valleys.] Doves are found in the valleys on account of the waters they find there, in which they delight. Harmer.

— all of them mourning.] St. Jerome renders it, “all of them trembling;” an epithet ascribed to doves, Hos. xi. 11; who are by nature timorous. W. Lowth.

16. — between the porch and the altar.] The place where the Jewish priests invoked the mercy of Jehovah for the people. See Joel ii. 17.

— five and twenty men.] Possibly the twelve priests and twelve Levites of the weekly service, with the high priest. Colmet.

— their backs toward the temple] They turned their backs to God Almighty, and their faces to the sun. Perhaps Hezekiah may allude to some such idolatrous practice in that confession of his, 2 Chron. xxix. 6, “Our fathers have done evil in the eyes of the Lord, and have forsaken him, and turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.” “They turned their back unto him, and not their face;” as Jeremiah expresses their contempt towards Him, chap. ii. 27; xxviii. 33. For this reason the people were commanded to come in at the north or south gate of the outward court of the temple when they came to worship, that they might not at their return turn their backs upon God. See chap. xiv. 9. The Jews always turned their faces toward the temple when they worshipped. W. Louth, Dr. Spencer.

Before CHRIST 594.

Ezekiel 7:19

19. — their gold shall be removed.] Or, shall be accounted an unclean thing; see the margin: as utterly unprofitable for their relief. Bp. Hall.

— they shall not satisfy. Their silver and their gold shall not remove the distresses of famine during the siege, because they have employed them to adorn their idols, the iniquitous causes of their fall. Abp. Newcome, W. Lowth.

Ezekiel 7:20

20. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it &c.] As for his beautiful and glorious temple, He placed it in great majesty among them, as that which might

well be their best and greatest ornament; but, &c. See chap. v. 11. Bp. Hall, W. Lowth, Culmet.

— therefore have I set it far from them.] See the margin. The Prophets, to denote the certainty of the event, speak of what is to come as if it were already done. W. Lowth.

Ezekiel 7:22

22. — enter into it.] My secret place or sanctuary. Abp. Newcome.

23. Make a chain: Jeremiah is commanded to make bonds and yokes, Jer. xxviii. 2. And Ezekiel is here directed to make a chain, to foreshew the approaching captivity, when king and people should be carried in chains to Babylon. See 2 Kings xxv. 7; Jer. xl. 1. W. Lowth, Abp. Newcome.

Ezekiel 7:24

24. — the worst of the heathen.] The Chaldeans; see chap. xxx. 11. 24. They were at that time the oppressors of the world, and a terrour to all the countries round about them. W. Lowth.

— the pomp of the strong] Compare chap. xxiv. 21, and xx. 6; Lev. xxvi. 19. The excellency of their strength; that is, the temple. Abp. Secker.

Ezekiel 7:26

26. — but the law shall perish from the priest, &c.] But, as a just punishment for their former neglect and security, God shall take away his gifts from their priests and prophets, so as they shall not be able to declare his will unto them for their direction and preservation. Bp. Hall.

The image of jealousy. The chambers of imagery. and they shall know that I am the LORD. # CHAP. VIII.