6. Prophecy against the mountains of Israel, the seats of her idolatry Ch. 4, 5. were directed chiefly against Jerusalem, because she had rebelled against the statutes of the Lord (ch. Ezekiel 5:6) and because she had polluted his sanctuary with her abominations (ch. Ezekiel 5:11). Therefore the ar... [ Continue Reading ]
Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols re... [ Continue Reading ]
_Son of man_ See on ch. Ezekiel 2:1. _mountains of Israel_ i.e. the mountain-land of Israel, but with special reference to the mountains as the seats of idolatrous worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to the rivers_ the RAVINES; the gorges where there were streams and thick trees, and where idolatrous worship was practised (ch. Ezekiel 35:8; Ezekiel 36:4; Ezekiel 36:6), cf. Isaiah 57:5, "that slay the children in the valleys (a different word) under the clefts of the rocks; among the smooth ston... [ Continue Reading ]
_your images_ As marg., sun-images, i.e. symbols of the sun-god, probably in the shape of a pyramid or obelisk. They stood beside the altars. So again Ezekiel 6:6. _your idols_ The term used is an opprobrious or contemptuous epithet, applied to idols, though its precise meaning is doubtful. Most pro... [ Continue Reading ]
The same had already been threatened by Jeremiah 8:1-2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_your works_ the works of your hands, the idols. All the cumulative phrases in the verse are wanting in LXX. viz. "and made desolate," "and cease," "and your works may be abolished." The term "abolished" is lit. "blotted out." The rendering "made desolate" is probably right, though as spelled the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_I_am _the Lord_ The term Jehovah is used in the later prophets to mean the true and only God. In this prophet the purpose and the effect of all the judgments on Israel is that they may know that he who inflicts them is Jehovah God alone. The same is the purpose and effect of his judgments on the he... [ Continue Reading ]
_that ye may have_ R.V. _in that ye shall have some_is better. The original reads very awkwardly, and in LXX. the words: "yet will I leave a remnant" are wanting. Ezekiel 6:9 seems the apodosis of Ezekiel 6:8, _and when ye shall have them that escape the sword_… 9 _then shall they that escape of you... [ Continue Reading ]
A remnant shall be preserved, and shall remember the Lord among the nations whither they are scattered... [ Continue Reading ]
_because I am broken_ R.V. _how that I have been broken_with their whorish heart. Such a sense as "been broken with" is altogether impossible; and the middle sense "break for myself" is equally to be rejected. The natural sense is: they shall remember (think of) me … _when I have broken_. Their idol... [ Continue Reading ]
_Smite with thine hand_ Ch. Ezekiel 25:6, "Because thou (Ammon) hast clapped thine hands and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of thy soul against the land of Israel." The gestures are those of scorn and ill-will, and of rejoicing over another's misfortune; ch. Ezekiel 22:13;... [ Continue Reading ]
Renewal of the threat of destruction because of idolatry... [ Continue Reading ]
_and is besieged_ AND HE THAT IS BESIEGED. In LXX. the previous "he that remaineth" is wanting. With this omission "he that is besieged" might stand, cf. ch. Ezekiel 7:15, "he that is in the city, famine shall devour him." Otherwise the sense seems rather as in R.V. marg. _preserved_, as Isaiah 49:6... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Ezekiel 6:7 on the effect of these judgments on the minds of the people. On "idols," cf. Ezekiel 6:4. The cumulative phrases "in all the tops of the mountains," and "under every thick oak" are wanting in LXX.; and so "he that remaineth" Ezekiel 6:12. For _oak_rather TEREBINTH. _sweet savour_ I... [ Continue Reading ]
_desolate, yea, more desolate_ Rather: DESOLATE AND WASTE (ch. Ezekiel 33:28-29; Ezekiel 35:3) more than the wilderness of Diblah. The comparative "more than," however, is not probable. Moreover a wilderness of Diblah is unknown; Diblathaim besides being in Moab could not be called desert. The const... [ Continue Reading ]