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Selected Verse: Ezekiel 6:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Eze 6:1	Strong Concordance	And the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],
	King James	And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The former prophecies concerned the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants of Judaea. The present is addressed to the whole land and people of Israel, which is to be included in a like judgment, The ground of the judgment is "idolatry," and the whole rests on Deut. 12. The prophecy is against the "mountains" of Israel, because the mountains and valleys were the seats of idol-worship. It is also the proclamation of the final judgment of Israel. It is the picture of the future judgment of the world.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

The former prophecies concerned the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants of Judaea. The present is addressed to the whole land and people of Israel, which is to be included in a like judgment, The ground of the judgment is "idolatry," and the whole rests on Deut. 12. The prophecy is against the "mountains" of Israel, because the mountains and valleys were the seats of idol-worship. It is also the proclamation of the final judgment of Israel. It is the picture of the future judgment of the world.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The Desolation of the Land, and Destruction of the Idolaters Eze 6:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Eze 6:2. Son of man, turn thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them. Eze 6:3. And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains, and to the hills, to the valleys, and to the low grounds, Behold, I bring the sword upon you, and destroy your high places. Eze 6:4. Your altars shall be made desolate, and your sun-pillars shall be broken; and I shall make your slain fall in the presence of your idols. Eze 6:5. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and will scatter your bones round about your altars. Eze 6:6. In all your dwellings shall the cities be made desolate, and the high places waste; that your altars may be desolate and waste, and your idols broken and destroyed, and your sun-pillars hewn down, and the works of your hands exterminated. Eze 6:7. And the slain will fall in your midst; that you may know that I am Jehovah. - With Eze 6:1 cf. Eze 3:16. The prophet is to prophesy against the mountains of Israel. That the mountains are mentioned (Eze 6:2) as pars pro toto, is seen from Eze 6:3, when to the mountains and hills are added also the valleys and low grounds, as the places where idolatry was specially practised; cf. Hos 4:13; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6; see on Hos. l.c. and Deu 12:2. אפיקים, in the older writings, denotes the "river channels," "the beds of the stream;" but Ezekiel uses the word as equivalent to valley, i.e., נחל, a valley with a brook or stream, like the Arabic wady. גּיא, properly "deepening," "the deep ground," "the deep valley;" on the form גּאיות, cf. Ewald, 186da. The juxtaposition of mountains and hills, of valleys and low grounds, occurs again in Eze 36:4, Eze 36:6, and Eze 35:8; the opposition between mountains and valleys also, in Eze 32:5-6, and Eze 24:13. The valleys are to be conceived of as furnished with trees and groves, under the shadow of which the worship of Astarte especially was practised; see on v. 15. On the mountains and in the valleys were sanctuaries erected to Baal and Astarte. The announcement of their destruction is appended to the threatening in Lev 26:30, which Ezekiel takes up and describes at greater length. Beside the בּמות, the places of sacrifice and worship, and the חמּנים, pillars or statues of Baal, dedicated to him as the sun-god, he names also the altars, which, in Lev. l.c. and other places, are comprehended along with the בּמות eht htiw; see on Lev 26:30 and Kg1 3:3. With the destruction of the idol temples, altars, and statues, the idol-worshippers are also to be smitten, so as to fall down in the presence of their idols. The fundamental meaning of the word גּלּוּלים, "idols," borrowed from Lev. l.c., and frequently employed by Ezekiel, is uncertain; signifying either "logs of wood," from גּלל, "to roll" (Gesen.), or stercorei, from גּל, "dung;" not "monuments of stone" (Hvernick). Eze 6:5 is taken quite literally from Lev 26:30. The ignominy of the destruction is heightened by the bones of the slain idolaters being scattered round about the idol altars. In order that the idolatry may be entirely rooted out, the cities throughout the whole land, and all the high places, are to be devastated, Eze 6:6. The forms תּישׁמנה and יאשׁמוּ are probably not to be derived from שׁמם (Ewald, 138b), but to be referred back to a stem-form ישׁם, with the signification of שׁמם, the existence of which appears certain from the old name ישׁימון in Ps 68 and elsewhere. The א in יאשׁמו is certainly only mater lectonis. In Eze 6:7, the singular חלל stands as indefinitely general. The thought, "slain will fall in your midst," involves the idea that not all the people will fall, but that there will survive some who are saved, and prepares for what follows. The falling of the slain - the idolaters with their idols - leads to the recognition of Jehovah as the omnipotent God, and to conversion to Him.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The Desolation of the Land, and Destruction of the Idolaters

Eze 6:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Eze 6:2. Son of man, turn thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them. Eze 6:3. And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains, and to the hills, to the valleys, and to the low grounds, Behold, I bring the sword upon you, and destroy your high places. Eze 6:4. Your altars shall be made desolate, and your sun-pillars shall be broken; and I shall make your slain fall in the presence of your idols. Eze 6:5. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and will scatter your bones round about your altars. Eze 6:6. In all your dwellings shall the cities be made desolate, and the high places waste; that your altars may be desolate and waste, and your idols broken and destroyed, and your sun-pillars hewn down, and the works of your hands exterminated. Eze 6:7. And the slain will fall in your midst; that you may know that I am Jehovah. - With Eze 6:1 cf. Eze 3:16. The prophet is to prophesy against the mountains of Israel. That the mountains are mentioned (Eze 6:2) as pars pro toto, is seen from Eze 6:3, when to the mountains and hills are added also the valleys and low grounds, as the places where idolatry was specially practised; cf. Hos 4:13; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6; see on Hos. l.c. and Deu 12:2. אפיקים, in the older writings, denotes the "river channels," "the beds of the stream;" but Ezekiel uses the word as equivalent to valley, i.e., נחל, a valley with a brook or stream, like the Arabic wady. גּיא, properly "deepening," "the deep ground," "the deep valley;" on the form גּאיות, cf. Ewald, 186da. The juxtaposition of mountains and hills, of valleys and low grounds, occurs again in Eze 36:4, Eze 36:6, and Eze 35:8; the opposition between mountains and valleys also, in Eze 32:5-6, and Eze 24:13. The valleys are to be conceived of as furnished with trees and groves, under the shadow of which the worship of Astarte especially was practised; see on v. 15. On the mountains and in the valleys were sanctuaries erected to Baal and Astarte. The announcement of their destruction is appended to the threatening in Lev 26:30, which Ezekiel takes up and describes at greater length. Beside the בּמות, the places of sacrifice and worship, and the חמּנים, pillars or statues of Baal, dedicated to him as the sun-god, he names also the altars, which, in Lev. l.c. and other places, are comprehended along with the בּמות eht htiw; see on Lev 26:30 and Kg1 3:3. With the destruction of the idol temples, altars, and statues, the idol-worshippers are also to be smitten, so as to fall down in the presence of their idols. The fundamental meaning of the word גּלּוּלים, "idols," borrowed from Lev. l.c., and frequently employed by Ezekiel, is uncertain; signifying either "logs of wood," from גּלל, "to roll" (Gesen.), or stercorei, from גּל, "dung;" not "monuments of stone" (Hvernick). Eze 6:5 is taken quite literally from Lev 26:30. The ignominy of the destruction is heightened by the bones of the slain idolaters being scattered round about the idol altars. In order that the idolatry may be entirely rooted out, the cities throughout the whole land, and all the high places, are to be devastated, Eze 6:6. The forms תּישׁמנה and יאשׁמוּ are probably not to be derived from שׁמם (Ewald, 138b), but to be referred back to a stem-form ישׁם, with the signification of שׁמם, the existence of which appears certain from the old name ישׁימון in Ps 68 and elsewhere. The א in יאשׁמו is certainly only mater lectonis. In Eze 6:7, the singular חלל stands as indefinitely general. The thought, "slain will fall in your midst," involves the idea that not all the people will fall, but that there will survive some who are saved, and prepares for what follows. The falling of the slain - the idolaters with their idols - leads to the recognition of Jehovah as the omnipotent God, and to conversion to Him.

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⁷ And the slain [02491] shall fall [05307] in the midst [08432] of you, and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].

⁶ In all your dwellingplaces [04186] the cities [05892] shall be laid waste [02717], and the high places [01116] shall be desolate [03456]; that your altars [04196] may be laid waste [02717] and made desolate [0816], and your idols [01544] may be broken [07665] and cease [07673], and your images [02553] may be cut down [01438], and your works [04639] may be abolished [04229].

³⁰ And I will destroy [08045] your high places [01116], and cut down [03772] your images [02553], and cast [05414] your carcases [06297] upon the carcases [06297] of your idols [01544], and my soul [05315] shall abhor [01602] you.

⁵ And I will lay [05414] the dead carcases [06297] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478] before [06440] their idols [01544]; and I will scatter [02219] your bones [06106] round about [05439] your altars [04196].

³ And Solomon [08010] loved [0157] the LORD [03068], walking [03212] in the statutes [02708] of David [01732] his father [01]: only he sacrificed [02076] and burnt incense [06999] in high places [01116].

¹³ In thy filthiness [02932] is lewdness [02154]: because I have purged [02891] thee, and thou wast not purged [02891], thou shalt not be purged [02891] from thy filthiness [02932] any more, till I have caused my fury [02534] to rest [05117] upon thee.

⁵ And I will lay [05414] thy flesh [01320] upon the mountains [02022], and fill [04390] the valleys [01516] with thy height [07419].
⁶ I will also water [08248] with thy blood [01818] the land [0776] wherein thou swimmest [06824], even to the mountains [02022]; and the rivers [0650] shall be full [04390] of thee.

⁸ And I will fill [04390] his mountains [02022] with his slain [02491] men: in thy hills [01389], and in thy valleys [01516], and in all thy rivers [0650], shall they fall [05307] that are slain [02491] with the sword [02719].

⁶ Prophesy [05012] therefore concerning the land [0127] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto the mountains [02022], and to the hills [01389], to the rivers [0650], and to the valleys [01516], Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Behold, I have spoken [01696] in my jealousy [07068] and in my fury [02534], because ye have borne [05375] the shame [03639] of the heathen [01471]:

⁴ Therefore, ye mountains [02022] of Israel [03478], hear [08085] the word [01697] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] to the mountains [02022], and to the hills [01389], to the rivers [0650], and to the valleys [01516], to the desolate [08074] wastes [02723], and to the cities [05892] that are forsaken [05800], which became a prey [0957] and derision [03933] to the residue [07611] of the heathen [01471] that are round about [05439];

² Ye shall utterly [06] destroy [06] all the places [04725], wherein the nations [01471] which [0834] ye shall possess [03423] served [05647] their gods [0430], upon the high [07311] mountains [02022], and upon the hills [01389], and under every green [07488] tree [06086]:

⁶ The LORD [03068] said [0559] also unto me in the days [03117] of Josiah [02977] the king [04428], Hast thou seen [07200] that which backsliding [04878] Israel [03478] hath done [06213]? she is gone up [01980] upon every high [01364] mountain [02022] and under [08478] every green [07488] tree [06086], and there hath played the harlot [02181].

²⁰ For of old time [05769] I have broken [07665] thy yoke [05923], and burst [05423] thy bands [04147]; and thou saidst [0559], I will not transgress [05674] [05647]; when upon every high [01364] hill [01389] and under every green [07488] tree [06086] thou wanderest [06808], playing the harlot [02181].

¹³ They sacrifice [02076] upon the tops [07218] of the mountains [02022], and burn incense [06999] upon the hills [01389], under oaks [0437] and poplars [03839] and elms [0424], because the shadow [06738] thereof is good [02896]: therefore your daughters [01323] shall commit whoredom [02181], and your spouses [03618] shall commit adultery [05003].

³ And say [0559], Ye mountains [02022] of Israel [03478], hear [08085] the word [01697] of the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] to the mountains [02022], and to the hills [01389], to the rivers [0650], and to the valleys [01516]; Behold, I, even I, will bring [0935] a sword [02719] upon you, and I will destroy [06] your high places [01116].

² Son [01121] of man [0120], set [07760] thy face [06440] toward the mountains [02022] of Israel [03478], and prophesy [05012] against them,

¹⁶ And it came to pass at the end [07097] of seven [07651] days [03117], that the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],

¹ And the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],

⁷ And the slain [02491] shall fall [05307] in the midst [08432] of you, and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].

⁴ And your altars [04196] shall be desolate [08074], and your images [02553] shall be broken [07665]: and I will cast down [05307] your slain [02491] men before [06440] your idols [01544].

² Son [01121] of man [0120], set [07760] thy face [06440] toward the mountains [02022] of Israel [03478], and prophesy [05012] against them,

¹ And the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],