CHAPTER 7
. 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 ().
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 (Psalms 78:65; Psalms 78:66).
7. The morning—so Chaldean
and Syriac versions (compare ). Ezekiel wishes to awaken them from their lethargy, whereby
they were promising to themselves an uninterrupted night (), 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 Ezekiel 7:10, below;
Psalms 101:8; Jeremiah 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 Ezekiel 7:3;
Ezekiel 7:4; 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 (Isaiah 10:5;
Jeremiah 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 (Jeremiah 50:31
Jeremiah 50:32). 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" (Ezekiel 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 ().
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—
(Jeremiah 16:4-7; Jeremiah 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 () return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see ). 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 (1 Corinthians 7:30) seems to allude
to Ezekiel here. Jeremiah 32:15;
Jeremiah 32:37; Jeremiah 32:43,
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 ().
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 ), [CALVIN].
16. ().
like doves—which,
though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains
when fearing the bird-catcher (). 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 () represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter
(Zechariah 12:10-12).
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" (Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 14:4,
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 Proverbs 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,
Ezekiel 16:10; Ezekiel 16:11).
Compare Ezekiel 24:21: "My
sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."
images . . . therein—namely,
in the temple (Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 8:3-26, "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 Jeremiah 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 Jeremiah 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 (Psalms 68:35;
Jeremiah 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 (Ezekiel 7:20;
Ezekiel 7:22), 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."
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.
CHAPTER 7
. 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 ().
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 (Psalms 78:65; Psalms 78:66).
7. The morning—so Chaldean and Syriac versions (compare ). Ezekiel wishes to awaken them from their lethargy, whereby they were promising to themselves an uninterrupted night (), 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 Ezekiel 7:10, below; Psalms 101:8; Jeremiah 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 Ezekiel 7:3; Ezekiel 7:4; 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 (Isaiah 10:5; Jeremiah 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 (Jeremiah 50:31 Jeremiah 50:32). 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" (Ezekiel 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 ().
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— (Jeremiah 16:4-7; Jeremiah 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 () return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see ). 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 (1 Corinthians 7:30) seems to allude to Ezekiel here. Jeremiah 32:15; Jeremiah 32:37; Jeremiah 32:43, 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 ().
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 ), [CALVIN].
15. No security should anywhere be found (Deuteronomy 32:25). Fulfilled (Lamentations 1:20); also at the Roman invasion (Matthew 24:16-18).
16. ().
like doves—which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher (). 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 () represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter (Zechariah 12:10-12).
17. shall be weak as water—literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Joshua 7:5; Psalms 22:14; Isaiah 13:7).
18. cover them—as a garment.
baldness—a sign of mourning (Isaiah 3:24; Jeremiah 48:37; Micah 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" (Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 14:4, 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 Proverbs 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, Ezekiel 16:10; Ezekiel 16:11). Compare Ezekiel 24:21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."
images . . . therein—namely, in the temple (Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 8:3-26, "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 Jeremiah 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 Jeremiah 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 (Psalms 68:35; Jeremiah 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 (Ezekiel 7:20; Ezekiel 7:22), 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— (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
26. Mischief . . . upon . . . mischief— (Deuteronomy 32:23; Jeremiah 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 (Jeremiah 4:20).
seek a vision—to find some way of escape from their difficulties (Jeremiah 4:20). So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:17; Jeremiah 38:14).
law shall perish—fulfilled (Ezekiel 20:1; Ezekiel 20:3; Psalms 74:9; Lamentations 2:9; compare Amos 8:11); God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from the priest" (Jeremiah 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.