Ezekiel 7

Eze 7:1-27.

LAMENTATION OVER THE

COMING

RUIN OF

ISRAEL; THE

PENITENT

REFORMATION OF A

REMNANT; THE

CHAIN

SYMBOLIZING THE

CAPTIVITY.

2. An end, the end--The indefinite "an" expresses the general fact

of God bringing His long-suffering towards the whole of Judea to an end;

"the," following, marks it as more definitely fixed

(Am 8:2).

4. thine abominations--the punishment of thine abominations.

shall be in the midst of thee--shall be manifest to all. They and

thou shall recognize the fact of thine abominations by thy punishment

which shall everywhere befall thee, and that manifestly.

5. An evil, an only evil--a peculiar calamity such as was never before;

unparalleled. The abruptness of the style and the repetitions express

the agitation of the prophet's mind in foreseeing these calamities.

6. watcheth for thee--rather, "waketh for thee." It awakes up from its

past slumber against thee

(Ps 78:65, 66).

7. The morning--so Chaldean and Syriac versions (compare

Joe 2:2).

Ezekiel wishes to awaken them from their lethargy, whereby they were

promising to themselves an uninterrupted night

(1Th 5:5-7),

as if they were never to be called to account [CALVIN]. The expression, "morning," refers to the fact

that this was the usual time for magistrates giving sentence against

offenders (compare

Eze 7:10,

below;

Ps 101:8;

Jer 21:12).

GESENIUS, less probably, translates, "the

order of fate"; thy turn to be punished.

not the sounding again--not an empty echo, such as is

produced by the reverberation of sounds in "the mountains," but

a real cry of tumult is coming [CALVIN]. Perhaps

it alludes to the joyous cries of the grape-gatherers at vintage on the

hills [GROTIUS], or of the idolaters in their

dances on their festivals in honor of their false gods [TIRINUS]. HAVERNICK translates, "no

brightness."

8, 9. Repetition of

Eze 7:3, 4;

sadly expressive of accumulated woes by the monotonous sameness.

10. rod . . . blossomed, pride . . . budded--The "rod" is the

Chaldean Nebuchadnezzar, the instrument of God's vengeance

(Isa 10:5;

Jer 51:20).

The rod sprouting (as the word ought to be translated), &c.,

implies that God does not move precipitately, but in successive steps.

He as it were has planted the ministers of His vengeance, and leaves

them to grow till all is ripe for executing His purpose. "Pride" refers

to the insolence of the Babylonian conqueror

(Jer 50:31, 32).

The parallelism ("pride" answering to "rod") opposes JEROME'S view, that "pride" refers to the Jews who

despised God's threats; (also CALVIN'S, "though

the rod grew in Chaldea, the root was with the Jews").

The "rod" cannot refer, as GROTIUS thought, to the

tribe of Judah, for it evidently refers to the "smiteth"

(Eze 7:9)

as the instrument of smiting.

11. Violence (that is, the violent foe) is risen up as

a rod of (that is, to punish the Jews') wickedness

(Zec 5:8).

theirs--their possessions, or all that belongs to them, whether

children or goods. GROTIUS

translates from a different Hebrew root,

"their nobles," literally, "their tumultuous trains" (Margin)

which usually escorted the nobles. Thus "nobles" will form a contrast to

the general "multitude."

neither . . . wailing--

(Jer 16:4-7; 25:33).

GESENIUS translates, "nor shall there be left any

beauty among them." English Version is supported by the

old Jewish interpreters. So general shall be the slaughter, none shall

be left to mourn the dead.

12. let not . . . buyer rejoice--because he has bought an estate at

a bargain price.

nor . . . seller mourn--because he has had to sell his land at a

sacrifice through poverty. The Chaldeans will be masters of the land,

so that neither shall the buyer have any good of his purchase, nor the

seller any loss; nor shall the latter

(Eze 7:13)

return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see

Le 25:13).

Spiritually this holds good now, seeing that "the time is short"; "they

that rejoice should be as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy

as though they possessed not": Paul

(1Co 7:30)

seems to allude to Ezekiel here.

Jer 32:15, 37, 43,

seems to contradict Ezekiel here. But Ezekiel is speaking of the

parents, and of the present; Jeremiah, of the children, and of the

future. Jeremiah is addressing believers, that they should hope for a

restoration; Ezekiel, the reprobate, who were excluded from hope of

deliverance.

13. although they were yet alive--although they should live to the

year of jubilee.

multitude thereof--namely, of the Jews.

which shall not return--answering to "the seller shall not return";

not only he, but the whole multitude, shall not return.

CALVIN omits

"is" and "which": "the vision touching the whole multitude shall not

return" void

(Isa 55:11).

neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life--No

hardening of one's self in iniquity will avail against God's threat of

punishment. FAIRBAIRN

translates, "no one by his iniquity shall

invigorate his life"; referring to the jubilee, which was regarded as a

revivification of the whole commonwealth, when, its disorders being

rectified, the body politic sprang up again into renewed life. That for

which God thus provided by the institution of the jubilee and which is

now to cease through the nation's iniquity, let none think to bring

about by his iniquity.

14. They have blown the trumpet--rather, "Blow the trumpet," or, "Let

them blow the trumpet" to collect soldiers as they will, "to make all

ready" for encountering the foe, it will be of no avail; none will have

the courage to go to the battle (compare

Jer 6:1),

[CALVIN].

15. No security should anywhere be found

(De 32:25).

Fulfilled

(La 1:20);

also at the Roman invasion

(Mt 24:16-18).

16.

(Eze 6:6).

like doves--which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up

to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher

(Ps 11:1).

So Israel, once dwelling in its peaceful valleys, shall flee from the

foe to the mountains, which, as being the scene of its idolatries, were

justly to be made the scene of its flight and shame. The plaintive note

of the dove

(Isa 59:11)

represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter

(Zec 12:10-12).

17. shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters";

incapable of resistance

(Jos 7:5;

Ps 22:14;

Isa 13:7).

18. cover them--as a garment.

baldness--a sign of mourning

(Isa 3:24;

Jer 48:37;

Mic 1:16).

19. cast . . . silver in . . . streets--just retribution; they had

abused their silver and gold by converting them into idols, "the

stumbling-block of their iniquity"

(Eze 14:3, 4,

that is, an occasion of sinning); so these silver and gold idols, so

far from "being able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath"

(see

Pr 11:4),

shall, in despair, be cast by them into the streets as a prey to the

foe, by whom they shall be "removed" (GROTIUS

translates as the Margin, "shall be despised as an

unclean thing"); or rather, as suits the parallelism, "shall be

put away from them" by the Jews [CALVIN].

"They (the silver and gold) shall not satisfy their souls," that is,

their cravings of appetite and other needs.

20. beauty of his ornament--the temple of Jehovah, the especial

glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery

used by God as to the temple,

Eze 16:10, 11).

Compare

Eze 24:21:

"My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your

eyes."

images . . . therein--namely, in the temple

(Eze 8:3-17).

set it far from them--God had "set" the temple (their "beauty of

ornament") "for His majesty"; but they had set up "abominations

therein"; therefore God, in just retribution, "set it far from them,"

(that is, removed them far from it, or took it away from them

[VATABLUS]).

The Margin translates, "Made it unto them an

unclean thing" (compare Margin on

Eze 7:19,

"removed"); what I designed for their glory they turned to their shame,

therefore I will make it turn to their ignominy and ruin.

21. strangers--barbarous and savage nations.

22. pollute my secret place--just retribution for the Jews' pollution

of the temple. "Robbers shall enter and defile" the holy of holies,

the place of God's manifested presence, entrance into which was denied

even to the Levites and priests and was permitted to the high priest

only once a year on the great day of atonement.

23. chain--symbol of the captivity (compare

Jer 27:2).

As they enchained the land with violence, so shall they be chained

themselves. It was customary to lead away captives in a row with a

chain passed from the neck of one to the other. Therefore translate as

the Hebrew requires, "the chain," namely, that usually

employed on such occasions. CALVIN explains it,

that the Jews should be dragged, whether they would or no, before God's

tribunal to be tried as culprits in chains. The next words favor this:

"bloody crimes," rather, "judgment of bloods," that is, with

blood sheddings deserving the extreme judicial penalty. Compare

Jer 51:9:

"Her judgment reacheth unto heaven."

24. worst of the heathen--literally, "wicked of the nations"; the

giving up of Israel to their power will convince the Jews that this is a

final overthrow.

pomp of . . . strong--the pride wherewith men "stiff of forehead"

despise the prophet.

holy places--the sacred compartments of the temple

(Ps 68:35;

Jer 51:51)

[CALVIN]. God calls it "their holy places,"

because they had so defiled it that He regarded it no longer as

His. However, as the defilement of the temple has already been

mentioned

(Eze 7:20, 22),

and "their sacred places" are introduced as a new subject, it seems

better to understand this of the places dedicated to their

idols. As they defiled God's sanctuary, He will defile their

self-constituted "sacred places."

25. peace, and . . . none--

(1Th 5:3).

26. Mischief . . . upon . . . mischief--

(De 32:23;

Jer 4:20).

This is said because the Jews were apt to fancy, at every abatement of

suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will

accumulate woe on woe.

rumour--of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty

(Mt 24:6).

seek a vision--to find some way of escape from their difficulties

(Isa 26:9).

So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah

(Jer 37:17; 38:14).

law shall perish--fulfilled

(Eze 20:1, 3;

Ps 74:9;

La 2:9;

compare

Am 8:11);

God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from

the priest"

(Jer 18:18).

ancients--the ecclesiastical rulers of the people.

27. people of the land--the general multitude, as distinguished from

the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks.

The king, whose duty it was to animate others and find a remedy for

existing evils, shall himself be in the utmost anxiety; a mark of the

desperate state of affairs.

clothed with desolation--Clothing is designed to keep off shame; but

in this case shame shall be the clothing.

after their way--because of their wicked ways.

deserts--literally, "judgments," that is, what just judgment awards

to them; used to imply the exact correspondence of God's judgment with

the judicial penalties they had incurred: they oppressed the poor and

deprived them of liberty; therefore they shall be oppressed and lose

their own liberty.