Ezekiel · Chapter 11

V. 1. Jaazaniah-Not him that is mentioned Ezekiel 8:11. Pelatiah-Named here for that dreadful sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others.

Verse 1. At the door of the gate five and twenty men] The same persons, no doubt, who appear, Ezekiel 8:16, worshipping the sun. Jaazaniah the son of Azur] In Ezekiel 8:16, we find a Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. If Shaphan was also called Azur, they may be the same person. But it is most likely that there were two of this name, and both chiefs among the people.

Verses 1-3. Moreover the spirit lifted me up — It seems it should rather have been rendered, And the spirit had lifted me up, for here he appears to go back to speak about those twenty-five men of whom he made mention Ezekiel 7:16, but had broken off from speaking of them to speak of things of greater importance; but he now returns to them again. And brought me unto the east gate — Caused me to see those parts in my vision just as if I had been there. And behold at the door five and twenty men — The same who are represented in Ezekiel 8:16, as worshipping the sun. They were princes of the people — That is, most probably, members of the great sanhedrim: compare Jeremiah 26:10. Among whom I saw Pelatiah, &c. — Named here for that dreadful, sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others. Then said he unto me — Namely, the divine appearance which was before my eyes. These are the men that give wicked counsel — They probably advised and encouraged the people to use the Chaldean rites of worship, in order to please and gain the favour of that nation. Or, they persuaded the Jews that they had no reason to fear future trouble or mischief from the Chaldeans, and therefore rendered them secure in their sins. Which say, It is not near — The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. These were such as put the evil day far from them, as is said Amos 6:3, and so went on securely in building houses, and making such like improvements. This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh — Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of Jerusalem under the figure of a seething-pot, or caldron, Jeremiah 1:13. And Ezekiel himself uses the same metaphor, Ezekiel 24:3, 4, &c. So these scoffers made use of the same expression on purpose to deride the menaces of the prophets; as if they had said, If this city be a caldron, we are well content to be the flesh that is boiled in it. “We will share all fates with her, we will either be preserved or perish with her.” So Michaelis, who thinks the words are a proverb.

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

V. 2. He-The Lord sitting on the cherub.

Verses 1-3. Moreover the spirit lifted me up — It seems it should rather have been rendered, And the spirit had lifted me up, for here he appears to go back to speak about those twenty-five men of whom he made mention Ezekiel 7:16, but had broken off from speaking of them to speak of things of greater importance; but he now returns to them again. And brought me unto the east gate — Caused me to see those parts in my vision just as if I had been there. And behold at the door five and twenty men — The same who are represented in Ezekiel 8:16, as worshipping the sun. They were princes of the people — That is, most probably, members of the great sanhedrim: compare Jeremiah 26:10. Among whom I saw Pelatiah, &c. — Named here for that dreadful, sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others. Then said he unto me — Namely, the divine appearance which was before my eyes. These are the men that give wicked counsel — They probably advised and encouraged the people to use the Chaldean rites of worship, in order to please and gain the favour of that nation. Or, they persuaded the Jews that they had no reason to fear future trouble or mischief from the Chaldeans, and therefore rendered them secure in their sins. Which say, It is not near — The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. These were such as put the evil day far from them, as is said Amos 6:3, and so went on securely in building houses, and making such like improvements. This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh — Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of Jerusalem under the figure of a seething-pot, or caldron, Jeremiah 1:13. And Ezekiel himself uses the same metaphor, Ezekiel 24:3, 4, &c. So these scoffers made use of the same expression on purpose to deride the menaces of the prophets; as if they had said, If this city be a caldron, we are well content to be the flesh that is boiled in it. “We will share all fates with her, we will either be preserved or perish with her.” So Michaelis, who thinks the words are a proverb.

Verse 2. These are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city. These twenty five men, with two princes at their head, Jaazaniah and Pelatiah, were the infidel club of the temple. They determined on having Jeremiah’s life with a storm of violence. They thwarted all his ministry, they advised the king to break the fealty he had sworn to the king of Babylon, they brought destruction upon their country, and then upon themselves.

Where shall we find their fellows in the present age, but in the illuminati of Europe; in L’ Academie Françoise, to whom Voltaire and Diderot are the two Hebrew culprits. Where shall we find their successors, but in the socinian, alias, the unitarian clubs of our seats of letters; of whom John Berridge writes, “I withdrew myself from them, because I found that lowering the Son was lowering the Father—I had almost given over prayer.” Where shall we find their equals in dignity, but in the learned and new translators of the prophets, and of the christian scriptures, in whose notes we find no trace of the preëxistence of Christ, or of the Omoousion Hòmoóusion faith, that the Son is one substance with the Father?

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

V. 3. It-The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. The caldron-This is an impious scoff, yet mixt with some fear of the prophet, Jeremiah 1:13.

Verse 3. It is not near] That is, the threatened invasion.

This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.] See the vision of the seething pot, Jeremiah 1:13. These infidels seem to say: “We will run all risks, we will abide in the city. Though it be the caldron, and we the flesh, yet we will share its fate: if it perish, we will perish with it.” Or they may allude to the above prediction of Jeremiah, in order to ridicule it: “We were to have been boiled long ago: but the fulfilment of that prediction is not near yet.”

Verses 1-3. Moreover the spirit lifted me up — It seems it should rather have been rendered, And the spirit had lifted me up, for here he appears to go back to speak about those twenty-five men of whom he made mention Ezekiel 7:16, but had broken off from speaking of them to speak of things of greater importance; but he now returns to them again. And brought me unto the east gate — Caused me to see those parts in my vision just as if I had been there. And behold at the door five and twenty men — The same who are represented in Ezekiel 8:16, as worshipping the sun. They were princes of the people — That is, most probably, members of the great sanhedrim: compare Jeremiah 26:10. Among whom I saw Pelatiah, &c. — Named here for that dreadful, sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others. Then said he unto me — Namely, the divine appearance which was before my eyes. These are the men that give wicked counsel — They probably advised and encouraged the people to use the Chaldean rites of worship, in order to please and gain the favour of that nation. Or, they persuaded the Jews that they had no reason to fear future trouble or mischief from the Chaldeans, and therefore rendered them secure in their sins. Which say, It is not near — The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. These were such as put the evil day far from them, as is said Amos 6:3, and so went on securely in building houses, and making such like improvements. This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh — Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of Jerusalem under the figure of a seething-pot, or caldron, Jeremiah 1:13. And Ezekiel himself uses the same metaphor, Ezekiel 24:3, 4, &c. So these scoffers made use of the same expression on purpose to deride the menaces of the prophets; as if they had said, If this city be a caldron, we are well content to be the flesh that is boiled in it. “We will share all fates with her, we will either be preserved or perish with her.” So Michaelis, who thinks the words are a proverb.

Ver. 3. This city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. The infidels spoke these words in contempt of Jeremiah, who had used the phrase in Jeremiah 1:13. They also showed their infidelity by building houses, as in the most flourishing times. Caldrons were long boilers, used at the foot of mount Olivet and other places, to cook the peace-offerings of the temple.

3. It is not near; let us build houses — Rather, the time to build houses is not near. The meaning is obscure, but seems to be this: It is no time now for peaceful occupations (Ezekiel 28:26; Isaiah 65:21; Jeremiah 29:5, 28). Jeremiah had called Jerusalem a seething “pot” — the same word as caldron in Hebrew (Jeremiah 1:13) — and so it might become if they did not arouse from their lethargy. But even the walls of an iron pot protect the flesh within it, and it was the part of patriots to strengthen their defenses rather than to give up to despair or leap into the Babylonian fires; therefore they will stay behind the walls, and, if they must die, they will die there. This was the answer of the war party to the prophets who counseled submission to Babylon, and it struck a popular chord.

Verses 4, 5. Therefore prophesy against them — Declare to them how different things shall happen to them from what they expect. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me — See note on Ezekiel 3:24. And said unto me, Speak; Thus have ye said — Ye have advanced the assertion, mentioned verse 3. “You have rightly said what you say: the city is the caldron, and we are the flesh, shall be fulfilled, but not as you understand it. Many of you will perish in the city. For those it will be the caldron, and they will be flesh boiled in it. But yourselves shall not be the flesh in the caldron: but you shall be taken out and elsewhere cut in pieces.” — Michaelis in Newcome. For I know the things that come into your mind — Here God declares that, however much these men thought, and said in their hearts, The Lord seeth us not, yet still he not only saw them, but knew the things that came into their mind, every one of them, and took particular notice of that vain confidence with which they supported themselves, and endeavoured to put a good face upon a matter which they could not but know to be bad. Remember, reader, God perfectly knows not only the things that come out of our mouths, but the things that come into our minds; not only all we say, but all we think; even those thoughts which are most suddenly darted into our minds, and as suddenly slip out of them again, are perfectly known and narrowly observed by God: he knows us infinitely better than we know ourselves; he understands us afar off: the consideration whereof should oblige us to keep our hearts with all diligence, that no vain thoughts may come into them, or lodge within them.

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

Verses 4, 5. Therefore prophesy against them — Declare to them how different things shall happen to them from what they expect. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me — See note on Ezekiel 3:24. And said unto me, Speak; Thus have ye said — Ye have advanced the assertion, mentioned verse 3. “You have rightly said what you say: the city is the caldron, and we are the flesh, shall be fulfilled, but not as you understand it. Many of you will perish in the city. For those it will be the caldron, and they will be flesh boiled in it. But yourselves shall not be the flesh in the caldron: but you shall be taken out and elsewhere cut in pieces.” — Michaelis in Newcome. For I know the things that come into your mind — Here God declares that, however much these men thought, and said in their hearts, The Lord seeth us not, yet still he not only saw them, but knew the things that came into their mind, every one of them, and took particular notice of that vain confidence with which they supported themselves, and endeavoured to put a good face upon a matter which they could not but know to be bad. Remember, reader, God perfectly knows not only the things that come out of our mouths, but the things that come into our minds; not only all we say, but all we think; even those thoughts which are most suddenly darted into our minds, and as suddenly slip out of them again, are perfectly known and narrowly observed by God: he knows us infinitely better than we know ourselves; he understands us afar off: the consideration whereof should oblige us to keep our hearts with all diligence, that no vain thoughts may come into them, or lodge within them.

5. I know the things that come into your mind — The plots they are hatching are known to Jehovah and to his prophets. These whisperings of rebellion against Babylon and of alliance with Egypt are no longer secrets.

V. 6. Ye-Many murders have you committed yourselves, and you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded them, thus obstinately to stand out.

Verses 6, 7. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city — Ye have, without law or justice, shed the blood of many in your streets. From this, and many other expressions in the Scripture, we may conclude that not only private murders were extremely frequent among them, but that they also frequently put to death, under colour of justice, those who were innocent of every crime deserving of death, but whom, for some wicked purposes, they wanted to be removed out of the way. And ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain — You have not only committed many murders yourselves, but you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded your people thus obstinately to stand out. Your slain, they are the flesh, &c. — You yourselves, therefore, have made your city, as it were, a caldron, by the murdered bodies with which you have filled the streets of it; many of them cut in pieces, so that they seem like flesh cut for the caldron. And this city may properly be called the caldron, into which their flesh has been thrown. But I will bring you forth out of the midst of it — Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of the king of Babylon. You shall not die there, but I will reserve you for another punishment: see verses 9, 11.

6. Ye have multiplied your slain — This shows how the captains and leaders of the war party had been accustomed to deal with those whose opinions differed from theirs (Ezekiel 7:23; 22:25).

V. 7. Bring you forth-Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of Babylon.

Verse 7. Your slain—they are the flesh] Jerusalem is the caldron, and those who have been slain in it, they are the flesh; and though ye purpose to stay and share its fate, ye shall not be permitted to do so, ye shall be carried into captivity.

Verses 6, 7. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city — Ye have, without law or justice, shed the blood of many in your streets. From this, and many other expressions in the Scripture, we may conclude that not only private murders were extremely frequent among them, but that they also frequently put to death, under colour of justice, those who were innocent of every crime deserving of death, but whom, for some wicked purposes, they wanted to be removed out of the way. And ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain — You have not only committed many murders yourselves, but you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded your people thus obstinately to stand out. Your slain, they are the flesh, &c. — You yourselves, therefore, have made your city, as it were, a caldron, by the murdered bodies with which you have filled the streets of it; many of them cut in pieces, so that they seem like flesh cut for the caldron. And this city may properly be called the caldron, into which their flesh has been thrown. But I will bring you forth out of the midst of it — Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of the king of Babylon. You shall not die there, but I will reserve you for another punishment: see verses 9, 11.

7. They are the flesh, etc. — The only ones who will be left within the safe walls of the iron pot will be the slain. The dreams of escape from God’s judgment will fail. All of Jerusalem’s living population will be hurried into captivity. Jehovah had spoken it, and the city, if it remained unrepentant (see notes Ezekiel 9:10), was doomed. The city should be a caldron whose walls would inclose none but the dead, and these captains of the people should not even lie among those heroes slain in the battle, but should fly from behind the strong walls in which they had boasted only to meet their death “in the border of Israel” (verse 10).

Verses 8-11. Ye have feared the sword — Of the Chaldeans; and have, to avoid it, courted them, and left my worship to follow their idolatrous rites: but this very sword will I bring upon you. And I will deliver you into the hands of strangers — Defeating all your projects for escape; and I will execute judgments among you — By the hands of the Chaldeans, whom I will make the instruments of my just vengeance. I will judge you in the border of Israel — Namely, in Riblah, just upon the borders of Judea. In this place the king of Babylon, who is here spoken of as God’s representative, sat in judgment on all the princes of Judah, and slew them: see the margin. This city shall not be your caldron — The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you elsewhere.

8. Ye have feared the sword;… I will bring a sword — With all their bravado there is a note of despair in verse 3. The very fact that they felt the need of an Egyptian alliance shows that they feared the avenging sword of Babylon. But God says that it will not be Nebuchadnezzar’s sword, but his own, that will cut them down. It is not rebellion against the king of Babylon, but against the King of heaven which brings these calamities and delivers the people into Babylonian hands (verse 9).

V. 9. Deliver you-Defeating all your projects for escape.

Verse 9. And deliver you into the hands of strangers] This seems to refer chiefly to Zedekiah and his family.

Verses 8-11. Ye have feared the sword — Of the Chaldeans; and have, to avoid it, courted them, and left my worship to follow their idolatrous rites: but this very sword will I bring upon you. And I will deliver you into the hands of strangers — Defeating all your projects for escape; and I will execute judgments among you — By the hands of the Chaldeans, whom I will make the instruments of my just vengeance. I will judge you in the border of Israel — Namely, in Riblah, just upon the borders of Judea. In this place the king of Babylon, who is here spoken of as God’s representative, sat in judgment on all the princes of Judah, and slew them: see the margin. This city shall not be your caldron — The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you elsewhere.

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

V. 10. Will judge-My just judgments shall pursue you, whithersoever you fly.

Verses 8-11. Ye have feared the sword — Of the Chaldeans; and have, to avoid it, courted them, and left my worship to follow their idolatrous rites: but this very sword will I bring upon you. And I will deliver you into the hands of strangers — Defeating all your projects for escape; and I will execute judgments among you — By the hands of the Chaldeans, whom I will make the instruments of my just vengeance. I will judge you in the border of Israel — Namely, in Riblah, just upon the borders of Judea. In this place the king of Babylon, who is here spoken of as God’s representative, sat in judgment on all the princes of Judah, and slew them: see the margin. This city shall not be your caldron — The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you elsewhere.

10. In [literally, upon] the border of Israel — This was literally fulfilled. These captains and chief rulers of Israel were not put to death within the walls of the city, but on the northern frontier. The strong walls of the iron pot could not protect them (verse 11; Jeremiah 52:9, 26, 27; Numbers 34:11; 2 Kings 25:18-21).

V. 11. Your caldron-The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you in a strange land. Judge you-I will do more against you at Riblah, where the captive king had his children, and others with them, first murdered before his eyes, and then his own eyes put out; Riblah is called the border of Israel: for Syria was adjoining to Israel on the north, and Riblah was on the frontiers of Syria.

Verse 11. I will judge you in the border of Israel,] Though Riblah was in Syria, yet it was on the very frontiers of Israel; and it was here that Zedekiah’s sons were slain, and his own eyes put out.

Verses 8-11. Ye have feared the sword — Of the Chaldeans; and have, to avoid it, courted them, and left my worship to follow their idolatrous rites: but this very sword will I bring upon you. And I will deliver you into the hands of strangers — Defeating all your projects for escape; and I will execute judgments among you — By the hands of the Chaldeans, whom I will make the instruments of my just vengeance. I will judge you in the border of Israel — Namely, in Riblah, just upon the borders of Judea. In this place the king of Babylon, who is here spoken of as God’s representative, sat in judgment on all the princes of Judah, and slew them: see the margin. This city shall not be your caldron — The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you elsewhere.

Ver. 11. This city shall not be your caldron— I will judge you in the border of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar judged the rebels at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he put sixty six to death. He then slew Zedekiah’s children, all young, and put out the father’s eyes. These predictions, all lumuinous and tragic, were revealed to Ezekiel to support the faith of the exiles.

11, 12. These verses are not in the ancient Greek translation and may not have been in the original Hebrew text. They repeat thoughts previously expressed (verses 7, 10; chap. 8).

11, 12. These verses are not in the ancient Greek translation and may not have been in the original Hebrew text. They repeat thoughts previously expressed (verses 7, 10; chap. 8).

V. 13. Pelatiah-Mentioned ver. 1, a principal man among the twenty-five princes, who made all the mischief in Jerusalem. It should seem this was done in vision now, (as the slaying of the ancient men, Ezekiel 9:6,) but it was an assurance, that when this prophecy was published, it would be done in fact. And the death of Pelatiah was an earnest of the compleat accomplishment of the prophecy. A full end-By slaying all, as this man is cut off.

Verse 13. Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died.] Most probably he was struck dead the very hour in which Ezekiel prophesied against him. His death appears to have resembled that of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:1, &c.

Verse 13. And when I prophesied, Pelatiah died — Mentioned verse 1, a principal man among the twenty-five princes, who made all the mischief in Jerusalem: see note on verse 2. It seems this was done only in vision now, (as the slaying of the ancient men, Ezekiel 9:6,) but it was an assurance, that when this prophecy was published it would be done in fact. And the death of Pelatiah was a pledge of the complete accomplishment of the prophecy. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried — The prophet thought this an earnest of the common destruction which was coming upon all the inhabitants of the city, and thereupon he earnestly deprecated so severe a judgment. See chap. 9:8.

Ver. 13. It came to pass when I prophesied, that Pelatiah died. So also Hananiel died. Jeremiah 28. Such was likewise the case in the new-testament church. Acts 5:5. There is a sin unto death. These are punishments which the great Judge keeps in his own hands. Because of the schisms and gnostic desecrations at Corinth, some slept, and others were sickly. What can mortals say? God standeth in the congregation of the righteous, the Judge of quick and dead.

13. Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died — At the very time when the prophet in vision is crying out against these wicked counselors (verse 7) he sees the chief conspirator fall dead. He thinks the end has at last come and God’s extremest punishment has begun, and once again he utters the wail which had before broken from his heart (Ezekiel 9:8). He had all along, it seems, hoped that repentance would follow these plain warnings, and forgiveness would be granted; but he now fears that the total destruction has commenced of which he had so long prophesied.

Verses 14, 15. Again the word of the Lord came unto me — A seasonable word, to stop the mouths of the insulting Jerusalemites, and to encourage the captives at Babylon. Son of man, thy brethren — The men of thy kindred, or, of thy redemption, as ˆtlag may be rendered: that is, thy fellow-captives, as Bishop Newcome reads it; unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get ye far from the Lord, &c. — The Jews who were left in Judea thought themselves more the favourites of God than those who had been carried away captives, looking upon the latter as outcasts, and such as had no right, either to the privileges of Jews or to the land of Judea. The words, hwhy l[m wqjr, rendered, Get you far from the Lord, may be translated, They have departed far from the Lord, that is, they have more grievously sinned and offended God than we. So thought and so said the inhabitants of Jerusalem, concerning those who had been carried into captivity. Unto us is this land given in possession — This promised, holy land, where our fathers dwelt, is exclusively ours, and we shall never be put out of possession of it, but it shall always be our inheritance.

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

V. 15. Thy brethren-Thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Jerusalem. Their degeneracy is more noted in the repetition of the word brethren. Gone far-Ye are gone far from the Lord; as much as the Heathens accused the Christians of atheism.

Verse 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.

Verses 14, 15. Again the word of the Lord came unto me — A seasonable word, to stop the mouths of the insulting Jerusalemites, and to encourage the captives at Babylon. Son of man, thy brethren — The men of thy kindred, or, of thy redemption, as ˆtlag may be rendered: that is, thy fellow-captives, as Bishop Newcome reads it; unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get ye far from the Lord, &c. — The Jews who were left in Judea thought themselves more the favourites of God than those who had been carried away captives, looking upon the latter as outcasts, and such as had no right, either to the privileges of Jews or to the land of Judea. The words, hwhy l[m wqjr, rendered, Get you far from the Lord, may be translated, They have departed far from the Lord, that is, they have more grievously sinned and offended God than we. So thought and so said the inhabitants of Jerusalem, concerning those who had been carried into captivity. Unto us is this land given in possession — This promised, holy land, where our fathers dwelt, is exclusively ours, and we shall never be put out of possession of it, but it shall always be our inheritance.

15. The men of thy kindred, etc. — The verse is very difficult, but should probably be translated: “Son of man, [behold] thy brethren! thy brethren, then, men of thy redemption and the whole house of Israel, the whole of it, even they, of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, They are from the Lord: unto us is the land given in possession.” The word “kindred” is literally “redemption,” and the “men of thy redemption” would mean the men who could be delivered by his intercessory prayers. The LXX. and the Peshito give, however, another reading, “the men of thy captivity;” that is, fellow-exiles. Jehovah, in his answer to Ezekiel’s cry of protest against making a full end of the house of Israel, assures the prophet that even if all the population of Jerusalem is destroyed, there will still be a “remnant” left. The real house of Israel can no longer be found in the holy city. The Jerusalemites boast that they are the true Israel, since they have the temple and the Lord of the temple with them (Ezekiel 33:24), but the fact is that the Lord of the temple has gone with the captives into Babylon and will himself be to them both Lord and sanctuary.

V. 16. Say-In vindication of them. Although-The obstinate Jews at Jerusalem will call them apostates; but I the Lord sent them thither, and will own them there. Scattered-Dispersed them in many countries which are under the king of Babylon: yet they are dear to me. A little sanctuary-A little one in opposition to that great temple at Jerusalem. To him they shall flee, and in him they shall be safe, as he was that took hold on the horns of the altar. And they shall have such communion with God in the land of their captivity, as it was thought could be had no where but in the temple.

Verse 16. Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary] Though thus exiled from their own land, yet not forgotten by their God. While in their captivity, I will dispense many blessings to them; and I will restore them to their own land, Ezekiel 11:17, from which they shall put away all idolatry, Ezekiel 11:18.

Verse 16. Therefore say — In vindication of the captives; Although I have cast them far off — Not from myself, but from you and your polluted land, and out of the way of the dreadful judgments which are approaching; among the heathen — The Chaldeans, or those among whom the Chaldeans have placed them; and have scattered them among the countries — Have separated them from each other, and dispersed them in many countries; yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary — A sanctuary, or a refuge and protection “for a short time,” (so Bishop Newcome,) that is, during the seventy years’ captivity; or a little one in opposition to the great temple at Jerusalem; which, when its inhabitants were in the greatest need, should afford them the least help. But I, says God, will really be to my captives what the proud, self-deceiving Jews promise themselves from their temple, namely, their defence, support, and comfort. To me shall they flee, and in me shall they be safe, as he was that took hold on the horns of the altar. Or rather, they shall have such communion with me in the land of their captivity, as it was thought could be had nowhere but in the temple. They shall have the tokens of my presence with them, and my grace in their hearts shall sanctify their prayers and praises, as truly as ever the altar at the temple sanctified the gift. Observe, reader, they that are deprived of the benefit of public ordinances, if it be not their own fault, may have the want of them abundantly supplied in the immediate communications of divine grace and comforts.

Ver. 16. Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. The wicked in Jerusalem gladly occupied the lands of former captives, in hopes that they would never return; they bade them go far enough from the Lord. Such is the heart, the unregenerate heart of man. Now, on the contrary, the Lord, more compassionate than man, says, I will spread my wing over them. I will be to them as a little sanctuary, and I will renew my covenant with them, in all its promises and grace. This text was much used by the French protestants in exile, whenever they opened a little temple, as in London, Bristol, Cork; in Holland and other countries. Here they grew rich, and prospered, and rewarded England with the silk trade.

16. Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary — R.V., “and have been to them a sanctuary for a little while.” For a time Ezekiel and the exiles were to find the presence of Jehovah manifested as in the vision of Chebar (Ezekiel 1:4-28), or felt spiritually, and this would make the spot where they found themselves as fully a holy place as the temple had been. There also they would have a “house of God.” But this was not to be their permanent lot. There was to be a restoration to the “land of Israel” (verse 17; 37:21), to the visible sanctuary, to a sacred temple no longer desecrated by the pollutions that had defiled the first. “The thought that it is the presence of Jehovah that makes the sanctuary, not the sanctuary that secures the presence, Ezekiel may have learned from the fate of Shiloh (Psalm 78:60). In the fact that in John’s vision of the heavenly Jerusalem there is no temple, but the presence of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22), we find the crowning development of Ezekiel’s thought.” — Plumptre.

Where’er they seek Thee Thou art found,

And every place is hallowed ground.

The above explanation seems better than that which would translate this difficult phrase, “and have been to them for a sanctuary but little,” and would thus minimize the privileges given to the exiles (Kautzsch, Davidson, etc.).

Verses 17-20. I will even gather you from the people — This might be, in some degree, fulfilled in those that returned from captivity, but the perfect completion of this promise must be referred to the time of the expected general restoration of the Jewish nation. And they shall come thither — They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and they who afterward assemble upon Darius’s, shall overcome all difficulties, perform their journey, and come safely to their own land. And they shall take away all the detestable things thereof — Shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple, the city, and the country, and shall live pure from all the pollutions with which the land had been formerly defiled. But this promise also ultimately respects the future conversion of the Jews, as do those contained in the next two verses. And I will give them one heart — A heart entire for me, the living and true God, and not divided, as their hearts were formerly, among many gods; a heart firmly fixed and resolved for my worship and service, and not wavering; steady and uniform, and not inconstant, and inconsistent with itself. And hence they shall serve me with one consent, Zephaniah 3:9. And I will put a new spirit within them — A disposition of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which, in the course of my providence, I will bring them. Observe, reader, all that are regenerated have a new spirit: a spirit entirely changed from what it was before: they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, a new profession, new opinions, or new modes of worship will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: see the margin. And I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh — Out of their corrupt nature. Their hearts shall no longer be dead and dry, hard and unfeeling, but tender and apt to receive good impressions, and deeply sensible of, and affected with, things spiritual and divine. These are the same evangelical promises as we read in the other prophets, particularly Jeremiah 32:39. “The insensibility of men, with regard to religious matters, is often ascribed to the hardness of their hearts. God promises here to give them teachable dispositions, and to take away the veil from their hearts, as St. Paul expresses it, 2 Corinthians 3:16; the same temper being indifferently expressed either by blindness or hardness of heart.” — Lowth. That they may walk in my statutes — In their whole conversation; and keep my ordinances — In all acts of religious worship. These two particulars must go together, and not be separated; and those to whom God has given a new heart, and a new spirit, will make conscience of both, and then the following promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people, and I will be their God: the ancient covenant, which seemed to have been broken and forgotten, shall be renewed. By their idolatry and other sins, they appeared to have cast God off; and by their being sent into captivity, and divers other punishments, God seemed to have cast them off; but when they are cured of their idolatry and various vices, and delivered from their captivity and other calamities, God and Israel own one another again: God, by his good work in them, makes them his people; and then, by the tokens of his good-will toward them, shows them that he is their God.

17. I will even gather you from the people — The history of the Jewish captives was peculiar. They alone, of all the nations carried to Babylon and then scattered into many countries, preserved their national characteristics intact and went back to their old home a strong, united people. “Nor were it, perhaps, too much to say, having respect to the issues of things, that the dispersion of the Israelites among the nations was fraught with as much blessing for the Church and the world as even their original settlement in Canaan.” — Fairbairn. I will give you the land of Israel — Not those remaining in Jerusalem, who trusted to the external forms of the temple sacrifices, or to their idols, or to Egypt for help, but those who were carried away from the temple, and developed a purer and more spiritual faith amid the penitential fires of captivity, should ultimately possess the holy land. The Jerusalemites scorned the exiles (verse 15), and would not listen to their counsels or pay any attention to their prophets; but, in fact, these exiles represented the true Israel. They were the remnant which should finally be saved and to whom Jehovah would give the land, from which they would remove all detestable idol images (1 Kings 11:5, 7; 2 Kings 23:13), and their abominable accompaniments (verse 18).

V. 18. They-They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and then upon Darius’s proclamation, shall overcome all difficulties, dispatch the journey, and come safely to their own land. Take away-They shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple.

Verses 17-20. I will even gather you from the people — This might be, in some degree, fulfilled in those that returned from captivity, but the perfect completion of this promise must be referred to the time of the expected general restoration of the Jewish nation. And they shall come thither — They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and they who afterward assemble upon Darius’s, shall overcome all difficulties, perform their journey, and come safely to their own land. And they shall take away all the detestable things thereof — Shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple, the city, and the country, and shall live pure from all the pollutions with which the land had been formerly defiled. But this promise also ultimately respects the future conversion of the Jews, as do those contained in the next two verses. And I will give them one heart — A heart entire for me, the living and true God, and not divided, as their hearts were formerly, among many gods; a heart firmly fixed and resolved for my worship and service, and not wavering; steady and uniform, and not inconstant, and inconsistent with itself. And hence they shall serve me with one consent, Zephaniah 3:9. And I will put a new spirit within them — A disposition of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which, in the course of my providence, I will bring them. Observe, reader, all that are regenerated have a new spirit: a spirit entirely changed from what it was before: they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, a new profession, new opinions, or new modes of worship will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: see the margin. And I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh — Out of their corrupt nature. Their hearts shall no longer be dead and dry, hard and unfeeling, but tender and apt to receive good impressions, and deeply sensible of, and affected with, things spiritual and divine. These are the same evangelical promises as we read in the other prophets, particularly Jeremiah 32:39. “The insensibility of men, with regard to religious matters, is often ascribed to the hardness of their hearts. God promises here to give them teachable dispositions, and to take away the veil from their hearts, as St. Paul expresses it, 2 Corinthians 3:16; the same temper being indifferently expressed either by blindness or hardness of heart.” — Lowth. That they may walk in my statutes — In their whole conversation; and keep my ordinances — In all acts of religious worship. These two particulars must go together, and not be separated; and those to whom God has given a new heart, and a new spirit, will make conscience of both, and then the following promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people, and I will be their God: the ancient covenant, which seemed to have been broken and forgotten, shall be renewed. By their idolatry and other sins, they appeared to have cast God off; and by their being sent into captivity, and divers other punishments, God seemed to have cast them off; but when they are cured of their idolatry and various vices, and delivered from their captivity and other calamities, God and Israel own one another again: God, by his good work in them, makes them his people; and then, by the tokens of his good-will toward them, shows them that he is their God.

INVOLVED IN THE CITY’S RUIN, 1-21.

1. The spirit lifted me — See notes Ezekiel 3:12, 14; 8:3. Brought me unto the east gate — Jehovah and the chariot of his glory had previously removed to this place (Ezekiel 10:18, 19). This was probably the outer gate of the temple and faced the rising sun. The gate in oriental cities was the place of judgment. Five and twenty men — Are these the twenty-five sun worshipers mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16? No; these are not priests. These are the princes, or, literally, “captains,” of the people. The army and laity, as well as the priesthood, are now seen to be involved in rebellion against God. The number twenty-five may represent two from each tribe, or two from each division of the army, or two from each of the twelve regions of the city, led by the king or the general; or, being the usual symbolical number of solidarity, it may merely represent pictorially “the whole house of Israel” (verse 5). Jaazaniah… and Pelatiah — Jaazaniah is a different man from the one mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11. These were no doubt men well known in Jerusalem and also to the exiles. Their names make the allusion peculiarly striking: Jaazaniah — “Jehovah listens” — son of Azur, “the helper”; Pelatiah — “God delivers” — son of Benaiah, “Jehovah builds”! No wonder Ezekiel became unpopular when he pointed out by name the chief leaders of Israel and exposed their wickedness. These men were probably regarded by many as the leaders of the patriotic party in Jerusalem. They believed the holy city could never be captured, and advised rebellion against Babylon and alliance with Egypt. (See chap. 17.) Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all others who prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon were called false prophets (Jeremiah 18:18; Micah 3:11), and were no doubt declared to be in the pay of the Babylonian court.

V. 19. One heart-Cyrus shall give them leave, and I will give them a heart to return; and on their way shall there be great utility; and, when come to Jerusalem, they shall own me, and my laws, and with one consent, build Jerusalem and the temple, and restore true religion. The stony-That hard, inflexible, undutiful, incorrigible disposition.

Verse 19. And I will give them one heart] A whole system of renewed affections.

And I will put a new spirit within you] To direct and influence these new affections.

And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh] That which would not receive the impressions of my Spirit.

And will give them a heart of flesh] One that is capable of receiving and retaining these impressions.

Verses 17-20. I will even gather you from the people — This might be, in some degree, fulfilled in those that returned from captivity, but the perfect completion of this promise must be referred to the time of the expected general restoration of the Jewish nation. And they shall come thither — They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and they who afterward assemble upon Darius’s, shall overcome all difficulties, perform their journey, and come safely to their own land. And they shall take away all the detestable things thereof — Shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple, the city, and the country, and shall live pure from all the pollutions with which the land had been formerly defiled. But this promise also ultimately respects the future conversion of the Jews, as do those contained in the next two verses. And I will give them one heart — A heart entire for me, the living and true God, and not divided, as their hearts were formerly, among many gods; a heart firmly fixed and resolved for my worship and service, and not wavering; steady and uniform, and not inconstant, and inconsistent with itself. And hence they shall serve me with one consent, Zephaniah 3:9. And I will put a new spirit within them — A disposition of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which, in the course of my providence, I will bring them. Observe, reader, all that are regenerated have a new spirit: a spirit entirely changed from what it was before: they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, a new profession, new opinions, or new modes of worship will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: see the margin. And I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh — Out of their corrupt nature. Their hearts shall no longer be dead and dry, hard and unfeeling, but tender and apt to receive good impressions, and deeply sensible of, and affected with, things spiritual and divine. These are the same evangelical promises as we read in the other prophets, particularly Jeremiah 32:39. “The insensibility of men, with regard to religious matters, is often ascribed to the hardness of their hearts. God promises here to give them teachable dispositions, and to take away the veil from their hearts, as St. Paul expresses it, 2 Corinthians 3:16; the same temper being indifferently expressed either by blindness or hardness of heart.” — Lowth. That they may walk in my statutes — In their whole conversation; and keep my ordinances — In all acts of religious worship. These two particulars must go together, and not be separated; and those to whom God has given a new heart, and a new spirit, will make conscience of both, and then the following promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people, and I will be their God: the ancient covenant, which seemed to have been broken and forgotten, shall be renewed. By their idolatry and other sins, they appeared to have cast God off; and by their being sent into captivity, and divers other punishments, God seemed to have cast them off; but when they are cured of their idolatry and various vices, and delivered from their captivity and other calamities, God and Israel own one another again: God, by his good work in them, makes them his people; and then, by the tokens of his good-will toward them, shows them that he is their God.

19. I will give them one heart — They shall finally be a united people, for the idolaters shall be destroyed and those who return from captivity shall be a unit in their monotheism (Jeremiah 32:36-39). This was literally fulfilled. Cyrus gave the Jews leave to return, but Jehovah gave them a heart to return and great unity (Wesley). The LXX. reads, “another heart,” and the Peshito reads, “a new heart” (as Ezekiel 18:31; 36:26). A new spirit — The whole history of the nation shows how new this spirit was. Before the captivity it had been constantly falling into all manner of idolatries; after the captivity there was not a trace of this. Stony heart… heart of flesh — “The fires of captivity will melt that hard, implacable, undutiful, incorrigible disposition” (Wesley), and those who return will become warm and human in heart and sensitive to his presence and will (verse 20; compare Ezekiel 3:7; Zechariah 7:12).

Verse 20. That they may walk in my statutes] The holiness of their lives shall prove the work of God upon their hearts. Then it shall appear that I am their God, because I have done such things in them and for them; and their holy conduct shall show that they are my people. See Clarke on “Ezekiel 36:25”, &c.

Verses 17-20. I will even gather you from the people — This might be, in some degree, fulfilled in those that returned from captivity, but the perfect completion of this promise must be referred to the time of the expected general restoration of the Jewish nation. And they shall come thither — They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and they who afterward assemble upon Darius’s, shall overcome all difficulties, perform their journey, and come safely to their own land. And they shall take away all the detestable things thereof — Shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple, the city, and the country, and shall live pure from all the pollutions with which the land had been formerly defiled. But this promise also ultimately respects the future conversion of the Jews, as do those contained in the next two verses. And I will give them one heart — A heart entire for me, the living and true God, and not divided, as their hearts were formerly, among many gods; a heart firmly fixed and resolved for my worship and service, and not wavering; steady and uniform, and not inconstant, and inconsistent with itself. And hence they shall serve me with one consent, Zephaniah 3:9. And I will put a new spirit within them — A disposition of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which, in the course of my providence, I will bring them. Observe, reader, all that are regenerated have a new spirit: a spirit entirely changed from what it was before: they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, a new profession, new opinions, or new modes of worship will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: see the margin. And I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh — Out of their corrupt nature. Their hearts shall no longer be dead and dry, hard and unfeeling, but tender and apt to receive good impressions, and deeply sensible of, and affected with, things spiritual and divine. These are the same evangelical promises as we read in the other prophets, particularly Jeremiah 32:39. “The insensibility of men, with regard to religious matters, is often ascribed to the hardness of their hearts. God promises here to give them teachable dispositions, and to take away the veil from their hearts, as St. Paul expresses it, 2 Corinthians 3:16; the same temper being indifferently expressed either by blindness or hardness of heart.” — Lowth. That they may walk in my statutes — In their whole conversation; and keep my ordinances — In all acts of religious worship. These two particulars must go together, and not be separated; and those to whom God has given a new heart, and a new spirit, will make conscience of both, and then the following promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people, and I will be their God: the ancient covenant, which seemed to have been broken and forgotten, shall be renewed. By their idolatry and other sins, they appeared to have cast God off; and by their being sent into captivity, and divers other punishments, God seemed to have cast them off; but when they are cured of their idolatry and various vices, and delivered from their captivity and other calamities, God and Israel own one another again: God, by his good work in them, makes them his people; and then, by the tokens of his good-will toward them, shows them that he is their God.

20. They shall be my people, and I will be their God — This tender phrase, which had become endeared to the people from its use by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 24:7; 30:22; 31:33; 32:38), again and again vibrates through Ezekiel’s prophesy (Ezekiel 14:11; 26:28; 37:27).

V. 21. Heart-Soul and affections. Walketh-Either secretly adhere to, or provide for the service of idols, called here detestable things.

Verse 21. But as for them whose heart walketh] Them whose affections are attached to idolatry, they shall have such reward as their idols can give them, and such a recompense as Divine justice shall award them.

Verse 21. But as for them — Whoever they be, and some there will be in the best times, who will refuse to own God for their God, and truly to love and obey him. Whose heart walketh after their detestable things — Whose judgment and choice, or whose will and affections, go after their idols and iniquities, their lusts and vices. I will recompense their way upon their own heads — Their state shall differ as much as their practice does, from that of the people of God: I will treat them according to their ways.

21. Whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things — Better, as Vulgate, whose heart goeth after their detestable things (Ezekiel 20:16). As for the Jerusalemites whose hearts cleave impenitently to their idols, I will recompense their way upon their own heads — the prophet’s intercession cannot avert that judgment (verse 13).

JEHOVAH LEAVES JERUSALEM, 22, 23.

22. The cherubim — See notes, chaps. 1 and 10.

V. 23. Went up-The glory of the Lord removes now out of the city, over which it had stood some time, waiting for their repentance. The mountain-Mount Olivet. He removed thither, to be as it were within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day, they would have understood the things that made for their peace.

Verse 23. The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city] This vision is no mean proof of the long-suffering of God. He did not abandon this people all at once; he departed by little and little. FIRST, he left the temple. SECONDLY, he stopped a little at the gate of the city. THIRDLY, he departed entirely from the city and went to the Mount of Olives, which lay on the east side of the city. Having tarried there for some time to see i! they would repent and turn to him—FOURTHLY, he departed to heaven. The vision being now concluded, the prophet is taken away by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, and there announces to the captive Israelites what God had showed him in the preceding visions, and the good that he had spoken concerning them; who at first did not seem to profit much by them, which the prophet severely reproves.

EZEKIEL

Verse 23. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city — The symbol of God’s presence, which had before departed from the temple, (Ezekiel 10:18,) now quite left the city, to signify that he would acknowledge no longer his relation to either, but deliver them up to be profaned by the heathen. It deserves to be observed here, that God did not quit the temple and city all at once, but by little and little. The cloud of his presence was first withdrawn from the mercy-seat in the holy of holies, the usual place of its residence, and removed to the threshold of the house, (Ezekiel 9:1,) where it remained some time waiting for their repentance. Its second remove was from this threshold, leaving the house altogether, to settle upon the cherubim, which were hovering over the court, and upon the wing to depart, Ezekiel 10:18. It then, with these angelic ministers of the divine will, and the accompanying wheels of providence, withdrew to the east gate of the inner court, Ezekiel 10:19. And now at last it quits Jerusalem altogether, and fixes itself upon the mountain on the east side of the city. By withdrawing himself from his people by slow degrees, God gave them time for consideration and repentance, to which each remove of the Shechinah was a fresh and solemn call, and he thus also manifested with what reluctance he entirely abandoned the seed of Abraham his friend. And even his causing the symbol of his presence, before his final departure, to take its station on the mount of Olives, where it was, as it were, within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day they would have understood the things that made for their peace, was a further manifestation of grace as well as of justice; for while the cloud of glory lingered there, it gave fresh encouragement to them to repent, and a final warning so to do, at the same time that it was emblematical of the judgment which, if their repentance did not prevent, should begin to be executed upon them from that mount, from whence the city would be annoyed by the darts of the Chaldeans. Nor was this only a figure of the calamities which were to be brought on the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, but it was also an emblem of the evils which were to befall them in consequence of their rejecting and crucifying their own Messiah, the Lord of glory. This Divine Saviour, after exhausting his patience in instructing, correcting, and threatening Jerusalem, at length forsook it, and ascended to heaven from this same mount of Olives, in the presence of his apostles and disciples, that he might exercise his kingly office, and inflict a just and exemplary vengeance on this obstinately wicked and irreclaimable people.

Ver. 23. The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain. The critics all say mount Olivet, which is on the east; and so the Chaldaic reads. As our Saviour, passing the foot of mount Olivet, wept over Jerusalem, so the glory seemed to leave the once holy but now polluted sanctuary with reluctance. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, oh that thou hadst known, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace.

23. Went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain — The glory of the Lord, which had been at the eastern gate of the temple (x, 19), now abandoned the temple entirely, passed through the city, and paused on Mount Olivet, as if to take one last sorrowful farewell of the doomed temple. This scene reminds one irresistibly of the fact that it was from this same spot that Jesus near the end of his ministry wept over this same city, crying, “O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Luke 19:41, 42). It was also from this spot that he ascended to take his place as judge at the right hand of the Father (Luke 24:50, 51).

COMING OUT OF HIS TRANCE, EZEKIEL DESCRIBES HIS VISION TO HIS FELLOW-CAPTIVES, 24, 25.

It would seem that Ezekiel also accompanied the Shekinah to the Mount of Olives, for in the same way as before (Ezekiel 8:3) he is conducted “in the Spirit of God” back to Tel-abib. The vision of glory departs, and awakening from his spiritual ecstasy he tells what he has seen.

V. 24. The spirit-The same spirit which carried him to Jerusalem, now brings him back to Chaldea. Went up-Was at an end.

Verses 24, 25. The spirit took me, and brought me in vision into Chaldea — That is, took away from before my eyes the image of Jerusalem and the temple, &c., and presented nothing to my mind but what was the real matter of fact, namely, that I was a captive with many others of my countrymen in the land of Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen went up from me — Was at an end. In other words, he recovered from his trance or ecstasy. Then I spake unto them of the captivity — He related unto them all that had passed in his vision, namely, all that is contained in the last four chapters.

Verses 24, 25. The spirit took me, and brought me in vision into Chaldea — That is, took away from before my eyes the image of Jerusalem and the temple, &c., and presented nothing to my mind but what was the real matter of fact, namely, that I was a captive with many others of my countrymen in the land of Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen went up from me — Was at an end. In other words, he recovered from his trance or ecstasy. Then I spake unto them of the captivity — He related unto them all that had passed in his vision, namely, all that is contained in the last four chapters.