_Again the word of the Lord came unto me_ “It is plain that Ezekiel uttered what is contained in this chapter to Ezekiel 33:20, before Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians; but how long before is uncertain.” Bishop Newcome. _Son of man, speak to the children of thy people_ To the Jews, to whom he... [ Continue Reading ]
_So thou, O son of man_ The Lord here applies the preceding account of the watchman's office to the prophet, and shows that his duty is illustrated thereby. As if he had said, If a watchman, appointed by his fellow-citizens, is so highly guilty, if he do not give warning to the city, and shall recei... [ Continue Reading ]
_If our transgressions be upon us_, &c. If the unpardoned guilt of our sins lie upon us, and we be punished for them in the wasting of our country, the burning of our city, the abolishing the public worship of God, &c.; _and we pine away in them_ Experience their bitter consequences in famine and di... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live_ When I make him a promise of life, peace, and every blessing which he stands in need of; _if he trust to his own righteousness_ Formerly performed, but now abandoned; or, if he rely upon the good works he hath done, and think the worth o... [ Continue Reading ]
_If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed _ It is a necessary condition of obtaining pardon, that men make restitution of what they have unjustly gotten from others. The law is express to this purpose, Leviticus 6:5, where the offender is required to add a _fifth part_ to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the twelfth year of our captivity_, &c. According to this reading, the news of the taking and burning of Jerusalem was brought to that part of the Babylonish dominions where the Jewish captives were placed in a year, five months, and twenty-six days after the calamity happened: see Jeremiah 52:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening_ I felt a sensible impulse of the prophetic spirit: see Ezekiel 1:3. _And had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning_ Had so influenced my mind, that I found myself disposed and prepared to speak freely and with authority. Not that he... [ Continue Reading ]
_They that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel_ They that are left behind in the land, that is now wasted with fire and sword: see the margin. _Speak, saying, Abraham was one, and inherited the land_ Had the privilege of dwelling and feeding his flocks in it; as if he had said, ‘If Abraham, b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord_ Remove from them this destructive carnal confidence, and show them what they do, and how far they are from being Abraham's genuine seed. _Ye eat with the blood_ Which was expressly forbidden in the Jewish law, as appears from Leviticus 7:26, as well as that more... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely they that are in the wastes_ They who continue to dwell among the desolations of Jerusalem and Judea; _shall fall by the sword_ This they accordingly did, both through the civil dissensions among them, in the conspiracy formed against Gedaliah, and likewise by the Chaldeans revenging his dea... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I will lay the land most desolate_ I will make the land destitute of inhabitants, by the destruction which shall be made of them by the sword, by wild beasts, and the pestilence, and by their being carried into captivity. _And the pomp of her strength shall cease_ All that wealth and magnificen... [ Continue Reading ]
_The children of thy people_ Those of the captivity; _still are talking against thee_ Or rather, _of thee_, as the LXX. rightly render it; for _with their mouths they showed much love_, as it follows in the next verse. _By the walls and in the doors of their houses_ Both in their public places of co... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when this cometh to pass_, (_lo, it will come_) Or, rather, _lo, it is come;_ for so the same phrase is translated Ezekiel 6:2; Ezekiel 6:6; Ezekiel 6:10, the verb being in the present tense; when they shall see thy prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem actually fulfilled, and all... [ Continue Reading ]