36 As I was judged with your fathers, In the wilderness of the land of Egypt, So I am judged with you, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
And the people is evil, as those sighing habitually in the ears of Jehovah, and Jehovah heareth, and His anger burneth, and the fire of Jehovah burneth among them, and consumeth in the extremity of the camp. And the people cry unto Moses, and Moses prayeth unto Jehovah, and the fire is quenched; and he calleth the name of that place Taberah, for the fire of Jehovah hath `burned' among them. And the rabble who `are' in its midst have lusted greatly, and the sons of Israel also turn back and weep, and say, `Who doth give us flesh? We have remembered the fish which we do eat in Egypt for nought, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; and now our soul `is' dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.' And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; the people have turned aside and gathered `it', and ground `it' with millstones, or beat `it' in a mortar, and boiled `it' in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil. And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it. And Moses heareth the people weeping by its families, each at the opening of his tent, and the anger of Jehovah burneth exceedingly, and in the eyes of Moses `it is' evil. And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `Why hast Thou done evil to Thy servant? and why have I not found grace in Thine eyes -- to put the burden of all this people upon me? I -- have I conceived all this people? I -- have I begotten it, that Thou sayest unto me, Carry it in thy bosom as the nursing father beareth the suckling, unto the ground which Thou hast sworn to its fathers? Whence have I flesh to give to all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give to us flesh, and we eat. I am not able -- I alone -- to bear all this people, for `it is' too heavy for me; and if thus Thou art doing to me -- slay me, I pray Thee; slay, if I have found grace in thine eyes, and let me not look on mine affliction.' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee, and I have come down and spoken with thee there, and have kept back of the Spirit which `is' upon thee, and have put on them, and they have borne with thee some of the burden of the people, and thou dost not bear `it' thyself alone. `And unto the people thou dost say, Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow, and ye have eaten flesh (for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who doth give us flesh? for we `had' good in Egypt) -- and Jehovah hath given to you flesh, and ye have eaten. Ye do not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days; -- unto a month of days, till that it come out from your nostrils, and it hath become to you an abomination; because that ye have loathed Jehovah, who `is' in your midst, and weep before Him, saying, Why is this? -- we have come out of Egypt!' And Moses saith, `Six hundred thousand footmen `are' the people in whose midst I `am'; and Thou, Thou hast said, Flesh I give to them, and they have eaten, a month of days! Is flock and herd slaughtered for them, that one hath found for them? -- are all the fishes of the sea gathered for them -- that one hath found for them?' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Is the hand of Jehovah become short? now thou dost see whether My word meeteth thee or not.' And Moses goeth out, and speaketh unto the people the words of Jehovah, and gathereth seventy men of the elders of the people, and causeth them to stand round about the tent, and Jehovah cometh down in the cloud, and speaketh unto him, and keepeth back of the Spirit which `is' on him, and putteth on the seventy men of the elders; and it cometh to pass at the resting of the Spirit on them, that they prophesy, and do not cease. And two of the men are left in the camp, the name of the one `is' Eldad, and the name of the second Medad, and the spirit resteth upon them, (and they are among those written, and have not gone out to the tent), and they prophesy in the camp; and the young man runneth, and declareth to Moses, and saith, `Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' And Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, `one' of his young men, answereth and saith, `My lord Moses, restrain them.' And Moses saith to him, `Art thou zealous for me? O that all Jehovah's people were prophets! that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!' And Moses is gathered unto the camp, he and the elders of Israel. And a spirit hath journeyed from Jehovah, and cutteth off quails from the sea, and leaveth by the camp, as a day's journey here, and as a day's journey there, round about the camp, and about two cubits, on the face of the land. And the people rise all that day, and all the night, and all the day after, and gather the quails -- he who hath least hath gathered ten homers -- and they spread them out for themselves round about the camp. The flesh is yet between their teeth -- it is not yet cut off -- and the anger of Jehovah hath burned among the people, and Jehovah smiteth among the people -- a very great smiting; and `one' calleth the name of that place Kibroth-Hattaavah, for there they have buried the people who lust. From Kibroth-Hattaavah have the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they are in Hazeroth.
but in the most of them God was not well pleased, for they were strewn in the wilderness, and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire. Neither become ye idolaters, as certain of them, as it hath been written, `The people sat down to eat and to drink, and stood up to play;' neither may we commit whoredom, as certain of them did commit whoredom, and there fell in one day twenty-three thousand; neither may we tempt the Christ, as also certain of them did tempt, and by the serpents did perish; neither murmur ye, as also some of them did murmur, and did perish by the destroyer.
And -- rebel against me do the house of Israel in the wilderness, In My statutes they have not walked, And My judgments they have despised, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them. And My sabbaths they have greatly polluted, And I say to pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
And -- the sons rebel against Me, In My statutes they have not walked, And My judgments they have not observed -- to do them, Which the man who doth -- liveth by them. My sabbaths they have polluted, And I say to pour out My fury upon them, To complete Mine anger against them in the wilderness.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go, descend, for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath done corruptly, they have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen this people, and lo, it `is' a stiff-necked people; and now, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn against them, and I consume them, and I make thee become a great nation.' And Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, `Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? why do the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of the evil against Thy people. `Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;' and Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He hath spoken of doing to His people. And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony `are' in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that `are' they written; and the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables. And Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto Moses, `A noise of battle in the camp!' and he saith, `It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness -- a voice of singing I am hearing.' And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount; and he taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth `it' with fire, and grindeth until `it is' small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink. And Moses saith unto Aaron, `What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?' and Aaron saith, `Let not the anger of my lord burn; thou -- thou hast known the people that it `is' in evil; and they say to me, Make for us gods, who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him; and I say to them, Whoso hath gold, let them break `it' off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf cometh out.' And Moses seeth the people that it `is' unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders, and Moses standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, `Who `is' for Jehovah? -- unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto him; and he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and slay each his brother, and each his friend, and each his relation.' And the sons of Levi do according to the word of Moses, and there fall of the people on that day about three thousand men, and Moses saith, `Consecrate your hand to-day to Jehovah, for a man `is' against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring on you to-day a blessing.' And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses saith unto the people, `Ye -- ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up unto Jehovah, if so be I atone for your sin.' And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, `Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a god of gold; and now, if Thou takest away their sin -- and if not -- blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Whoso hath sinned against Me -- I blot him out of My book; and now, go, lead the people whithersoever I have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of my charging -- then I have charged upon them their sin.' And Jehovah plagueth the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.
And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night; and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, `O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died! and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?' And they say one unto another, `Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.' And Moses falleth -- Aaron also -- on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel. And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments, and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we have passed over to spy it, `is' a very very good land; if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey; only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they `are'; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah `is' with us; fear them not.' And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst? I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.' And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst, and they have said `it' unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, `art' in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen -- O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, -- and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. `And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying, From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them -- He doth slaughter them in the wilderness. `And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying: Jehovah `is' slow to anger, and of great kindness; bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third `generation', and on a fourth; -- forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.' And Jehovah saith, `I have forgiven, according to thy word; and yet, I live -- and it is filled -- the whole earth -- `with' the honour of Jehovah; for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice -- they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it; and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me -- I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it. `And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness -- the way of the Red Sea.' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying, `Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me? the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard; say unto them, I live -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears -- so I do not to you; in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me; ye -- ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun. `As to your infants -- of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become -- I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against; as to you -- your carcases do fall in this wilderness, and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness; by the number of the days `in' which ye spied the land, forty days, -- a day for a year, a day for a year -- ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off; I `am' Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me; -- in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.' And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land, even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah; and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land. And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly, and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, `Here we `are', and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.' And Moses saith, `Why `is' this? -- ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper; go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies; for the Amalekite and the Canaanite `are' there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.' And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp. And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down -- unto Hormah.
And Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, taketh both Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, and they rise up before Moses, with men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty, princes of the company, called of the convention, men of name, and they are assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and say unto them, `Enough of you! for all the company -- all of them `are' holy, and in their midst `is' Jehovah; and wherefore do ye lift yourselves up above the assembly of Jehovah?' And Moses heareth, and falleth on his face, and he speaketh unto Korah, and unto all his company, saying, `Morning! -- and Jehovah is knowing those who are his, and him who is holy, and hath brought near unto Him; even him whom He doth fix on He bringeth near unto Him. This do: take to yourselves censers, Korah, and all his company, and put in them fire, and put on them perfume, before Jehovah to-morrow, and it hath been, the man whom Jehovah chooseth, he `is' the holy one; -- enough of you, sons of Levi.' And Moses saith unto Korah, `Hear ye, I pray you, sons of Levi; is it little to you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the company of Israel to bring you near unto Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the company to serve them? -- yea, He doth bring thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee -- and ye have sought also the priesthood! Therefore, thou and all thy company who are met `are' against Jehovah; and Aaron, what `is' he, that ye murmur against him?' And Moses sendeth to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab, and they say, `We do not come up; is it little that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to put us to death in a wilderness that thou also certainly makest thyself prince over us? Yea, unto a land flowing with milk and honey thou hast not brought us in, nor dost thou give to us an inheritance of field and vineyard; the eyes of these men dost thou pick out? we do not come up.' And it is very displeasing to Moses, and he saith unto Jehovah, `Turn not Thou unto their present; not one ass from them have I taken, nor have I afflicted one of them.' And Moses saith unto Korah, `Thou and all thy company, be ye before Jehovah, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow; and take ye each his censer, and ye have put on them perfume, and brought near before Jehovah, each his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; and thou and Aaron, each his censer.' And they take each his censer, and put on them fire, and lay on them perfume, and they stand at the opening of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. And Korah assembleth against them all the company unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and the honour of Jehovah is seen by all the company. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, `Be ye separated from the midst of this company, and I consume them in a moment;' and they fall on their faces, and say, `God, God of the spirits of all flesh -- the one man sinneth, and against all the company Thou art wroth!' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Speak unto the company, saying, Go ye up from round about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.' And Moses riseth, and goeth unto Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel go after him, and he speaketh unto the company, saying, `Turn aside, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and come not against anything that they have, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.' And they go up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, from round about, and Dathan, and Abiram have come out, standing at the opening of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their infants. And Moses saith, `By this ye do know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works, that `they are' not from my own heart; if according to the death of all men these die -- or the charge of all men is charged upon them -- Jehovah hath not sent me; and if a strange thing Jehovah do, and the ground hath opened her mouth and swallowed them, and all that they have, and they have gone down alive to Sheol -- then ye have known that these men have despised Jehovah.' And it cometh to pass at his finishing speaking all these words, that the ground which `is' under them cleaveth, and the earth openeth her mouth, and swalloweth them, and their houses, and all the men who `are' for Korah, and all the goods, and they go down, they, and all that they have, alive to Sheol, and the earth closeth over them, and they perish from the midst of the assembly; and all Israel who `are' round about them have fled at their voice, for they said, `Lest the earth swallow us;' and fire hath come out from Jehovah, and consumeth the two hundred and fifty men bringing near the perfume. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Say unto Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, and he lifteth up the censers from the midst of the burning, and the fire scatter thou yonder, for they have been hallowed, `even' the censers of these sinners against their own souls; and they have made them spread-out plates, a covering for the altar, for they have brought them near before Jehovah, and they are hallowed; and they are become a sign to the sons of Israel.' And Eleazar the priest taketh the brazen censers which they who are burnt had brought near, and they spread them out, a covering for the altar -- a memorial to the sons of Israel, so that a stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron doth not draw near to make a perfume before Jehovah, and is not as Korah, and as his company, -- as Jehovah hath spoken by the hand of Moses to him. And all the company of the sons of Israel murmur, on the morrow, against Moses and against Aaron, saying, `Ye -- ye have put to death the people of Jehovah.' And it cometh to pass, in the company being assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they turn towards the tent of meeting, and lo, the cloud hath covered it, and the honour of Jehovah is seen; and Moses cometh -- Aaron also -- unto the front of the tent of meeting. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Get you up from the midst of this company, and I consume them in a moment;' and they fall on their faces, and Moses saith unto Aaron, `Take the censer, and put on it fire from off the altar, and place perfume, and go, hasten unto the company, and make atonement for them, for the wrath hath gone out from the presence of Jehovah -- the plague hath begun.' And Aaron taketh as Moses hath spoken, and runneth unto the midst of the assembly, and lo, the plague hath begun among the people; and he giveth the perfume, and maketh atonement for the people, and standeth between the dead and the living, and the plague is restrained; and those who die by the plague are fourteen thousand and seven hundred, apart from those who die for the matter of Korah; and Aaron turneth back unto Moses, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and the plague hath been restrained.
And Israel dwelleth in Shittim, and the people begin to go a-whoring unto daughters of Moab, and they call for the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people eat, and bow themselves to their gods, and Israel is joined to Baal-Peor, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them before Jehovah -- over-against the sun; and the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah doth turn back from Israel.' And Moses saith unto the judges of Israel, `Slay ye each his men who are joined to Baal-Peor.' And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting; and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman -- unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel; and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, hath turned back My fury from the sons of Israel, by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal. `Therefore say, Lo, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, and it hath been to him and to his seed after him a covenant of a priesthood age-during, because that he hath been zealous for his God, and doth make atonement for the sons of Israel.' And the name of the man of Israel who is smitten, who hath been smitten with the Midianitess, `is' Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite; and the name of the woman who is smitten, the Midianitess, `is' Cozbi daughter of Zur, head of a people -- of the house of a father in Midian `is' he. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Distress the Midianites, and ye have smitten them, for they are adversaries to you with their frauds, `with' which they have acted fraudulently to you, concerning the matter of Peor, and concerning the matter of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who is smitten in the day of the plague for the matter of Peor.'
And He giveth to them their request, And sendeth leanness into their soul. And they are envious of Moses in the camp, Of Aaron, Jehovah's holy one. Earth openeth, and swalloweth up Dathan, And covereth over the company of Abiram. And fire burneth among their company, A flame setteth on fire the wicked. They make a calf in Horeb, And bow themselves to a molten image, And change their Honour Into the form of an ox eating herbs. They have forgotten God their saviour, The doer of great things in Egypt, Of wonderful things in the land of Ham, Of fearful things by the sea of Suph. And He saith to destroy them, Unless Moses, His chosen one, Had stood in the breach before Him, To turn back His wrath from destroying. And they kick against the desirable land, They have not given credence to His word. And they murmur in their tents, They have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah. And He lifteth up His hand to them, To cause them to fall in a wilderness, And to cause their seed to fall among nations, And to scatter them through lands. And they are coupled to Baal-Peor, And eat the sacrifices of the dead, And they provoke to anger by their actions, And a plague breaketh forth upon them, And Phinehas standeth, and executeth judgment, And the plague is restrained, And it is reckoned to him to righteousness, To all generations -- unto the age. And they cause wrath by the waters of Meribah, And it is evil to Moses for their sakes, For they have provoked his spirit, And he speaketh wrongfully with his lips. They have not destroyed the peoples, As Jehovah had said to them, And mix themselves among nations, and learn their works, And serve their idols, And they are to them for a snare. And they sacrifice their sons And their daughters to destroyers, And they shed innocent blood -- Blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they have sacrificed to idols of Canaan, And the land is profaned with blood. And they are defiled with their works, And commit whoredom in their habitual doings. And the anger of Jehovah Is kindled against His people, And He doth abominate His inheritance. And giveth them into the hand of nations, And those hating them rule over them, And their enemies oppress them, And they are humbled under their hand. Many times He doth deliver them, And they rebel in their counsel, And they are brought low in their iniquity. And He looketh on their distress When He heareth their cry, And remembereth for them His covenant, And is comforted, According to the abundance of His kindness. And He appointeth them for mercies Before all their captors. Save us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, To glory in Thy praise. Blessed `is' Jehovah, God of Israel, From the age even unto the age. And all the people said, `Amen, praise Jah!'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 20
Commentary on Ezekiel 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
Eze 20:1-49. 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.
1. seventh year, &c.—namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (Eze 1:2; 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.
3. The chapter falls into two great parts: Eze 20:1-32, the recital of the people's rebellions during five distinct periods: in Egypt, the wilderness, on the borders of Canaan when a new generation arose, in Canaan, and in the time of the prophet.
I will not be inquired of by you—because their moral state precluded them from capability of knowing the will of God (Ps 66:18; Pr 28:9; Joh 7:17).
4. Wilt thou judge? … judge—The emphatical repetition expresses, "Wilt thou not judge? yes, judge them. There is a loud call for immediate judgment." The Hebrew interrogative here is a command, not a prohibition [Maurer]. Instead of spending time in teaching them, tell them of the abomination of their fathers, of which their own are the complement and counterpart, and which call for judgment.
5, 6. The thrice lifting up of God's hand (the sign of His oath, Re 10:5, 6; Ex 6:8, Margin; Nu 14:30; to which passages the form of words here alludes) implies the solemn earnestness of God's purpose of grace to them.
made myself known unto them—proving Myself faithful and true by the actual fulfilment of My promises (Ex 4:31; 6:3); revealing Myself as "Jehovah," that is, not that the name was unknown before, but that then first the force of that name was manifested in the promises of God then being realized in performances.
6. espied for them—as though God had spied out all other lands, and chose Canaan as the best of all lands (De 8:7, 8). See Da 8:9; 11:16, 41, "the glorious land"; see Margin, "land of delight," or, ornament"; "the pleasant land," or "land of desire," Zec 7:14, Margin.
glory of all lands—that is, Canaan was "the beauty of all lands"; the most lovely and delightful land; "milk and honey" are not the antecedents to "which."
7. Moses gives no formal statement of idolatries practised by Israel in Egypt. But it is implied in their readiness to worship the golden calf (resembling the Egyptian ox, Apis) (Ex 32:4), which makes it likely they had worshipped such idols in Egypt. Also, in Le 17:7, "They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils (literally, seirim, 'he-goats,' the symbol of the false god, Pan), after whom they have gone awhoring." The call of God by Moses was as much to them to separate from idols and follow Jehovah, as it was to Pharaoh to let them go forth. Ex 6:6, 7 and Jos 24:14, expressly mention their idolatry "in Egypt." Hence the need of their being removed out of the contagion of Egyptian idolatries by the exodus.
every man—so universal was the evil.
of his eyes—It was not fear of their Egyptian masters, but their own lust of the eye that drew them to idols (Eze 6:9; 18:6).
8, 9. then I said, I will … But, &c.—that is, (God speaking in condescension to human modes of conception) their spiritual degradation deserved I should destroy them, "but I wrought (namely, the deliverance 'out of … Egypt') for My name's sake"; not for their merits (a rebuke to their national pride). God's "name" means the sum-total of His perfections. To manifest these, His gratuitous mercy abounding above their sins, yet without wrong to His justice, and so to set forth His glory, was and is the ultimate end of His dealings (Eze 20:14, 22; 2Sa 7:23; Isa 63:12; Ro 9:17).
11. which if a man do, he shall … five in them—not "by them," as though they could justify a man, seeing that man cannot render the faultless obedience required (Le 18:5; Ga 3:12). "By them" is the expression indeed in Ro 10:5; but there the design is to show that, if man could obey all God's laws, he would be justified "by them" (Ga 3:21); but he cannot; he therefore needs to have justification by "the Lord our righteousness" (Jer 23:6); then, having thus received life, he "lives," that is, maintains, enjoys, and exercises this life only in so far as he walks "in" the laws of God. So De 30:15, 16. The Israelites, as a nation, had life already freely given to them by God's covenant of promise; the laws of God were designed to be the means of the outward expression of their spiritual life. As the natural life has its healthy manifestation in the full exercise of its powers, so their spiritual being as a nation was to be developed in vigor, or else decay, according as they did, or did not, walk in God's laws.
12. sabbaths, … a sign between me and them—a kind of sacramental pledge of the covenant of adoption between God and His people. The Sabbath is specified as a sample of the whole law, to show that the law is not merely precepts, but privileges, of which the Sabbath is one of the highest. Not that the Sabbath was first instituted at Sinai, as if it were an exclusively Jewish ordinance (Ge 2:2, 3), but it was then more formally enacted, when, owing to the apostasy of the world from the original revelation, one people was called out (De 5:15) to be the covenant-people of God.
sanctify them—The observance of the Sabbath contemplated by God was not a mere outward rest, but a spiritual dedication of the day to the glory of God and the good of man. Otherwise it would not be, as it is made, the pledge of universal sanctification (Ex 31:13-17; Isa 58:13, 14). Virtually it is said, all sanctity will flourish or decay, according as this ordinance is observed in its full spirituality or not.
13. in the wilderness—They "rebelled" in the very place where death and terror were on every side and where they depended on My miraculous bounty every moment!
15. I swore against them (Ps 95:11; 106:26) that I would not permit the generation that came out of Egypt to enter Canaan.
16. The special reason is stated by Moses (Nu 13:32, 33; 14:4) to be that they, through fear arising from the false report of the spies, wished to return to Egypt; the general reasons are stated here which lay at the root of their rejection of God's grace; namely, contempt of God and His laws, and love of idols.
their heart—The fault lay in it (Ps 78:37).
17. Nevertheless—How marvellous that God should spare such sinners! His everlasting covenant explains it, His long-suffering standing out in striking contrast to their rebellions (Ps 78:38; Jer 30:11).
18. I said unto their children—being unwilling to speak any more to the fathers as being incorrigible.
Walk ye not in … statutes of … fathers—The traditions of the fathers are to be carefully weighed, not indiscriminately followed. He forbids the imitation of not only their gross sins, but even their plausible statutes [Calvin].
19. It is an indirect denial of God, and a robbing Him of His due, to add man's inventions to His precepts.
20. (Jer 17:22).
21. Though warned by the judgment on their fathers, the next generation also rebelled against God. The "kindness of Israel's youth and love of her espousals in the wilderness" (Jer 2:2, 3) were only comparative (the corruption in later times being more general), and confined to the minority; as a whole, Israel at no time fully served God. The "children" it was that fell into the fearful apostasy on the plains of Moab at the close of the wilderness sojourn (Nu 25:1, 2; De 31:27).
23. It was to that generation the threat of dispersion was proclaimed (De 28:64; compare Eze 29:4).
25. I gave them … statutes … not good—Since they would not follow My statutes that were good, "I gave them" their own (Eze 20:18) and their fathers' "which were not good"; statutes spiritually corrupting, and, finally, as the consequence, destroying them. Righteous retribution (Ps 81:12; Ho 8:11; Ro 1:24; 2Th 2:11). Eze 20:39 proves this view to be correct (compare Isa 63:17). Thus on the plains of Moab (Nu 25:1-18), in chastisement for the secret unfaithfulness to God in their hearts, He permitted Baal's worshippers to tempt them to idolatry (the ready success of the tempters, moreover, proving the inward unsoundness of the tempted); and this again ended necessarily in punitive judgments.
26. I polluted them—not directly; "but I judicially gave them up to pollute themselves." A just retribution for their "polluting My sabbaths" (Eze 20:24). This Eze 20:26 is explanatory of Eze 20:25. Their own sin I made their punishment.
caused to pass through the fire—Fairbairn translates, "In their presenting (literally, 'the causing to pass over') all their first-born," namely, to the Lord; referring to the command (Ex 13:12, Margin, where the very same expression is used). The lustration of children by passing through the fire was a later abomination (Eze 20:31). The evil here spoken of was the admixture of heathenish practices with Jehovah's worship, which made Him regard all as "polluted." Here, "to the Lord" is omitted purposely, to imply, "They kept up the outward service indeed, but I did not own it as done unto Me, since it was mingled with such pollutions." But English Version is supported by the similar phraseology in Eze 20:31, see on Eze 20:31. They made all their children pass through the fire; but he names the first-born, in aggravation of their guilt; that is, "I had willed that the first-born should be redeemed as being Mine, but they imposed on themselves the cruel rites of offering them to Molech" (De 18:10).
might know … the Lord—that they may be compelled to know Me as a powerful Judge, since they were unwilling to know Me as a gracious Father.
27-29. The next period, namely, that which followed the settlement in Canaan: the fathers of the generation existing in Ezekiel's time walked in the same steps of apostasy as the generation in the wilderness.
Yet in this—Not content with past rebellions, and not moved with gratitude for God's goodness, "yet in this," still further they rebelled.
blasphemed—"have insulted me" [Calvin]. Even those who did not sacrifice to heathen gods have offered "their sacrifices" (Eze 20:28) in forbidden places.
28. provocation of their offering—an offering as it were purposely made to provoke God.
sweet savour—What ought to have been sweet became offensive by their corruptions. He specifies the various kinds of offerings, to show that in all alike they violated the law.
29. What is the high place whereunto ye go?—What is the meaning of this name? For My altar is not so called. What excellence do ye see in it, that ye go there, rather than to My temple, the only lawful place of sacrificing? The very name, "high place," convicts you of sinning, not from ignorance but perverse rebellion.
is called … unto this day—whereas this name ought to have been long since laid aside, along with the custom of sacrificing on high places which it represents, being borrowed from the heathen, who so called their places of sacrifice (the Greeks, for instance, called them by a cognate term, Bomoi), whereas I call mine Mizbeaach, "altar." The very name implies the place is not that sanctioned by Me, and therefore your sacrifices even to ME there (much more those you offer to idols) are only a "provocation" to Me (Eze 20:28; De 12:1-5). David and others, it is true, sacrificed to God on high places, but it was under exceptional circumstances, and before the altar was set up on Mount Moriah.
30. The interrogation implies a strong affirmation, as in Eze 20:4, "Are ye not polluted … ? Do ye not commit?" &c. Or, connecting this verse with Eze 20:31, "Are ye thus polluted … and yet (do ye expect that) I shall be inquired of by you?"
31. through the fire—As "the fire" is omitted in Eze 20:26, Fairbairn represents the generation here referred to (namely, that of Ezekiel's day) as attaining the climax of guilt (see on Eze 20:26), in making their children pass through the fire, which that former generation did not. The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire" in Eze 20:26 is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed through the fire" for purification, whereas here they are actually burnt to death before the idol; and therefore "the fire" is specified in the latter, not in the former case (compare 2Ki 3:27).
32. We will be as the heathen—and so escape the odium to which we are exposed, of having a peculiar God and law of our own. "We shall live on better terms with them by having a similar worship. Besides, we get from God nothing but threats and calamities, whereas the heathen, Chaldeans, &c., get riches and power from their idols." How literally God's words here ("that … shall not be at all") are fulfilled in the modern Jews! Though the Jews seemed so likely (had Ezekiel spoken as an uninspired man) to have blended with the rest of mankind and laid aside their distinctive peculiarities, as was their wish at that time, yet they have remained for eighteen centuries dispersed among all nations and without a home, but still distinct: a standing witness for the truth of the prophecy given so long ago.
33. Here begins the second division of the prophecy. Lest the covenant people should abandon their distinctive hopes and amalgamate with the surrounding heathen, He tells them that, as the wilderness journey from Egypt was made subservient to discipline and also to the taking from among them the rebellious, so a severe discipline (such as the Jews are now for long actually undergoing) should be administered to them during the next exodus for the same purpose (Eze 20:38), and so to prepare them for the restored possession of their land (Ho 2:14, 15). This was only partially fulfilled before, and at the return from Babylon: its full and final accomplishment is future.
with a mighty hand, … will I rule over you—I will assert My right over you in spite of your resistance (Eze 20:32), as a master would in the case of his slave, and I will not let you be wrested from Me, because of My regard to My covenant.
34. The Jews in exile might think themselves set free from the "rule" of God (Eze 20:33); therefore, He intimates, He will reassert His right over them by chastening judgments, and these, with an ultimate view, not to destroy, but to restore them.
people—rather, "peoples."
35. wilderness of the people—rather, "peoples," the various peoples among whom they were to be scattered, and about whom God saith (Eze 20:34), "I will bring you out." In contrast to the literal "wilderness of Egypt" (Eze 20:36), "the wilderness of the peoples" is their spiritual wilderness period of trial, discipline, and purification while exiled among the nations. As the state when they are "brought into the wilderness of the peoples" and that when they were among the peoples "from" which God was to "bring them out" (Eze 20:34) are distinguished, the wilderness state probably answers partially to the transition period of discipline from the first decree for their restoration by Cyrus to the time of their complete settlement in their land, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. But the full and final fulfilment is future; the wilderness state will comprise not only the transition period of their restoration, but the beginning of their occupancy of Palestine, a time in which they shall endure the sorest of all their chastisements, to "purge out the rebels" (Eze 20:38; Da 12:1); and then the remnant (Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2, 3) shall "all serve God in the land" (Eze 20:40). Thus the wilderness period does not denote locality, but their state intervening between their rejection and future restoration.
plead—bring the matter in debate between us to an issue. Image is from a plaintiff in a law court meeting the defendant "face to face." Appropriate, as God in His dealings acts not arbitrarily, but in most righteous justice (Jer 2:9; Mic 6:2).
36. (Nu 14:21-29). Though God saved them out of Egypt, He afterwards destroyed in the wilderness them that believed not (Jude 5); so, though He brought the exiles out of Babylon, yet their wilderness state of chastening discipline continued even after they were again in Canaan.
37. pass under the rod—metaphor from a shepherd who makes his sheep pass under his rod in counting them (Le 27:32; Jer 33:13). Whether you will or not, ye shall be counted as Mine, and so shall be subjected to My chastening discipline (Mic 7:14), with a view to My ultimate saving of the chosen remnant (compare Joh 10:27-29).
bond of … covenant—I will constrain you by sore chastisements to submit yourselves to the covenant to which ye are lastingly bound, though now you have cast away God's bond from you. Fulfilled in part, Ne 9:8, 26, 32-38; 10:1-39; fully hereafter (Isa 54:10-13; 52:1, 2).
38. (Zec 13:9; 14:2).
purge out—or, "separate." Hebrew, barothi, forming a designed alliteration with "berith," the covenant; not a promise of grace, but a threat against those Jews who thought they could in exile escape the observation and "rule" of God.
land of Israel—Though brought out of the country of their sojourn or exile (Babylon formerly, and the various lands of their exile hereafter) into the literal land of Palestine, even it shall be to them an exile state, "they shall not enter into the land of Israel," that is, the spiritual state of restored favor of God to His covenant people, which shall only be given to the remnant to be saved (Zec 13:8, 9).
39. Equivalent to, "I would rather have you open idolaters than hypocrites, fancying you can worship Me and yet at the same time serve idols" (Am 5:21, 22, 25, 26; compare 1Ki 18:21; 2Ki 17:41; Mt 6:24; Re 3:15, 16).
Go ye, serve—This is not a command to serve idols, but a judicial declaration of God's giving up of the half-idol, half-Jehovah worshippers to utter idolatry, if they will not serve Jehovah alone (Ps 81:12; Re 22:11).
hereafter also—God anticipates the same apostasy afterwards, as now.
40. For—Though ye, the rebellious portion, withdraw from My worship, others, even the believing remnant, will succeed after you perish, and will serve Me purely.
in mine holy mountain—(Isa 2:2, 3). Zion, or Moriah, "the height of Israel" (pre-eminent above all mountains because of the manifested presence of God there with Israel), as opposed to their "high places," the worship on which was an abomination to God.
all—not merely individuals, such as constitute the elect Church now; but the whole nation, to be followed by the conversion of the Gentile nations (Isa 2:2, "all nations;" Ro 11:26; Re 11:15).
with—rather, "in all your holy things" [Maurer].
41. with—that is, in respect to your sweet savor (literally, "savor of rest," see on Eze 16:19). Or, I will accept you (your worship) "as a sweet savor" [Maurer], (Eph 5:2; Php 4:18). God first accepts the person in Messiah, then the offering (Eze 20:40; Ge 4:4).
bring … out from … people, &c.—the same words as in Eze 20:34; but there applied to the bringing forth of the hypocrites, as well as the elect; here restricted to the saved remnant, who alone shall be at last restored literally and spiritually in the fullest sense.
sanctified in you before … heathen—(Jer 33:9). All the nations will acknowledge My power displayed in restoring you, and so shall be led to seek Me (Isa 66:18; Zec 14:16-19).
43. there—not merely in exile when suffering punishment which makes even reprobates sorry for sin, but when received into favor in your own land.
remember—(Eze 16:61, 63). The humiliation of Judah (Ne 9:1-38) is a type of the future penitence of the whole nation (Ho 5:15; 6:1; Zec 12:10-14). God's goodness realized by the sinner is the only thing that leads to true repentance (Ho 3:5; Lu 7:37, 38).
44. The English Version chapter ought to have ended here, and the twenty-first chapter begun with "Moreover," &c., as in the Hebrew Bible.
for my name's sake—(Eze 36:22). Gratuitously; according to My compassion, not your merits. After having commented on this verse, Calvin was laid on his death bed, and his commentary ended.
45-49. An introductory brief description in enigma of the destruction by fire and sword, detailed more explicitly in Eze 21:1-32.
46. south … south … south—three different Hebrew words, to express the certainty of the divine displeasure resting on the region specified. The third term is from a root meaning "dry," referring to the sun's heat in the south; representing the burning judgments of God on the southern parts of Judea, of which Jerusalem was the capital.
set thy face—determinately. The prophets used to turn themselves towards those who were to be the subjects of their prophecies.
drop—as the rain, which flows in a continuous stream, sometimes gently (De 32:2), sometimes violently (Am 7:16; Mic 2:6, Margin), as here.
forest—the densely populated country of Judea; trees representing people.
47. fire—every kind of judgment (Eze 19:12; 21:3, "my sword"; Jer 21:14).
green tree … dry—fit and unfit materials for fuel alike; "the righteous and the wicked," as explained in Eze 21:3, 4; Lu 23:31. Unsparing universality of the judgment!
flaming flame—one continued and unextinguished flame. "The glowing flame" [Fairbairn].
faces—persons; here the metaphor is merged in the reality.
49. Ezekiel complains that by this parabolic form of prophecy he only makes himself and it a jest to his countrymen. God therefore in Eze 21:1-32 permits him to express the same prophecy more plainly.