Ezekiel 24

eastern countries. To the same purposo wo find in Hesychius, Saj3oc, BaKxeta. The prophet persists in comparing the idolatries of the Jews’ to the practices of lewd women, who prostitute themselves to all comers, oven those of tho meanest condition. Such were tho Sabeans that came from the tvilderness:?. e. from Arabia, called tho Desert, where dwelt the posterity of Soba, montioned Gen.x. 7. These were probably some of those idolatrous people clwelling in the wilderness, whom Jeremiah mentions, ix’. 20. who polled tho corners of their heads in honour of some idol whom they worshipped. (Seo tho note upon that place.) Which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.] i. e. Upon tho hands and heads of these two lewd women, Aholah and Aholibah. (See ver. 45.) Bracelets and crowns were ornaments proper to brides; (seo xvi. 11, 12.) and wore likewise presented by lovers to their mistresses. Crowns were likewise worn at public festivals, and times of rejoicing: (see Isa. xxxv. 10.) whereupon the Hebrew phrase is translated here and chap. xvi. by the LXX. Srfyavov Kavyjwws, a crown of rejoicing; an expression probably taken from hence by St. Paul, 1 Thess. ii. 19. By the figure of a boiling pot is shewed the destruction of Jerusalem and its inhabitants; and by Ezekiel’s being forbidden to mourn for his wife is signified, that the calamities of the Jews shall be so astonishing, as to be beyond all expressions of sorrow. pudent and barefaced in her cruelties: she did not seek to cover or excuse them. She poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust.’] The words allude to the command of the law, Lev, xvii. 13. that they cover the blood of any beast or other living creature which was slain with dust; which precept was not only intended to prevent their eating of blood, but also to give men a sort of horror or aversion to the sight of bloodshed. [chap. joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, &c] When I shall take from them all that is dear and valuable to them; their temple, an emblem of my special residence among them, and protection over them, whose beauty and magnificence was their peculiar glory,* and the most grateful object of their sight; together with their sons and daughters, whereon they placed their affection. (See ver. 21.). Ver. 2G. That he that escapeth in that day, &c] See xxxiii.21, 22. -

Ezekiel 24:1

JjLGAIN, in the ninth year. Of Jehoiachin’s captivity. (Seei.2.)

Ezekiel 24:2

The king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. See Jer. lii. 4. 2 Kings xxv. 1. iSET thy face against the Ammonites.’] See the note on vi. 2.

Ezekiel 24:3

And utter a parable unto the rebellious house. Add this emblem or parable concerning a boiling pot to the rest thou hast delivered to them: though they seem resolved not to give heed to what thou deliverest, cither in plain words or figurative expressions. (Compare xvii. 12. xx. 49.) Set on a pot, set it on, &c] The destruction of Jerusalem is represented by a boiling pot or caldron, both by Jeremiah, i. 13. and by Ezekiel, xi. 3. Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuanj, &c.] The Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, though related in blood to the Jews, yet bore a constant hatred towards them, which they took all opportunities to shew, when the Jews were under any distress, and particularly at the time of their general captivity, and the destruction of their city and temple. For this they are often reproved by the prophets, and threatened with the like or severer judgments, and particularly the Ammonites. (See the note on xxi. 28.)

Ezekiel 24:4

Gather the pieces into it, even every good piece, &c. Meaning the chief of the citizens, who should be destroyed together with the city. (See xi. 3.) I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession.] By the men of the east must be meant the Chaldeans. (See xxi. 19, 20.) Ammon is likewise reckoned among these countries, which God foretold by Jeremy should be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. (See Jcr.xxv. 21.) By tho east country is commonly meant Arabia inScripture, as hath been observed in the notes upon Isa. xi. 14. but Syria and Chaldea, and the countries beyond it, are likewise called the east. (See Gen. xi. 2. Numb, xxiii. 7. Isa. ii. G.) Chaldea, indeed, lay northward of Judea and the adjacent countries; (seel. 4.) but withal lying w T ith a point towards the east, the Chaldeans and their confederates may not improperly be reckoned among the men of the east; just as Cyrus is sometimes described as coming from the east, and sometimes from the north, (Isa. xli. 25.) with respect to his forces, that consisted both of Medes that lay northward, and Persians that lay eastward of Babylon. And shall drink thy milk.] Milk was the chief sustenance of those people, whose riches consisted chiefly in their stocks of cattle. Hence the Scythians arc called Galactophagi, by Homer, Iliad, iii. and Galactopota by other, writers. Tho LXX. render the sense very well, Shall drink ox swallow thy fatness: the word heleb signifying not only milk, but likewise the fattest or choicest parts of any flesh or fruits. So it is used Genxlv.18. Ye shall eat tlte. fat of the land; and Psal. Ixxxi. 1G. where pur translation reads, The finest of the ivheat, it is in the Hebrew, The fat of the wheat.

Ezekiel 24:5

Take the choice of the jlock. This belongs in sense to the former verse; so the LXX. translate tho words, joining them with the foregoing sentence; With the choice bones taken out of the jlock. Burn also the bones under it.] The bones of those who have been unjustly slain in tho midst of the city; (see xi. 7.) whoso blood cries for vengeance against it, and kindles God’s anger like fire. And make it boil well.] To denote the city’s being set on fire. (See ver. 10, 11.) Ver. G. Woe to tlte bloody city.] See xi. 6. xvi. 30. xxii. 3. xxiiL 37. Even to the pot whose scum is therein.] “Whose filthiness is not purged out of it. (See ver. 13.) Bring it out piece by piece.] The principal men of the city (seo ver. 4.) shall be carried out of the city by the Chaldeans, and afterward slain. (See xi. 7. 9.) Let no lot fall upon it.] Conquerors used to cast lots what share of tho vanquished they would save. (See 2 Sam. viii. 2. Joel iii. 3. Nalium iii. 10.) Here there will be no use of lots, for all the principal inhabitants shall bo slain. (See Jer. xxxix. 6.) And I will make Rabbah (see xxi. 20.) a stable for camels, &c] Instead of being a city inhabited by men, it shall be a place for cattle, and particularly for camels to feed in, of which that and the neighbouring countries had great store. It is a proverbial expression for utter destruction, to say that grass grows where a town stood. (Compare Isa. xvii. 2. xxii. 10. xxxii. 14. Zeph. ii. 14, 15.)

Ezekiel 24:6

Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with thy feet. Gestures that sometimes signify grief and indignation: (see vi. 11.) but are likewise used to express our joy and satisfaction. (Compare Job xxvii. 23. Jer. xlviii. 27. Lam. ii. 15.) With all thy despite against the land of Israel.] Sec ver. 3. -.

Ezekiel 24:7

She set it upon the top of a rock, &c. In a presumptuous manner, and with a high hand she shed it, as the Chaldce paraphrase expresses the sense; she was im-

Ezekiel 24:8

I have set her blood on the top of a rock. Her punishment shall be as notorious in the sight of the world as her sin was. Because that Moab and Seir do say.] Seir is the same with Edom. (Seexxxv. 2.) The prophet joins them together as guilty of the same crime, and then denounces particular judgments against each of them.. Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen^] They are no longer distinguished from their neighbours by* the visible protection of the God whom they worship.

Ezekiel 24:9

J will even make the pile for the fire great, &c. The inhabitants shall be the materials prepared by their sins to be consumed like fuel in the fire. Therefore will I open the side of Moab from the cities, &c] I will make a passage for his enemies to invade his frontier cities, and from thence to possess themselves of the best of his country. Some translate the middle of the verse, From the cities, even from Ar, his [city] upon his frontiers. Ar was the coast or border of Moab, (Dcut. ii. 18.) The glory of the country.] The best part of all the country of Moab; the Hebrew word is tsebi, frequently spoken of Judea, as being in many respects the glory of all lands. (See xx. G.) Beth-jesimoth, BaalMeon, and Kiriathaim.] See Numb.* xxxii. 38. Josh. xiii. 20. Jer. xlviii. 25. Baal-Meon is called Bcth-Mcon in that place of Jeremy, and more fully Beth-Baal-Meon, Josh. xiii. 17. t. e. the house or temple of | the idol Meon, by which Bishop Cumberland understands Menys or Osiris, the great deity of the Egyptians; in the first book and the second chapter of his treatise concerning Sanchoniathon’s Phoenician History. r Ver. JO. * Unto the men of the east.] See ver. 4.. That the Ammonites may not be remembered among the, nations.] May make no figure among their neighbours/ their strength being entirely broken.

Ezekiel 24:10

Spice it tvell. The expression imports, that the Chaldeans shall be as much set upon destroying the city and inhabitants, as hungry people are greedy of devouring meat well spiced and dressed. And let the bones be burnt.] The words denote an utter destruction, that the fire shall be so fierce as to consume the very bones as well as the flesh put into the caldron.

Ezekiel 24:11

Tlien set it empty upon the coals thereof, &c. After an entire riddance of the inhabitants, the city itself shall be set on fire, and the place and its wickedness be consumed together in the flames.

Ezekiel 24:12

She hath wearied herself with UesJ. The word teunim, never met with but in this place, is commonly derived from aven, which signifies trouble or vanity, and is a word frequently applied to idols, as particularly when Beth-el is styled Beth-aven, upon the account of the golden calf there set up, Hos. iv. 15, For these reasons I understand the expression hero, She hath wearied herself with lies, of the people’s multiplying their idolatries; idols being elsewhere called lies, and seeking relief sometimes from one idol, sometimes from another, but all in vain. (See xvi. 29, 30. xxiii. 16. 19. 40.) And her great scum went not forth out of her, &c] All the admonitions I gave her by my prophets, availed nothing to the purging her from her idolatries and other wickedness; so that now the fire must purge and consume her and her sins. Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance.] The Idumeans, being the posterity of Esau/bare an ancient grudge against the Jews, upon the account of their ancestor’s losing his right of pri-

Ezekiel 24:13

In thy filthiness is lewdness. Thou hast shewed thyself shameless and incorrigible in thine idolatries. (Compare xxiii. 29. 35.) Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, &c] I did what was requisite on my part towards thy conversion, but thou refusedst to comply with those frequent calls and exhortations I gave thee; (see the note on Jer. xxxi. 18.) and therefore my Spirit shall not strive with thee any longer, but I will proceed to execute my judgments upon thee. Till I cause my fury to rest upon thee*] See the note on v. 13. viii. 18.

Ezekiel 24:14

According to thy doings shall they judge thee. See xxiii. 24.

Ezekiel 24:16

Behold, I take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroke. Thy wife, the object of thy love and thy affection. (See ver. 18.)

Ezekiel 24:17

Bind the tire of thine head upon thee. Use the ordinary dress upon thine head; whereas in the time of mourning it was customary sometimes to shave the head: (see Lev. xiii. 45. Jer. vii. 29. xvi. 6.) sometimes to cast dust upon it. (See Josh. vii. 6. 1 Sam. iv. 12.) The priests were particularly forbid to uncover their heads in the. time, of mourning. (See Lev. x. 6.) -And put on thy sJioes upon thy feet.] Going barefoot was another expression of sorrow. (See 2 Sam, xv. 30.) And cover not thy lips.] Covering the lips or face was another token of mourning. (See Lev. xiii.‘45. Micah iii. 7. 2 Sam. xv. 30. Jer. xiv. 4.) And eat not the bread of men.] Partake not of the mourn^ ing feasts that relations use to prepare for the funerals of their friends. (See the note on Jer. xvi. 5. 7.) Such were the UipiSenrva and parentalia among the Greeks and Romans. Ver. IS. So I spake to the people in the morning, and at even my wife died.] My wife died in the evening, and the next morning I declared what commands God had laid upon me, not to make any outward show or sign of mourning upon that occasion. (Compare xxxiii. 22.) The evening was the beginning of the day according to the Jews’ reckoning. (See Gen. i. 5. Lev. xxiii. 32.)

Ezekiel 24:19

Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us?) They inquire by way of derision and contempt what these signs mean. (Compare xii. 9. xvii. 12. xx. 49.)

Ezekiel 24:21

Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength. 1 will deliver my temple into the hands of the heathen, and they shall profane and destroy it. (See vii. 19, 20.) That temple wherein you placed your glory, and thought my residence there your greatest protection, (Compare ver. 25. and see Psal. Ixxviii. 61. xcvi. 6. cv. 4. exxxii. 8.) Tlie desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitietlu] The beauty of holiness, as the temple is often called, whose destruction will affect you with a most tender compassion. And your sons and your daughters ivhom ye have left, shall fall by the sword.] Whom ye left behind you in the city, when ye were carried captives: or who were left by the famine and pestilence. (See v. 12. xxiii. 47.)

Ezekiel 24:23

Ye shall not mourn nor weep. These terrible judgments shall strike you with astonishment, and such a grief as is too great to be expressed by words or actions; according to the verse of the poet, <e Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent.” Small evils we complain of greater strike its dumb. But ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one towards another.] Ye shall waste away by a lingering grief, and by a silent lamentation over each other’s calamities. (See iv. 2.17. Lev. xxvi. 39.)

Ezekiel 24:24

Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sigi$. His actions foreshew you what shall be your condition. (Compare iv. 3. xii. 6.) The holy writers inseveral places speak of themselves in the third person. (See Exod. vi. 2G. 1 Sam. xii. 11. Matt. ix. 9.) So that this is an argument of very little force, when it is urged against Moses being the author of the Pentateuch.. * And when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord.~] Comparing the prediction with the event, will convince the most obstinate, that the immediate hand of God is in the judgments which are come upon you. (Seevi. 7. and compare John xiii. 19. xiv. 29. xvi. 4.)

Ezekiel 24:25

When I shall lake from them their strength, the

Ezekiel 24:27

In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him that is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb. From this time to the time when the news comes of the city’s being taken, thou shalt not prophesy any more to thine own people; but then will I give thee a new commission to speak, (see xxxiii. 22.) and that not by signs, as thou dost at present, but with freedom and plainness; the event so exactly answering thy predictions, shall give anew authority to what thou speakest. (Sec iii.2G. xxix. 21. and compare Ephes. vi. 19.) And thou shalt be a sign unto them, &c] They shall then be convinced, by experience, that thou didst foreshewby thy actions and behaviour all that should befal tliem. And this will likewise convince them of my foreknowledge and providence. chap, xx v; argument/ This chapter contains God’s judgments against the Ammonites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their hatred against the Jews, and insulting over them in the time of their distress. Archbishop UshcT(in his Annals ad A. M. 3419.) and Josephus (Antiq. lib. x. cap. 11.) place these events five years after the destruction of Jerusalem.

I will bring a company upon them, and give them to be removed and spoiled. This is meant chiefly of tho Babylonians, who should plunder and carry away captive a great part of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Then said I unto her that was grown old in adulteries, &c. The words import, that it was time for her to leave off her ill courses, that age and experience might sufficiently convince her of the follies of them; but withal they imply, that age and time seldom correct ill habits. The word her is taken collectively in this and the following verse, so as to include both the sisters. So the singular number is used, Psal. xii. 7. Thou shalt preserve him from this generation for ever; where our interpreters rightly observo in the margin, that the word him signifies every one of them.

Yet they went in unto her, &c. Both Samaria and Jerusalem defiled themselves with the idolatries of all the heathen round about them. (Compare ver. 7. 17^

And the righteous men, they shall judge them.* By righteous or just men some understand the Babylonians, who, though a wicked and idolatrous people, were the executioners of God’s justice upon a nation that had sinned against a clearer light and greater convictions. So Nebuchadnezzar and. other heathen princes are called God’s servants, as being instruments of his providence. But tho expression may in a more proper sense be understood of the prophets who foretold the judgments God would inflict upon Samaria and Jerusalem; such as Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, &c. The prophets are said to execute those judgments which they foretell: so Ezekiel saith of himself, that he was sent to destroy the city; (xliii. 3.) i. e. to prophesy its destruction. To the same sense we read, Hos. vi. 5. J have hewed them by my propltets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth. (See the notes upon Isa. vi. 10. Jer. i. 10. v. 14.) After the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of them that shed blood.] See ver. 37. and xvi. 38.

And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their sword,. See xvi. 40. They shall slay their sons and their daughters, &c] See ver. 25.

Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land. See ver. 27. TJiat alt women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.] See the notes upon ver. 10. and xvi. 41.

And ye shall bear the sins of your idols. Ye shall bear the punishment due to your sins of idolatry.‘7b bear sin, or iniquity, is a noted expression in Scripture, signifying the undergoing the punishment due to it. (Compare ver. 35.)