13 Thus shall mine anger H639 be accomplished, H3615 and I will cause my fury H2534 to rest H5117 upon them, and I will be comforted: H5162 and they shall know H3045 that I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it in my zeal, H7068 when I have accomplished H3615 my fury H2534 in them.
Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Surely in the fire H784 of my jealousy H7068 have I spoken H1696 against the residue H7611 of the heathen, H1471 and against all Idumea, H123 which have appointed H5414 my land H776 into their possession H4181 with the joy H8057 of all their heart, H3824 with despiteful H7589 minds, H5315 to cast it out H4054 for a prey. H957 Prophesy H5012 therefore concerning the land H127 of Israel, H3478 and say H559 unto the mountains, H2022 and to the hills, H1389 to the rivers, H650 and to the valleys, H1516 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I have spoken H1696 in my jealousy H7068 and in my fury, H2534 because ye have borne H5375 the shame H3639 of the heathen: H1471
Notwithstanding the children H1121 rebelled H4784 against me: they walked H1980 not in my statutes, H2708 neither kept H8104 my judgments H4941 to do H6213 them, which if a man H120 do, H6213 he shall even live H2425 in them; they polluted H2490 my sabbaths: H7676 then I said, H559 I would pour out H8210 my fury H2534 upon them, to accomplish H3615 my anger H639 against them in the wilderness. H4057
But they rebelled H4784 against me, and would H14 not hearken H8085 unto me: they did not every man H376 cast away H7993 the abominations H8251 of their eyes, H5869 neither did they forsake H5800 the idols H1544 of Egypt: H4714 then I said, H559 I will pour out H8210 my fury H2534 upon them, to accomplish H3615 my anger H639 against them in the midst H8432 of the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
He that is far off H7350 shall die H4191 of the pestilence; H1698 and he that is near H7138 shall fall H5307 by the sword; H2719 and he that remaineth H7604 and is besieged H5341 shall die H4191 by the famine: H7458 thus will I accomplish H3615 my fury H2534 upon them.
In the first H259 year H8141 of his reign H4427 I Daniel H1840 understood H995 by books H5612 the number H4557 of the years, H8141 whereof the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came to Jeremiah H3414 the prophet, H5030 that he would accomplish H4390 seventy H7657 years H8141 in the desolations H2723 of Jerusalem. H3389
Then cried H2199 he upon H853 me, and spake H1696 unto me, saying, H559 Behold, H7200 these that go H3318 toward the north H6828 country H776 have quieted H5117 my spirit H7307 in the north H6828 country. H776
And the king H4428 shall do H6213 according to his will; H7522 and he shall exalt H7311 himself, and magnify H1431 himself above every god, H410 and shall speak H1696 marvellous things H6381 against the God H410 of gods, H410 and shall prosper H6743 till the indignation H2195 be accomplished: H3615 for that that is determined H2782 shall be done. H6213
For the LORD H3068 shall judge H1777 his people, H5971 and repent H5162 himself for his servants, H5650 when he seeth H7200 that their power H3027 is gone, H235 and there is none H657 shut up, H6113 or left. H5800
And it shall come to pass at the same time H3117 when H3117 Gog H1463 shall come H935 against the land H127 of Israel, H3478 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 that my fury H2534 shall come up H5927 in my face. H639 For in my jealousy H7068 and in the fire H784 of my wrath H5678 have I spoken, H1696 Surely in that day H3117 there shall be a great H1419 shaking H7494 in the land H127 of Israel; H3478
And I will set H5414 my jealousy H7068 against thee, and they shall deal H6213 furiously H2534 with thee: they shall take away H5493 thy nose H639 and thine ears; H241 and thy remnant H319 shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 they shall take H3947 thy sons H1121 and thy daughters; H1323 and thy residue H319 shall be devoured H398 by the fire. H784
Thus will I accomplish H3615 my wrath H2534 upon the wall, H7023 and upon them that have daubed H2902 it with untempered H8602 morter, and will say H559 unto you, The wall H7023 is no more, neither they that daubed H2902 it;
And they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD, H3068 and that I have not said H1696 in vain H2600 that I would do H6213 this evil H7451 unto them.
And it shall come to pass, when seventy H7657 years H8141 are accomplished, H4390 that I will punish H6485 the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and that nation, H1471 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 for their iniquity, H5771 and the land H776 of the Chaldeans, H3778 and will make H7760 it perpetual H5769 desolations. H8077
Of the increase H4766 of his government H4951 and peace H7965 there shall be no end, H7093 upon the throne H3678 of David, H1732 and upon his kingdom, H4467 to order H3559 it, and to establish H5582 it with judgment H4941 and with justice H6666 from henceforth even for H5704 ever. H5769 The zeal H7068 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 will perform H6213 this.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 5
Commentary on Ezekiel 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Eze 5:1-17. Vision of Cutting the Hairs, and the Calamities Foreshadowed Thereby.
1. knife … razor—the sword of the foe (compare Isa 7:20). This vision implies even severer judgments than the Egyptian afflictions foreshadowed in the former, for their guilt was greater than that of their forefathers.
thine head—as representative of the Jews. The whole hair being shaven off was significant of severe and humiliating (2Sa 10:4, 5) treatment. Especially in the case of a priest; for priests (Le 21:5) were forbidden "to make baldness on their head," their hair being the token of consecration; hereby it was intimated that the ceremonial must give place to the moral.
balances—implying the just discrimination with which Jehovah weighs out the portion of punishment "divided," that is, allotted to each: the "hairs" are the Jews: the divine scales do not allow even one hair to escape accurate weighing (compare Mt 10:30).
2. Three classes are described. The sword was to destroy one third of the people; famine and plague another third ("fire" in Eze 5:2 being explained in Eze 5:12 to mean pestilence and famine); that which remained was to be scattered among the nations. A few only of the last portion were to escape, symbolized by the hairs bound in Ezekiel's skirts (Eze 5:3; Jer 40:6; 52:16). Even of these some were to be thrown into the fiery ordeal again (Eze 5:4; Jer 41:1, 2, &c.; Jer 44:14, &c.). The "skirts" being able to contain but few express that extreme limit to which God's goodness can reach.
5, 6. Explanation of the symbols:
Jerusalem—not the mere city, but the people of Israel generally, of which it was the center and representative.
in … midst—Jerusalem is regarded in God's point of view as center of the whole earth, designed to radiate the true light over the nations in all directions. Compare Margin ("navel"), Eze 38:12; Ps 48:2; Jer 3:17. No center in the ancient heathen world could have been selected more fitted than Canaan to be a vantage ground, whence the people of God might have acted with success upon the heathenism of the world. It lay midway between the oldest and most civilized states, Egypt and Ethiopia on one side, and Babylon, Nineveh, and India on the other, and afterwards Persia, Greece, and Rome. The Phœnician mariners were close by, through whom they might have transmitted the true religion to the remotest lands; and all around the Ishmaelites, the great inland traders in South Asia and North Africa. Israel was thus placed, not for its own selfish good, but to be the spiritual benefactor of the whole world. Compare Ps 67:1-7 throughout. Failing in this, and falling into idolatry, its guilt was far worse than that of the heathen; not that Israel literally went beyond the heathen in abominable idolatries. But "corruptio optimi pessima"; the perversion of that which in itself is the best is worse than the perversion of that which is less perfect: is in fact the worst of all kinds of perversion. Therefore their punishment was the severest. So the position of the Christian professing Church now, if it be not a light to the heathen world, its condemnation will be sorer than theirs (Mt 5:13; 11:21-24; Heb 10:28, 29).
6. changed … into—rather, "hath resisted My judgments wickedly"; "hath rebelled against My ordinances for wickedness" [Buxtorf]. But see on Eze 5:7, end.
7. multiplied—rather, "have been more abundantly outrageous"; literally, "to tumultuate"; to have an extravagant rage for idols.
neither have done according to the judgments of the nations—have not been as tenacious of the true religion as the nations have been of the false. The heathen "changed" not their gods, but the Jews changed Jehovah for idols (see Eze 5:6, "changed My judgments into wickedness," that is, idolatry, Jer 2:11). The Chaldean version and the Masora support the negative. Others omit it (as it is omitted in Eze 11:12), and translate, "but have done according to the judgments," &c. However, both Eze 11:12 and also this verse are true. They in one sense "did according to the heathen," namely, in all that was bad; in another, namely, in that which was good, zeal for religion, they did not. Eze 5:9 also proves the negative to be genuine; because in changing their religion, they have not done as the nations which have not changed theirs, "I (also) will do in thee that which I have not done."
8. I, even I—awfully emphatic. I, even I, whom thou thinkest to be asleep, but who am ever reigning as the Omnipotent Avenger of sin, will vindicate My righteous government before the nations by judgments on thee.
9. See on Eze 5:7.
that which I have not done—worse than any former judgments (La 4:6; Da 9:12). The prophecy includes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the final one by Antichrist (Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2), as well as that by Nebuchadnezzar. Their doom of evil was not exhausted by the Chaldean conquest. There was to be a germinating evil in their destiny, because there would be, as the Lord foresaw, a germinating evil in their character. As God connected Himself peculiarly with Israel, so there was to be a peculiar manifestation of God's wrath against sin in their case [Fairbairn]. The higher the privileges the greater the punishment in the case of abuse of them. When God's greatest favor, the gospel, was given, and was abused by them, then "the wrath was to come on them to the uttermost" (1Th 2:16).
10. fathers … eat … sons—alluding to Moses' words (Le 26:29; De 28:53), with the additional sad feature, that "the sons should eat their fathers" (see 2Ki 6:28; Jer 19:9; La 2:20; 4:10).
11. as I live—the most solemn of oaths, pledging the self-existence of God for the certainty of the event.
defiled my sanctuary—the climax of Jewish guilt: their defiling Jehovah's temple by introducing idols.
diminish—literally, "withdraw," namely, Mine "eye" (which presently follows), that is, My favors; Job 36:7 uses the Hebrew verb in the same way. As the Jews had withdrawn from God's sanctuary its sacredness by "defiling" it, so God withdraws His countenance from them. The significance of the expression lies in the allusion to De 4:2, "Ye shall not diminish aught from the word which I command you"; they had done so, therefore God diminishes them. The reading found in six manuscripts, "I will cut thee off," is not so good.
12. Statement in plain terms of what was intended by the symbols (Eze 5:2; see Eze 6:12; Jer 15:2; 21:9).
draw out … sword after them—(Le 26:33). Skeptics object; no such thing happened under Zedekiah, as is here foretold; namely, that a third part of the nation should die by pestilence, a third part by the sword, and a third be scattered unto all winds, and a sword sent after them. But the prophecy is not restricted to Zedekiah's time. It includes all that Israel suffered, or was still to suffer, for their sins, especially those committed at that period (Eze 17:21). It only received its primary fulfilment under Zedekiah: numbers then died by the pestilence and by the sword; and numbers were scattered in all quarters and not carried to Babylonia alone, as the objectors assert (compare Ezr 1:4; Es 3:8; Ob 14).
pestilence … and famine—signified by the symbol "fire" (Eze 5:2). Compare Isa 13:8; La 5:10; plague and famine burning and withering the countenance, as fire does.
13. cause my fury to rest upon them—as on its proper and permanent resting-place (Isa 30:32, Margin).
I will be comforted—expressed in condescension to man's conceptions; signifying His satisfaction in the vindication of His justice by His righteous judgments (De 28:63; Pr 1:26; Isa 1:24).
they shall how—by bitter experience.
14. reproach among the nations—They whose idolatries Israel had adopted, instead of comforting, would only exult in their calamities brought on by those idolatries (compare Lu 15:15).
15. instruction—literally, "a corrective chastisement," that is, a striking example to warn all of the fatal consequences of sin. For "it shall be"; all ancient versions have "thou," which the connection favors.
16. arrows of famine—hail, rain, mice, locusts, mildew (see De 32:23, 24).
increase the famine—literally, "congregate" or "collect." When ye think your harvest safe because ye have escaped drought, mildew, &c., I will find other means [Calvin], which I will congregate as the forces of an invading army, to bring famine on you.
17. beasts—perhaps meaning destructive conquerors (Da 7:4). Rather, literal "beasts," which infest desolated regions such as Judea was to become (compare Eze 34:28; Ex 23:29; De 32:24; 2Ki 17:25). The same threat is repeated in manifold forms to awaken the careless.
sword—civil war.