Ezekiel 20

1 the seventh year. i.e., in the seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity.

the elders of Israel. See note, xiv. 1. 4 Will thou judge them? This is a command rather than a question. Or it may be read, with the Septuagint and Vulgate, “If thou wilt judge them, then cause them to know,” etc.

5 lifted up Mine hand. An act accompanying an oath or solemn pledge.

8 neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. This passage is important, as showing that the Israelites in Egypt fell in some measure under the temptations of the country’s idolatry. It may also be inferred from such incidents as the worship of the golden calf.

9. I wrought. i.e., I interposed on their behalf. for My name’s sake. To vindicate My character and power, as the One God: cp. Exod. xxxii. 12.

12 a sign. The Sabbath, and the other appointed rests (see Lev. xxv. 1-16), were both a sign of their special relation to God, and an important means of preserving it.

13. My Sabbaths they greatly polluted (“profaned,” R.V.). Indicating a disregard of the Sabbath, greater than shown in the incidents of Exod. xvi. 27; Numb. xv. 32.

25 statutes that were good. As the people rebelled against these “life-giving” statutes (13), God gave them up in punishment to the death-dealing observances of idolatry: cp. Psa. lxxxi. 12; Rom. i. 24.

28 when I had brought them into the land. The sins of a third generation are now brought to mind.

29. Bamah. Lit., “What go they to?” i.e., high place. The meaning is, Notwithstanding my remonstrance, the place is notorious for idolatrous practices unto this day. The original suggests a contemptuous play upon words.

30. Are ye polluted, etc.? The prophet now passes from “the fathers” to his own contemporaries, whose representatives are now seated before him.

32 that which cometh into your mind. Viz., amalgamation with the Babylonian people. This was an impossible fancy. Never could they escape from their responsibility as a nation.

35 the wilderness of the people (peoples). Into some dreary and distressful place of the Gentile world, which should be to the Jews of that time what the wilderness had been to their fathers on their departure from Egypt: see Hos. ii. 14, and note. Their wish to be incorporated with the heathen (see 32) should not be gratified: but God, in His providence, would rather insulate them, and discipline them for their good.

37 to pass under the rod. The shepherd’s staff

(see Lev. xxvii. 32, and cp. Jer. xxxiii. 13; Micah vii. 14); i.e., I will treat you as My flock.

39 serve ye every one his idols. i.e., “Renounce me or renounce your idols.” God abhors half-heartedness and indecision in religion: cp. Josh. xxiv. 20; 1 Kings xviii. 21; Rev. iii. 16.

VER. 45-XXI. 27. The twentieth chapter ends in the Hebrew Bible with ver. 44; a better arrangement than that of the English versions, as the remaining verses of the chapter belong to what follows.

46 set thy face toward the south. Ezekiel was in the northern part of Chaldea, and therefore Judæa lay to the south.

the forest. The land is so described as to prepare the way for the emblem of the devouring fire.

47 every green tree in thee, and every dry tree. This fearful visitation will involve the better part of the people as well as the worst.

from the south to the north. From one end of the land to the other.

49. Doth he not speak parables? i.e., “Doth he not speak unintelligibly?” Therefore, the same message is delivered plainly in the words which follow (xxi. 1-5).