Ezekiel 11:15

Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession. THY BRETHREN, EVEN THY BRETHREN. The repetition implies, 'Thy real brethren' are no longer the priests at Jerusalem, with whom thou art connected by the natural ties of blood and common temple-service; but thy fellow-exiles on the Chebar, and the house of Israel, whosoever of them belong to the remnant to be spared. MEN OF THY KINDRED - literally, of thy redemption [ gª'ulaatekaa (H1353)]; i:e., the nearest relatives, whose duty it was to do the part of Go'el (H1352), or vindicator and redeeme...

14-21 The pious captives in Babylon were insulted by the Jews who continued in Jerusalem; but God made gracious promises to them. It is promised, that God will give them one heart; a heart firmly fixed for God, and not wavering. All who are made holy have a new spirit, a new temper and dispositions; they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, or a new face, will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The carnal heart, like a stone, cannot be made to feel. Men live among the dead and dying, and are neither concerned nor humbled. He will make their hearts tender and fit to receive impressions: this is God's work, it is his gift by promise; and a wonderful and happy change is wrought by it, from death to life. Their practices shall be agreeable to those principles. These two must and will go together. When the si...

Verse Ezekiel 11:15. _GET YOU FAR FROM THE LORD_] These are the words of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, against those of Israel who had been carried away to Babylon with Jeconiah. _Go ye far from the Lord_: but as for us, the land of Israel is given to us for a possession, we shall never be removed from it, and _they_ shall never return to it....

THY KINDRED - The original word is derived from a root, suggesting the ideas of “redeeming” and “avenging” as connected with the bond of “kindred.” The word, therefore, conveys here a special reproach to the proud Jews, who have been so ready to cast off the claims of blood-relationship, and at the same time a hope of restoration to those who have been rudely thrown aside....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 11:1 MOREOVER THE SPIRIT LIFTED ME UP, etc. It is noticeable that the position to which Ezekiel was thus transported in his vision from his place in the inner court (Ezekiel 8:14), was identical with that which he had just seen occupied by the cherub chariot before its departure (Ezekiel 10:19). What he is about to see will throw light on the significance of their departure. The gate is probably, here as there, that of the court of the temple. FIVE AND TWENTY MEN. The number at first reminds us of the worshippers of the sun, in Ezekiel 8:16; but tha

SON OF MAN, THY BRETHREN, [EVEN] THY BRETHREN, THE MEN OF THY KINDRED,.... Or, "of thy redemption" l; to whom the right of redemption of his lands and possessions belonged, as it did to those that were next akin. The Septuagint, by a mistake of the word, render it, "the men of thy captivity"; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions, following them. It is true those were his fellow captives who are here meant; some of them that were carried captive were his brethren by blood, and all by nation and religion; and these phrases, and the repetition, of them, are designed not only to excite the prophet's attention to, and to assure them of what is after declared; but to take off his concern for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who had used his brethren ill, and to turn his thoughts and affections towards his friends in Chaldea. Kimchi thinks that these three expressions refer to three captivities;...

Ezekiel 11:1. The priests and the leaders of the nation were steeped in wickedness, defied God and the judgments His prophets had announced. They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave wicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience against Jehovah and His Word. In regard to the judgment they said, “It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh.” They knew of Jeremiah's letter which he had sent to the elders who were carried away captives. In that letter, Jeremiah, believing God's Word concerning the long duration of the captivity, gave the advice, “Build ye houses and dwell in them” Jeremiah 29:1. They ridiculed that divinely given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase “this is the cauldron” means the city of Jerusalem; and we are

A GLIMMER OF HOPE. The people who, at the first deportation (597 B.C.), were allowed to remain in the land, clearly thought themselves superior to those who, like Ezekiel, had been taken to Babylon far from Yahweh's land and therefore far from Yahweh (Ezekiel 11:15, read _they are far)._ Ezekiel undeceives them: the future lies with the exiles, not with them. True, Yahweh had been (see _mg._) to the exiles but little of a sanctuary_ i.e._ their religious privileges had been inevitably curtailed but some day they would come back to the land, and establish upon it the true worship of Yahweh. First they would sweep it clean of every idolatrous thing, and then for their callous obstinate hearts God would give them soft impressionable hearts on which His laws would be easily written (Ezekiel 36

THY BRETHREN... THY BRETHREN. Figure of speech _Epizeuxis._ App-6. KINDRED = redemption....

_the men of thy kindred_ Lit. _the men of thy redemption_. This could only mean, the men to be redeemed, or delivered, by thy intercession the men for whom thou shouldst pray. Such a sense is difficult to draw from the words. In usage the term has not the meaning of "kindred." Probably the word should be so read as to mean "exile" _the men of thy exile_, i.e. thy fellow captives. are _they unto whom_ It is better to regard the first words in the verse down to "wholly" as exclamations: "thy brethren, thy brethren, thy fellow exiles, and all the house of Israel, all of it! they unto whom …" The sentence is not strictly grammatical, but the exclamations give an answer to the prophet's anxious question, "wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?" (Ezekiel 11:13). The destruction of them of Jerusalem is no full end; the fellow-exiles of the prophet and all the hous