Bible Commentaries

Ezekiel 6:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ver. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me.] Junius observeth that this and the two following prophecies, viz., those in Ezekiel 7:1-27; Ezekiel 8:1-18, were delivered on the Sabbath day; that is the proper season for preaching.

Ezekiel 6:2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

Ver. 2. Set thy face toward the mountains of Israel,] i.e., The Jews, who are haughty, and hard as mountains, who are asperi et inculti, rough and rude, as mountaineers use to be. In Mount Olivet itself, besides other mountains, they boldly set up their idols, even in the sight of the Lord; so that he never looked out of the sanctuary but he beheld that vile hill of abominations; called therefore, by an elegant alliteration, the Hill of Corruption. [2 Kings 23:13]

Ezekiel 6:3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, [even] I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

Ver. 3. Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you.] Because ye are polluted by man’s sins, and so made hateful unto me. For as God thinks the better of the places wherein he is sincerely served, yea, where his saints are born, [Psalms 87:5] or make abode, [Isaiah 49:16] so the worse of such places where Satan’s seat is.

Ezekiel 6:4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain [men] before your idols.

Ver. 4. Your images shall be broken down.] Heb., Your sun images, whence also Jupiter Hammon had his name, which Macrobius ^(a) saith was the same with the sun. See 2 Chronicles 23:5.

And I will cast down your slain men.] Cruentatos vulneratos, vel interfectos vestros; such as when wounded, fly to their idols for safety.

Before your idols.] Heb., Your dii stercorei, dunghill deities, more loathsome than any excrements.

Ezekiel 6:5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

Ver. 5. And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel, &c.] That in the very places where they have sinned there they may suffer. So in the valley of Hinnom, and at Pilate’s praetorium, &c.

Ezekiel 6:6 In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.

Ver. 6. In all your dwelling places.] Omnia everram et evertam funditus. I will turn all topsy-turvy.

Your works shall be abolished.] Those toilsome toys, your idols and monuments of idolatry. This the prophet telleth them again and again, that he might waken them, and work them to repentance.

Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Ver. 7. And ye shall know that I am the Lord.] That I am dicti mei Dominus, one that will be as good as my word. So shall all, not idolaters only, but broachers of heresies also, quae furore et foetere cultores suos faciunt, saith Oecolampadius here.

Ezekiel 6:8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

Ver. 8. Yet will I leave a remnant.] For royal use. See on Ezekiel 5:3.

Ezekiel 6:9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

Ver. 9. And they that escape of you shall remember me.] Here beginneth that true repentance never to be repented of. [Psalms 22:27; Psalms 20:7]

Because I am broken off from their whorish heart,] i.e., I am troubled, saith Piscator. I am tired out, saith Zegedine, and made to break off the course of my kindness. I am broken off from their whorish heart - so Polanus rendereth it; that is, saith he, I leave them, though loath to do it: the breach is merely on their part; for they have an impetus, a spirit of whoredoms in them, that causeth them to err, and go whoring from under their God. [Hosea 4:12; Hosea 9:1]

And with their eyes.] Those windows of wickedness through which the devil (who is ειδωλοχαρης, as saith Synesius) doth oft wind himself into the soul.

And they shall loathe themselves.] ^(a) They shall displease themselves, saith the Vulgate; but that is not enough. Pudefient in faciebus suis, say others. They shall bleed inwardly, and blush outwardly, deeply detesting their former abominations, and not waiting till others condemn them, they shall condemn themselves.

Ezekiel 6:10 And they shall know that I [am] the LORD, [and that] I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.

Ver. 10. And they shall know.] By woeful experience. He that trembleth not in sinning shall be crushed to pieces in feeling, said blessed Bradford.

And that I have not said in vain.] In terrorem only,

Ezekiel 6:11 Thus saith the Lord GOD Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Ver. 11. Thus saith the Lord God.] Sic ait Dominator Dominus.

Smite with thine hand.] Manibus pedibusque obnixe omnia facito; do thine utmost by gestures and speeches to make this stupid people perceive their sin and danger.

Alas for all the evil abominations.] Propter omnes abominationes pessimas; { a} we cannot call sin bad enough; the worst word in a man’s belly is too good for it. O perdita Israel, dicere vult, quae tot malas abominationes operata es, &c.

Ezekiel 6:12 He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.

Ver. 12. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence.] Pluribus verbis hunc locum tractat. Ointments must not only be laid upon the part that acheth, but also robbed and chafed in; so must menaces and promises, that they may soak and sink into the soul.

Ezekiel 6:13 Then shall ye know that I [am] the LORD, when their slain [men] shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

Ver. 13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord.] Vexatio dabit intellectum; smart shall make wit. See Ezekiel 6:10. Four times in this chapter are these words used: Verba toties inculcata, viva sunt, vera sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt. ^(a) The words are driven home often, they are alive, they are true, they are wholesome, they are plain.

Among their idols.] See on Ezekiel 6:4.

Where they did offer sweet savour.] Idolatry is costly.

Ezekiel 6:14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Ver. 14. Than the wilderness toward Diblath.] Which was horriditate nobile, bordering upon that terrible howling wilderness mentioned by Moses. [Deuteronomy 8:15 Jeremiah 48:22]