Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Ezekiel 20:1 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Eze 20:1 |
Strong Concordance |
And it came to pass in the seventh [07637] year [08141], in the fifth [02549] month, the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], that certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068], and sat [03427] before [06440] me. |
|
King James |
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
REJECTION OF THE ELDERS' APPLICATION TO THE PROPHET: EXPOSURE OF ISRAEL'S PROTRACTED REBELLIONS, NOTWITHSTANDING GOD'S LONG-SUFFERING GOODNESS: YET WILL GOD RESTORE HIS PEOPLE AT LAST. (Eze. 20:1-49)
seventh year, &c.--namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (Eze 1:2; Eze 8:1). This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently the hope of the restoration promised them in seventy years; for, when prospects are hopeless, years are not computed [CALVIN].
elders . . . came to inquire--The object of their inquiry, as in Eze 14:1, is not stated; probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national calamities and the time of their termination, as their false prophets assured them of a speedy restoration. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The elders of Israel - These were as in Eze 14:1, some of Ezekiel's fellow-exiles, designated in general terms by the name of Israel, though more properly belonging to the kingdom of Judah. |
The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
fifth month
That is, August. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The date given in Eze 20:1 applies not only to Ezekiel 20, but also to Ezekiel 20-23 (compare Eze 24:1); the prophetic utterances in these four chapters being bound together into a group of connected words of God, both by their contents and by the threefold repetition of the expression, "wilt thou judge?" (vid., Eze 20:4; Eze 22:2, and Eze 23:36). The formula התשׁפּוט, which is only omitted from the threat of punishment contained in Ezekiel 21, indicates at the same time both the nature and design of these words of God. The prophet is to judge, i.e., to hold up before the people once more their sinful abominations, and to predict the consequent punishment. The circumstance which occasioned this is narrated in Eze 20:1-3. Men of the elders of Israel came to the prophet to inquire of the Lord. The occasion is therefore a similar one to that described in the previous group; for we have already been informed, in Eze 14:1, that elders had come to the prophet to hear God's word from him; but they had not gone so far as to inquire. Here, however (Ezekiel 20), they evidently address a question to the prophet, and through him to the Lord; though the nature of their inquiry is not given, and can only be gathered from the answer, which was given to them by the Lord through the prophet. The ground for the following words of God is therefore essentially the same as for those contained in Ezekiel 14-19; and this serves to explain the relation in which the two groups stand to each other, namely, that Ezekiel 20-24 simply contain a further expansion of the reproachful and threatening addresses of Ezekiel 14-19.
In Ezekiel 20 the prophet points out to the elders, in the form of a historical survey, how rebellious Israel had been towards the Lord from the very first, even in Egypt (Eze 20:5-9) and the desert (Eze 20:10-17 and Eze 20:18-26), both the older and the later generations, how they had sinned against the Lord their God through their idolatry, and how it was only for His own name's sake that the Lord had not destroyed them in His anger (Eze 20:27-31). And as Israel hath not given up idolatry even in Canaan, the Lord would not suffer Himself to be inquired of by the idolatrous generation, but would refine it by severe judgments among the nations (Eze 20:32-38), and sanctify it thereby into a people well-pleasing to Him, and would then gather it again out of the dispersion, and bring it into the land promised to the fathers, where it would serve Him with sacrifices and gifts upon His holy mountain (Eze 20:39-44). This word of God is therefore a more literal repetition of the allegorical description contained in Ezekiel 16.
Date, occasion, and theme of the discourse which follows. - Eze 20:1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth (moon), on the tenth of the moon, there came men of the elders of Israel, to inquire of Jehovah, and sat down before me. Eze 20:2. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 20:3. Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Have ye come to inquire of me? As I live, if I suffer myself to be inquired of by you, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 20:4. Wilt thou judge them? Wilt thou judge, O son of man? Make known the abominations of their fathers to them. - If we compare the date given in Eze 20:1 with Eze 8:1, we shall find that this word of God was uttered only eleven months and five days after the one in Ezekiel 8; two years, one month, and five days after the call of Ezekiel to be a prophet (Eze 1:2); and two years and five months before the blockading of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Eze 24:1). Consequently it falls almost in the middle of the first section of Ezekiel's prophetic work. דּרשׁ את , to seek Jehovah, i.e., to ask a revelation from Him. The Lord's answer in Eze 20:3 is similar to that in Eze 14:3. Instead of giving a revelation concerning the future, especially with regard to the speedy termination of the penal sufferings, which the elders had, no doubt, come to solicit, the prophet is to judge them, i.e., as the following clause explains, not only in the passage before us, but also in Eze 22:3 and Eze 23:36, to hold up before them the sins and abominations of Israel. It is in anticipation of the following picture of the apostasy of the nation from time immemorial that the sins of the fathers are mentioned here. "No reply is given to the sinners, but chiding for their sins; and He adds the oath, 'as I live,' that the sentence of refusal may be all the stronger" (Jerome). The question התשׁפּוט, which is repeated with emotion, "gives expression to an impatient wish, that the thing could have been done already" (Hitzig). The interrogative form of address is therefore adopted simply as a more earnest mode of giving expression to the command to go and do the thing. Hence the literal explanation of the word התשׁפּוט is also appended in the form of an imperative (הודיעם). - The prophet is to revert to the sins of the fathers, not merely for the purpose of exhibiting the magnitude of the people's guilt, but also to hold up before the sinners themselves, the patience and long-suffering which have hitherto been displayed by the Lord. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
The seventh year - Of Zedekiah's reign, two years and five months before Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Came - Yet resolved before - hand what they would do. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
In the seventh year - Of the captivity of Jeconiah, (see Eze 8:1), and the seventh of the reign of Zedekiah.
The fifth month, the tenth day - That is, according to Abp. Usher, Monday, August 27, A.M. 3411.
Certain of the elders of Israel - What these came to inquire about is not known. They were doubtless hypocrites and deceivers, from the manner in which God commands the prophet to treat them. It seems to have been such a deputation of elders as those mentioned Eze 8:1; Eze 14:1. |
1 Then came [0935] certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] unto me, and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth [08345] year [08141], in the sixth [08345] month, in the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], as I sat [03427] in mine house [01004], and the elders [02205] of Judah [03063] sat [03427] before [06440] me, that the hand [03027] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] fell [05307] there upon me.
2 In the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], which was the fifth [02549] year [08141] of king [04428] Jehoiachin's [03112] captivity [01546],
1 Then came [0935] certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] unto me, and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
36 The LORD [03068] said [0559] moreover unto me; Son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199] Aholah [0170] and Aholibah [0172]? yea, declare [05046] unto them their abominations [08441];
3 Then say [0559] thou, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], The city [05892] sheddeth [08210] blood [01818] in the midst [08432] of it, that her time [06256] may come [0935], and maketh [06213] idols [01544] against herself to defile [02930] herself.
3 Son [01121] of man [0120], these men [0582] have set up [05927] their idols [01544] in their heart [03820], and put [05414] the stumblingblock [04383] of their iniquity [05771] before [05227] their face [06440]: should I be enquired [01875] of at all [01875] by them?
3 Son [01121] of man [0120], speak [01696] unto the elders [02205] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Are ye come [0935] to enquire [01875] of me? As I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], I will not be enquired [01875] of by you.
1 Again in the ninth [08671] year [08141], in the tenth [06224] month [02320], in the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],
2 In the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], which was the fifth [02549] year [08141] of king [04428] Jehoiachin's [03112] captivity [01546],
1 And it came to pass in the sixth [08345] year [08141], in the sixth [08345] month, in the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], as I sat [03427] in mine house [01004], and the elders [02205] of Judah [03063] sat [03427] before [06440] me, that the hand [03027] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] fell [05307] there upon me.
1 And it came to pass in the seventh [07637] year [08141], in the fifth [02549] month, the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], that certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068], and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
4 Wilt thou judge [08199] them, son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199] them? cause them to know [03045] the abominations [08441] of their fathers [01]:
3 Son [01121] of man [0120], speak [01696] unto the elders [02205] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Are ye come [0935] to enquire [01875] of me? As I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], I will not be enquired [01875] of by you.
2 Then came the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] unto me, saying [0559],
1 And it came to pass in the seventh [07637] year [08141], in the fifth [02549] month, the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], that certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068], and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
39 As for you, O house [01004] of Israel [03478], thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Go [03212] ye, serve [05647] ye every one [0376] his idols [01544], and hereafter [0310] also, if ye will not hearken [08085] unto me: but pollute [02490] ye my holy [06944] name [08034] no more with your gifts [04979], and with your idols [01544].
40 For in mine holy [06944] mountain [02022], in the mountain [02022] of the height [04791] of Israel [03478], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], there shall all the house [01004] of Israel [03478], all of them in the land [0776], serve [05647] me: there will I accept [07521] them, and there will I require [01875] your offerings [08641], and the firstfruits [07225] of your oblations [04864], with all your holy things [06944].
41 I will accept [07521] you with your sweet [05207] savour [07381], when I bring you out [03318] from the people [05971], and gather [06908] you out of the countries [0776] wherein ye have been scattered [06327]; and I will be sanctified [06942] in you before [05869] the heathen [01471].
42 And ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068], when I shall bring [0935] you into the land [0127] of Israel [03478], into the country [0776] for the which I lifted up [05375] mine hand [03027] to give [05414] it to your fathers [01].
43 And there shall ye remember [02142] your ways [01870], and all your doings [05949], wherein ye have been defiled [02930]; and ye shall lothe [06962] yourselves in your own sight [06440] for all your evils [07451] that ye have committed [06213].
44 And ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068], when I have wrought [06213] with you for my name's [08034] sake, not according to your wicked [07451] ways [01870], nor according to your corrupt [07843] doings [05949], O ye house [01004] of Israel [03478], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].
32 And that which cometh [05927] into your mind [07307] shall not be at all, that ye say [0559], We will be [01961] as the heathen [01471], as the families [04940] of the countries [0776], to serve [08334] wood [06086] and stone [068].
33 As I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], surely with a mighty [02389] hand [03027], and with a stretched out [05186] arm [02220], and with fury [02534] poured out [08210], will I rule [04427] over you:
34 And I will bring you out [03318] from the people [05971], and will gather [06908] you out of the countries [0776] wherein ye are scattered [06327], with a mighty [02389] hand [03027], and with a stretched out [05186] arm [02220], and with fury [02534] poured out [08210].
35 And I will bring [0935] you into the wilderness [04057] of the people [05971], and there will I plead [08199] with you face [06440] to face [06440].
36 Like as I pleaded [08199] with your fathers [01] in the wilderness [04057] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], so will I plead [08199] with you, saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].
37 And I will cause you to pass [05674] under the rod [07626], and I will bring [0935] you into the bond [04562] of the covenant [01285]:
38 And I will purge out [01305] from among you the rebels [04775], and them that transgress [06586] against me: I will bring them forth [03318] out of the country [0776] where they sojourn [04033], and they shall not enter [0935] into the land [0127] of Israel [03478]: and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].
27 Therefore, son [01121] of man [0120], speak [01696] unto the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Yet in this your fathers [01] have blasphemed [01442] me, in that they have committed [04603] a trespass [04604] against me.
28 For when I had brought [0935] them into the land [0776], for the which I lifted up [05375] mine hand [03027] to give [05414] it to them, then they saw [07200] every high [07311] hill [01389], and all the thick [05687] trees [06086], and they offered [02076] there their sacrifices [02077], and there they presented [05414] the provocation [03708] of their offering [07133]: there also they made [07760] their sweet [05207] savour [07381], and poured out [05258] there their drink offerings [05262].
29 Then I said [0559] unto them, What is the high place [01116] whereunto ye go [0935]? And the name [08034] thereof is called [07121] Bamah [01117] unto this day [03117].
30 Wherefore say [0559] unto the house [01004] of Israel [03478], Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Are ye polluted [02930] after the manner [01870] of your fathers [01]? and commit ye whoredom [02181] after [0310] their abominations [08251]?
31 For when ye offer [05375] your gifts [04979], when ye make your sons [01121] to pass through [05674] the fire [0784], ye pollute [02930] yourselves with all your idols [01544], even unto this day [03117]: and shall I be enquired [01875] of by you, O house [01004] of Israel [03478]? As I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], I will not be enquired [01875] of by you.
18 But I said [0559] unto their children [01121] in the wilderness [04057], Walk [03212] ye not in the statutes [02706] of your fathers [01], neither observe [08104] their judgments [04941], nor defile [02930] yourselves with their idols [01544]:
19 I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430]; walk [03212] in my statutes [02708], and keep [08104] my judgments [04941], and do [06213] them;
20 And hallow [06942] my sabbaths [07676]; and they shall be a sign [0226] between me and you, that ye may know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430].
21 Notwithstanding the children [01121] rebelled [04784] against me: they walked [01980] not in my statutes [02708], neither kept [08104] my judgments [04941] to do [06213] them, which if a man [0120] do [06213], he shall even live [02425] in them; they polluted [02490] my sabbaths [07676]: then I said [0559], I would pour out [08210] my fury [02534] upon them, to accomplish [03615] my anger [0639] against them in the wilderness [04057].
22 Nevertheless I withdrew [07725] mine hand [03027], and wrought [06213] for my name's [08034] sake, that it should not be polluted [02490] in the sight [05869] of the heathen [01471], in whose sight [05869] I brought them forth [03318].
23 I lifted up [05375] mine hand [03027] unto them also in the wilderness [04057], that I would scatter [06327] them among the heathen [01471], and disperse [02219] them through the countries [0776];
24 Because they had not executed [06213] my judgments [04941], but had despised [03988] my statutes [02708], and had polluted [02490] my sabbaths [07676], and their eyes [05869] were after [0310] their fathers [01]' idols [01544].
25 Wherefore I gave [05414] them also statutes [02706] that were not good [02896], and judgments [04941] whereby they should not live [02421];
26 And I polluted [02930] them in their own gifts [04979], in that they caused to pass through [05674] the fire all that openeth [06363] the womb [07356], that I might make them desolate [08074], to the end that they might know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].
10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth [03318] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], and brought [0935] them into the wilderness [04057].
11 And I gave [05414] them my statutes [02708], and shewed [03045] them my judgments [04941], which if a man [0120] do [06213], he shall even live [02425] in them.
12 Moreover also I gave [05414] them my sabbaths [07676], to be a sign [0226] between me and them, that they might know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] that sanctify [06942] them.
13 But the house [01004] of Israel [03478] rebelled [04784] against me in the wilderness [04057]: they walked [01980] not in my statutes [02708], and they despised [03988] my judgments [04941], which if a man [0120] do [06213], he shall even live [02425] in them; and my sabbaths [07676] they greatly [03966] polluted [02490]: then I said [0559], I would pour out [08210] my fury [02534] upon them in the wilderness [04057], to consume [03615] them.
14 But I wrought [06213] for my name's [08034] sake, that it should not be polluted [02490] before [05869] the heathen [01471], in whose sight [05869] I brought them out [03318].
15 Yet also I lifted up [05375] my hand [03027] unto them in the wilderness [04057], that I would not bring [0935] them into the land [0776] which I had given [05414] them, flowing [02100] with milk [02461] and honey [01706], which is the glory [06643] of all lands [0776];
16 Because they despised [03988] my judgments [04941], and walked [01980] not in my statutes [02708], but polluted [02490] my sabbaths [07676]: for their heart [03820] went [01980] after [0310] their idols [01544].
17 Nevertheless mine eye [05869] spared [02347] them from destroying [07843] them, neither did I make [06213] an end [03617] of them in the wilderness [04057].
5 And say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; In the day [03117] when I chose [0977] Israel [03478], and lifted up [05375] mine hand [03027] unto the seed [02233] of the house [01004] of Jacob [03290], and made myself known [03045] unto them in the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], when I lifted [05375] up mine hand [03027] unto them, saying [0559], I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430];
6 In the day [03117] that I lifted up [05375] mine hand [03027] unto them, to bring them forth [03318] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714] into a land [0776] that I had espied [08446] for them, flowing [02100] with milk [02461] and honey [01706], which is the glory [06643] of all lands [0776]:
7 Then said [0559] I unto them, Cast ye away [07993] every man [0376] the abominations [08251] of his eyes [05869], and defile [02930] not yourselves with the idols [01544] of Egypt [04714]: I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430].
8 But they rebelled [04784] against me, and would [014] not hearken [08085] unto me: they did not every man [0376] cast away [07993] the abominations [08251] of their eyes [05869], neither did they forsake [05800] the idols [01544] of Egypt [04714]: then I said [0559], I will pour out [08210] my fury [02534] upon them, to accomplish [03615] my anger [0639] against them in the midst [08432] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].
9 But I wrought [06213] for my name's [08034] sake, that it should not be polluted [02490] before [05869] the heathen [01471], among [08432] whom they were, in whose sight [05869] I made myself known [03045] unto them, in bringing them forth [03318] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].
1 Then came [0935] certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] unto me, and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
1 And it came to pass in the seventh [07637] year [08141], in the fifth [02549] month, the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], that certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068], and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
2 Then came the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] unto me, saying [0559],
3 Son [01121] of man [0120], speak [01696] unto the elders [02205] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Are ye come [0935] to enquire [01875] of me? As I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], I will not be enquired [01875] of by you.
36 The LORD [03068] said [0559] moreover unto me; Son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199] Aholah [0170] and Aholibah [0172]? yea, declare [05046] unto them their abominations [08441];
2 Now, thou son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199], wilt thou judge [08199] the bloody [01818] city [05892]? yea, thou shalt shew [03045] her all her abominations [08441].
4 Wilt thou judge [08199] them, son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199] them? cause them to know [03045] the abominations [08441] of their fathers [01]:
1 Again in the ninth [08671] year [08141], in the tenth [06224] month [02320], in the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],
1 And it came to pass in the seventh [07637] year [08141], in the fifth [02549] month, the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], that certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068], and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
1 Then came [0935] certain [0582] of the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] unto me, and sat [03427] before [06440] me.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth [08345] year [08141], in the sixth [08345] month, in the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], as I sat [03427] in mine house [01004], and the elders [02205] of Judah [03063] sat [03427] before [06440] me, that the hand [03027] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] fell [05307] there upon me.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth [08345] year [08141], in the sixth [08345] month, in the fifth [02568] day of the month [02320], as I sat [03427] in mine house [01004], and the elders [02205] of Judah [03063] sat [03427] before [06440] me, that the hand [03027] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] fell [05307] there upon me.