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M 


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KEIL'S   COMMENTARY   ON   THE   PROPHECIES 

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CLARK'S 


rOEEIGN 


THEOLOGICAL    LIBRARY. 


FOUETH  SEEIES. 
VOL.   XLIX. 


til  on  t!jc  ^ropf)ecit!S  of  (S^tiiith 
VOL.  I. 


EDINBURGH: 

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PRINTED  BY  MURRAY  AND  GIBB, 
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NEW  YORK,     .  .  .  SCRIBNER,  WELFORD,  AND  ARMSTRONG. 


BIBLICAL  COMMENTARY 


ON   THE 


PROPHECIES   OF   EZEKIEL 


CARL   FRIEDRTCH   KEIL,    D.D., 

DOCTOR  AND  PROFKSSOU  OF  THEOLOGY. 


^ranslatetf  from  tljc    #£rma« 


REV.    JAMES     MARTIN,    B.A. 


VOL.  I. 


EDINBURGH  : 
T.    &    T.    CLARK,    38    GEORGE    STREET. 


MDCCCLXXVL 


The  whole  of  this  Commentary,  with  the  exception  of  the 
first  99  pages  of  Vol.  i.,  has  been  translated  by  Rev.  James 
Martin,  B.A. 

F.  C. 

University,  St.  Andrews. 


CONTENTS. 


INTEODUCTION. 


■AGE 


I.  The  Person  of  the  Prophet,       .....  1 

II.  The  Times  of  the  Prophet,        .....  i' 

III.  The  Book  of  Ezekiel, 7 

EXPOSITION. 

FIRST  HALF.— THE  PROPHECIES  OF  JUDGMENT. 
CHAP.  I.-XXXII. 

The  Consecration  and  Calling  of  Ezekiel  to  the  Office  of  Prophet 

(Chap,  i.-iii.  21),            ......  17 

The  Destiny  of  Jerusalem  and  its  Inhabitants  (Chap.  iii.  22-v.  17),  (il 

The  Judgment  upon  the  Idolatrous  Places,  and  on  the  Idol-wor- 
shippers (Chap,  vi.),        .             .             .             .             .  93 

The  Overthrow  of  Israel  (Chap,  vii.),         .  .  .  .99 

Vision  of  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Chap,  viii.-xi.),   .  .111 

Departure  of  the  King  and  People  ;  and  Bread  of  Tears  (Chap,  xii.),  155 

Against  the  False  Prophets  and  Prophetesses  (Chap,  xiii.),           .  1G4 

Attitude  of  God  towards  the  Worshippers  of  Idols,  and  Certainty 

of  the  Judgments  (Chap,  xiv.),  .  .  .  .  .177 

Jerusalem,  the  Useless  Wood  of  a  Wild  Vine  (Chap,  xv.),             .  19 1 

Ingratitude   and  Unfaithfulness  of  Jerusalem.     Its  Punishment 

and  Shame  (Chap,  xvi.),              .....  191 

Humiliation  and  Exaltation  of  the  Davidic  Family  (Chap,  xvii.),  236 

The  Retributive  Justice  of  God  (Chap,  xviii.),        .            .            .  246 

Ijamentation  for  the  Princes  of  Israel  (Chap,  xix.),            .            .  258 


VIU 


CONTENTS. 


The  Past,  Present,  and  Future  of  Israel  (Chap,  xx.), 
Prophecy  of  the  Burning  Forest  and  the  Sword  of  the  Lord 
(Chap.  XX.  45  to  Chap.  xxi.  32  (Heb.  Chap,  xxi.)), 

The  Sins  of  Jerusalem  and  Israel  (Chap,  xxii.),     . 

Oholah  and  Oholibah,  the  Harlots  Samaria  and  Jerusalem  (Chap. 

xxiii.),     ........ 

Prediction  of  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  both  in  Parable  and 

by  Sign  (Chap,  xxiv.),     ...... 

PBEDICTIONS  OF  JUDGMENT  UPON  THE  HEATHEN  NATIONS 
(CHAP.  XXV.-XXXH),  .... 


Against  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  and  the  Philistines  (Chap 
Against  Tyre  and  Sidon  (Chap,  xxvi.-xxviii.), 
The  Fall  of  Tyre  (Chap,  xxvi.),  . 
Lamentation  over  the  Fall  of  Tyre  (Chap,  xxvii.), 
Against  the  Prince  of  Tyre  (Chap,  xxviii.  1-19), 
Prophecy  against  Sidon,  and  Promise  for  Israel  (Chap 
20-26),  .... 


XXV.), 


FAGS 

263 


286 
309 

320 
339 

353 

360 
370 
370 
383 
405 

425 


THE  PEOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

INTRODUCTION. 

I.  THE  PERSON  OF  THE  PROPHET. 

[ZEKIEL,  ^xiP.rn^^  (1.  3,  xxlv.  24),  i.e.  ^N  P:in;,  God 
strengthens^  'Ie^eKL7]\  (LXX.  and  Book  of  Sirach, 
ch.  xlix.  8),  in  the  Vulgate  EzecMel,  while  Luther, 
after  the  example  of  the  LXX.,  writes  the  name 
HeseMel,  was  the  son  of  Bus!,  of  priestly  descent,  and  was  carried 
away  captive  into  exile  to  Babylon  in  the  year  599  B.C., — i.e.  in 
the  eleventh  year  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, — along 
with  King  Jehoiachin,  the  nobles  of  the  kingdom,  many  priests, 
and  the  better  class  of  the  population  of  Jerusalem  and  of  Judah 
(i.  2,  xl.  1;  cf .  2  Kings  xxiv.  14  ff.;  Jer.  xxix.  1).  He  lived 
there  in  the  northern  part  of  Mesopotamia,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Chaboras,  married,  and  in  his  own  house,  amidst  a  colony  of 
banished  Jews,  in  a  place  called  Tel-Abib  (i.  1,  iii.  15,  24,  viii. 
1,  xxiv.  18).  In  the  fifth  year  of  his  banishment,  i.e.  595  B.C., 
he  was  called  to  be  a  prophet  of  the  Lord,  and  laboured  in  this 
official  position,  as  may  be  shown,  twenty-two  years;  for  the 
latest  of  his  prophecies  is  dated  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of 
his  exile,  i.e.  572  B.C.  (xxix.  17).  Regarding  the  other  circum- 
stances and  events  of  his  life,  as  also  of  his  death,  nothing  is 
known.  The  apocryphal  legends  found  in  the  Fathers  and  in 
the  Rabbinical  writings,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  put  to  death 
by  a  prince  of  his  own  nation  for  rebuking  his  idolatry,  and  was 
buried  in  the  tomb  of  Shem  and  Arphaxad,  etc.  (cf.  Carpzov, 
Introd.  ii.  p.  203  ff.),  are  without  any  historical  value.    So  much 

EZEK.  I.  A 


2  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

alone  is  certain,  that  he  ended  his  life  among  the  exiles,  where 
God  had  assigned  him  liis  sphere  of  labour,  and  did  not,  like 
his  contemporary  Daniel  (comp.  Dan.  i.  21,  x.  1),  outlive  the 
termination  of  the  Captivity  and  the  commencement  of  the 
redemption  of  Israel  from  Babylon,  as  his  prophecies  do  not 
contain  the  slightest  allusion  to  that  effect. 


II.    THE  TIMES  OF  THE  PROPHET. 

Ezekiel,  like  Daniel,  is  a  prophet  of   the  exile,  but  in   a 
different  fashion  from  the  latter,  who  had  been  already  carried 
away  prisoner  before  him  to  Babylon  on  the  first  capture  of 
Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  and 
who  lived  there  upwards  of  seventy  years  at  the  Babylonian 
and  Medo-Persian  court,  and  who  held  from  time  to  time  very 
important  offices  of  State.     Daniel  was  placed  by  God  in  this 
high  position,  which  afforded  him  a  view  of  the  formation  and 
evolution  of  the  world-kingdom,  in  order  that  from  this  stand- 
point he  might  be  enabled  to  see  the  development  of  the  world- 
kingdoms  in  the  strugMe  against  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to 
predict  the  indestructible  power  and  glory  of  the  latter  king- 
dom, which  overcomes  all  the  powers  of  the  world.     Ezekiel, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  appointed  a  watcher  over  the  exiled 
nation  of  Israel,  and  was  in  this  capacity  to  continue  the  w'ork 
of  the  earlier  prophets,  especially  that  of  Jeremiah,  with  w^hom 
he  in  several  ways  associates    himself   in   his   prophecies ;    to 
preach  to  his  contemporaries  the  judgment  and  salvation  of 
God,  in  order  to  convert  them  to  the  Lord  their  God. — Rightly 
to  understand  his  work  as  a  prophet,  the  ripe  fruit  of  which 
lies  before  us  in  his  prophetic  writings,  we  must  not  only  keep 
in  view  the  importance  of  the  exile  for  the  development  of  the 
kinfTdom  of  God,  but  also  form  a  clear  conception  of  the  rela- 
tions amidst  which  Ezekiel  carried  on  his  labours. 

What  the  Lord  had  caused  to  be  announced  by  Moses  to  the 
tribes  of  Israel  while  they  were  yet  standing  on  the  borders  of 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

the  Promised  Land,  and  preparing  to  take  possession  of  it,  viz. 
that  if  they  sliould  persistently  transgress  His  commands,  He 
would  not  only  chastise  them  with  heavy  punishments,  but 
would  finally  drive  them  out  of  the  land  which  they  were  about 
to  occupy,  and  disperse  them  among  all  nations  (Lev.  xxvi. 
14—45;  Deut.  xxviii.  15-68), — this  threatening,  repeated  by 
all  the  prophets  after  Moses,  had  been  already  executed  by 
the  Assyrians  upon  the  ten  tribes,  who  had  revolted  from  the 
house  of  David,  and  was  now  in  process  of  fulfilment  by  the 
Chaldeans  upon  the  kingdom  of  Judah  also.  In  the  reign  of 
Jehoiakim,  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  for  the  first 
time  invaded  Judah,  captured  Jerusalem,  made  Jehoiakim 
tributary,  and  carried  away  to  Babylon  a  number  of  Israelitish 
youths  of  noble  birth  and  of  the  blood-royal,  amongst  whom 
was  Daniel,  along  with  a  portion  of  the  vessels  of  the  temple, 
in  order  that  these  youths  might  be  trained  up  for  the  service 
of  his  court  (Dan.  i.  1-7).  With  this  invasion  of  the  Chaldeans 
begin  the  seventy  years  of  Chaldean  servitude  and  exile  in 
Babylon,  predicted  by  Jeremiah.  As  Jehoiakim,  so  early  as 
three  years  afterwards,  revolted  against  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
latter,  after  a  lengthened  siege,  took  Jerusalem  a  second  time, 
in  the  third  month  of  the  reign  of  Jehoiachin,  and  carried 
away  into  captivity  to  Babylon,  along  with  the  captive  monarch 
and  the  members  of  his  court,  the  nobles  of  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem, a  great  number  of  priests,  Avarriors,  carpenters,  and 
smiths,  leaving  behind  in  the  land  only  the  meaner  portion  of 
the  people,  over  whom  he  appointed  as  his  vassal  Kino-  Mat- 
taniah,  the  uncle  of  the  banished  monarch,  whose  name  he 
changed  to  Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxiv.  10-17  ;  Jer.  xxix.  2).  By 
this  removal  of  the  heart  and  strength  of  the  nation  the  power 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  was  broken  ;  and  although  Nebuchad- 
nezzar did  not  at  that  time  destroy  it,  but  still  allowed  it  to 
remain  as  a  subject  kingdom  under  his  sway,  yet  its  existence 
could  not  be  of  any  long  duration.  Judah  had  fallen  too 
deeply  to  recognise  in  the  calamities  which  she  had  suffered  the 


4  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

chastening  hand  of  her  God,  and  to  bow  herself  repentantly 
under  His  mighty  arm.  Instead  of  listening  to  the  voice  of 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,  and  bearing  the  Chaldean  yoke  in 
patience  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  12),  both  monarch  and  people  placed 
their  trust  in  the  assistance  of  Egypt,  and  Zedekiah  broke  the 
oath  of  fealty  which  he  had  sworn  to  the  king  of  Babylon. 
To  punish  this  perfidy,  Nebuchadnezzar  again  marched  against 
Jerusalem,  and  by  the  capture  and  burning  of  the  city  and 
temple  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Zedekiah's  reign  put  an  end  to 
the  kingdom  of  Judah.  Zedekiah,  who  had  fled  from  the 
beleaguered  city,  was  taken  by  the  Chaldeans,  and  brought  with 
his  sons  to  Riblah  into  the  presence  of  King  Nebuchadnezzar, 
who  first  caused  the  sons  of  Zedekiah  to  be  put  to  death  before 
the  eyes  of  their  father ;  next,  Zedekiah  himself  to  be  deprived 
of  sisht,  and  then  commanded  the  blind  monarch  to  be  con- 
ducted  in  chains  to  Babylon  (2  Kings  xxv.  1-21 ;  Jer.lii.  1-30). 
Many  military  officers  and  priests  of  rank  were  also  put  to 
death  at  Riblah ;  while  those  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  at 
Jerusalem,  along  with  the  deserters  and  a  great  portion  of  the 
rest  of  the  people,  were  led  away  into  exile  to  Babylon 
(2  Kings  xxv.  1-21 ;  Jer.  lii.  1-30).  By  this  catastrophe  the 
Old  Testament  theocracy  lost  its  political  existence ;  the  cove- 
nant people  were  now  driven  out  of  their  own  land  amongst  the 
heathen,  to  bear  the  punishment  of  their  obstinate  apostasy 
from  the  Lord  their  God.  Nevertheless  this  dispersion  among 
the  heathen  was  no  entire  rejection  of  Israel ;  it  was  merely  a 
suspension^  and  not  an  annihilation^  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 
Man's  unfaithfulness  cannot  destroy  the  faithfulness  of  God. 
"  In  spite  of  this  terrible  judgment,  brought  down  upon  them 
by  the  heaviest  transgressions,  Israel  was,  and  remained," — as 
x\uberlen  {The  Prophet  Daniel,  p.  27,  2d  ed.)  well  remarks, — 
"  the  chosen  people,  through  whom  God  was  still  to  carry  out 
Ilis  intentions  towards  humanity.  His  gifts  and  calling  may 
not  be  repented  of  "  (Rom.  xi.  29).  Even  after  the  Babylonian 
exile  the  theocracy  was  not  again  restored ;  the  covenant  people 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

did  not  after  their  return  again  recover  tlieir  independence,  but 
remained,  with  the  exception  of  the  short  period  when  under 
the  Maccabees  they  won  for  themselves  their  freedom,  in  con- 
stant dependence  upon  the  heathen  world-rulers,  until,  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  they  were  com- 
pletely dispersed  among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The 
kingdom  of  God,  however,  w^as  not  really  to  perish  along  with 
the  external  theocracy ;  it  was  only  to  pass  into  a  new  phase  of 
development,  which  was  intended  to  be  the  medium  of  transition 
towards  its  renewal  and  perfection  in  that  kingdom  of  God 
which  was  to  be  founded  by  Christ.  To  pave  the  w^ay  to  this 
end,  and  at  the  same  time  to  serve  as  a  witness  to  the  exiles, 
that  Israel,  notwithstanding  its  dispersion  among  the  heathen, 
still  remained  God's  people,  the  Lord  raised  up  in  Ezekiel,  the 
son  of  a  priest,  a  prophet  of  uncommon  power  and  energy  in 
the  midst  of  the  captives,  "  one  who  raised  his  voice  aloud, 
like  a  trumpet,  and  showed  to  Israel  its  misdeeds, — whose  whole 
manifestation  furnished  the  most  powerful  testimony  that  the 
Lord  was  still  amongst  His  people ;  who  was  himself  a  temple 
of  the  Lord,  before  whom  the  visible  temple,  which  yet  remained 
standing  for  a  short  time  at  Jerusalem,  sank  back  into  its 
nothingness ;  a  spiritual  Samson,  who  seized  with  mighty  arm 
the  pillars  of  the  idol  temple,  and  dashed  it  to  the  ground ;  a 
powerful,  gigantic  nature,  which  was  fitted  by  that  very  quali- 
fication to  effectually  subdue  the  Babylonian  spirit  of  the  time, 
which  delighted  in  powerful,  gigantic,  and  grotesque  forms; 
standing  alone,  but  equal  to  a  hundred  of  the  sons  of  the 
prophets"  (Hengstenberg's  Christol.  II.  p.  531). 

The  call  of  Ezekiel  to  the  prophetic  office  took  place  in  the 
fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  in  the  fourth  month  of  the 
year  (i.  1,  2),  at  a  point  of  time  when,  amongst  those  who  had 
remained  behind  in  the  land,  as  well  as  amongst  those  who  had 
been  carried  to  Babylon,  the  hope  of  the  speedy  downfall  of 
the  Babylonian  monarchy,  and  of  the  return  of  the  exiles  to 
their  native  country,  which  was  then  to  follow,  was  very  strong, 


6  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

and  was  powerfully  encouraged  by  the  lying  statements  of  false 
prophets ;  cf.  Jer.  xxix.  In  the  same  year  and  month  pro- 
phesied Ilananiah,  a  prophet  from  Gibeon,  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  before  the  eyes  of  the  priests  and  the  whole  people, 
sayino-  that  Jehovah  would  break  the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, and  within  two  years  bring  back  to  Jerusalem  all  the 
temple-vessels  carried  away  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  well  as  King 
Jechoniah  and  all  the  captives  who  had  been  brought  to  Baby- 
lon, Jer.  xxviii.  1-4.  And  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  who  with 
the  word  of  the  Lord  rebuked  and  opposed  those  lying  predic- 
tions and  empty  hopes,  and  foretold  that  the  Babylonian  servi- 
tude would  be  of  long  duration,  was  violently  assailed  and 
persecuted  by  the  lying  prophets,  even  by  those  of  them  who 
were  to  be  found  in  Babylon  ;  cf.  Jer.  xxviii.  5-17,  xxix.  21-32. 
This  delusion  regarding  the  political  condition  of  affairs,  this 
spirit  of  resistance  to  the  decree  of  the  Lord,  had  seized  not 
only  upon  the  people,  but  also  upon  the  nobles  and  the  king, 
so  that  they  formed  and  eagerly  carried  on  conspiracies  against 
the  kinf  of  Babylon.  The  meeting  of  the  kings  of  Edom, 
Moab,  Ammon,  Tyre,  and  Sidon,  with  Zedekiah  in  Jerusalem, 
had  no  other  object  than  this  (Jer.  xxvii.  3).  The  embassy, 
moreover,  sent  by  Zedekiah  to  Babylon  (Jer.  xxiv.  3),  as  well 
as  his  own  journey  thither  In  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign  (Jer. 
li.  59),  were  intended  merely  to  deceive  the  king  of  Babylon, 
by  assurances  of  devotion  and  fidelity,  in  order  that  the  in- 
tended revolt  might  be  carried  out.  But  this  baseless  hope 
of  a  speedy  liberation  from  the  Babylonian  yoke  was  igno- 
miniously  disappointed :  in  consequence  of  the  treacherous 
rebellion  of  Zedekiah,  Nebuchadnezzar,  after  a  blockade  and 
siege  of  a  year  and  a  half,  captured  Jerusalem,  burnt  the  city 
and  temple  to  the  ground,  and  destroyed  the  kingdom  of  Judah. 
By  this  blow  all  the  supports  upon  which  the  God-alienated 
nation  had  vainly  relied  were  broken.  The  delusive  statements 
of  the  false  prophets  had  proved  to  be  lies ;  the  predictions 
of  tlie  Lord's  prophets,  on  the  contrary,  had  been  strikingly 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

justified  as  divine  truth.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
burning  of  the  temple,  and  the  downfall  of  the  kingdom,  form 
accordingly  a  turning-point  for  the  prophetic  labours  of  Ezekiel. 
Hitherto,  prior  to  the  calamity,  he  had  to  announce  to  the 
people  (animated  with  the  hope  of  speedy  liberation  from  exile) 
the  judgment  of  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  and  Judah,  although 
such  preaching  found  little  acceptance.  The  time,  however, 
had  now  arrived  when,  in  order  to  preserve  from  despair  the 
nation  languishing  In  exile,  and  given  over  to  the  scorn,  con- 
tempt, and  tyranny  of  the  heathen,  he  was  able  to  open  up  the 
sources  of  comfort  by  announcing  that  the  Lord,  in  requital 
of  the  Ignominy  heaped  upon  His  people,  would  overwhelm  all 
the  heathen  nations  with  destruction,  but  that,  if  His  people 
whom  they  had  oppressed  would  repent  and  return  to  Him,  He 
would  again  gather  them  out  of  their  dispersion ;  would  make 
of  them  a  holy  nation,  walking  in  His  commands  and  yielding 
Him  a  willing  service ;  would  conduct  them  back  to  their  own 
land ;  would  give  them  His  servant  David  for  a  prince,  and 
once  more  gloriously  establish  His  kingdom. 

III.    THE  BOOK  OF  EZEKIEL. 

The  collection  of  the  prophecies  placed  together  in  this  book, 
as  forming  a  complete  unity,  falls  into  two  main  divisions : — 
I.  Announcements  of  judgment  upon  Israel  and  the  heathen 
nations,  ch.  i.-xxxii. ;  II.  Announcements  of  salvation  for 
Israel,  ch.  xxxlil.-xlviii.  Each  of  these  main  divisions  is 
subdivided  into  two  sections.  The  first,  namely,  contains  the 
prophecies  of  judgment  (a)  upon  Jerusalem  and  Israel,  ch. 
ill.  22-xxIv.  ;  (6)  upon  the  heathen  nations,  ch.  xxv.- 
xxxii.  The  second  main  division  contains  (c)  the  predictions 
of  the  redemption  and  restoration  of  Israel,  and  the  downfall 
of  the  heathen  world-power,  ch.  xxxlli.-xxxix. ;  (d)  the  pro- 
phetic picture  of  the  re-formation  and  exaltation  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  ch.  xl.-xlvili. ;  and  the  entire  collection  opens 


8  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

with  the  solemn  dedication  of  Ezekiel  to  the  prophetic  office, 
ch.  i.  1-iii.  21.  The  prophecies  of  the  first,  third,  and 
fourth  parts  are  throughout  arranged  in  chronological  order ; 
those  of  the  second  part — the  threatenings  predicted  against 
the  heathen  nations — are  disposed  according  to  their  actual 
subject-matter.  This  is  attested  by  the  chronological  data  in 
the  superscriptions,  and  confirmed  by  the  contents  of  the  whole 
of  the  groups  of  prophecies  in  the  first  three  parts.  The  first 
part  contains  the  following  chronological  notices :  the  fifth 
year  of  the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  (i.  2)  as  the  time  of 
Ezekiel's  call  to  the  ofiice  of  prophet,  and  of  the  first  predic- 
tions regarding  Jerusalem  and  Israel ;  then  the  sixth  (viii.  1), 
seventh  (xx.  1),  and  ninth  years  of  the  captivity  of  that 
monarch  (xxiv.  1).  The  second  part  contains  the  predictions 
against  seven  foreign  nations,  of  which  those  against  Tyre  fall 
in  the  eleventh  (xxvi.  1),  those  against  Egypt  in  the  tenth 
(xxix.  1),  twenty- seventh  (xxix.  17),  eleventh  (xxx.  20  and 
xxxi.  1),  and  twelfth  years  of  the  exile.  Of  the  two  last 
parts,  each  contains  only  one  chronological  notice,  namely, 
ch.  xxxiii.  21,  the  twelfth  year  of  the  captivity,  i.e.  one  year 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  ch.  xl.  1,  the  twenty- 
fifth  year  of  the  captivity,  or  the  fourteenth  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  The  remaining  prophecies,  which  bear  at 
their  head  no  note  of  time,  connect  themselves  closely  as  to 
their  contents  with  those  which  are  furnished  wuth  chrono- 
locrical  data,  so  that  they  belong  to  the  same  period  with  those. 
From  this  it  appears  that  the  prophecies  of  the  first  part 
wholly,  those  of  the  second  part  to  a  great  extent,  date  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  those  of  the  third  and  fourth 
parts  proceed  from  the  time  after  this  catastrophe.  Tliis 
chronological  relationship  is  in  favour  of  the  view  that  the 
prophecies  against  foreign  nations,  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.,  are  not 
— as  the  majority  of  expositors  suppose — to  be  assigned  to  the 
second,  but  rather  to  the  first  half  of  the  book.  This  view  is 
confirmed,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  contents  of  the  prophecies, 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

inasmuch  as  these,  -without  an  exception,  announce  only  the 
downfall  of  tlie  heathen  nations  and  kingdoms,  making  no 
reference  to  the  future  forgiveness  and  conversion  of  the 
residue  of  these  nations,  and  through  this  very  peculiarity  con- 
nect themselves  closely  with  the  prophecies  of  threatening 
against  Israel  in  the  first  part;  on  the  other  hand,  by  the 
resemblance  which  exists  between  ch.  xxx.  1-20  and  ch. 
iii.  16-21,  compared  with  ch.  xviii.  19-32,  and  which  leaves 
no  doubt  upon  the  point  that  ch.  xxxiii.  1-20  marks  out  to 
the  prophet  the  task  which  was  to  occupy  his  attention  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  consequently  forms  the  in- 
troduction to  the  second  half  of  his  prophecies. — For  further 
remarks  upon  the  contents  and  subdivisions  of  the  book,  see  the 
expositions  in  the  introductory  observations  to  the  individual 
sections  and  chapters. 

Ezekiel's  style  of  prophetic  representation  has  many  peculiari- 
ties. In  the  first  place,  the  clothing  of  symbol  and  allegory 
prevails  in  him  to  a  greater  degree  than  in  all  the  other  pro- 
phets ;  and  his  symbolism  and  allegory  are  not  confined  to 
general  outlines  and  pictures,  but  elaborated  in  the  minutest 
details,  so  as  to  present  figures  of  a  boldness  surpassing  reality, 
and  ideal  representations,  which  produce  an  impression  of  im- 
posing grandeur  and  exuberant  fulness.  Even  the  simplest 
prophetic  discourse  is  rich  in  imagery,  and  in  bold,  partly 
even  strange,  comparisons,  and  branches  out  into  a  copiousness 
which  strives  to  exhaust  the  subject  on  all  sides,  in  consequence 
of  which  many  peculiar  expressions  and  forms  are  repeated, 
rendering  his  language  diffuse,  and  occasionally  even  clumsy. 
These  peculiarities  of  his  style  of  representation  it  has  been 
attempted,  on  the  one  hand,  to  explain  by  the  influence  of  the 
Babylonian  spirit  and  taste  upon  the  form  of  his  prophecy ; 
while  others,  again,  would  regard  them  as  the  result  of  a 
literary  art,  striving  to  supply  the  defect  of  prophetic  spirit, 
and  the  failing  power  of  the  living  word,  by  the  aid  of  learning 
and  an  elaborate  imitation  of  actual  life.     The  supposed  Baby- 


10  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Ionian  spirit,  however,  in  tlie  forms  of  our  prophet's  symbolism, 
has  no  existence.  The  assertion  of  Hiivernick,  that  "  the 
whole  of  these  symbols  has  a  colossal  character,  which  points 
in  many  ways  to  those  powerful  impressions  experienced  by 
the  prophet  in  a  foreign  land, — Chaldea, — and  which  here  are 
grasped  and  given  out  again  with  a  mighty  and  independent 
spirit,"  remains  yet  to  be  proved.  For  the  observation  that 
these  symbols,  in  reference  to  form  and  contents,  resemble  in 
many  respects  the  symbols  of  his  contemporary  Daniel,  is  not 
sufficient  for  the  purpose,  and  cannot  in  itself  be  accepted  as 
the  truth,  by  reference  to  the  picture  of  the  eagle,  and  the 
comparison  of  rich  men  to  trees,  cedars,  in  ch.  xvii.,  because 
these  pictures  already  occur  in  the  older  prophets,  and  lions  as 
as  well  as  cedars  are  native  in  Palestine.  Just  as  little  are 
Babylonian  impressions  to  be  recognised  in  the  visions  of  the 
field  with  the  dead  men's  bones,  ch.  xxxvii.,  and  of  the  new 
temple,  ch.  xl. ,  so  that  there  only  remains  the  representation 
of  the  cherubim  with  four  faces,  in  ch.  i.  and  x.,  which  is 
peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  as  presumptive  evidence  of  Chaldean  in- 
fluence. But  if  we  leave  out  of  account  that  the  throne,  upon 
which  the  Lord  appears  in  human  form,  indisputably  forms 
the  central  point  of  this  vision,  and  this  central  point  has  no 
specific  Babylonian  impress,  then  the  representation  of  the 
cherubim  with  faces  of  men,  lions,  oxen,  and  eagles,  cannot  be 
derived  from  the  contemplation  of  the  Assyrian  or  Chaldean 
sculptures  of  human  figures  with  eagle  heads  and  wings,  or 
winged  oxen  with  human  heads,  or  sphinxes  with  bodies  of 
animals  and  female  heads,  such  as  are  found  in  the  ruins  of 
ancient  Nineveh,  inasmuch  as  the  cherubim  of  Ezekiel  were 
not  pictures  of  oxen  with  lions'  manes,  eagles'  wings,  and 
human  countenances  furnished  with  horns, — as  W.  Neumann 
has  still  portrayed  them  in  his  treatise  upon  the  tabernacle, — 
but  had,  according  to  Ezekiel,  ch.  i.  5,  the  human  form. 
There  are  indeed  also  found,  among  the  Assyrian  sculptures, 
winged   human  figures ;  but   these  Ezekiel  had  no  reason  to 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

copy,  because  tlie  cherubic  images  in  human  form,  belonging 
to  Solomon's  temple,  lay  much  nearer  to  his  hand.  The  whole 
of  Ezekiel's  symbolism  is  derived  from  the  Israelitish  sanctuary, 
and  is  an  outcome  of  Old  Testament  ideas  and  views.  As  the 
picture  of  the  ideal  temple  in  ch.  xl.  ff.  is  sketched  according 
to  the  relations  of  Solomon's  temple,  which  was  burnt  by  the 
Chaldeans,  so  the  elements  for  the  description  of  the  majestic 
theophany,  in  ch.  i.  and  x.,  are  contained  in  the  throne 
of  Jehovah,  which  was  above  the  cherubim,  who  were  over 
the  covering  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant ;  and  in  the  pheno- 
mena amid  which  was  manifested  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
glory  at  the  establishment  of  the  covenant  on  Sinai.  On  the 
basis  of  these  facts,  Isaiah  had  already  represented  to  himself 
the  appearance  of  the  Lord,  as  a  vision,  in  which  he  beholds 
Jehovah  in  the  temple,  sitting  on  a  high  and  lofty  throne,  and, 
standing  around  the  throne,  seraphim  with  six  wings,  who 
began  to  sing,  "  Holy,  holy  "  (Isa.  vi.).  This  symbolism  we 
find  modified  in  Ezekiel,  so  as  to  correspond  with  the  aim  of 
his  vocation,  and  elaborated  to  a  greater  extent.  The  manner 
in  which  he  works  out  this  vision  and  other  symbols  certainly 
gives  evidence  of  his  capacity  to  describe,  distinctly  and  attrac- 
tively in  words,  what  he  had  beheld  in  spirit ;  although  the 
symbolism  itself  is,  just  as  little  as  the  vision,  a  mere  product 
of  poetic  art,  or  the  subjective  framework  of  a  lively  fancy, 
without  any  real  objective  foundation ;  for  it  rests,  in  harmony 
with  its  contents  and  form,  upon  views  which  are  spiritually 
real,  i.e.  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  soul  of  the  pro- 
phet, in  which  the  art  of  the  author  is  reduced  to  a  faithful 
and  distinct  reproduction  of  what  had  been  seen  in  the  spirit. — 
It  is  only  the  abundance  of  pictures  and  metaphors,  which  is 
in  this  respect  characteristic  of  Ezekiel,  and  which  betrays  a 
lively  imagination,  and  the  many-sidedness  of  his  knowledge. 
These  qualities  appear  not  merely  in  the  sketch  of  the  new 
temple  (ch.  xl.  ff.),  but  also  in  the  description  of  the  wide- 
spread commerce  of  Tyre  (ch.  xxvii.),  and  of  the  relations  of 


12  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

Egypt  (cli.  xxix.  and  xxxi.),  as  well  as  in  the  endeavours  mani- 
fest in  all  his  representations, — not  merely  in  the  symbolical 
descriptions  and  allegorical  portraits  (ch.  xvi.  and  xxiii.),  but 
also  in  the  simple  discourses,  in  the  rebukes  of  the  current 
vices  and  sins,  and  in  the  threatenings  of  punishment  and 
judgment, — to  follow  out  the  subject  treated  of  into  the  most 
special  details,  to  throw  light  upon  it  from  all  sides,  to  penetrate 
through  it,  and  not  to  rest  until  he  has  exhausted  it,  and  that 
without  any  effort,  in  so  doing,  to  avoid  repetitions.  This  style 
of  representation,  however,  has  its  foundation  not  merely  in 
the  individuality  of  our  prophet,  but  still  more  in  the  relations 
of  his  time,  and  in  his  attitude  towards  that  generation  to 
whom  he  had  to  announce  the  counsel  and  will  of  the  Lord. 
As  symbolism  and  the  employment  of  parables,  pictures,  and 
proverbs  is,  in  general,  only  a  means  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
senting in  an  attractive  light  the  truths  to  be  delivered,  and 
to  strengthen  by  this  attractiveness  the  impression  made  by 
speech  and  discourse,  so  also  the  copiousness  and  circumstan- 
tiality of  the  picture,  and  even  the  repetition  of  thoughts  and 
expressions  under  new  points  of  view,  serve  the  same  end. 
The  people  to  whom  Ezekiel  was  now  to  preach  repentance, 
by  announcing  the  divine  judgment  and  salvation,  was  "  a 
rebellious  race,  impudent  and  hard-hearted"  (ch.  iii.  7-9,  26, 
xii.  2,  etc.).  If  he  was  faithfully  and  conscientiously  to  dis- 
charge the  office,  laid  upon  him  by  the  Lord,  of  a  watcher  over 
the  house  of  Israel,  he  must  not  only  punish  with  stern  words, 
and  in  drastic  fashion,  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  distinctly 
paint  before  their  eyes  the  horrors  of  the  judgment,  but  he 
must  also  set  forth,  in  a  style  palpable  to  the  senses,  that 
salvation  which  was  to  bloom  forth  for  the  repentant  nation 
when  the  judgment  was  fulfilled. 

Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  other  peculiarity  of 
Ezekiel's  style  of  prophecy,  namely,  the  marked  prominence 
assigned  to  the  divine  origin  and  contents  of  his  announce- 
ments, which  distinctly  appears  in  the  standing  form  of  address 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

— "Son  of  man" — with  which  God  summons  the  prophet  to 
speech  and  action  ;  in  the  continual  use  of  i^'^i^''  ^''X ;  in  the 
formulae  '"'''  ""?^i!  nb  or  '"'''  DW  ;  in  the  introduction  to  almost 
every  discourse  of  God's  requirement  to  him  to  prophesy  or 
to  do  this  and  that;  and  in  the  formula  which  recurs  fre- 
quently in  all  the  discourses, — "  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah."  The  standing  address,  "  Son  of  man,"  and  the 
frequent  call  to  speech  and  action,  are  likewise  regarded  by 
modern  critics  as  a  token  of  the  failure  of  the  prophetic  spirit- 
power.  Both  phrases,  however,  could  only  be  held  to  convey 
so  much,  if — in  conformity  with  the  view  of  Ewald,  who,  agree- 
ably to  the  naturalistic  representation  of  prophecy,  assumes  it 
to  be  a  result  of  high  poetic  inspiration — they  had  been  selected 
by  Ezekiel  of  his  own  free  choice,  and  employed  with  the  inten- 
tion of  expressing  the  feeling  of  his  own  profound  distance  from 
God,  and  of  imparting  to  himself  courage  to  prophesy.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  according  to  the  Scriptural  conception  of  pro- 
phecy, God  the  Lord  addressed  Ezekiel  as  "  son  of  man,"  and 
called  him,  moreover,  on  each  occasion  to  utter  predictions, 
then  the  use  of  the  God-given  name,  as  well  as  the  mention  of 
the  summons,  as  proceeding  from  God  only,  furnishes  an 
evidence  that  Ezekiel  does  not,  like  the  false  prophets,  utter 
the  thoughts  and  inspirations  of  his  own  heart,  but,  in  all  that 
he  says  and  does,  acts  under  a  divine  commission  and  under 
divine  inspiration,  and  serves  to  impress  the  rebellious  nation 
more  and  more  with  the  conviction  that  a  prophet  of  the  Lord 
is  in  their  midst  (ii.  5,  xxxiii.  33),  and  that  God  had  not  de- 
parted with  His  Spirit  from  Israel,  notwithstanding  their  banish- 
ment among  the  heathen.  In  favour  of  the  correctness  of  this 
view  of  the  expressions  and  phrases  in  question,  there  speak 
decisively  the  manner  and  fashion  in  which  Ezekiel  was  called 
and  consecrated  to  the  prophetic  office;  not  only  the  instruc- 
tion which  God  communicates  to  him  for  the  performance  of 
his  calling  (ii.  1-3,  21), — and  which,  immediately  upon  the 
first  act  of  his  prophetic  activity.  He  supplements  to  the  effect 


14  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  enjoining  upon  him  dumbness  or  entire  silence,  only  tlien 
permitting  him  to  open  his  mouth  to  speak  when  He  Avishes 
to  inspire  him  with  a  word  to  be  addressed  to  the  rebellious 
people  (iii.  26,  27;  cf.  xxiv.  27  and  xxxiii.  22), — but  also  the 
theophany  which  inaugurated  his  call  to  the  prophetic  office 
(ch.  i.),  which,  as  will  appear  to  us  in  the  course  of  the  exposi- 
tion, has  unmistakeably  the  significance  of  an  explanation  of  a 
reality,  which  will  not  be  dissolved  and  annihilated  with  the 
dissolution  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  and  of  the  temple  of  that  covenant  of  grace  which 
Jehovah  had  concluded  with  Israel. 

It  is  usual,  moreover,  to  quote,  as  a  peculiarity  of  Ezekiel's 
prophecies,  the  prominence  given  to  his  priestly  descent  and 
disposition,  especially  in  the  visions,  ch.  i.,  cf.  ch.  x.,  ch. 
viii.-xi.  and  xl.-xlviii.,  and  in  individual  traits,  as  iv.  13  ff., 
XX.  12  ff.,  xxii.  8,  xxvi.  24,  16  ff.,  etc.,  etc.,  which  Ewald 
explains  as  "  a  result  of  the  one-sided  literary  conception  of 
antiquity  according  to  mere  books  and  traditions,  as  well  as 
of  the  extreme  prostration  of  spirit  intensified  by  the  long 
duration  of  the  exile  and  bondage  of  the  people ;"  while 
de  Wette,  Gesenius,  and  others  would  see  in  it  an  intellectual 
narrowness  on  the  part  of  the  prophet.  The  one  view  is  as 
groundless  and  perverse  as  the  other,  because  resting  upon  the 
superficial  opinion  that  the  copious  descriptions  of  the  sacred 
articles  in  the  temple  were  sketched  by  Ezekiel  only  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  for  the  future  the  elevating  recollection 
of  the  better  times  of  the  past  (Ewald).  When  we  recognise, 
on  the  contrary,  the  symbolical  character  of  these  descriptions, 
we  may  always  say  that  for  the  portrayal  of  the  conception 
of  the  theophany  in  ch.  i.  and  x.,  and  of  the  picture  of  the 
temple  in  ch.  xL,  no  individual  was  so  well  fitted  as  a  priest, 
familiar  with  the  institutions  of  worship.  In  this  symbolism, 
however,  we  may  not  venture  to  seek  for  the  products  of  intel- 
lectual narrowness,  or  of  sacerdotal  ideas,  but  must  rise  to  the 
conviction  that  God  the  Lord  selected  a  priest,  and  no  other,  to 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

be  His  prophet,  and  permitted  him  to  behold  the  future  of  His 
kingdom  on  earth  in  the  significant  forms  of  the  sanctuary  at 
Jerusalem,  because  this  form  was  the  symbolical  covering  which 
presented  the  closest  correspondence  to  the  same. — Still  less  do 
the  passages  iv.  13  ff.,  xx.  12  ff.,  and  others,  in  which  stress  is 
laid  upon  the  ceremonial  commands  of  the  law,  and  where  their 
violation  is  mentioned  as  a  cause  of  the  judgment  that  was 
breaking  over  Israel,  furnish  evidence  of  priestly  one-sidedness 
or  narrowness  of  spirit.  Ezekiel  takes  up  towards  the  Mosaic 
Law  no  other  position  than  that  which  is  taken  by  the  older 
prophets.  He  finds  impressed  on  the  precepts,  not  only  of  the 
Moral,  but  also  of  the  Ceremonial  Law,  divine  thoughts,  essen- 
tial elements  of  the  divine  holiness,  attesting  itself  in  and  to  Israel; 
and  penetrated  by  a  sense  of  the  everlasting  importance  of  the 
whole  law,  he  urges  obedience  to  its  commands.  Even  the  close 
adherence  to  the  Pentateuch  is  not  at  all  peculiar  to  him,  but  is 
common  to  all  the  prophets,  inasmuch  as  all,  without  exception, 
criticize  and  judge  the  life  of  the  nation  by  the  standard  of  the 
prescriptions  in  the  Mosaic  Law.  Ezekiel,  with  his  nearest  pre- 
decessor Jeremiah,  is  in  this  respect  only  distinguished  from 
the  earlier  prophets,  that  the  verbal  references  to  the  Pentateuch 
in  both  occur  with  greater  frequency,  and  receive  a  greater 
emphasis.  But  this  has  its  ground  not  so  much  in  the  descent 
of  both  from  a  priestly  family,  as  rather  in  the  relations  of 
their  time,  especially  in  the  circumstance  that  the  falling  away 
of  the  nation  from  the  law  had  become  so  great,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  penal  judgments  already  threatened  in  the  Penta- 
teuch upon  transgressors  had  fallen  upon  them,  so  that  the 
prophets  of  the  Lord  were  obliged,  with  all  their  energy,  to 
hold  up  before  the  rebellious  race  not  merely  the  command- 
ments, but  also  the  threatenings  of  the  law,  if  they  were  faith- 
fully to  discharge  the  office  to  which  they  had  been  called. 

The  language  of  Ezekiel  is  distinguished  by  a  great  number 
of  words  and  forms,  which  do  not  occur  elsewhere,  and  which, 
probably,  were  for  the  greater  part  coined  by  himself  (see  an 


16  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

enumeration  of  these  in  the  Manual  of  Ilistorico-Cr'dical  Intro- 
duction^ §  77,  Rem.  6),  and  shows  a  strong  leaning  towards 
the  diction  of  the  Pentateuch.  It  has,  however,  been  unable  to 
resist  the  influences  of  the  inaccurate  popular  dialect,  and  of  the 
Aramaic  idiom,  so  that  it  betrays,  in  its  many  anomalies  and 
corruptions,  the  decline  and  commencement  of  the  dying  out  of 
the  Hebrew  tongue  (of.  §  17  of  the  Historico- Critical  Manual) , 
and  reminds  us  that  the  prophet's  residence  was  in  a  foreign 
country. 

The  genuineness  of  Ezekiel's  prophecies  is,  at  the  present 
day,  unanimously  recognised  by  all  critics.  There  is,  moreover, 
no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  writing  down  and  redaction  of 
them  in  the  volume  which  has  been  transmitted  to  us  were  the 
work  of  the  prophet  himself.  Only  Ewald  and  Hitzig,  for  the 
purpose  of  setting  aside  the  predictions  v^hich  so  much  offend 
them,  have  proposed  very  artificial  hypotheses  regarding  the 
manner  and  way  in  which  the  book  originated ;  but  it  appears 
unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  closer  examination  of  these,  as  their 
probability  and  trustworthiness  depend  only  upon  the  dogmatic 
views  of  their  authors. 

For  the  exegetical  literature,  see  the  Ilistorico- Critical  Manualy 
vol.  i.  p.  353  (new  ed.  p.  254),  where  is  also  to  be  added,  as  of 
very  recent  date,  Das  Buck  Ezecldels.  Uebersetzt  und  erkliirt 
von  Dr.  Th.  Kliefoth.  Zwei  Abtheilungen.  Eostock,  1864 
and  1865. 


EXPOSITION. 
FIEST  HALF.-THE  PROPHECIES  OF  JCDGMENT. 

CHAP.  I.-XXXII. 


CHAP.  I -III.  21. — THE  CONSECRATION  AND  CALLING  OP 
EZEKIEL  TO  THE  OFFICE  OP  PROPHET. 

N  a  vision  of  God,  Ezekiel  beholds  ia  a  great  cloud, 
through  which  shone  the  splendour  of  fire,  and 
which  a  tempestuous  wind  drives  from  the  north, 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  above  the  cherubim  upon 
a  majestic  throne  in  human  form  (ch.  i.),  and  hears  a 
voice,  which  sends  him  as  a  prophet  to  Israel,  and  inspires  him 
with  the  subject-matter  of  his  announcements  (ii.  1-iii.  3). 
He  is  thereafter  transported  in  spirit  to  Tel-abib  on  the 
Chebar,  into  the  midst  of  the  exiles,  and  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  his  calling  laid  before  him  (iii.  4-21).  By 
this  divine  appearance  and  the  commission  therewith  connected 
is  he  consecrated,  called,  and  ordained  to  the  prophetic  office. 
The  whole  occurrences  in  the  vision  are  subdivided  into  the 
copious  description  of  the  theophany,  ch.  i.,  by  which  he  is 
consecrated  for  his  calling  ;  and  into  the  revelation  of  the  word, 
ch.  ii.  1-3,  21,  which  prepares  him  for  the  discharge  of  the 
same.  From  these  contents  it  clearly  appears  that  these  chap- 
ters do  not  constitute  the  first  section  of  the  book,  but  the 
introduction  to  the  whole,  to  which  the  circumstantial  notices 

EZEK.  I.  B 


18  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  the  time  and  place  of  this  revelation  of  God  at  the  com- 
mencementj  i.  1-3,  also  point. 

Chap.  i.  The  Appearance  of  the  Glory  of  the  Lord. 
— Vers.  1-3.  Time  and  place  of  the  same. — Ver.  1.  Noio  it  came 
to  pass  in  the  thirtieth  year,  in  the  fourth  (inonth),  on  the  fifth 
{day')  of  the  month,  as  I  was  among  the  captives  by  the  river  of 
Chebary  that  the  heavens  to  ere  opened,  and  I  saw  visions  of  God. 
Ver.  2.  On  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  it  loas  the  fifth  year  of  King 
Jehoiachin  s  captivity,  Ver.  3.  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Ezekiel  the  priest,  the  son  of  Dusi,  in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans 
by  the  river  Chebar ;  and  the  hand  of  the  Lord  teas  there  upon 
him. 

Regarding  ^n^l  at  the  beginning  of  a  book,  as  e.g.  in  Jonah 
i.  1,  cf.  the  note  on  Josh.  i.   1.       The  two   notices  of  the 
year  in  vers.   1   and  2  are  closely  connected  with  the  twofold 
introduction   of   the  theophany.      This  is  described  in  verse 
first,  according  to  its  form  or  phenomenal  nature,  and  then  in 
verses  second  and  third,  according  to  its  intended  purpose,  and 
its  effect  upon  the  prophet.     The  phenomenon  consisted  in 
this,  that  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  Ezekiel  saw  visions  of 
God.     The  heaven  opens  not  merely  when  to  our  eye  a  glimpse 
is  disclosed  of  the  heavenly  glory  of  God  (Calvin),  but  also 
when  God  manifests  His  glory  in   a  manner  perceptible    to 
human  sight.    The  latter  was  the  case  here.      t2\n7X  nix^^, 
*'  visions  of  God,"  are  not  "  visiones  prcestantissimce^  but  visions 
which  have  divine  or  heavenly  things  for  their  object;  cf.  Isa. 
vi.  1 ;  1  Kings  xxii.  19 ;  2  Kings  vi.  17.     Here  it  is  the  mani- 
festation of  Jehovah's  glory  described  in  the  following  verses. 
This  was  beheld  by  Ezekiel  in  the  thirtieth  year,  which,  accord- 
ing to  verse  second,  was  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  captivity  of 
Jehoiachin.     The  real  identity  of  these  two  dates  is  placed 
beyond  doubt  by  the  mention  of  the  same  day  of  the  month, 
*'  on    the   fifth   day  of   the   month "    (ver.  2  compared    with 
ver.  1).     The  fifth  year  from  the  commencement  of  Jehoia- 


CHAP   L  1-3.  19 

chin's  captivity  is  the  year  595  B.C.;  the  thirtieth  year,  con- 
sequently, is  the  year  625  B.C.  But  the  era,  in  accordance 
with  which  this  date  is  reckoned,  is  matter  of  dispute,  and  can 
no  longer  be  ascertained  with  certainty.  To  suppose,  with 
Plengstenberg,  that  the  reference  is  to  the  year  of  the  prophet's 
own  h'fe,  is  forbidden  by  the  addition  "  in  the  fourth  month,  on 
the  fifth  day  of  the  month,"  wliich  points  to  an  era  generally 
recognised.  In  the  year  625  B.C.,  Nabopolassar  became  king 
of  Babylon,  and  therefore  many  of  the  older  expositors  have 
supposed  that  Ezekiel  means  the  thirtieth  year  of  the  era  of 
Nabopolassar.  Nothing,  however,  is  known  of  any  such  era. 
Others,  as  the  Chaldee  paraphrast  and  Jerome,  and  in  modern 
times  also  Ideler,  are  of  opinion  that  the  thirtieth  year  is 
reckoned  from  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Josiah, 
because  in  that  year  the  book  of  the  law  was  discovered,  and 
the  regeneration  of  public  worship  completed  by  a  solemn  cele- 
bration of  the  Passover.  No  trace,  however,  can  elsewhere  be 
pointed  out  of  the  existence  of  a  chronology  dating  from  these 
events.  The  Rabbins  in  Seder  Olam  assume  a  chronology 
according  to  the  periods  of  the  years  of  jubilee,  and  so  also 
Hitzig ;  but  for  this  supposition  too  all  reliable  proofs  are 
wanting.  At  the  time  mentioned,  Ezekiel  found  himself 
npian  T]in2,  '*  in  the  midst  of  the  exiles,"  i.e.  loithin  the  circuit  of 
their  settlements,  not,  in  their  society  ;  for  it  is  evident  from 
ch.  iii.  15  that  he  was  alone  when  the  theophany  was  imparted 
to  him,  and  did  not  repair  till  afterwards  to  the  residences  of 
the  settlers.  Ver.  3.  By  the  river  Chehar,  in  the  land  of  the 
Chaldees,  i.e.  in  Babylon  or  Mesopotamia.  The  river  133^  to  be 
distinguished  from  "lun,  the  river  of  Gosan,  which  flows  into 
the  Tigris,  see  on  2  Kings  xvii.  6,  is  the  Mesopotamian  Chahoras, 
^Afi6ppa<i  (Strabo,  xvi.  748),  or  Xa^oopa^  (Ptolem.  v.  18,  3), 

jy,^  (Edrisi   Clim.   iv.   p.   6,   ii.   p.    150,   ed.   Jaubert   and 

Abulf.  Mesopot.  in  the  N.  Reperlor.  III.  p.  xxiv.),  which 
according  to  Edrisi  takes  its  rise  from  *'  nearly  three  hundred 


20  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

springs,"  near  the  city  Ras-el-Ain,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
range  of  Masius,  flows  through  Upper  Mesopotamia  in  a  direc- 
tion parallel  with  its  two  principal  streams,  and  then,  turning 
westward,  discharges  itself  into  the  Euphrates  near  Kirkesion. 
There  the  hand  of  Jehovah  came  upon  Ezekiel.  The  expres- 
sion (''^?)  ?y  nnin  '^^  T  always  signifies  a  miraculous  working  of 
the  power  or  omnipotence  of  God  upon  a  man, — the  hand  being 
the  organ  of  power  in  action, — by  which  he  is  placed  in  a  con- 
dition to  exert  superhuman  power,  1  Kings  xviii.  46,  and  is 
the  regular  expression  for  the  supernatural  transportation  into 
the  state  of  ecstasy  for  the  purpose  of  beholding  and  announcing 
(cf.  2  Kings  iii.  15),  or  undertaking,  heavenly  things;  and  so 
throughout  Ezekiel,  cf.  iii.  22,  viii.  1,  xxxiii.  22,  xxxvii.  1, 
xl.  1. 

Vers.  4-28.  Description  of  the  theophany  seen  by  the 
spirit  of  the  prophet. — Ver.  4.  And  I  sawj  and,  lo,  a  tem- 
pestuous wind  came  from  the  north,  a  great  cloud,  and  a  fire 
o'olled  together  like  a  hall,  and  the  brightness  of  light  round 
about  it,  and  out  of  its  midst,  as  the  appearance  of  glowing 
metal  from  the  midst  of  the  fire. —  The  description  begins 
with  a  general  outline  of  the  phenomenon,  as  the  same  pre- 
sented itself  to  the  spiritual  eye  of  the  prophet  on  its  ap- 
proach from  the  north.  A  tempestuous  wind  brings  hither 
from  the  north  a  great  cloud,  the  centre  of  which  appears 
as  a  lump  of  fire,  which  throws  around  the  cloud  the  bright- 
ness of  light,  and  presents  in  its  midst  the  appearance  of 
glowing  metal.  The  coming  of  the  phenomenon  from  the 
north  is,  as  a  matter  of  course,  not  connected  with  the  Baby- 
lonian representation  of  the  mountain  of  the  gods  situated  in 
the  extreme  north,  Isa.  xiv.  13.  According  to  the  invariable 
usage  of  speech  followed  by  the  prophets,  especially  by  Jere- 
miah (cf.  e.g.  i.  14,  iv.  6,  vi.  1,  etc.),  the  north  is  the  quarter 
from  which  the  enemies  who  were  to  execute  judgment  upon 
Jerusalem  and  Judah  break  in.  According  to  this  usage,  the 
coming  of  this  divine  appearance  from  the  north  signifies  that 


CHAP.  I.  5-14.  21 

it  is  from  the  north  that  God  will  bring  to  pass  the  judgment 
upon  Judah.  nni5?rip  {i'N,  "  fire  rolled  together  like  a  ball,"  is 
an  expression  borrowed  from  Ex.  ix.  10.  \?  refers  to  ]^V,  and 
main??  to  I^'k^  as  we  see  from  the  words  in  apposition,  ti'Xn  "Fjinp. 
The  fire,  which  formed  the  centre  of  the  cloud,  had  the  appear- 
ance of  ?Pk>'n.  The  meaning  of  this  word,  which  occurs  again 
in  ver,  27  and  ch.  viii.  ver.  2,  is  disputed.  The  Septuagint 
and  Vulgate  translate  it  by  rjjXeKrpov,  electrurn,  i.e.  a  metal 
having  a  bright  lustre,  and  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  gold  and 
silver.  Cf.  Strabo,  III.  146 ;  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxiii.  4.  To 
the  explanation  of  Bochart,  that  it  is  a  compound  of  niJ'm, 
"  brass,"  and  the  Talmudic  word  7?12  or  sb^O,  "  aurum  rude,^ 
and  signifies  "rough  gold  ore,"  is  opposed  the  fact  that  the 
reading  i6^D  in  the  Talmud  is  not  certain,  but  purports  to  be 
N7DD  (cf.  Gesen.  Thesaur.  p.  535,  and  Buxtorf,  Lexic.  Talmud^ 
p.  1214),  as  well  as  the  circumstance  that  raw  gold  ore  has  not 
a  lustre  which  could  shine  forth  out  of  the  fire.  Still  less 
probability  has  the  supposition  that  it  is  a  compound  of  ^B'n, 
in  Syriac  '*  conflavit,  fabricavit"  and  DC'n,  "fricuit,^^  on  which 
Hiivernick  and  Maurer  base  the  meaning  of  "  a  piece  of  metal 
wrought  in  the  fire."  The  word  appears  simply  to  be  formed 
from  U^n,  probably  "  to  glow,"  with  ?  appended,  as  ?0">3  from 
D13,  and  to  denote  "  glowing  ore."  This  meaning  is  appro- 
priate both  in  ver.  27,  where  ?^^V  PJ^  is  explained  by  CJ^'XTixnaj 
as  well  as  in  ch.  viii.  2,  where  *inr,  "  brilliancy,"  stands  as 
parallel  to  it.  ^^^^,  however,  is  different  from  ?^i5  n^i'ni  in 
ver.  7  and  in  Dan.  x.  6,  for  ?Pt^•^  refers  in  all  the  three  places  to 
the  person  of  Him  who  is  enthroned  above  the  cherubim ;  while 
7?[>  n^n:  in  ver.  7  is  spoken  of  the  feet  of  the  cherubim,  and 
in  Dan.  x.  6  of  the  arms  and  feet  of  the  personage  who  there 
manifests  Himself.  In  verse  fifth  the  appearance  is  described 
more  minutely.  There  first  present  themselves  to  the  eye  of 
the  seer  four  beings,  whom  he  describes  according  to  their 
figure  and  style. 

Vers.  5-14.  The  four  cherubim. — Ver.  5.  And  out  of  its  midst 


22  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

there  prominently  appeared  a  figure^  consisting  of  four  creatures, 
and  this  toas  their  appearance :  they  had  the  figure  of  a  man. 
Ver.  6.  And  each  had  four  faces,  and  each  of  them  Jiad  four  xoings. 
Ver.  7.  And  their  feet  loere  upright-standing  feet ;  and  the  soles 
of  their  feet  like  the  soles  of  a  calf,  and  sparkling  like  the  appear- 
ance of  shining  brass.  Ver.  8.  And  the  hands  of  a  man  were 
under  their  wings  on  their  four  sides ;  and  all  four  had  faces  and 
icings.  Ver.  9.  Their  icings  xoere  joined  one  to  another ;  they 
turned  not  as  they  went ;  they  went  each  one  in  the  direction  of 
his  face.  Ver.  10.  And  the  form  of  their  faces  was  that  of  a 
man;  and  on  the  rigid  all  four  had  a  lion'' s  face ;  and  on  the  left 
all  four  had  the  face  of  an  ox ;  and  all  four  had  an  eagle  s  face. 
Ver.  11.  And  their  faces  and  their  wings  tvere  divided  above,  tivo 
of  each  uniting  loith  one  another,  and  two  covering  their  bodies 
Ver.  12.  And  they  icent  each  in  the  direction  of  his  face ; 
whithersoever  the  spirit  icas  to  go,  they  icent ;  they  turned  not  as 
they  went.  Ver.  13.  And  the  likeness  of  the  creatures  resembled 
burning  coals  of  fire,  like  the  apioearance  of  torches  :  it  {the  fire) 
went  hilher  and  thither  amongst  the  beings  ;  and  the  fire  was  bril- 
liant, and  from  the  fire  came  forth  lightning.  Ver.  14.  And  the 
beings  ran  hither  and  thither  in  a  zig-zag  manner. 

From  out  of  the  fiery  centre  of  the  cloud  there  shows  itself 
the  form  (n^D%  properly  "resemblance,"  "picture")  of  four 
ni'H,  animantia,  "living  creatures;"  ^wa,  Apoc.  iv.  6;  not 
6r)pia,  "  wild  beasts,"  as  Luther  has  incorrectly  rendered  it, 
after  the  animalia  of  the  Vulgate.  These  four  creatures  had 
nns  raD'H,  "  the  figure  of  a  man."  Agreeably  to  this  notice, 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  description,  these  creatures  are  to  be 
conceived  as  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  human  body  in  all 
points  not  otherwise  specified  in  the  following  narrative.  Each 
of  them  had  four  faces  and  four  wings  (nnx  without  the 
article  stands  as  a  distributive,  and  D^SJ?  are  "  pinions,"  as  in 
Isa.  vi.  2,  not  "  pairs  of  wings").  Their  feet  were  'TJC'^  P^"),  "  a 
straigiit  foot;"  the  singular  stands  generically,  stating  only  the 
nature  of  the  feet,  without  reference  to  their  number.     We 


CHAP.  I.  5-14.  2S 

have  accordingly  to  assume  in  each  of  the  four  creatures  two 
legs,  as  in  a  man.  i^^,  "  straight,"  i.e.  standing  upright,  not 
bent,  as  when  sitting  or  kneeling.  ?J"i  is  the  whole  leg,  includ- 
ing the  knee  and  thigh,  and  -'J"}.  ^3,  "  sole  of  the  foot,"  or  the 
under  part  of  the  leg,  with  which  we  tread  on  the  ground. 
This  part,  not  the  whole  leg,  resembled  the  calf's  foot,  which  is 
firmly  planted  on  the  ground.  The  legs  sparkled  like  the 
appearance  of  ?^ij  ri'^rra.  The  subject  of  D^WJ  is  not  "  the 
D''3ti3,  which  are  understood  to  be  intended  under  the  ni'n  in 
verse  fifth"  (Hitzig),  for  this  subject  is  too  far  distant,  but 
2'!l''r?-'lj  which  is  here  construed  as  masculine,  as  in  Jer.  xiii.  16. 
In  this  sense  are  these  words  apprehended  in  the  Apocalypse, 
i.  15,  and  ^'^i^  ^l^'^3  there  translated  by  %aXA:oXi'/3ai/o9.  On  this 
word  see  Hengstenberg  and  Diisterdieck  on  the  Apoc.  i.  15. 
^^p  'nj  probably  signifies  "  light,"  i.e.  "  bright,  shining  brass," 
as  the  old  translators  have  rendered  it.  The  Septuagint  has 
i^aarpdinwv  \  the  Vulgate,  aes  candens;  and  the  Chaldee  para- 
plirast,  aes  flammans.  The  signification  "  smoothed,  polished 
brass  "  (Bochart),  rests  upon  uncertain  combinations ;  cf.  Gesen. 
Thes.  p.  1217,  and  is  appropriate  neither  here  nor  in  Dan.  x.  6, 
where  these  words  precede,  "  His  face  had  the  appearance  of 
lightning,  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire."  Under  the 
four  wings  were  four  hands  on  the  four  sides  of  each  cherub, 
formed  like  the  hands  of  a  man.  The  wings  accordingly 
rested  upon  the  shoulders,  from  which  the  hands  came  forth. 
The  Chetib  HM  may  certainly  be  defended  if  with  Kimchi  and 
others  we  punctuate  n^l,  and  take  the  sufiix  distributively  and 
D^X  elliptically,  "  his  (i.e.  each  of  the  four  creatures)  hands 
were  (the  hands  of)  a  man;"  cf.  for  such  an  ellipsis  as  this, 
passages  like  that  in  Ps.  xviii.  34,  rii7>X3  7^"!^  "  my  feet  as  the 
(feet)  of  hinds;"  Job  xxxv.  2,  ?X0,  "before  the  righteousness 
of  God."  It  is  extremely  probable,  however,  that  1  is  only  the 
error  of  an  old  copyist  for  "•,  and  that  the  Keri  ^y\  is  the  correct 
reading,  as  the  taking  of  DIX  elliptically  is  not  in  keepino-  -with 
the  broad  style  of  Ezekiel,  which  in  its  verbosity  verges  on 


24  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

tautology.  The  second  half  of  ver.  8  is  neither,  with  Havernick, 
to  be  referred  to  the  following  ninth  verse,  where  the  faces  are 
no  more  spoken  of,  nor,  with  Hitzig,  to  be  arbitrarily  mutilated  ; 
but  is  to  be  taken  as  it  stands,  comprising  all  that  has  hitherto 
been  said  regarding  the  faces  and  wings,  in  order  to  append  there- 
to in  ver.  9  sqq.  the  description  of  the  use  and  nature  of  these 
members.  The  definite  statement,  that  "  the  wings  were  joined 
one  to  another,"  is  in  ver.  11  limited  to  the  two  upper  wings, 
accordincr  to  which  we  have  so  to  conceive  the  matter,  that  the 
top  or  the  upper  right  wing  of  each  cherub  came  in  contact 
with  the  top  of  the  left  wing  of  the  neighbouring  cherub. 
This  junction  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  seer  the  unity  and 
coherence  of  all  the  four  creatures  as  a  complete  whole — a  n^n^ 
and  implied,  as  a  consequence,  the  harmonious  action  in  common 
of  the  four  creatures.  They  did  not  turn  as  they  went  along, 
but  proceeded  each  in  the  direction  of  his  face.  VJa  i^y"?^, 
"  over  against  his  face."  The  meaning  is  thus  rightly  given  by 
Kliefoth  :  "  As  they  had  four  faces,  they  needed  not  to  turn  as 
they  went,  but  went  on  as  (i.e.  in  the  direction  in  which)  they 
were  going,  always  after  the  face."  In  the  closer  description 
of  the  faces  in  ver.  10,  the  face  of  the  man  is  first  mentioned 
as  that  which  was  turned  towards  the  seer,  that  of  the  lion  to 
the  right  side,  the  ox  to  the  left,  and  that  of  the  eagle  (behind). 
In  naming  these  three,  it  is  remarked  that  all  the  four  creatures 
had  these  faces :  in  naming  the  man's  face,  this  remark  is 
omitted,  because  the  word  Dn'']£)  (referring  to  all  the  four) 
immediately  precedes.  In  ver.  11,  it  is  next  remarked  of  the 
faces  and  wings,  that  they  were  divided  above  (i^^^^?^,  "  from 
above,"  "  upward  ")  ;  then  the  direction  of  the  wings  is  more 
precisely  stated.  The  word  Qi^'^Di  Is  neither  to  be  referred  to 
the  preceding,  "  and  it  was  their  faces,"  nor,  with  Hltzlg,  to  be 
expunged  as  a  gloss ;  but  is  quite  in  order  as  a  statement  that 
not  only  the  wings  but  also  the  faces  were  divided  above,  con- 
sequently were  not  like  Janus'  faces  upon  one  head,  but  the 
four  faces  were  planted  upon  four  heads  and  necks.     In  the 


CHAP.  I.  5-14.  25 

description  that  follows,  ^''i^  nnain  is  not  quite  distinct,  and 
tJ'''^5  is  manifestly  to  be  taken  as  an  abbreviation  of  "?^?  nts's 
rinins  in  ver.  9 :  on  each  were  two  wings  joining  one  another, 
i.e.  touching  with  their  tops  the  tips  of  the  wings  of  the  cherub 
beside  them,  in  accordance  with  which  we  have  to  conceive 
the  wings  as  expanded.  Two  were  covering  their  bodies,  i.e. 
each  cherub  covered  his  body  with  the  pair  of  wings  that  folded 
downwards ;  not,  as  Kliefoth  supposes,  that  the  lower  wings  of 
the  one  cherub  covered  the  body  of  the  other  cherub  beside 
him,  which  also  is  not  the  meaning  in  ver.  23 ;  see  note  on 
that  verse.  In  ver.  12,  what  is  to  be  said  about  their  move- 
ments is  brought  to  a  conclusion,  while  both  statements  are 
repeated  in  ver.  9&,  and  completed  by  the  addition  of  the 
principium  movens.  In  whatever  direction  the  nn  ''  was  to  go, 
in  that  direction  they  went ;"  i.e.  not  according  to  the  action  of 
their  own  will,  but  wherever  the  n^l  impelled  them,  nn,  how- 
ever, signifies  not  "  impulse,"  nor,  in  this  place,  even  "  the 
wind,"  as  the  vehicle  of  the  power  of  the  spiritual  life  palpable 
to  the  senses,  which  produced  and  guided  their  movements, 
(Kliefoth),  but  spirit.  For,  according  to  ver.  20,  the  move- 
ment of  the  wheels,  which  was  in  harmony  with  the  movements 
of  the  cherubim,  was  not  caused  by  the  wind,  but  proceeded 
from  the  njnn  mi,  i.e.  from  the  spirit  dwelling  in  the  creature. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  not  in  the  whole  description,  with  the 
exception  of  the  general  statement  that  a  tempestuous  wind 
drove  from  the  north  the  great  cloud  in  which  the  theophany 
was  enwrapped,  any  allusion  to  a  means  of  motion  palpable 
to  the  senses.  In  the  13th  and  14th  verses  is  described  the 
entire  impression  produced  by  the  movement  of  the  whole 
appearance,  ni'nn  niDHI  precedes,  and  is  taken  absolutely  "  as 
regards  the  form  of  the  creatures,"  and  corresponds  to  the 
ni»n  yan^  n^on  in  ver.  5,  with  which  the  description  of  the  indi- 
vidual figures  which  appeared  in  the  brightness  of  the  fire  was 
introduced.  Their  appearance  was  like  burning  coals  of  fire, 
like  the  appearance  of  torches.     N'^n  refers  to  ^^  as  the  principal 


26  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

conception.  Fire,  like  the  fire  of  burning  coals  and  torches, 
went,  moved  hither  and  thither  amongst  the  four  creatures. 
This  lire  presented  a  bright  appearance,  and  out  of  it  came 
forth  lightnings.  The  creatures,  moreover,  were  in  constant 
motion,  {^i^*"),  from  i^yj,  an  Aramaising  form  for  the  Hebrew 
vn,  to  run.  Tlie  in/in.  ahsol.  stands  instead  of  the  jinite  verb. 
The  conjecture  of  i<i^*^,  after  Gen.  viii.  7  (Hitzig),  is  inappro- 
priate, because  here  we  have  not  to  think  of  "  coming  out,"  and 
no  reason  exists  for  the  striking  out  of  the  words,  as  Ilitzig 
proposes.  The  continued  motion  of  the  creatures  is  not  in 
contradiction  with  their  perpetually  moving  on  straight  before 
them.  "They  went  hither  and  thither,  and  yet  always  in  the 
direction  of  their  countenances ;  because  they  had  a  countenance 
looking  in  the  direction  of  every  side  "  (Kliefoth).  PT3  signi- 
fies not  "  lightning"  (=:p^3),  but  comes  from  PJ3 ;  in  Syriac, 
"  to  be  split,"  and  denotes  "  the  splitting,"  i.e.  the  zigzag  course 
of  the  lightning  (Kliefoth). 

Vers.  15-21.  The  four  wheels  beside  the  cherubim. — 
Ver.  15.  And  I  saio  the  creatures,  and,  lo,  there  was  a  wheel  upon 
the  earth  beside  the  creatures,  towards  their  four  fronts.  Ver.  16. 
The  aioiocarance  of  the  wheels  and  their  icorJc  loas  like  the  apjjear- 
ance  of  the  chrysolite  ;  and  all  four  had  one  kind  of  figure  :  and 
their  appearance  and  their  toork  zuas  as  if  one  zcheel  were  xoithin 
the  other.  Ver.  17.  Towards  their  four  sides  they  went  ichen 
they  moved:  they  turned  not  as  tliey  went.  Ver.  18.  And  their 
felloes,  they  xcere  high  and  terrible  ;  and  their  felloes  were  full  of 
eyes  round  about  in  all  the  four.  Ver.  19.  And  ichen  the 
creatures  moved,  the  xoheels  moved  beside  them ;  and  ichen  the 
creatures  raised  themselves  up  from  the  earth,  the  icheels  also 
raised  themselves.  Ver.  20.  Whithersoever  the  spirit  was  to  go, 
they  went  in  the  direction  in  which  the  spirit  teas  to  go ;  and  the 
icheels  raised  themselves  beside  them  :  for  the  spirit  of  the  creatures 
was  in  the  wheels.  Ver.  21.  When  the  former  moved,  the  latter 
moved  also  ;  ivhen  the  former  stood,  the  latter  stood  ;  and  when 
the  former  raised  themselves  from  the  ground^  the  toheds  raised 


CHAP.  I.  15-21.  27 

themselves  beside  them :  for  the  spirit  of  the  creatures  was  in  the 
wheels. — The  words,  "  and  I  saw  the  creatures,"  prepare  the 
way  for  the  transition  to  the  new  object  which  presented  itself 
in  these  creatures  to  the  eye  of  the  seer.  By  the  side  of  these 
creatures  upon  the  ground  he  sees  a  wheel,  and  that  at  the  four 
fronts,  or  front  faces  of  the  creatures.  The  singular  suffix  in 
Vi3  nysi.i^c'  can  neither  be  referred,  with  Rosenmiiller,  to  the 
chariot,  which  is  not  mentioned  at  all,  nor,  with  Hitzig,  to  the 
preposition  PVSl,  nor,  with  Havernick,  Maurer,  and  Kliefoth,  to 
JSiK,  and  so  be  understood  as  if  every  wheel  looked  towards  four 
sides,  because  a  second  wheel  was  inserted  in  it  at  right  angles. 
This  meaning  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  words.  The  suffix 
refers  ad  sensum  to  rivn  (Evvald),  or,  to  express  it  more  correctly, 

to  the  figure  of  the  cherubim  with  its  four  faces  turned  to  the 

o 

front,  conceived  as  a  unity — as  one  creature  (i^*0[',  ver.  22).  Ac- 
cordingly, we  have  so  to  represent  the  matter,  that  by  the  side 
of  the  four  cherubim,  namely,  beside  his  front  face,  a  wheel 
was  to  be  seen  upon  the  earth.  Ezekiel  then  saw  four  wheels, 
one  on  each  front  of  a  cherub,  and  therefore  immediately 
speaks  in  ver.  16  of  wheels  (in  the  plural).  In  this  verse  "^^l'? 
is  adspectus,  and  nb'yo  "work;"  i.e.  both  statements  employing 
the  term  "  construction,"  although  in  the  first  hemistich  only 
the  appearance,  in  the  second  only  the  construction,  of  the 
wheels  is  described.  ^''P'^.^  is  the  chrysolite  of  the  ancients, 
the  topaz  of  the  moderns, — a  stone  having  the  lustre  of  gold. 
The  construction  of  the  wheels  was  as  if  one  wheel  were 
within  a  wheel,  i.e.  as  if  in  the  wheel  a  second  were  inserted  at 
right  angles,  so  that  without  being  turned  it  could  go  towards 
all  the  four  sides.  in''33,  in  ver.  18,  stands  absolutely.  "As 
regards  their  felloes,"  they  possessed  height  and  terribleness, 
— the  latter  because  they  were  full  of  eyes  all  round.  Hitzig 
arbitrarily  understands  nna  of  the  upper  sides ;  and  HN"!^,,  after 
the  Arabic,  of  the  under  side,  or  that  which  lies  towards  the 
back.  The  movement  of  the  wheels  completely  followed  the 
movement  of  the  creatures  (vers.  19-21),  because  the  spirit  of 


28  THE  PROrHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

the  creature  was  in  the  wheels,  i^)^^,  in  vers.  20  and  21,  is 
not  the  "  principle  of  life "  (Hiivernick),  but  the  cherubic 
creatures  conceived  as  a  unity,  as  in  ver.  22,  where  the  mean- 
inff  is  undoubted.  The  sense  is :  the  wheels  were,  in  their 
motion  and  rest,  completely  bound  by  the  movements  and  rest 
of  the  creatures,  because  the  spirit  which  ruled  in  them  was 
also  in  the  wheels,  and  regulated  their  going,  standing,  and 
rising  upwards.  By  the  rrnn  ni  the  wheels  are  bound  in  one 
with  the  cherub-figures,  but  not  by  means  of  a  chariot,  to  or 
upon  which  the  cherubim  were  attached. 

Vers.  22-28.  The  throne  of  Jehovah.— Ver.  22.  And  over  the 
heads  of  the  creature  there  appeared  an  expanse  like  the  appear- 
ance of  the  terrible  crystal^  stretched  out  over  their  heads  above. 
Ver.  23.  And  under  the  expanse  loere  their  wings^  extended 
straight  one  toioards  another :  each  had  two  ivings,  covering  to  these, 
and  each  two  (icings),  covering  to  those,  their  bodies.  Ver.  24. 
And  T  heard  the  sound  of  their  loings,  as  the  sound  of  many  waters, 
like  the  voice  of  the  Almighty,  as  they  went:  a  loud  rushing  like 
the  clamour  of  a  camp :  when  they  stood,  they  let  doion  their 
wings.  Ver.  25.  And  there  came  a  voice  from  above  the  ex- 
panse which  toas  above  their  heads;  when  they  stood,  they  let 
their  loings  sink  doicn.  Ver.  26.  Over  the  expanse  above  their 
heads  ivas  to  be  seen,  like  a  sapphire  stone,  the  fgure  of  a  throne : 
and  over  the  figure  of  the  throne  was  a  figure  resembling  a  man 
above  it.  Ver.  27.  And  I  saw  like  the  aptpearance  of  gloioing 
brass,  like  the  appearance  of  fire  loithin  the  same  round  about ; 
from  the  appearance  of  his  loins  upwards,  and  from  the  appear- 
ance of  his  loins  doivnioards,  I  saw  as  of  the  appearance  of  fire, 
and  a  shining  light  was  round  about  it.  Ver.  28.  Like  the 
appearance  of  the  boiv,  which  is  in  the  clouds  in  the  day  of  rain, 
was  the  appearance  of  the  shining  light  round  about.  This  ivas 
the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah.  And  1 
saw  it,  and /ell  upon  my  face,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  one  that 
spake. — Above,  over  the  heads  of  the  figures  of  the  cherubim, 
Ezekiel  sees  something  like   the  firmament   of   heaven   (ver. 


CHAP.  L  22-28.  29 

22  sq.),  and  hears  from  above  this  canopy  a  voice,  which  re- 
-echoes in  the  rushing  of  the  wings  of  the  cherubim,  and  deter- 
mines the  movement  as  well  as  the  standing  still  of  these 
creatures.  The  first  sentence  of  ver.  22  literally  signifies: 
"  And  a  likeness  was  over  the  heads  of  the  creature, — a  canopy, 
as  it  were,  stretched  out."  y^i?^  is  not  the  genitive  after  r)^0"=i, 
but  an  explanatory  apposition  to  it,  and  before  T\ri  I  neither 
has  3  fallen  out  (as  Hitzig  supposes),  nor  is  it  to  be  supplied. 
For  riiJ3T  denotes  not  any  definite  likeness,  with  which  another 
could  be  compared,  but,  properly,  similitudoj  and  is  employed 
by  Ezekiel  in  the  sense  of  "  something  like."  ViP'^,  without  the 
article,  does  not  mean  the  firmament  of  heaven,  but  any  ex- 
panse, the  appearance  of  which  is  first  described  as  resembling 
the  firmament  by  the  words  Tr\\)T\  pya.  It  is  not  the  firmament 
of  heaven  which  Ezekiel  sees  above  the  heads  of  the  cherubim, 
but  an  expanse  resembling  it,  which  has  the  shining  appearance 
of  a  fear-inspiring  crystal.  K"ii3,  used  of  crystal,  in  so  far  as 
the  appearance  of  this  glittering  mass  dazzles  the  eyes,  and 
assures  terror,  as  in  Judg.  xiii.  6,  of  the  look  of  the  angel ;  and 
in  Job  xxxvii.  22,  of  the  divine  majesty.  The  description  is 
based  upon  Ex.  xxiv.  10,  and  the  similitude  of  the  crystal  has 
passed  over  to  the  Apocalypse,  iv.  6.  Under  the  canopy  were 
the  wings  of  the  cherubim,  niiB'^.,  standing  straight,  i.e.  spread 
out  in  a  horizontal  direction,  so  that  they  appeared  to  support 
the  canopy.  nnins~7X  nc^K  is  not,  with  Jerome  and  others,  to 
be  referred  to  the  cherubim  (•^'C''!)),  but  to  cn''D33j  as  in  ver.  9. 
The  ^''ip  which  follows  does  refer,  on  the  contrary,  to  the 
cherub,  and  literally  signifies,  "  To  each  were  two  wings,  cover- 
ing, namely,  to  these  and  those,  their  bodies."  >^^>J>  corresponds 
to  ^''ip,  in  a  manner  analogous  to  Dri7  nnsp  in  ver.  6.  By  the 
repetition  of  the  i^^^li,  "  to  these  and  those,"  the  four  cherubim 
are  divided  into  two  pairs,  standing  opposite  to  one  another. 
That  this  statement  contradicts,  as  Hitzig  asserts,  the  first  half 
of  the  verse,  is  by  no  means  evident.  If  the  two  creatures  on 
each  side  covered  their  bodies  with  the  two  wings,  then  two 


30  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Other  wings  could  very  easily  be  so  extended  under  the  canopy 
that  the  tops  of  the  one  should  touch  those  of  the  other.  As 
the  creatures  moved,  Ezekiel  hears  the  sound,  i.e.  the  rustling 
of  their  wings,  like  the  roaring  of  mighty  billows.  This  is 
strengthened  by  the  second  comparison,  "  like  the  voice  of  the 
Almighty,"  i.e.  resembling  thunder,  cf.  x.  5.  The  n?Dn  Hp 
that  follows  still  depends  on  V^K'X..  ^'^r\.,  which  occurs  only 
here  and  in  Jer.  xi.  6,  is  probably  synonymous  with  li^n, 
"  roaring,"  "  noise,"  "  tumult."  This  rushing  sound,  however, 
was  heard  only  when  the  creatures  were  in  motion ;  for  when 
they  stood,  they  allowed  their  wings  to  fall  down.  This,  of 
course,  applies  only  to  the  upper  wings,  as  the  under  ones, 
which  covered  the  body,  hung  downwards,  or  were  let  down. 
From  this  it  clearly  appears  that  the  upper  wings  neither  sup- 
ported nor  bore  up  the  canopy  over  their  heads,  but  only  were 
so  extended,  when  the  cherubim  were  in  motion,  that  they 
touched  the  canopy.  In  ver.  25  is  also  mentioned  whence  the 
loud  sound  came,  which  was  heard,  during  the  moving  of  the 
wings,  from  above  the  canopy,  consequently  from  him  who  was 
placed  above  it,  so  that  the  creatures,  always  after  this  voice 
resounded,  went  on  or  stood  still,  i.e.  put  themselves  in  motion, 
or  remained  without  moving,  according  to  its  command.  AVith 
the  repetition  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  24  this  subject  is  con- 
cluded in  ver.  25.  Over  or  above  upon  the  firmament  was  to 
be  seen,  like  a  sapphire  stone,  the  likeness  of  a  throne,  on  which 
sat  one  in  the  form  of  a  man — i.e.  Jehovah  appeared  in  human 
form,  as  in  Dan.  vii.  9  sq.  Upon  this  was  poured  out  a  fiery, 
shining  light,  like  glowing  brass  (p'^''rV  VV.,  as  in  ver.  4)  and 
like  fire,  n^^D  r^h-T\%  « within  it  round  about "  (n^30  =  n^3, 
"  within,"  and  n?,  pointing  back  to  NM  ni»"n).  This  appears 
to  be  the  simplest  explanation  of  these  obscure  words.  They 
are  rendered  differently  by  Ilitzig,  who  translates  them  :  "like 
fire  which  has  a  covering  round  about  it,  i.e.  like  fire  which  is 
enclosed,  whose  shining  contrasts  so  much  the  more  brightly  on 
account  of  the  dark  surroundings."     But,  to  say  nothing  of 


CHAP.  I.  22-23.  81 

the  change  ^vhich  would  then  be  necessary  of  H^^i  into  0^3, 
this  meaning  seems  very  far-fetched,  and  cannot  be  accepted 
for  this  reason  alone,  that  C'X  nx"]?Pj  neither  in  the  following 
hemistich  (ver.  27b)  nor  in  viii.  2,  has  any  such  or  similar 
strengthening  addition.  The  appearance  above  shows,  as  the 
centre  of  the  cloud  (ver.  4),  a  fiery  gleam  of  light,  only  there 
is  to  be  perceived  upon  the  throne  a  figure  resembling  a  man, 
fiery-looking  from  the  loins  upwards  and  downwards,  and 
round  about  the  figure,  or  rather  round  the  throne,  a  shining 
light  (H^b,  cf.  ver.  4),  like  the  rainbow  in  tlie  clouds,  cf.  Apoc. 
iv.  3.  This  [x^n,  ver.  28,  does  not  refer  to  ^Jiin,  but  to  the  whole 
appearance  of  him  who  was  enthroned, — the  covering  of  light 
included,  but  throne  and  cherubim  (x.  4, 19)  excluded  (Hitzig)] 
was  the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  Jehovah's  glory.  With 
these  words  closes  the  description  of  the  vision.  The  following- 
clause,  "  And  I  saw,  etc.,"  forms  the  transition  to  the  word  of 
Jehovah,  which  follows  on  the  second  chapter,  and  which  sum- 
moned Ezekiel  to  become  a  prophet  to  Israel.  Before  we  pass, 
however,  to  an  explanation  of  this  word,  we  must  endeavour  to 
form  to  ourselves  a  clear  conception  of  the  significance  of  this 
theophany. 

For  its  full  understanding  we  have  first  of  all  to  keep  in 
view  that  it  was  imparted  to  Ezekiel  not  merely  on  his  being 
called  to  the  office  of  prophet,  but  was  again  repeated  three 
times, — namely,  in  ch.  iii.  22  sqq.,  where  he  was  commissioned 
to  predict  symbolically  the  impending  siege  of  Jerusalem  ;  ch. 
viii.  4  sqq,,  when  he  is  transported  in  spirit  to  the  temple-court 
at  Jerusalem  for  the  purpose  of  beholding  the  abominations  of 
the  idol-worship  practised  by  the  people,  and  to  announce  the 
judgment  which,  in  consequence  of  these  abominations,  was  to 
burst  upon  the  city  and  the  temple,  in  which  it  is  shown  to 
him  how  the  glory  of  the  Lord  abandons,  first  the  temple  and 
thereafter  the  city  also ;  and  in  ch.  xliii.  1  sqq.,  in  which  is 
shown  to  him  the  filling  of  the  new  temple  with  the  glory  of 
the  Lord,  to  dwell  for  ever  among  the  children  of  Israel.     In 


32  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

all  three  passages  it  is  expressly  testified  that  the  divine  ap- 
pearance was  like  the  first  which  he  witnessed  on  the  occasion 
of  his  call.     From  this  Kliefoth   has   drawn  the  right  con- 
clusion, that  the  theophany  in  ch.  i.  4  sqq.  bears  a  relation  not 
to  the  call  only,  but  to  the  whole  prophetic  work  of  Ezekiel : 
"  We  may  not  say  that  God  so  appears  to  Ezekiel  at  a  later 
time,  because  He  so  appeared  to  him  at  his  call ;  but  we  must 
say,  conversely,  that  because  God  wills  and  must  so  appear  to 
Ezekiel  at  a  later  time  while  engaged  in  his  prophetic  vocation, 
therefore  He  also  appears  to  him  in  this  form  already  at  his 
call."     The  intention,  however,  with  which  God  so  appears  to 
him  is  distinctly  contained  in  the  two  last  passages,  ch.  viii.-xi. 
and  ch.  xliii :  "  God  withdraws  in  a  visible  manner  from  the 
temple  and  Jerusalem,  which  are  devoted  to  destruction  on 
account  of  the  sin  of  the  people:  in  a  visible  manner  God 
enters   into    the    new    temple    of    the   future ;    and    because 
the    whole    of    what    Ezekiel    was    inspired    to    foretell    was 
comprehended  in  these  two  things, — the  destruction  oi  the 
existing  temple   and  city,  and  the  raising  up  of  a  new  and 
a  better ; — because  the  whole  of  his  prophetic  vocation  had 
its  fulfilment  in  these,  therefore  God  appears  to  Ezekiel  on 
his  call  to  be  a  prophet  in  the  same  form  as  that  in  which  He 
departs  from  the  ancient  temple  and  Jerusalem,  in  order  to 
their  destruction,  and  in  which  He  enters  into  the  new  edifice 
in  order  to  make  it  a  temple.    The  form  of  the  theophany,  there- 
fore, is  what  it  is  in  i.  4  sqq.,  because  its  purpose  was  to  show 
and  announce  to  the  prophet,  on  the  one  side  the  destruction 
of  the  temple,  and  on  the  other  its  restoration  and  glorification." 
These  remarks  are  quite  correct,  only  the  significance  of  the 
theophany  itself  is  not  thereby  made  clear.     If  it  is  clear  from 
the  purpose  indicated  why  God  here  has  the  cherubim  with  Him, 
wliile  on  the  occasion  of  other  appearances  (e.g.  Dan.  vii.  9 ; 
Isa.  vi.  1)  He  is  without  cherubim ;  as  the  cherubim  here  have 
no  other  significancy  than  what  their  figures  have  in  the  taber- 
nacle, viz.  that  God  has  there  His  dwelling-place,  the  seat  of 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  33 

His  gracious  presence ;  yet  this  does  not  satisfactorily  explain 
either  the  special  marks  by  which  the  cherubim  of  Ezekiel  are 
distinguished  from  those  in  the  tabernacle  and  in  Solomon's 
temple,  or  the  other  attributes  of  the  theophany.  Kliefoth, 
moreover,  does  not  misapprehend  those  diversities  in  the  figures 
of  the  cherubim,  and  finds  indicated  therein  the  intention  of 
causing  it  distinctly  to  appear  that  it  is  the  one  and  same 
Jehovah,  enthroned  amid  the  cherubim,  who  destroys  the 
temple,  and  who  again  uprears  it.  Because  Ezekiel  was  called 
to  predict  both  events,  he  therefore  thinks  there  must  be 
excluded,  on  the  one  hand,  such  attributes  in  the  form  of  the 
manifestation  as  would  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  different 
aims  of  the  theophany;  while,  on  the  other,  those  which  are 
important  for  the  different  aims  must  be  combined  and  com- 
prehended in  one  form,  that  this  one  foi*m  may  be  appropriate 
to  all  the  manifestations  of  the  theophany.  It  could  not  there- 
fore have  in  it  the  ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  mercy-seat ; 
because,  although  these  would  probably  have  been  appropriate 
to  the  manifestation  for  the  destruction  of  the  old  temple  (viii. 
1  sqq.),  they  would  not  have  been  in  keeping  with  that  for 
entering  into  the  new  temple.  Instead  of  this,  it  must  show 
the  living  God  Himself  upon  the  throne  among  "the  living 
creatures;"  because  it  belongs  to  the  new  and  glorious  existence 
of  the  temple  of  the  future,  that  it  should  have  Jehovah  Him- 
self dwelling  within  it  in  a  visible  form.  From  this,  too,  may 
be  explained  the  great  fulness  of  the  attributes,  which  are 
divisible  into  three  classes :  1.  Those  which  relate  to  the  mani- 
festation of  God  for  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  2.  Those 
which  relate  to  the  manifestation  of  God  for  entering  into  the 
new  temple ;  and,  3.  Those  which  serve  both  objects  in  com- 
mon. To  the  last  class  belongs  everything  which  is  essential 
to  the  manifestation  of  God  in  itself,  e.g.  the  visibility  of  God  in 
general,  the  presence  of  the  cherubim  in  itself,  and  so  on :  to 
the  first  class  all  the  signs  that  indicate  wrath  and  judgment, 
consequently,  first,  the  coming  from  the  north,  especially  the 

EZEK.  I.  C 


ol  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

fire,  tlie  Uglitnings,  in  which  God  appears  as  He  who  is  coming 
to  judgment ;  but  to  the  second,  besides  the  rainbow  and  the 
appearance  of  God  in  human  form,  especially  the  wheels  and 
the  fourfold  manifestation  in  the  cherubim  and  wheels.  For  the 
new  temple  does  not  represent  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  by 
Zerubbabel,  but  the  economy  of  salvation  founded  by  Christ  at 
His  appearing,  to  which  they  belong  as  essential  tokens;  to  be 
founded,  on  the  one  hand,  by  God's  own  coming  and  dwelling 
upon  the  earth ;  on  the  other,  to  be  of  an  oecumenic  character, 
in  opposition  to  the  particularities  and  local  nature  of  the  pre- 
vious ancient  dispensation  of  salvation.  God  appears  bodily, 
in  human  form ;  lowers  down  to  earth  the  canopy  on  which 
His  throne  is  seated ;  the  cherubim,  which  indicate  God's 
gracious  presence  with  Plis  people,  appear  not  merely  in  symbol, 
but  in  living  reality,  plant  their  feet  upon  the  ground,  while 
each  cherub  has  at  his  side  a  wheel,  which  moves,  not  in  the 
air,  but  only  upon  the  earth.  By  this  it  is  shown  that  God 
Himself  is  to  descend  to  the  earth,  to  walk  and  to  dwell  visibly 
among  His  people ;  while  the  oecumenic  character  of  the  new 
economy  of  salvation,  for  the  establishment  of  which  God  is 
to  visit  the  earth,  is  represented  in  the  fourfold  form  of  the 
cherubim  and  wheels.  The  number  four — the  sign  of  the 
oecumenicity  which  is  to  come,  and  the  symbol  of  its  being 
spread  abroad  into  all  the  world — is  assigned  to  the  cherubim 
and  wheels,  to  portray  the  spreading  abroad  of  the  new  kingdom 
of  God  over  the  whole  earth.  But  how  much  soever  that  is 
true  and  striking  this  attempt  at  explanation  may  contain  in 
details,  it  does  not  touch  the  heart  of  the  subject,  and  is  not 
free  from  bold  combinations.  The  correctness  of  the  assump- 
tion, that  in  the  theophany  attributes  of  an  opposite  kind  are 
united,  namely,  such  as  should  refer  only  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple,  and  such  as  relate  only  to  the 
foundation  and  nature  of  the  new  economy  of  salvation,  is 
beset  with  well-founded  doubts.  Why,  on  such  a  hypothesis, 
should  the  form  of  the  theophany  remain  the  same  throughout 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  3'5 

in  all  tliree  or  four  cases?  This  question,  wlilc]i  lies  on  the 
surface,  is  not  satisfactorily  answered  by  the  remark  that 
Ezekiel  had  to  predict  not  only  the  destruction  of  the  old,  but 
also  the  foundation  of  a  new  and  much  more  glorious  kingdom 
of  God.  For  not  only  would  this  end,  but  also  the  object  of 
showing  that  it  is  the  same  God  who  is  to  accomplish  both, 
have  been  fully  attained  if  the  theophany  had  remained  the 
same  only  in  those  attributes  which  emblemize  in  a  general 
way  God's  gracious  presence  in  His  temple ;  while  the  special 
attributes,  which  typify  only  the  one  and  the  other  purpose  of 
the  divine  appearance,  would  only  then  have  been  added,  or 
brought  prominently  out,  where  this  or  that  element  of  the 
theophany  had  to  be  announced.  Lloreover,  the  necessity  in 
general  of  a  theophany  for  the  purpose  alleged  is  not  evident, 
much  less  the  necessity  of  a  theophany  so  peculiar  in  form. 
Other  prophets  also,  e.g.  Micah,  without  having  seen  a  theo- 
phany, have  predicted  in  the  clearest  and  distinctest  manner 
both  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  and  the 
raising  up  of  a  new  and  more  glorious  kingdom  of  God.  The 
reason,  then,  why  Ezekiel  witnessed  such  a  theophany,  not 
only  at  his  call,  but  had  it  repeated  to  him  at  every  new  turn 
in  his  prophetic  ministry,  must  be  deeper  than  that  assigned ; 
and  the  theophany  must  have  another  meaning  than  that  of 
merely  consecrating  the  prophet  for  the  purpose  of  announcino- 
both  the  judgment  upon  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  and  the 
raising  up  of  a  new  and  more  glorious  economy  of  salvation, 
and  strengthening  the  word  of  the  prophet  by  a  symbolical 
representation  of  its  contents. 

To  recognise  this  meaning,  we  must  endeavour  to  form  a 
distinct  conception,  not  merely  of  the  principal  elements  of  our 
theophany,  but  to  take  into  consideration  at  the  same  time  their 
relation  to  other  theophanies.  In  our  theophany  three  elements 
are  unmistakeably  prominent, — 1st,  The  peculiarly  formed 
cherubim  ;  2d,  The  wheels  are  seen  beside  the  cherubim  ;  and, 
3d,  The  firmament  above,  both  with  the  throne  and  the  form  of 


36  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

God  in  human  shape  seated  upon  the  throne.  The  order  of 
these  three  elements  in  the  description  is  perhaps  hardly  of 
any  importance,  but  is  simply  explicable  from  this,  that  to  the 
seer  who  is  on  earth  it  is  the  under  part  of  the  figure  which, 
appearing  visibly  in  the  clouds,  first  presents  itself,  and  that 
his  look  next  turns  to  the  upper  part  of  the  theophany. 
Especially  significant  above  all,  however,  is  the  appearance  of 
the  cherubim  under  or  at  the  throne  of  God;  and  by  this  it  is 
indisputably  pointed  out  that  He  who  appears  upon  the  throne 
is  the  same  God  that  is  enthroned  in  the  temple  between  the 
cherubim  of  the  mercy -seat  upon  their  outspread  wings. 
"Whatever  opinion  may  be  formed  regarding  the  nature  and 
significance  of  the  cherubim,  this  much  is  undoubtedly  estab- 
lished, that  they  belong  essentially  to  the  symbolical  repre- 
sentation of  Jehovah's  gracious  presence  in  Israel,  and  that 
this  portion  of  our  vision  has  its  real  foundation  in  the  plastic 
representation  of  this  gracious  relation  in  the  Holy  of  Holies 
of  the  tabernacle  or  temple.  As,  however,  opinions  are  divided 
on  the  subject  of  the  meaning  of  these  symbols,  and  the 
cherubim  of  Ezekiel,  moreover,  present  no  inconsiderable  differ- 
ences in  their  four  faces  and  four  wings  from  the  figures  of 
the  cherubim  upon  the  mercy-seat  and  in  the  temple,  which 
had  only  one  face  and  two  wings,  we  must,  for  the  full  under- 
standing of  our  vision,  look  a  little  more  closely  to  the  nature 
and  significance  of  the  cherubim. 

While,  according  to  the  older  view,  the  cherubim  are  angelic 
beings  of  a  higher  order,  the  opinion  at  the  present  day  is 
widely  prevalent,  that  they  are  only  symbolical  figures,  to  which 
nothing  real  corresponds,  —  merely  ideal  representations  of 
creature  life  in  its  highest  fulness.^     This  modern  view,  how- 

*  Compare  the  investigation  of  the  cherubim  in  my  Handhuch  der  Bib- 
lischen  Archxnhr/ie,  I.  pp.  86  sqq.  and  113  sqq.  ;  also  KWeioth's  Abhanillinig 
uber  die  Zaldenxipiibolik  der  heiligen  Schri/t  in  der  Theolog.  Zeitschrift  von 
Dieckhoff  und  Kliefoth,  III.  p.  381  sqq.,  where  especially  the  older  view — 
that  the  cherubim  are  angelic  beings  of  a  higher  rank — is  defended  in  a 
thorough  manner,  and  the  daring  hypothesis  of  Hofmanu  signally  refuted ; 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  37 

ever,  finds  in  the  circumstance  that  the  cherubim  in  the  Israel- 
itish  sanctuary,  as  well  as  in  Ezekiel  and  in  the  Apocalypse, 
are  symbolical  figures  of  varying  shape,  only  an  apparent  but 
no  real  support.  The  cherubim  occur  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  Paradise,  where,  in  Gen.  iii.  22-24,  it  is  related  that 
God,  after  expelling  the  first  human  pair  from  Paradise,  placed 
at  the  east  side  of  the  garden  the  cherubim  and  the  flame  of  a 
sword,  which  turned  hither  and  thitlier,  to  guard  the  way  to  the 
tree  of  life.  If  this  narrative  contains  historical  truth,  and  is 
not  merely  a  myth  or  philosopheme ;  if  Paradise  and  the  Fall, 
with  their  consequences,  extending  over  all  humanity,  are  to 
remain  real  things  and  occurrences, — then  must  the  cherubim 
also  be  taken  as  real  beings.  "  For  God  will  not  have  placed 
symbols  —  pure  creations  of  Hebrew  fancy  —  at  the  gate  of 
Paradise,"  Kliefoth.  Upon  the  basis  of  this  narrative,  Ezekiel 
also  held  the  cherubim  to  be  spiritual  beings  of  a  higher  rank. 
This  appears  from  ch.  xxviii.  14-16,  where  he  compares  the 
prince  of  Tyre,  in  reference  to  the  high  and  glorious  position 
which  God  had  assigned  him,  to  a  cherub,  and  to  Elohim. 
It  does  not  at  all  conflict  with  the  recognition  of  the  cherubim 
as  real  beings,  and,  indeed,  as  spiritual  or  angelic  beings,  that 
they  are  employed  in  visions  to  represent  super-sensible  rela- 
tions, or  are  represented  in  a  plastic  form  in  the  sanctuary  of 
Israel.  "  When  angels,"  as  Kliefoth  correctly  remarks  in  re- 
ference to  this,  "  sing  the  song  of  praise  in  the  holy  night,  this 
is  an  historical  occurrence,  and  these  anirels  are  real  ano-els, 
who  testify  by  their  appearance  that  there  are  such  beings  as 
angels ;  but  when,  in  the  Apocalypse,  angels  pour  forth  sounds 
of  wrath,  these  angels  are  figures  in  vision,  as  elsewhere,  also, 
men  and  objects  are  seen  in  vision."  But  even  this  employment 
of  the  angels  as  "  figures  "  in  vision,  rests  upon  the  belief  that 

Lastly,  Ed.  C.  Aug.  Riehm,  De  naturd  et  notione  symhoUcd  Cheruhorum, 
Commentat.  Basil.  1864,  who,  proceeding  from  the  view — adopted  by  Biihr, 
Hengstenberg,  and  others — that  the  cherubim  were  only  symbolical  figures, 
has  sought  to  determine  more  minutely  the  meaning  of  these  symbols. 


38  THE  PEOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

there  are  actually  beings  of  tins  kind.  Biblical  symbolism 
furnishes  not  a  single  undoubtecl  instance  of  abstract  ideas,  or 
ideal  creations  of  the  imagination,  being  represented  by  the 
prophets  as  living  beings.  Under  the  plastic  representation  of 
the  cherubim  upon  the  mercy-seat,  and  in  the  most  holy  and 
holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple,  lies  the  idea,  that 
these  are  heavenly,  spiritual  beings ;  for  in  the  tabernacle  and 
temple  (which  was  built  after  its  pattern)  essential  relations  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  are  embodied,  and  all  the  symbols  derived 
from  things  having  a  real  existence.  When,  however,  on  the 
other  hand,  Ilengstenberg  objects,  on  Apoc.  iv.  6,  "  that  what 
Vitringa  remarks  is  sufficient  to  refute  those  who,  under  the 
cherubim,  would  understand  angels  of  rank, — viz.  that  these 
four  creatures  are  throughout  the  whole  of  this  vision  connected 
with  the  assembly  of  the  elders,  and  are  distinguished  not  only 
from  the  angels,  but  from  all  tlie  angels,  as  is  done  in  ch. 
vii.  11," — we  must  regard  this  refutation  as  altogether  futile. 
From  the  division  of  the  heavenly  assembly  before  the  throne 
into  two  choirs  or  classes  (Apoc.  v.  and  vii.), — in  which  the  ^wa 
(cherubim)  and  the  elders  form  the  one  (v.  8),  the  ayyeXot, 
the  other  choir  (ver.  11), — an  argument  can  be  as  little  derived 
ao-ainst  the  angelic  nature  of  the  cherubim,  as  it  could  be 
shown,  from  the  distinction  between  the  arparia  ovpdvco'i  and 
a77eXo9,  in  Luke  ii.  13,  that  the  "  multitude  of  the  heavenly 
host"  were  no  angels  at  all.  And  the  passage  in  Apoc.  vii.  11 
would  only  then  furnish  the  supposed  proof  against  the  re- 
lationship of  the  cherubim  to  the  angels,  if  Traj^re?  dyyekoL 
in  general — all  angels,  how  numerous  soever  they  may  be — 
were  spoken  of.  But  the  very  tenor  of  the  words,  Trai/re?  ol 
ajyeXoi,,  "all  the  angels,"  points  back  to  the  choir  of  angels 
already  mentioned  in  ch.  v.  11,  which  was  formed  by  iroXXol 
ayyekoLj  whose  number  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand, 
and  thousands  of  thousands.^     From  the  distinction   between 

^  See  on   this  distinction  Winer's  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek 
(Moulton's  translation),  p.  137,  where,  among  otlicr  remarks,  it  is  obscrveil 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  39 

the  ^(oa  and  the  ayyeXoL  in  the  Apocalypse,  no  further  in- 
ference can  be  deduced  than  that  the  cherubim  are  not  common 
angels,  "ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister"  (Heb.  i. 
14),  but  constitute  a  special  class  of  angels  of  higher  rank. 
More  exact  information  regarding  the  relationship  of  the  cheru- 
bim to  the  other  angels,  or  their  nature,  cannot  indeed  be 
obtained,  either  from  the  name  cherubim  or  from  the  circum- 
stance that,  with  the  exception  of  Gen.  iii.,  they  occur  always 
only  in  connection  with  the  throne  of  God.  The  etymology  of 
the  word  3^i?  is  obscure :  all  the  derivations  that  have  been 
proposed  from  the  Hebrew  or  any  other  Semitic  dialect  cannot 
make  the  slightest  pretensions  to  probability.  The  word  appears 
to  have  come  down  from  antiquity  along  with  the  tradition  of 
Paradise.  See  my  Biblical  ArchcBology,  p.  88  sqq.  If  we  take 
into  consideration,  however,  that  Ezekiel  calls  them  ni'rij  and 
first  in  ch.  x.  employs  the  name  C?''"'?,  known  from  the  taber- 
nacle, or  rather  from  the  history  of  Paradise ;  since,  as  may 
be  inferred  from  x.  20,  he  first  recognised,  from  the  repetition 
of  the  theophany  related  in  ch.  x.,  that  the  living  creatures 
seen  in  the  vision  toere  cherubim, — we  may,  from  the  designa- 
tion ni'rij  form  a  supposition,  if  not  as  to  their  nature,  at  least 
as  to  the  significance  of  their  position  towards  the  throne  of 
God.  They  are  termed  nvn^  "  living,"  not  as  being  "  ideal 
representatives  of  all  living  things  upon  the  earth"  (Hengsten- 
berg),  but  as  beings  which,  among  all  the  creatures  in  heaven 
and  earth,  possess  and  manifest  life  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
word,  and  on  that  very  account,  of  all  spiritual  beings,  stand 
nearest  to  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh  (who  lives  from 
eternity  to  eternity),  and  encircle  His  throne.  With  this  repre- 
sentation harmonises  not  only  the  fact,  that  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  first  human  beings  from  Paradise,  God  commanded  them 
to  guard  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life,  but  also  the  form  in  which 

that  "  TToLactt  ysvixi  are  all  generations,  whatever  their  number ;  Trxtrui 
ui  yivixi  (Matt.  i.  17),  a/7  the  generations, — those  which,  either  from  the 
context  or  in  some  other  way,  are  familiar  as  a  definite  number." 


40  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

they  were  represented  in  the  sanctuary  and  in  the  visions. 
The  cherubim  in  the  sanctuary  had  the  form  of  a  man,  and 
were  only  marked  out  by  their  wings  as  super-terrestrial  beings, 
not  bound  by  the  earthly  limits  of  space.  The  cherubim  in 
Ezekiel  and  the  Apocalypse  also  preserve  the  appearance  of  a 
man.  Angels  also  assume  the  human  form  when  they  appear 
visibly  to  men  on  earth,  because  of  all  earthly  creatures  man, 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  takes  the  first  and  highest  place. 
For  although  the  divine  image  principally  consists  in  the 
spiritual  nature  of  man, — in  the  soul  breathed  into  him  by  the 
Spirit  of  God, — yet  his  bodily  form,  as  the  vessel  of  this  soul, 
is  the  most  perfect  corporeity  of  which  we  have  any  know- 
ledge, and  as  such  forms  the  most  appropriate  garment  for 
rendering  visible  the  heavenly  spiritual  being  within.  But  the 
cherubim  in  our  vision  exhibit,  besides  the  figure  of  the  human 
body  with  the  face  of  a  man,  also  the  face  of  the  lion,  of  the 
ox,  and  of  the  eagle,  and  four  wings,  and  appear  as  four-sided, 
square-formed  beings,  with  a  face  on  each  of  their  four  sides, 
so  that  they  go  in  any  direction  without  turning,  and  yet, 
while  so  doing,  they  can  always  proceed  in  the  direction  of  one 
face ;  while  in  the  vision  in  the  Apocalypse,  the  four  faces  of 
the  creatures  named  are  divided  among  the  four  cherubim,  so 
that  each  has  only  one  of  them.  In  the  countenance  of  man 
is  portrayed  his  soul  and  spirit,  and  in  each  one  also  of  the 
higher  order  of  animals,  its  nature.  The  union  of  the  lion,  ox, 
and  eagle-faces  with  that  of  man  in  the  cherubim,  is  intended, 
doubtless,  to  represent  them  as  beings  which  possess  the  ful- 
ness and  the  power  of  life,  which  in  the  earthly  creation  is 
divided  among  the  four  creatures  named.  The  Rabbinical 
dictum  {Sc/iemoth  Babba,  Schottgen,  Ilorce  TIebraicce,  p.  1168)  : 
Quatuor  sunt  qui  principatum  in  hoc  mundo  tenent.  Inter 
creaturas  homo,  inter  aves  aquila,  inter  pecora  bos,  inter  bestias 
leo,  contains  a  truth,  even  if  there  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  it  the  idea  that  these  four  creatures  represent  the  entire 
earthly  creation.     For  in  the  cherub,  the  living  powers  of  these 


CnAP.  I.  22-28.  41 

four  creatures  are  actually  united.  That  the  eagle,  namely, 
comes  into  consideration  only  in  reference  to  his  power  of 
flight,  in  which  he  excels  all  other  birds,  may  be  concluded 
from  the  circumstance  that  in  Apoc.  iv.  7  the  fourth  ^coov  is 
described  as  resembling  an  eagle  flying.  According  to  this 
principle,  the  ox  and  the  lion  are  only  to  be  considered  in 
reference  to  their  physical  strength,  in  virtue  of  which  the  ox 
amongst  tame  animals,  the  lion  amongst  wild  beasts,  take  the 
first  place,  while  man,  through  the  power  of  his  mind,  asserts 
his  supremacy  over  all  earthly  creatures.^  The  number  four, 
lastly,  both  of  the  cherubim  and  of  the  four  faces  of  each 
cherub  in  our  vision,  is  connected  with  their  capacity  to  go  in 
all  directions  without  turning,  and  can  contribute  nothing  in 
favour  of  the  assumption  that  these  four  indicate  tlie  whole 
living  creation,  upon  the  simple  ground  that  the  number  four 
is  not  essential  to  them,  for  on  the  mercy-seat  only  two  cheru- 
bim are  found.  That  they  are  also  represented  in  the  vision 
as  higher  spiritual  beings,  appears  not  only  from  Ezek.  x.  7, 
where  a  cherub  stretches  forth  his  hand  and  fetches  out  fire 
from  between  the  cherubim,  and  places  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
angel  clothed  in  white  linen,  who  was  to  accomplish  the  burn- 
ing of  Jerusalem  ;  but,  still  more  distinctly,  from  what  is  said 
in  the  Apocalypse  regarding  their  working.  Here  we  observe 
them,  as  Kliefoth  has  already  pointed  out,  "  in  manifold 
activity :  they  utter  day  and  night  the  Tersanctus ;  they  offer 
worship,  iv,  8,  9,  v.  8,  xlx.  4 ;  they  repeat  the  Amen  to  the 
song  of  praise  from  all  creation,  v.  14 ;  they  invite  Jolni  to  see 
what  the  four  first  seals  are  accomplishing,  vi.  1,  3,  5,  7  ;  one 
of  them  gives  to  the  seven  angels  the  seven  phials  of  wrath, 
XV.  7." 

'  This  has  been  already  rightly  recognised  by  Riehm,  I.e.  p..  21  fF.,  who 
has  drawn  from  it  the  inference  :  quaternis  icjitur  faciehus  eximiae  vires 
atqiie  facultates  significantur  cherubis  a  deo  ad  nninus  suum  sustinendum 
impertitae,  which  is  connected  with  the  erroneous  representation  that  the 
cherubim  are  intended  to  bear  the  throne  of  God,  and  to  carry  the  Lord  of 
the  world. 


42  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Besides  this  activity  of  theirs  in  the  carrying  out  of  the 
divine  counsel  of  salvation,  we  must,  in  order  to  gain  as  clear 
a  view  as  possible  of  the  significance  of  the  cherubim  in  our 
vision,  as  well  as  in  Biblical  symbolism  generally,  keep  also  in 
view  the  position  which,  in  the  Apocalypse,  they  occupy  around 
the  throne  of  God.  Those  who  are  assembled  about  the  throne 
form  these  three  concentric  circles :  the  four  ^wa  (cherubim) 
form  the  innermost  circle ;  the  twenty-four  elders,  seated  upon 
thrones,  clothed  in  white  garments,  and  wearing  golden  crowns 
upon  their  heads,  compose  the  wider  circle  that  follows ;  while 
the  third,  and  widest  of  all,  is  formed  by  the  many  angels,  whose 
number  was  many  thousands  of  thousands  (Apoc.  iv.  4,  6,  v.  6, 
8,  vii.  11).  To  these  are  added  the  great,  innumerable  host, 
standing  before  the  thi-one,  of  the  just  made  perfect  from 
among  all  heathens,  peoples,  and  languages,  in  white  raiment, 
and  with  palms  in  their  hands,  who  have  come  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  w-hito 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  now,  before  the  throne  of  God, 
serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple  (vii.  9,  14,  15).  Ac- 
cordinMy  the  twenty-four  elders,  as  the  patriarchs  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  congregation  of  God,  have  their  place 
beside  God's  throne,  between  the  cherubim  and  the  myriads  of 
the  other  angels ;  and  in  the  same  manner  as  they  are  exalted 
above  the  angels,  are  the  cherubim  exalted  even  above  them. 
This  position  of  the  cherubim  justifies  the  conclusion  that  they 
have  the  name  of  ^coa  from  the  indwelling  fulness  of  the  ever- 
lastinfT  blessed  life  which  is  within  them,  and  which  streams 
out  from  the  Creator  of  spirits— the  King  of  all  kings,  and 
Lord  of  all  lords — upon  the  spiritual  beings  of  heaven,  and 
that  the  cherubim  immediately  surround  the  throne  of  God,  as 
beinc^  representatives  and  bearers  of  the  everlasting  life  of 
blessedness,  which  men,  created  in  the  image  of  God,  have  for- 
feited by  the  Fall,  but  which  they  are  again,  from  the  infini- 
tude of  the  divine  compassion,  to  recover  in  the  divine  kingdom 
founded  for  the  redemption  of  fallen  humanity. 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  43 

It  is  easier  to  recognise  the  meaning  of  the  wlieels  which  in 
our  vision  appear  beside  the  cherubim.  The  wheel  serves  to 
put  the  chariot  in  motion.  Although  the  throne  of  God  is  not 
now  expressly  represented  and  designated  as  a  chariot-throne, 
yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  wheels  which  Ezekiel  sees 
under  the  throne  beside  the  cherubim  are  intended  to  indicate 
the  possibility  and  ease  with  which  the  throne  can  be  moved  in 
the  direction  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  heavens.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  eyes,  however,  is  matter  of  controversy,  with  which, 
according  to  i.  18,  the  felloes  of  the  wheels,  and,  as  is  expressly 
mentioned  in  ch.  x.  12,  and  also  noted  in  Apoc.  iv.  6,  the 
cherubim  themselves  are  furnished  all  round.  According  to 
Kliefoth,  the  eyes  serve  the  purpose  of  motion ;  and  as  the 
movement  of  the  cherubim  and  wheels  indicates  the  spreading 
abroad  over  the  whole  earth  of  the  new  economy  of  salvation, 
this  mass  of  eyes  in  the  cherubim  and  wheels  must  indicate  that 
this  spreading  abroad  is  to  take  place,  not  through  blind  acci- 
dent, but  with  conscious  clearness.  The  meaning  is  not  appro- 
priate to  Apoc.  iv.  6,  where  the  cherubim  have  no  wheels 
beside  them,  and  where  a  going  forth  into  all  countries  is  not 
to  be  thought  of.  Here  therefore,  according  to  Kliefoth,  the 
eyes  only  serve  to  bring  into  view  the  moral  and  physical 
powers  which  have  created  and  supported  the  kingdom  of  God 
upon  earth,  and  which  are  also  to  bring  it  now  to  its  consum- 
mation. This  is  manifestly  arbitrary,  as  any  support  from 
passages  of  the  Bible  in  favour  of  the  one  view  or  the  other  is 
entirely  wanting.  The  remark  of  Eosenmiiller  is  nearer  the 
truth,  that  by  the  multitude  of  the  eyes  is  denoted  Coelestium 
naturarum  perspicacia  et  o^vcoiria,  and  leads  to  the  correct 
explanation  of  Apoc.  v.  6,  where  the  seven  eyes  of  the  Lamb 
are  declared  to  be  ra  eina  irvevjxara  tou  Geov,  ra  uirearaXfieva 
eh  iraaav  rr^v  yfjv ;  the  eyes  consequently  indicate  the  spiritual 
effects  which  proceed  from  the  Lamb  over  the  entire  earth  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  Plis  seven  horns,  which  are  the  symbols 
of  the   completeness  of   His   power.     TJie  eye,  then,  is   the 


44  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

picture  and  mirror  of  the  Spirit;  and  the  ornamentation  of  the 
cherubim  and  wheels  with  eyes,  shows  that  the  power  of  the 
divine  Spirit  dwells  within  them,  and  determines  and  guides 
their  movements. 

The  remaining  objects  of  the  vision  are  not  difficult  to  explain. 
The  appearance  of  the  expanse  over  above  the  cherubim  and 
wheels,  upon  which  a  throne  is  to  be  seen,  represents  the  firma- 
ment or  heaven  as  the  place  of  God's  throne.  God  appears 
upon  the  throne  in  human  form,  in  the  terrible  glory  of  Ilis 
holy  majesty.  The  whole  appearance  draws  nigh  to  the 
prophet  in  the  covering  of  a  great  fiery  cloud  (ver.  4).  This 
cloud  points  back  to  the  "  thick  cloud"  in  which  Jehovah,  in  the 
ancient  time,  descended  upon  Mount  Sinai  amid  thunders  and 
lightnings  (Ex.  xix.  16)  to  establish  Ilis  covenant  of  grace, 
promised  to  the  patriarchs  with  their  seed, — the  people  of  Israel 
brought  forth  from  E^vpt, — and  to  found  His  kingdom  of 
grace  upon  the  earth.  If  we  observe  the  connection  of  our 
theophany  with  that  manifestation  of  God  on  Sinai  for  the 
founding  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  of  salvation,  vie 
shall  neither  confine  the  fire  and  the  lightnings  in  our  vision  to 
the  manifestation  of  God  for  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  temple,  nor  refer  the  splendour  which  appears  above  the 
throne  in  the  form  of  a  rainbow  to  the  grace  which  returns 
after  the  execution  of  judgment,  or  to  the  new  dispensation  of 
salvation  which  is  to  be  established.  Nor  may  we  regard  these 
differing  attributes,  by  referring  them  specially  to  individual 
historical  elements  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  His  kingdom,  as 
in  opposition  ;  but  must  conceive  of  them,  more  generally  and 
from  the  point  of  view  of  unity,  as  symbols  of  the  righteousness, 
holiness,  and  grace  which  God  reveals  in  the  preservation, 
government,  and  consummation  of  His  kingdom.  It  holds 
true  also  of  our  theophany  what  Diisterdieck  remarks  on  Apoc. 
iv.  3  (cf.  p.  219  of  the  second  edition  of  his  Commentary)  re- 
garding the  importance  of  the  divine  appearance  described  in 
that  passage :  "  We  may  not  hastily  apply  in  a  general  way 


CHAP.  I.  22-28.  45 

the  description  before  us  by  special  reference  to  the  judgments 
of  God  (which  are  seen  at  a  later  time)  in  their  relation  to  the 
divine  grace ;  it  is  enough  that  here,  where  the  everlasting  and 
personal  ground  of  all  tliat  follows  is  described,  the  sacred 
glory  and  righteousness  of  God  appear  in  the  closest  connec- 
tion with  His  unchanging,  friendly  grace,  so  that  the  entire 
future  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  of  the  world 
down  to  the  final  termination,  as  that  is  determined  by  the 
marvellous  unity  of  being  which  is  in  the  holy,  righteous,  and 
gracious  God,  must  not  only  according  to  its  course,  but  also 
according  to  its  object,  correspond  to  this  threefold  glory  of  the 
living  God."  As  this  fundamental  vision  (of  the  Apocalypse) 
contains  all  that  serves  to  alarm  the  enemies  and  to  comfort 
the  friends  of  Him  who  sits  on  the  throne,  so  the  vision  of 
Ezekiel  also  has  its  fundamental  significance  not  only  for  the 
whole  of  the  prophet's  ministry,  but,  generally,  for  the  con- 
tinuation and  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  Israel, 
until  its  aim  has  been  reached  in  its  consummation  in  glory 
This,  its  fundamental  significance,  unmistakeably  appears  from 
the  twofold  circumstance,  —  firstly,  that  the  theophany  was 
imparted  to  the  prophet  at  his  call,  and  was  then  repeated  at 
the  principal  points  in  his  prophetic  ministry,  at  the  announce- 
ment both  of  the  dissolution  of  the  old  kingdom  of  God  by  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  ch.  ix.-xi.,  and  also 
at  the  erection  of  the  new  temple  and  a  new  arrangement  of 
the  kingdom  (ch.  xl.-xlviii.).  Since,  as  was  formerly  already 
remarked  (p.  35),  a  theophany  was  not  required  either  for  the 
calling  of  Ezekiel  to  the  office  of  a  prophet,  or  for  the  announce- 
ment which  was  entrusted  to  him  of  the  annihilation  of  the  old 
and  the  foundation  of  the  new  kingdom  of  God,  so  the  revela- 
tion of  God,  which  pointed  in  its  phenomenal  shape  to  the 
dwelling  of  the  Lord  among  His  people  in  the  Holy  of  Holies 
in  the  temple  (and  which  was  imparted  in  this  place  to  Ezekiel, 
living  among  the  exiles  in  the  land  of  Chaldea  by  the  banks  of 
the  Chebar),  could  only  be  intended,  in  view  of  the  dissolution 


46  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  the  theocracy,  which  had  ah'caily  begun,  ami  was  shortly 
to  be  completed,  to  give  to  the  prophet  and  those  of  his  con- 
temporaries who  were  living  with  him  in  exile,  a  real  pledge 
that  the  essential  element  of  the  theocracy  was  not  to  be 
removed  by  the  penal  judgment  which  was  passing  over  the 
sinful  people  and  kingdom  ;  but  that  God  the  Lord  would  still 
continue  to  attest  Himself  to  His  people  as  the  living  God,  and 
preserve  His  kingdom,  and  one  day  bring  it  again  to  a  glorious 
consummation. — In  correspondence  with  this  aim,  God  appears 
in  the  temple  in  the  symbolical  forms  of  His  gracious  presence 
as  He  who  is  throned  above  the  cherubim ;  but  cherubim  and 
throne  are  furnished  with  attributes,  which  represent  the 
movement  of  the  throne  in  all  directions,  not  merely  to  indicate 
the  spreading  of  the  kingdom  of  God  over  all  the  earth,  but  to 
reveal  Himself  as  Lord  and  King,  whose  might  extends  over 
the  whole  world,  and  who  possesses  the  power  to  judge  all  the 
heathen,  and  to  liberate  from  their  bondage  His  people,  who 
have  been  given  into  their  hands,  if  they  repent  and  turn  unto 
Him  ;  and  who  will  again  gather  them  together,  and  raise  them 
in  the  place  of  their  inheritance  to  the  glory  which  had  been 
promised. 

Such  is  the  significance  of  the  theophany  at  the  inaugura- 
tion of  Ezekiel  to  the  prophetic  office.  The  significance,  how- 
ever, which  its  repetition  possesses  is  clearly  contained  in  the 
facts  which  the  prophet  was  herewith  permitted  by  God  to 
behold.  From  the  temple  and  city,  polluted  by  sinful  abomi- 
nations, the  gracious  presence  of  God  departs,  in  order  that 
temple  and  city  may  be  given  over  to  the  judgment  of  de- 
struction ;  into  the  new  and  glorious  temple  tliere  enters 
again  the  glory  of  God,  to  dwell  for  ever  among  the  children 
of  Israel. 

Chap.  ii.  1-iii.  3.  Call  of  Ezekiel  to  the  PROPnETic 
Office. — Vers.  1  and  2.  Upon  the  manifestation  of  the  Lord 
follows  the  word  of  vocation.     Having,  in  the  feeling  of  his 


CHAP.  ir.  1,  2.  47 

weal^ness  and  sinfulness,  fallen  to  the  ground  before  the  terrible 
revelation  of  Jehovah's  glory,  Ezekiel  is  first  of  all  raised  up 
again  by  the  voice  of  God,  to  hear  the  word  which  calls  him  to 
the  prophetic  function. — Ver.  1.  And  He  said  to  me,  Son  of  man, 
stand  upon  thy  feet^  I  loill  speak  with  thee.  Ver.  2.  Then  came 
spirit  unto  me  as  He  spake  unto  me,  and  it  p)laced  me  on  my  feet, 
and  1  heard  Him  speaking  unto  me. — The  address  2'3^'"i?  occurs 
so  frequently  in  Ezekiel,  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
peculiarities  of  his  prophecies.  Elsewhere  it  occurs  only  once, 
Dan.  viii.  17.  That  it  is  significant,  is  generally  recognised, 
although  its  meaning  is  variously  given.  Most  expositors  take 
it  as  a  reminder  of  the  weakness  and  frailness  of  human  nature  ; 
Coccejus  and  Kliefoth,  on  the  contrary,  connect  it  with  the 
circumstance  that  God  appears  to  Ezekiel  in  human  form,  and 
find  in  it  a  T€K/jbi]piov  amicitia;,  that  God  speaks  in  him  as  man 
to  man,  converses  with  him  as  a  man  with  his  friend.  This 
last  interpretation,  however,  has  against  it  the  usus  loquendi. 
As  Q'lN"!?  denotes  man  according  to  his  natural  condition,  it  is 
used  throughout  as  a  synonym  with  t>'iJi?.,  denoting  the  weakness 
and  fragility  of  man  in  opposition  to  God;  of.  Ps.  viii.  5; 
Job  XXV.  6;  Isa.  li.  12,  Ivi.  2;  and  Num.  xxiii.  19.  This  is 
the  meaning  also  of  CTS'iS  in  the  address,  as  may  be  distinctly 
seen  from  the  various  addresses  in  Daniel.  Daniel  is  addressed, 
where  comfort  is  to  be  imparted  to  him,  as  nilDH  K^'^N^  "man 
greatly  beloved,"  Dan.  x.  11,  19,  cf.  ix.  23;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, in  ch.  viii.  17,  where  he  has  fallen  on  his  face  in  terror 
before  the  appearance  of  Gabriel,  with  the  words,  "  Under- 
stand, O  son  of  man,"  in  order  to  remind  him  of  his  human 
weakness.  This  is  also  the  case  in  our  verse,  where  Ezekiel,  too, 
had  fallen  upon  his  face,  and  by  God's  word  spoken  to  him,  is 
again  raised  to  his  feet.  It  is  only  in  Ezekiel  that  this  address 
is  constantly  employed  to  mark  the  distance  between  the  human 
weakness  of  his  nature  and  the  divine  power  which  gives  him 
the  capacity  and  the  impulse  to  speak.  Not,  however,  with 
the  design,  mentioned  by  Jerome  on  Dan.  viii.  17,  "that  he 


48  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL, 

may  not  be  elated  on  account  of  his  high  calling,"  because,  as 
Havernick  subjoins,  Ezekiel's  extremely  powerful  and  forcible 
nature  may  have  needed  to  be  perpetually  I'eminded  of  what  it 
is  in  reality  before  God.  If  this  were  the  meaning  and  object 
of  this  address,  it  would  also  probably  occur  in  the  writings  of 
several  of  the  other  prophets,  as  the  supposition  that  the  nature 
of  Ezekiel  was  more  powerful  and  forcible  than  that  of  the 
other  prophets  is  altogether  without  foundation.  The  constant 
use  of  this  form  of  address  in  Ezekiel  is  connected  rather  with 
the  manner  and  fashion  in  which  most  of  the  revelations  were 
imparted  to  him,  that  is,  with  the  prevalence  of  "  vision,"  in 
which  the  distinction  between  God  and  man  comes  out  more 
prominently  than  in  ordinary  inspiration  or  revelation,  effected 
by  means  of  an  impression  upon  the  inner  faculties  of  man.  The 
bringing  prominently  forward,  however,  of  the  distance  between 
God  and  men  is  to  remind  the  prophet,  as  well  as  the  people 
to  whom  he  communicated  his  revelations,  not  merely  of  the 
weakness  of  humanity,  but  to  show  them,  at  the  same  time, 
how  powerfully  the  word  of  God  operates  in  feeble  man,  and 
also  that  God,  who  has  selected  the  prophet  as  the  organ  of  Plis 
will,  possesses  also  the  power  to  redeem  the  people,  that  were 
lying  powerless  under  the  oppression  of  the  heathen,  from  their 
misery,  and  to  raise  them  up  again. — At  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
"  Stand  ujjon  thy  feet^''  came  n^">  into  the  prophet,  which  raised 
him  to  his  feet,  nn  here  is  not  *'  life,  consciousness  "  (Hitzig), 
but  the  spirit-power  which  proceeds  from  God,  and  which  is 
conveyed  through  the  word  which  imparted  to  him  the  strength 
to  stand  before  the  face  of  God,  and  to  undertake  His  command. 
*13"10,  partic.  Hithpa.,  properly  "  collocutor^*  occurs  here  and 
in  ch.  xliii.  6,  and  in  Num.  vii.  89 :  elsewhere,  only  in 
2  Sam.  xiv.  13. 

Vers.  3-7.  The  calling  of  the  prophet  begins  with  the  Lord 
describing  to  Ezekiel  the  people  to  whom  He  is  sending  him, 
in  order  to  make  him  acquainted  with  the  difficulties  of  his 
vocation,  and  to  encourage  him   for  the  discharge  of  the  same. 


CHAP.  11.  3-7.  49 

Ver.  3.  And  He  said  to  me,  Son  of  man,  I  send  thee  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  to  the  rebels  loho  have  rebelled  against  me :  they 
and  their  fathers  have  fallen  away  from  me,  even  until  this 
very  day.  Ver.  4.  And  the  children  are  of  hard  face,  and 
hardened  heart.  To  them  I  send  thee ;  and  to  them  shalt  thou  speah : 
Thus  says  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  5.  And  they, — they  may  hear 
thee  or  fail  {to  do  so)  ;  for  they  are  a  stiff-neched  race, — they  shall 
experience  that  a  prophet  has  been  in  their  midst.  Ver.  6.  But 
thou,  son  of  man,  fear  not  before  them,  and  be  not  afraid  of  their 
words,  if  thistles  and  thorns  are  round  about  thee,  and  thou  sittest 
upon  scorpio7is ;  fear  not  before  their  words,  and  tremble  not 
before  their  faces  ;  for  they  are  a  stiff-neclced  race.  Ver.  7.  And 
speah  my  toords  to  them,  whether  they  may  hear  or  fail  {to  do  so)  ; 
for  they  are  stiff-neched. 

The  children  of  Israel  have  become  heathen,  no  longer  a 
people  of  God,  not  even  a  heathen  nation  (''ia,  Isa.  i.  4),  but 
DMa,  "  heathens,"  that  is,  as  being  rebels  against  God.  Dnniian 
(with  the  article)  is  not  to  be  joined  as  an  adjective  to  D'.ia, 
which  is  without  the  article,  but  is  employed  substantively  in 
the  form  of  an  apposition.  They  have  rebelled  against  God  in 
this,  that  they,  like  their  fathers,  have  separated  themselves 
from  Jehovah  down  to  this  day  (as  regards  3  y'li'S,  see  on  Isa. 
i.  2  ;  and  ^)J]  01*^  D^fy,  as  in  the  Pentateuch  ;  cf .  Lev.  xxiii.  14  ; 
Gen.  vii.  13,  xvii.  23,  etc.).  Like  their  fathers,  the  sons  are 
rebellious,  and,  in  addition,  they  are  D''JS  ""t?'!?,  of  hard  counte- 
nance "=  n^D  ^■?r^,  "of  hard  brow"  (iii.  7),  i.e.  impudent, 
without  hiding  the  face,  or  lowering  the  look  for  shame.  This 
shamelessness  springs  from  hardness  of  heart.  To  these 
hardened  sinners  Ezekiel  is  to  announce  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
Whether  they  hear  it  or  not  (QX1 — DN,  sive — sive,  as  in  Josh, 
xxiv.  15  ;  Eccles.  xi.  3,  xii.  14),  they  shall  in  any  case  experi- 
ence that  a  prophet  has  been  amongst  them.  That  they  will 
neglect  to  hear  is  very  probable,  because  they  are  a  stiff-necked 
race  (n^3,  ''house"  =  family).  The  Vau  before  '^Vy^  (ver.  5) 
introduces  the  apodo&is.     n\"n  is  perfect,  not  present.     This  is 

EZEK.  I.  D 


50  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

demanded  by  the  7isits  loquendi  and  the  connection  of  the 
thought.  The  meaning  is  not :  they  shall  know  from  his  testi- 
mony that  a  prophet  is  there ;  but  they  shall  experience  from 
the  result,  viz.  when  the  word  announced  by  him  will  have 
been  fulfilled,  that  a  prophet  has  been  amongst  them.  Ezekiel, 
therefore,  is  not  to  be  prevented  by  fear  of  them  and  their 
words  from  delivering  a  testimony  against  their  sins.  The  aira^ 
Xeyofxeva^  ^''^1^  and  Ci"'3i?P,  are  not,  with  the  older  expositors,  to 
be  explained  ad jectively:  "  rebelles  et  renuentes"  but  are  sub- 
stantives. As  regards  ii?D,  the  signification  "  thorn  "  is  placed 
beyond  doubt  by  PP  in  xxviii.  24,  and  3"^0  in  Aramaic  does 
indeed  denote  "  refractarius  ;"  but  this  signification  is  a  derived 
one,  and  inappropriate  here.  3'^D  is  related  to  ^1^*,  "  to  burn, 
to  sin2;e,"  and  means  "  urtica^^  ''  stinging-nettle,  thistle,"  as 
Donasch  in  RascJii  has  already  explained  it.  ■^nis  is,  according 
to  the  later  usage,  for  ^ri^:?,  expressing  the  "  by  and  with  of 
association,"  and  occurs  frequently  in  Ezekiel.  Thistles  and 
thorns  are  emblems  of  dangerous,  hostile  men.  The  thought 
is  strengthened  by  the  words  "  to  sit  on  (?X  for  ?V)  scorpions,"  as 
these  animals  inflict  a  painful  and  dangerous  wound.  For  the 
similitude  of  dangerous  men  to  scorpions,  cf.  Sir.  xxvi.  10,  and 
other  proof  passages  In  Bochart,  Hierozoic.  III.  p.  551  sq.,  ed. 
Rosenmiill. 

Ver.  8  ad  fin.  and  ch.  iii.  3. — After  the  Lord  had  pointed 
out  to  the  prophet  the  difficulties  of  the  call  laid  upon  him,  He 
prepares  him  for  the  performance  of  his  office,  by  inspiring  him 
with  the  divine  word  which  he  is  to  announce. — Ver.  8.  And 
ihou^  son  of  man,  hear  what  I  say  to  thee.  Be  not  stiff-necked 
like  the  stiff-necked  race ;  open  thy  mouth,  and  eat  what  I  give 
unto  thee.  Ver.  9.  Then  I  saw,  and,  lo,  a  hand  outstretched 
toioards  me ;  and,  lo,  in  the  same  a  roll  of  a  hook.  Ver. 
10.  And  He  spread  it  out  before  me  ;  the  same  teas  icritten  upon 
the  front  and  back :  and  there  were  written  upon  it  lamentations, 
and  sighing,  and  woe.  Ch.  iii.  1.  And  He  said  to  me:  Son  of 
man,  what  thou  findest  eat ;  eat  the  roll,  and  go  and  speak  to  the 


CHAP.  II.  8-III.  3.  51- 

house  of  Israel,  Ver.  2.  Then  opened  I  my  mouthy  and  He  gave 
me  this  roll  to  eat.  Ver.  3.  And  said  to  me :  So7i  of  man,  feed 
thy  belly,  and  fill  thy  body  icith  this  roll  which  I  give  thee.  And 
1  ate  it,  and  it  was  in  my  mouth  as  honey  and  siveetncss. — The 
prophet  is  to  announce  to  the  people  of  Israel  only  that  which 
the  Lord  inspires  him  to  announce.  This  thought  is  embodied 
in  symbol,  in  such  a  way  that  an  outstretched  hand  reaches  to 
him  a  book,  which  he  is  to  swallow,  and  which  also,  at  God's 
command,  he  does  swallow  ;  cf.  Apoc.  x.  9  sqq.  This  roll  was 
inscribed  on  both  sides  with  lamentations,  sighing,  and  woe  Q*} 
is  either  abbreviated  from  '•n^,  not  =  ''fr^,  or  as  Ewald,  §  101c, 
thinks,  is  only  a  more  distinct  form  of  ''in  or  in).  The  meaning 
is  not,  that  upon  the  roll  was  inscribed  a  multitude  of  mournful 
expressions  of  every  kind,  but  that  there  was  written  upon  it 
all  that  the  prophet  was  to  announce,  and  what  we  now  read  in 
his  book.  These  contents  were  of  a  mournful  nature,  for  they 
related  to  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom,  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple.  That  Ezekiel  may  look  over  the 
contents,  the  roll  is  spread  out  before  his  eyes,  and  then  handed 
to  him  to  be  eaten,  with  the  words,  "  Go  and  speak  to  the 
children  of  Israel,"  i.e.  announce  to  the  children  of  Israel  what 
you  have  received  into  yourself,  or  as  it  is  termed  in  ver.  5, 
'13"7,  "  my  words."  The  words  in  iii.  3a  were  spoken  by  God 
while  handing  to  the  prophet  the  roll  to  be  eaten.  He  is  not 
merely  to  eat,  i.e.  take  it  into  his  mouth,  but  he  is  to  fill  his 
body  and  belly  therewith,  i.e.  he  is  to  receive  into  his  innermost 
being  the  word  of  God  presented  to  him,  to  change  it,  as  it 
were,  into  sap  and  blood.  Whilst  eating  it,  it  was  sw^eet  in  his 
mouth.  The  sweet  taste  must  not,  with  Kliefoth,  be  explained 
away  into  a  sweet  "  after-taste,"  and  made  to  bear  this  refer- 
ence, that  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  would  be  followed  by  a 
more  glorious  restoration.  The  roll,  inscribed  with  lamentation, 
sorrow,  and  woe,  tasted  to  him  sweetly,  because  its  contents  was 
God's  word,  which  sufficed  for  the  joy  and  gladness  of  his 
heart  (Jer.  xv.  16);  for  it  is  "infinitely  sweet  and  lovely  to 


52  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

be  the  organ  and  spokesman  of  the  Omnipotent,"  and  even  the 
most  painful  of  divine  truths  possess  to  a  spiritually-minded 
man  a  joyful  and  quickening  side  (TIengstenberg  on  the  Apoc. 
X.  9).  To  this  it  is  added,  that  the  divine  penal  judgments 
reveal  not  only  the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God,  but  also 
prepare  the  way  for  the  revelation  of  salvation,  and  minister  to 
the  saving  of  the  soul. 

Chap.  iii.  4-21.  The  Sending  of  the  Prophet. — 
This  consists  in  God's  promise  to  give  him  power  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  of  his  vocation  (vers.  4-9)  ;  in  next  trans- 
porting him  to  the  place  where  he  is  to  labour  (vers.  10-15) ; 
and  lastly,  in  laying  upon  him  the  responsibility  of  the  souls 
entrusted  to  his  charge  (vers.  16-21).  After  Ezekiel  had 
testified,  by  eating  the  roll  which  had  been  given  him,  his 
willingness  to  announce  the  word  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord 
acquaints  him  with  the  peculiar  difficulties  of  his  vocation,  and 
promises  to  bestow  upon  him  strength  to  overcome  them. — 
Ver.  4.  And  He  said  to  me,  Son  of  man,  go  away  to  the  house 
of  Israel,  and  speak  with  my  words  to  them.  Ver.  5.  For  not 
to  a  people  of  hollow  lips  and  heavy  tongue  art  thou  sent,  (but)  to 
the  house  of  Israel.  Ver.  6.  Not  to  many  nations  of  hollow  lips 
and  heavy  tongue,  whose  words  thou  dost  not  understand ;  but  to 
them  have  I  sent  thee,  they  can  understand  thee.  Ver.  7.  But  the 
house  of  Israel  icill  not  hear  thee,  because  they  ivill  not  hear  me  ; 
for  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  of  hard  broio  and  hardened  heart 
are  they.  Ver.  8.  Lo,  I  make  thy  countenance  hard  like  their 
countenances,  and  thy  brow  hard  like  their  brow.  Ver.  9.  like 
to  adamant,  harder  than  rock,  do  I  make  thy  broio :  fear  not,  and 
tremble  not  before  them,  for  they  are  a  stiff-necked  race. — The 
contents  of  this  section  present  a  great  similarity  to  those  in 
eh.  ii.  3-7,  inasmuch  as  here  as  well  as  there  the  obduracy  and 
stiff-neckedness  of  Israel  is  stated  as  a  hindrance  which  opposes 
the  success  of  Ezekiel's  work.  This  is  done  here,  however,  in 
a  different  relation  than  there,  so  that  there  is  no  tautology. 


CHAP.  III.  4-9.  53 

Here,  where  the  Lord  is  sending  the  prophet,  He  first  brings 
prominently  forward  what  lightens  the  performance  of  his 
mission ;  and  next,  the  obduracy  of  Israel,  which  surrounds  it 
with  difficulty  for  him,  in  oi'der  at  the  same  time  to  promise 
him  strength  for  the  vanquishing  of  these  difficulties.  Ezekiel 
is  to  speak,  in  the  words  communicated  to  him  by  God,  to  the 
house  (people)  of  Israel.  This  he  can  do,  because  Israel  is  not 
a  foreign  nation  with  an  unintelligible  language,  but  possesses 
the  capacity  of  understanding  the  words  of  the  prophet 
(vers.  5-7),  nsb'  ""jpcj;  Dy,  "  a  people  of  deep  lips,"  i.e.  of  a  style 
of  speech  hollow,  and  hard  to  be  understood ;  cf.  Isa.  xxxiii.  19. 
''^  ""ipoy  is  not  genitive,  and  oy  is  not  the  status  constructus,  but 
an  adjective  belonging  to  QJ?,  and  used  in  the  plural,  because  Dy 
contains  a  collective  conception.  "And  of  heavy  tongue,"  i.e. 
with  a  language  the  understanding  of  which  is  attended  with 
great  difficulty.  Both  epithets  denote  a  barbarously  sounding, 
unintelligible,  foreign  tongue.  The  unintelligibility  of  a  lan- 
guage, however,  does  not  alone  consist  in  unacquaintance  with 
the  meaning  of  its  words  and  sounds,  but  also  in  the  pecu- 
liarities of  each  nation's  style  of  thought,  of  which  languacre  is 
only  the  expression  in  sounds.  In  this  respect  we  may,  with 
Coccejus  and  Kliefoth,  refer  the  prophet's  inability  to  under- 
stand the  language  of  the  heathen  to  this,  that  their  manner  of 
thinking  and  speaking  was  not  formed  according  to  the  word 
of  God,  but  was  developed  out  of  purely  earthly,  and  even 
God-resisting  factors.  Only  the  exclusive  prominence  given 
by  Kliefoth  to  this  side  of  the  subject  is  incorrect,  because 
irreconcilable  with  the  words,  "  many  nations,  whose  words 
(discourse)  thou  dost  not  understand"  (ver.  6).  These  words 
show  that  the  unintelligibility  of  the  language  lies  in  not 
understanding  the  sounds  of  its  words.  Before  ''^''  n^5"^X,  in 
ver.  5,  the  adversative  particle  sed  is  omitted  (cf.  Ewald,  §  3o4a)  ; 
the  omission  here  is  perhaps  caused  by  this,  that  tybv  nriN,  in 
consequence  of  its  position  between  both  sentences,  can  be 
referred  to  both.     In  ver.  6  the  thought  of  ver.  5  is  expanded 


54  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

by  the  addition  of  0^3"^  CfSV,  ^^ many  na(io7is"  with  different 
languages,  in  order  to  show  that  it  is  not  in  the  abiHty,  but  in 
the  willingness,  to  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  that  the  Israelites 
are  wanting.  It  is  not  to  many  nations  with  unintelligible 
languages  that  God  is  sending  the  prophet,  but  to  such  men  as 
are  able  to  hear  him,  i.e.  can  understand  his  lano;uao;e.  The 
second  hemistich  of  ver.  6  is  rendered  by  the  old  translators  as 
if  they  had  not  read  i6  after  DN,  «  if  I  sent  thee  to  them  (the 
heathen),  they  vjould  hear  thee^  Modern  expositors  have 
endeavoured  to  extract  this  meaning,  either  by  taking  N?  DS  as 
a  particle  of  adjuration,  profecto,  "  verily"  (Rosenmiiller,  Haver- 
nick,  and  others),  or  reading  Sp  DN,  as  Ewald  does,  after  Gen. 
xxiii.  13.  But  the  one  is  as  untenable  as  the  other :  against 
vh  DS  stands  the  fact  that  "h  is  written  with  i,  not  with  s  ; 
against  the  view  that  it  is  a  particle  of  adjuration,  stands  partly 
the  position  of  the  words  before  '^^  ^il??,  which,  according  to 
the  sense,  must  belong  to  '^^''  nsrij  partly  the  impossibility  of 
taking  T^iiDi''^  conditionally  after  the  preceding  N?  DN.  <«  If 
such  were  the  case,  Ezekiel  would  have  really  done  all  he  could 
to  conceal  his  meaning"  (Hitzig),  for  Nv  D5<,  after  a  negative 
sentence  preceding,  signifies  ''  but ;"  cf.  Gen.  xxiv.  38. 
Consequently  neither  the  one  view  nor  the  other  yields  an 
appropriate  sense.  "If  I  had  sent  thee  to  the  heathen," 
involves  a  repenting  of  the  act,  which  is  not  beseeming  in  God. 
Against  the  meaning  ^^  profecto^^  is  the  consideration  that  the 
idea,  "  Had  I  sent  thee  to  the  heathen,  verily  they  would  hear 
thee,''  is  in  contradiction  with  the  designation  of  the  heathen  as 
those  whose  language  the  prophet  does  not  understand.  If  the 
heathen  spoke  a  language  unintelligible  to  the  prophet,  they 
consequently  did  not  understand  his  speech,  and  could  not 
therefore  comprehend  his  preaching.  It  only  remains,  then,  to 
apply  the  sentence  simply  to  the  Israelites,  "  not  to  heathen 
nations,  but  to  the  Israelites  have  I  sent  thee,"  and  to  take 
^yjO*>  as  potential,  "  they  are  able  to  fear  thee,"  "  they  can 
understand  thy  words."     This  in  ver.  7  is  closed  by  the  antithesis, 


CHAP.  III.  10-15.  55 

"  But  the  house  of  Israel  will  not  hear  thee,  because  they  -vNill 
not  hear  me  (Jehovah),  as  they  are  morally  hardened."  With 
7b,  cf.  ii.  4.  The  Lord,  however,  will  provide  His  prophet  with 
power  to  resist  this  obduracy ;  will  lend  him  unbending  courage 
and  unshaken  firmness,  ver.  8  ;  cf.  Jer.  xv.  20.  He  will  make 
his  brow  hard  as  adamant  (cf.  Zech.  vii.  12),  which  is  harder 
than  rock ;  therefore  he  shall  not  fear  before  the  obduracy  of 
Israel.  "IV,  as  in  Ex.  iv.  25,  =  IIV.  As  parallel  passages  in 
regard  of  the  subject-matter,  cf.  Isa.  1.  7  and  Jer.  i.  18. 

Vers.  10-15.  Prepared  then  for  his  vocation,  Ezekiel  is 
now  transported  to  the  sphere  of  his  activity. — Ver.  10.  And 
He  said  to  me,  Son  of  man,  all  my  ivords  lohich  I  shall  speak  to 
thee,  take  into  thy  heart,  and  hear  with  thine  ears.  Ver.  11.  And 
go  to  the  exiles,  to  the  children  of  thy  people,  and  speak  to  them, 
and  say  to  them,  "  Tims  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,'''  ivhether  they 
may  hear  thee  or  fail  (to  hear  thee).  Ver.  12.  Aiid  a  wind 
raised  me  up,  and  I  heard  behind  me  the  voice  of  a  great  tumult, 
"  Praised  be  the  glory  of  Jehovah^^  from  their  place  hitherward. 
Ver.  13.  And  the  noise  of  the  wings  of  the  creatures  touching 
each  other,  and  the  noise  of  the  wheels  beside  them,  the  noise  of  a 
great  tumult.  Ver.  14.  And  a  wind  raised  me  up,  and  took  me, 
and  I  loent  thither  embittered  in  the  warmth  of  my  spirit ;  and  the 
hand  of  Jehovah  was  strong  upon  me.  Ver.  15.  And  I  came  to 
Tel- A  bib  to  the  exiles,  who  dwelled  by  the  river  Chebar,  and  ivhere 
they  sat  there  sat  I  down  seven  days,  motionless  and  dumb,  in 
their  midst. — The  apparent  hysteron  proteron,  "  take  into  thy 
heart,  and  hear  with  thine  ears"  (ver.  10),  disappears  so  soon 
as  it  is  observed  that  the  clause  "  hear  with  thine  ears  "  is  con- 
nected with  the  following  ''  go  to  the  exiles,"  etc.  The  meaning 
is  not,  " postquam  awibus  tuis  percepisses  mea  mandata,  ea  ne 
oblivioni  tradas,  sed  corde  suscipe  et  animo  infige''^  (Rosen- 
miiller),  but  this,  "  All  my  words  which  I  shall  speak  to  thee 
lay  to  heart,  that  thou  mayest  obey  them.  When  thou  hast 
heard  my  words  with  thine  ears,  then  go  to  the  exiles  and  an- 
nounce them  to  them."    With  ver.  11  cf.  ii.  4,  5.     Observe  that 


56  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

it  is  still  l^y  '?3,  "  the  children  of  thy"  (not  "  my  ")  "  people/' 
Stiff-necked  Israel  is  no  longer  Jehovah's  people.     The  com- 
mand "to  go  to  the  people"  is,  in  ver.  12  sqq.,  immediately 
executed  by  the  prophet,  the  wind  raising  him  up  and  transport- 
ing him  to  Tel-Abib,  among  the  exiles,     nii^  phenomenally 
considered,  is  a  wind  of  which  God  makes  use  to  conduct  the 
prophet  to  the  scene  of  his  labour ;  but  the  wind  is  only  the 
sensible  substratum  of  the  spirit  which  transports  him  thither. 
The  representation  is,  that  "  he  was  borne  thither  through  the 
air  by  the  wind"  (Kliefoth)  ;  but  not  as  Jerome  and  Kliefoth 
suppose,  in  ipso  corpore^  i.e.  so  that  an  actual  bodily  removal 
through  the  air  took  place,  but  the  raising  up  and  taking  away 
by  the  wind  was  effected  in  spirit  in  the  condition  of  ecstasy. 
Not  a  syllable  indicates  that  the  theophany  was  at  an  end  before 
this  removal ;  the  contrary  rather  is  clearly  indicated  by  the 
remark  that  Ezekiel  heard  behind  him  the  noise  of  the  wings 
of  the  cherubim  and  of  the  wheels.     And  that  the  words  ''^^?ii'^1 
nn  do  not  necessitate  us  to  suppose  a  bodily  removal  is  shown 
by  the  comparison  with  viii.  3,  xi.  1,  24,  where  Kliefoth  also 
understands  the  same  words  in  a  spiritual  sense  of  a  merely 
internal — i.e.  experienced  in  a  state  of  ecstasy — removal  of  the 
prophet  to  Jerusalem  and  back  again  to  Chaldea.     The  great 
noise  which  Ezekiel  hears  behind  him  proceeds,  at  least  in  part, 
from  the  appearance  of  the  '•T'  1133  being  set  in  motion,  but 
(according  to  ver.  13)  not  in  order  to  remove  itself  from  the 
raptured  prophet,  but   by   changing   its   present   position,   to 
attend   the    prophet    to    the    sphere   of    his    labour.     It   tells 
decidedly    in    favour   of    this    supposition,    that    the    prophet, 
according  to  ver.  23,  again  sees  around  him  the  same  theophany 
in  the  valley  where  he  begins  his  work.     This  reappearance, 
indeed,  presupposes  that  it  had  previously  disappeared  from  his 
sicrht,  but  the  disappearance  is  to  be  supposed  as  taking  place 
only  after  his  call  has  been  completed,  i.e.  after  ver.  21.    While 
being  removed  in  a  condition  of   ecstasy,  Ezekiel  lieard  the 
rushing  sound,  "  Praised  be  the  glory  of  Jehovah."     ioipsp 


CHAP.  HI.  10-15.  57 

belongs  not  to  'li1  ^1"i3,  which  would  yield  no  appropriate  sense, 
but  to  V^^i^,  where  it  makes  no  difference  of  importance  in  the 
meaning  whether  the  suffix  is  referred  to  niiT'  or  to  Ti3D. 
Ezekiel  heard  the  voice  of  the  praise  of  God's  glory  issuing 
forth  from  the  place  where  Jehovah  or  His  glory  were  to  be 
found,  i.e.  where  they  had  appeared  to  the  prophet,  not  at  all 
from  the  temple.  Who  sounded  this  song  of  praise  is  not 
mentioned.  Close  by  Ezekiel  heard  the  sound,  the  rustling  of 
the  wino-s  of  the  cherubim  setting  themselves  in  motion,  and 
how  the  wings  came  into  contact  with  the  tips  of  each  other, 
touched  each  other  (niiTt^o^  from  p'^^,  "  to  join,"  "  to  touch  one 
another").  Ver.  14  describes  the  prophet's  mood  of  mind  as 
he  is  carried  away.  Raised  by  the  wind,  and  carried  on,  he 
went,  i.e.  drove  thither,  n^ii  nona  "ip^  "  bitter  in  the  heat  of  his 
spirit."  Although  10  is  used  as  well  of  grief  and  mourning  as 
of  wrath  and  displeasure,  yet  mourning  and  sorrow  are  not 
appropriate  to  Httn,  "  warmth  of  spirit,"  "  anger."  The  suppo- 
sition, however,  that  sorrow  as  well  as  anger  were  in  him,  or 
that  he  was  melancholy  while  displeased  (Kliefoth),  is  incom- 
patible with  the  fundamental  idea  of  "i??  as  "  sharp,"  "  bitter." 
Ezekiel  feels  himself  deeply  roused,  even  to  the  bitterness  of 
anger,  partly  by  the  obduracy  of  Israel,  partly  by  the  commis- 
sion to  announce  to  this  obdurate  people,  without  any  prospect 
of  success,  the  word  of  the  Lord.  To  so  heavy  a  task  he  feels 
himself  unequal,  therefore  his  natural  man  rebels  against  the 
Spirit  of  God,  which,  seizing  him  with  a  strong  and  powerful 
grasp,  tears  him  away  to  the  place  of  his  work ;  and  he  would 
seek  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  divine  call,  as  Moses  and 
Jonah  once  did.  The  hand  of  the  Lord,  however,  was  stronn- 
upon  him,  i.e.  "  held  him  up  in  this  inner  struggle  with  unyield- 
ing power  "  (Kliefoth)  ;  cf.  Isa.  viii.  11.  pin,  "  firm,"  "  strong," 
differs  from  n33,  "  heavy,"  Ps.  xxxii.  4.  a^3S  hn,  i.e.  "  the  hill 
of  ears,"  is  the  name  of  the  place  where  resided  a  colony  of  the 
exiles.  The  place  was  situated  on  the  river  Chebar  (see  on  ch. 
L  3),  and  derived  its  name,  no  doubt,  from  the  fertility  of  the 


58  THE  PEOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

valley,  rich  in  grain  (nvjparij  ver.  23),  by  which  it  was  sur- 
rounded;  nothing  further,  however,  is  known  of  it;  cf.  Gesen. 
Thesaiir.  p.  1505.  The  Chetib  "itTNl,  at  which  the  Masoretes 
and  many  expositors  have  unnecessarily  taken  offence,  is  to  be 
read  "i??*^},  and  to  be  joined  with  the  following  Dr,  "  where  they 
sat"  (so  rightly  the  Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  Vulgate).  That  this 
signification  would  be  expressed  differently,  as  Hitzig  thinks, 
cannot  be  established  by  means  of  Job  xxsix.  30.  The  Keri 
n^"xi  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  also  inappropriate,  which 
holds  true  also  of  other  conjectures  of  modern  expositors. 
Ezekiel  sat  there  seven  days,  D^PV"?,  ?•«•  neither  "  deprived  of 
sensation,"  nor  "  being  silent,"  but  as  the  parttc.  Hipldl  from 
Dpi?',  as  DKDiB'O  in  Ezra  ix.  3,  4,  "  rigidly  without  moving,"  there- 
fore "  motionless  and  dumb."  The  seven  days  are  not  regarded 
as  a  period  of  mourning,  in  support  of  which  Job  ii.  13  is 
referred  to ;  but  as  both  the  purification  and  the  dedication  and 
preparation  for  a  holy  service  is  measured  by  the  number  seven, 
as  being  the  number  of  God's  works  (cf.  Ex.  xxix.  29  sqq.; 
Lev.  viii.  33  sqq.;  2  Chron.  xxix.  17),  so  Ezekiel  sits  for  a 
week  "  motionless  and  dumb,"  to  master  the  impression  which 
the  word  of  God,  conveyed  to  him  in  ecstatic  vision,  had  made 
upon  his  mind,  and  to  prepare  and  sanctify  himself  for  his 
vocation  (Kliefoth). 

Vers.  16-21.  When  these  seven  days  are  completed,  there 
comes  to  him  the  final  word,  which  appoints  him  watchman 
over  Israel,  and  places  before  him  the  task  and  responsibility 
of  his  vocation. — Ver.  16.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  the  lapse 
of  seven  dat/s,  that  the  loord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me  as  folloios  : 
Ver.  17.  Son  of  man^  I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  watchman  over  the 
house  of  Israel ;  thou  shalt  hear  the  toord  from  my  mouthy  and 
thou  shalt  loarn  them  from  me  Ver.  18.  If  I  say  to  the  sinner, 
Thou  sJuzlt  surely  die,  and  thou  ivarnest  him  not,  and  speaJcest  not 
to  warn  the  sinner  from  his  evil  way  that  he  may  live,  then  shall 
he,  the  sinner,  die  because  of  his  evil  deeds,  but  his  blood  xcill  I 
require  at  thy  hand.     Ver.  19.  But  if  thou  loarnest  the  sinner, 


CHAP.  III.  16-21. 


59 


and  he  turn  not  from  Ids  loichedness  and  his  evil  way,  then  shall 
he  die  because  of  his  evil  deeds,  but  thou  hast  saved  thy  soul. 
Ver.  20.  And  if  a  righteous  man  turn  from  his  righteousness^ 
and  do  unrighteousness,  and  I  lay  a  stumblingblock  before  him, 
then  shall  he  die ;  if  thou  hast  not  warned  him,  he  shall  die 
because  of  his  sin,  and  his  righteousness  ivhich  he  has  done  shall 
not  be  remembered,  but  his  blood  ivill  I  require  at  thy  hand. 
Ver.  21.  But  if  thou  loarnest  him — the  righteous  man — so  that 
the  righteous  man  sin  not,  and  he  do  not  sin,  then  ivill  he  live, 
because  he  has  been  warned,  and  thou  hast  saved  thy  soul. — As  a 
prophet  for  Israel,  Ezekiel  is  like  one  standing  upon  a  watch- 
tower  (Hab.  ii.  1),  to  watch  over  the  condition  of  the  people, 
and  warn  them  of  the  dangers  that  threaten  them  (Jer.  vi.  17 ; 
Isa.  Ivi.  10).  As  such,  he  is  responsible  for  the  souls  entrusted 
to  his  charge.  From  the  mouth  of  Jehovah,  i.e.  according  to 
God's  word,  he  is  to  admonish  the  wicked  to  turn  from  their 
evil  ways,  that  they  die  not  in  their  sins.  ''Isp,  "  from  me," 
i.e.  in  my  name,  and  with  my  commission.  "  If  I  say  to  the 
sinner,"  i.e.  if  I  commission  thee  to  say  to  him  (Kimchi).  As 
niori  nio  reminds  us  of  Gen.  ii.  17,  so  is  the  threatening,  "  his 
blood  will  I  require  at  thy  hand,"  an  allusion  to  Gen.  ix.  5. 
If  the  prophet  does  not  warn  the  wicked  man,  as  God  has 
commanded  him,  he  renders  himself  guilty  of  a  deadly  sin,  for 
which  God  will  take  vengeance  on  him  as  on  the  murderer  for 
the  shedding  of  blood.  An  awfully  solemn  statement  for  all 
ministers  of  the  word.  •^V^l'^,  in  vers.  18  and  19,  at  which  the 
LXX.  have  stumbled,  so  that  they  have  twice  omitted  it,  is 
not  a  substantive,  and  to  be  changed,  with  Hitzig,  into  nj.'K'ij 
but  is  an  adjective,  foemin.  gen.,  and  belongs  to  i3'}'n,  which  is 
construed  as  feminine.  The  righteous  man  who  backslides  is, 
before  God,  regarded  as  equal  with  the  sinner  who  persists 
in  his  sin,  if  the  former,  notwithstanding  the  warning,  perse- 
veres in  his  backsliding  (ver.  20  sqq.).  ipl^fa  2iK^j  "  to  turn 
oneself  from  his  righteousness,"  denotes  the  formal  falling 
away  from  the  path  of  righteousness,  not  mere  "  stumbling  or 


GO  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

sinning  from  weakness."  ?))}  n^'l'^  <'  to  do  unrigliteousness," 
"to  act  perversely,"  is  ^^  se  prorsus  dedere  imjnetati"  (Calvin). 
PiB'DD  "'nnJI  belongs  still  to  the  protasis^  n^IS^  Xin  forming  the 
apodosis,  not  a  relative  sentence,  —  as  Ewald  and  Ilitzig 
suppose, — "  so  that  he,  or,  in  consequence  of  which,  he  die." 
7Vt'3JPj  "  object  of  offence,"  by  which  any  one  comes  to  fall,  is 
not  destruction,  considered  as  punishment  deserved  (Calvin, 
Hiivernick),  but  everything  that  God  puts  in  the  way  of  the 
sinner,  in  order  that  the  sin,  which  is  germinating  in  his  soul, 
may  come  forth  to  the  light,  and  ripen  to  maturity.  God, 
indeed,  neither  causes  sin,  nor  desires  the  death  of  the  sinner ; 
and  in  this  sense  He  does  not  tempt  to  evil  (Jas.  i.  13),  but  He 
guides  and  places  the  sinner  in  relations  in  life  in  which  he 
must  come  to  a  decision  for  or  against  what  is  good  and  divine, 
and  either  suppress  the  sinful  lusts  of  his  heart,  or  burst  the 
barriers  which  are  opposed  to  their  satisfaction.  If  he  does 
not  do  the  former,  but  the  latter,  evil  gains  within  him  more 
and  more  strength,  so  that  he  becomes  the  servant  of  sin,  and 
finally  reaches  a  point  where  conversion  is  impossible.  In  this 
consists  the  ''i'^'^O,  which  God  places  before  him,  who  turns 
awav  from  righteousness  to  unrighteousness  or  evil,  but  not  in 
this,  that  God  lets  man  run  on  in  order  that  he  may  die  or 
perish.  For  nV3^  does  not  stand  for  n^l,  and  there  is  therefore 
no  ground  for  a  change  of  punctuation  to  carry  forward 
Athnach  to  iJT}L'J'?  (Hitzig).  For  the  subject  spoken  of  is  not 
that  the  backsliding  righteous  man  "  in  general  only  dies  if  he 
is  not  warned"  (Hitzig), — that  meaning  is  not  in  ver.  21,  "  that 
he,  in  contrast  to  the  V'^'^,  gives  sure  obedience  to  the  warning," 
— but  only  the  possibility  is  supposed  that  a  P'^'^V,  "who  has 
transgressed  upon  the  way  of  evil,  will  yield  obedience  to  the 
warning,  but  not  that  he  will  of  a  certainty  do  this.  As  with 
the  V^l  in  ver.  19,  only  the  case  of  his  resisting  the  warning 
is  expressly  mentioned ;  while  the  opposite  case — that  he  may, 
in  consequence  of  the  warning,  be  converted — is  not  excluded  ; 
so  in  ver.  21,  with  the  P^IV,  ^vho  has  entered  upon  the  p.itli  of 


CHAP.  III.  22-V.  17.  61 

unrighteousness,  only  the  case  of  conversion  in  consequence  of 
the  warning  is  expressly  mentioned,  without  the  possibility  of 
his  hardening  himself  against  the  prophet's  word  being  thereby 
excluded.  For  the  instruction  of  the  prophet  it  was  sufficient 
to  bring  forward  the  two  cases  mentioned,  as  it  appears  from 
them  that  in  the  one  case  as  well  as  in  the  other  he  has  done 
his  duty,  and  saved  his  soul. 

CHAP.  III.  22-V.  17.   THE  DESTINY  OF  JERUSALEM  AND  ITS 
INHABITANTS. 

Vers.  22—27  in  ch.  iii.  no  longer  belong  to  the  prophet's 
inauguration  and  introduction  into  office,  nor  do  they  form  the 
conclusion  of  his  call,  but  the  introduction  to  his  first  prophetic 
act  and  prediction,  as  has  been  rightly  recognised  by  Ewald 
and  Kliefoth.  This  appears  already  from  the  introductory 
formula,  "The  hand  of  Jehovah  came  upon  me"  (ver.  22), 
and,  more  distinctly  still,  from  the  glory  of  Jehovah  appearing 
anew  to  the  prophet  (when,  in  obedience  to  a  divine  impulse, 
he  had  gone  down  into  the  valley),  in  the  form  in  which  he  had 
seen  it  by  the  river  Chebar,  and  giving  him  a  commission  to 
announce  by  word  and  symbol  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  fate  of  its  inhabitants.  For,  that  the  divine  commission  did 
not  consist  merely  in  the  general  directions,  ch.  iii.  25-27,  but 
is  first  given  in  its  principal  parts  in  ch.  iv.  and  v.,  is  indis- 
putably evident  from  the  repetition  of  the  words  Q"]^'!?  <^^^] 
in  ch.  iii.  25,  iv.  1,  and  v.  1.  With  nnxi  neither  can  the  first 
nor,  in  general,  a  new  prophecy  begin.  This  has  been  recognised 
by  Hitzig  himself  in  ch.  iv.  1,  where  he  remarks  that  the  first 
of  the  three  oracles  which  follow  down  to  viii.  1,  and  which  he 
makes  begin  with  iv.  1,  "  attaches  itself  to  ch.  iii.  25-27  as  a 
continuation  of  the  same."  But  what  holds  true  of  iv.  1  must 
hold  true  also  of  iii.  25,  viz.  that  no  new  oracle  can  bemn 
with  this  verse,  but  that  it  is  connected  with  iii.  22-24.  The 
commencement,  then,  we  have  to  seek  in  the  formula,  ''  and 


62  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

the  hand  of  Jehovah  came  upon  me"  (lii.  22),  with  which 
also  viii.  1  (where  only  V^Pi]  stands  instead  of  ^nJi^l)  and  xl.  1 — 
new  oracles — are  introduced.  No  doubt  these  passages  are 
preceded  by  chronological  notices,  while  in  iii.  22  every  note  of 
time  is  wantinc:.  But  nothing  further  can  be  inferred  from 
this,  than  that  the  divine  word  contained  in  iii.  25-v.  17  was 
imparted  to  the  prophet  immediately  after  his  consecration  and 
call,  so  that  it  still  falls  under  the  date  of  ch.  i.  2  ;  which  may 
also  be  discovered  from  this,  that  the  D*^  in  ver.  22  points  to 
the  locality  named  in  ver.  15. 

Immediately  after  his  call,  then,  and  still  in  the  same  place 
where  the  last  word  of  calling  (iii.  16-21)  was  addressed  to 
him,  namely,  at  Tel-Abib,  in  the  midst  of  the  exiles,  Ezekiel 
received  the  first  divine  revelation  which,  as  prophet,  he  was 
to  announce  to  the  people.  This  revelation  is  introduced  by 
the  words  in  ch.  iii.  22-24 ;  and  divided  into  three  sections  by 
the  thrice-occurring,  similar  address,  "  And  thou,  son  of  man  " 
(iii.  25,  iv.  1,  v.  1).  In  the  first  section,  ch.  iii.  25-27,  God 
gives  him  general  injunctions  as  to  his  conduct  while  carrying 
out  the  divine  commission ;  in  the  second,  ch.  iv.,  He  com- 
mands him  to  represent  symbolically  the  siege  of  Jerusalem 
with  its  miseries ;  and  in  the  third,  ch.  v.,  the  destiny  of  the 
inhabitants  after  the  capture  of  the  city. 

Ciiap.  iii.  22-27.  Introduction  to  the  first  prophetic  announce- 
ment.— Ver.  22.  And  there  came  upon  me  there  the  hand  of 
Jehovah.,  and  He  said  to  me,  Up  I  go  into  the  valley,  there  will  1 
speak  to  thee.  Ver.  23.  Aiid  I  arose,  and  went  into  the  valley:  and, 
lo,  there  stood  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  like  the  glory  which  I  had  seen 
at  the  river  Chehar  :  and  I  fell  upon  my  face.  Ver.  24.  And 
spirit  came  into  me,  and  placed  me  on  my  feet,  and  He  spake 
with  me,  and  said  to  me,  Go,  and  shut  thyself  in  thy  house. — 
nyipzin  is,  without  doubt,  the  valley  situated  near  Tel-Abib. 
Ezekiel  is  to  go  out  from  the  midst  of  the  exiles — where, 
according  to  ver.  15,  he  had  found  himself — into  the  valley, 
because   God  will  reveal  Himself   to   him   only   in   solitude. 


CHAP.  III.  22-2i.  63 

When  he  had  complied  with  this  command,  there  appears  to 
liim  there  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  in  the  same  form  in  which  it 
had  appeared  to  him  at  the  Chaboras  (i.  4-28) ;  before  it  he 
falls,  a  second  time,  on  his  face ;  but  is  also,  as  on  the  first 
occasion,  again  raised  to  his  feet,  cf.  i.  28-ii.  2.  Hereupon 
the  Lord  commands  him  to  shut  himself  up  in  his  house, — 
which  doubtless  he  inhabited  in  Tel-Abib, — not  probably  "  as 
a  sign  of  his  future  destiny,"  as  a  realistic  explanation  of  the 
words,  "  Thou  canst  not  walk  in  their  midst  (ver.  25)  ;  they 
will  prevent  thee  by  force  from  freely  exercising  thy  vocation 
in  the  midst  of  the  people."  For  in  that  case  the  "  shutting  of 
himself  up  in  the  house"  would  be  an  arbitrary  identification 
with  the  "  binding  with  fetters  "  (ver.  25) ;  and  besides,  the 
significance  of  the  address  D"]^  |3  nrixi,  and  its  repetition  in 
iv.  1  and  v.  1,  would  be  misconceived.  For  as  in  iv.  1  and 
V.  1  there  are  introduced  with  this  address  the  principal  parts 
of  the  duty  which  Ezekiel  was  to  perform,  so  the  proper  divine 
instruction  may  also  first  begin  with  the  same  in  iii.  25 ;  conse- 
quently the  command  "to  shut  himself  up  in  his  house"  can 
only  have  the  significance  of  a  preliminary  divine  injunction, 
without  possessing  any  significancy  in  itself;  but  only  "serve 
as  a  means  for  carrying  out  what  the  prophet  is  commissioned 
to  do  in  the  following  chapters  "  (Kliefoth),  i.e.  can  only  mean 
that  he  is  to  perform  in  his  own  house  what  is  commanded  him 
in  ch.  iv.  and  v.,  or  that  he  is  not  to  leave  his  house  durincr  their 
performance.  More  can  hardly  be  sought  in  this  injunction, 
nor  can  it  at  all  be  taken  to  mean  that,  having  shut  himself  up 
from  others  in  his  house,  he  is  to  allow  no  one  to  approach 
him ;  but  only  that  he  is  not  to  leave  his  dwelling.  For, 
according  to  iv.  3,  the  symbolical  representation  of  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  is  to  be  a  sign  for  the  house  of  Israel ;  and  accord- 
ing to  iv.  12,  Ezekiel  is,  during  this  symbolical  action,  to 
bake  his  bread  before  their  eyes.  From  this  it  is  seen  that 
his  contemporaries  might  come  to  him  and  observe  his  pro- 
ceedings. 


64  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Vers.  25-27.  The  general  divine  instructions. — Ver.  25. 
And  thou,  son  of  man,  lo,  they  loill  lay  cords  upon  thee,  and 
hind  thee  therewith,  so  that  thou  canst  not  go  out  into  their  midst. 
Ver.  26.  And  I  shall  make  thy  tongue  cleave  to  thy  palate,  that 
thou  mayest  be  dumb,  and  mayest  not  serve  them  as  a  reprover : 
for  they  are  a  stiff-necked  generation.  Ver.  27.  But  when  1 
speah  to  thee,  I  will  open  thy  mouth,  that  thou  mayest  say  to  them, 
Thus  sayeth  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Let  him  who  wishes  to  hear,  hear , 
and  let  him  who  neglects,  neglect  {to  hear)  :  for  they  are  a  stiff 
necked  generation. — Tiie  meaning  of  this  general  injunctior, 
depends  upon  the  determination  of  the  subject  in  1303,  ver.  25. 
Most  expositors  think  of  the  prophet's  countrymen,  who  are  to 
bind  him  with  cords  so  that  he  shall  not  be  able  to  leave  his 
house.  The  words  D2in3  KVn  N?"i  appear  to  support  this,  as  the 
suffix  in  D3in3  indisputably  refers  to  his  countrymen.  But  this 
circumstance  is  by  no  means  decisive ;  while  against  this  view 
is  the  twofold  difficulty, — firstly,  that  a  binding  of  the  prophet 
with  cords  by  his  countrymen  is  scarcely  reconcilable  with 
what  he  performs  in  ch.  iv.  and  v. ;  secondly,  of  hostile  attacks 
by  the  exiles  upon  the  prophet  there  is  not  a  trace  to  be 
discovered  in  the  entire  remainder  of  the  book.  The  house  of 
Israel  is  indeed  repeatedly  described  as  a  stiff-necked  race,  as 
hardened  and  obdurate  towards  God's  word ;  but  any  embitter- 
ment  of  feeling  against  the  prophet,  which  should  have  risen 
so  far  as  to  bind  him,  or  even  to  make  direct  attempts  to  pre- 
vent him  from  exercising  his  prophetic  calling,  can,  after  what 
is  related  in  xxxiii.  30-33  regarding  the  position  of  the  people 
towards  him,  hardly  be  imagined.  Further,  the  binding  and 
fettering  of  the  prophet  is  to  be  regarded  as  of  the  same  kind 
with  the  cleaving  of  his  tongue  to  his  jaws,  so  that  he  should 
be  silent  and  not  speak  (ver.  26).  It  is  God,  however,  who 
suspends  this  dumbness  over  him  ;  and  according  to  iv.  8,  it  is 
also  God  who  binds  him  with  cords,  so  that  he  cannot  stir  from 
one  side  to  the  other.  The  demonstrative  power  of  the  latter 
passage  is  not  to  be  weakened  by  the  objection  that  it  is  a 


CHAP.  III.  25-27.  65 

passage  of  an  altogether  different  kind,  and  the  connection 
altogether  different  (Havernick).  For  the  complete  difference 
between  the  two  passages  would  first  have  to  be  proved.  The 
object,  indeed,  of  the  binding  of  the  prophet  in  iv.  8  is  different 
from  that  in  our  verse.  Here  it  is  to  render  it  impossible  for 
the  prophet  to  go  out  of  the  house ;  in  iv.  8,  it  is  to  prevent 
him  from  moving  from  one  side  to  the  other.  But  the  one 
object  does  not  exclude  the  other ;  both  statements  coincide, 
rather,  in  the  general  thought  that  the  prophet  must  adapt 
himself  entirely  to  the  divine  will. — not  only  not  leave  the 
house,  but  lie  also  for  390  days  upon  one  side  without  turn- 
ing.— We  might  rather,  with  Ivliefoth,  understand  iv.  8  to 
mean  that  God  accomplished  the  binding  of  the  prophet  bv 
human  instruments — viz.  that  He  caused  him  to  be  bound 
by  foreigners  (iii.  25).  But  this  supposition  also  would  only 
be  justified,  if  either  the  sense  of  the  words  in  iii.  25,  or  other 
good  reasons,  pronounced  in  favour  of  the  view  that  it  was 
the  exiles  who  had  bound  the  prophet.  But  as  this  is  not 
the  case,  so  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  explain  the  definite  ""JiriJ, 
"I  lay  on"  (iv.  8),  according  to  the  indefinite  13nJ,  "they  lay 
on,"  or  "  one  lays  on "  (iii.  25) ;  but  must,  on  the  contrary, 
understand  our  verse  in  accordance  with  iv.  8,  and  (with 
Hitzig)  think  of  heavenly  powers  as  the  subject  to  =i3n3, — as  in 
Job  vii.  3 ;  Dan.  iv.  28 ;  Luke  xii.  20, — without,  in  so  doing, 
completely  identifying  the  declaration  in  our  verse  with  that  in 
iv.  8,  as  if  in  the  latter  passage  only  that  was  brought  to  com- 
pletion which  had  been  here  (iii.  25)  predicted.  If,  however, 
the  binding  of  the  prophet  proceeds  from  invisible  powers,  the 
expression  is  not  to  be  understood  literally, — of  a  binding  with 
material  cords ; — but  God  binds  him  by  a  spiritual  power,  so 
that  he  can  neither  leave  his  house  nor  go  forth  to  his  country- 
men, nor,  at  a  later  time  (iv.  8),  change  the  position  prescribed 
to  him.  This  is  done,  however,  not  to  prevent  the  exercise  of 
his  vocation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  make  him  fitted  for  the 
successful  performance  of  the  work  commanded  him.     He  is 

VOL.   1.  E 


06  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

not  to  quit  his  house,  nor  enter  into  fellowship  and  intercourse 
with  his  exiled  countrymen,  that  he  may  show  himself,  by 
separation  from  them,  to  be  a  prophet  and  organ  of  the  Lord. 
On  the  same  grounds  he  is  also  (vers.  2Q,  27)  to  keep  silence, 
and  not  even  correct  them  with  words,  but  only  to  speak  when 
God  opens  his  mouth  for  that  purpose ;  to  remain,  moreover, 
unconcerned  whether  they  listen  to  his  words  or  not  (cf.  ii. 
4,  7).  He  is  to  do  both  of  these  things,  because  his  contem- 
poraries are  a  stiff-necked  race ;  cf.  ver.  9  and  ii.  5,  7.  That 
he  may  not  speak  from  any  impulse  of  his  own,  God  will  cause 
his  tongue  to  cleave  to  his  jaws,  so  that  he  cannot  speak ;  cf. 
Ps.  cxxxvii.  6.  "  That  the  prophet  is  to  refrain  from  all 
speech — even  from  the  utterance  of  the  words  given  him  by 
God — will,  on  the  one  hand,  make  the  divine  words  which 
he  utters  appear  the  more  distinctly  as  such ;  while,  on  the 
other,  be  an  evidence  to  his  hearers  of  the  silent  sorrow 
with  which  he  is  filled  by  the  contents  of  the  divine 
word,  and  with  which  they  also  ought  justly  to  be  filled" 
(Kliefoth). 

This  state  of  silence,  according  to  which  he  is  only  then  to 
speak  when  God  opened  his  mouth  for  the  utterance  of  words 
which  were  to  be  given  him,  is,  indeed,  at  first  imposed  upon 
the  prophet — as  follows  from  the  relation  of  vers.  25-27  to  ch. 
iv.  and  v. — only  for  the  duration  of  the  period  ch.  iii.  25  to 
V.  17,  or  rather  vii.  27.  But  the  divine  injunction  extends,  as 
Kliefoth  has  rightly  recognised,  still  further  on  —  over  the 
whole  period  up  to  the  fulfilment  of  his  prophecies  of  threaten- 
ing by  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  This  appears  especially 
from  this,  that  in  xxiv.  27  and  xxxiii.  22  there  is  an  undeni- 
able reference  to  the  silence  imposed  upon  him  in  our  verse, 
and  with  reference  to  which  it  is  said,  that  when  the  messenger 
should  bring  back  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  his  mouth 
should  be  opened  and  lie  should  be  no  longer  dumb.  The 
reference  in  xxiv.  27  and  in  xxxiii.  22  to  the  verse  before  us 
has  been  observed  by  most  expositors ;  but  several  of  them 


CHAP.  Iir.  25-27.  67 

would  limit  the  silence  of  the  prophet  merely  to  the  time 
which  lies  between  ch.  xsiv.  and  xxxiii.  21  sqq.  This  is  quite 
arbitrary,  as  neither  in  ch.  xxlv.  nor  in  ch.  xxxiii.  is  silence 
imposed  upon  him  ;  but  in  both  chapters  it  is  only  stated  that 
he  should  no  longer  be  dumb  after  the  receipt  of  the  intelli- 
gence that  Jerusalem  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Chaldeans. 
The  supposition  of  Schmieder,  moreover,  is  untenable,  that  the 
injunction  of  ver.  25  refers  to  the  turning-point  in  the  pro- 
phet's office,  which  commenced  on  the  day  when  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  actually  began.  For  although  this  day  forms  a 
turning-point  in  the  prophetic  activity  of  Ezekiel,  in  so  far  as 
he  on  it  announced  to  the  people  for  the  last  time  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  and  then  spake  no  more  to  Israel  until  the 
occurrence  of  this  event,  yet  it  is  not  said  in  xxiv.  27  that  he 
was  then  to  be  dumb  from  that  day  onwards.  The  hypothesis 
then  only  remains,  that  what  was  imposed  and  enjoined  on  the 
prophet,  in  vers.  26  and  27,  should  remain  in  force  for  the 
whole  period  from  the  commencement  of  his  prophetic  activity 
to  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  by  the 
arrival  of  a  messenger  on  the  banks  of  the  Chaboras.  There- 
with is  also  connected  the  position  of  this  injunction  at  the 
head  of  the  first  prophecy  delivered  to  him  (not  at  his  call),  if 
only  the  contents  and  importance  of  this  oracle  be  understood 
and  recognised,  that  it  embraces  not  merely  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  but  also  the  capture  and  destruction  of  the  city, 
and  the  dispersion  of  the  people  among  the  heathen, — conse- 
quently contains  in  nuce  all  that  Ezekiel  had  to  announce  to 
the  people  down  to  the  occurrence  of  this  calamity,  and  which, 
in  all  the  divine  words  from  ch.  vi.  to  ch.  xxiv.,  he  had  an-ain 
and  again,  though  only  in  different  ways,  actually  announced. 
If  all  the  discourses  down  to  ch.  xxiv.  are  only  further  exposi- 
tions and  attestations  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  ch.  iv.  and  v., 
then  the  behaviour  which  was  enjoined  on  him  at  the  time  of 
this  announcement  was  to  be  maintained  during  all  followini;; 
discourses  of  similar  contents.     Besides,  for  a  correct  apprecia- 


G8  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

tion  of  the  divine  precept  in  vers.  2()  and  27,  it  Is  also  to  be 
noticed  that  the  prophet  is  not  to  keep  entire  silence,  except 
when  God  inspires  him  to  speak;  but  that  his  keeping  silence 
is  explained  to  mean,  that  he  is  to  be  to  his  contemporaries  no 
n"'3io  ti'^X,  "  no  reprover,"  and  consequently  will  place  their  sins 
before  them  to  no  greater  extent,  and  in  no  other  way,  than 
God  expressly  directs  him.  Understood  in  this  vpay,  the 
silence  is  in  contradiction  neither  with  the  words  of  God 
communicated  in  ch.  vi.  to  xxiv.,  nor  with  the  predictions 
directed  against  foreign  nations  in  ch.  xxv.-xxxiii.,  several  of 
which  fall  within  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  Cf.  with 
this  the  remark  upon  xxiv.  27  and  xxxiii.  22. 

Chap.  iv.  The  Sign  of  the  Siege  of  Jerusalem. — This 
sign,  which  Ezekiel  is  to  perform  in  his  own  house  before 
the  eyes  of  the  exiles  who  visit  him,  consists  in  three  inter- 
connected and  mutually-supplementary  symbolical  acts,  the 
first  of  which  is  described  in  vers.  1—3,  the  second  in  vers.  4—8, 
and  the  third  in  vers.  9-17.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  symboli- 
cally to  represent  the  impending  siege  of  Jerusalem  (vers.  1-3); 
in  the  second  place,  by  lying  upon  one  side,  he  is  to  announce 
the  punishment  of  Israel's  sin  (vers.  4-8)  ;  in  the  third  place, 
by  the  nature  of  his  food,  he  is,  while  lying  upon  one  side,  to 
hold  forth  to  view  the  terrible  consequences  of  the  siege  to 
Israel.  The  close  connection  as  to  their  subject-matter  of  these 
three  actions  appears  clearly  from  this,  that  the  prophet,  accord- 
to  ver.  7,  while  lying  upon  one  side,  is  to  direct  his  look  and 
his  arm  upon  the  picture  of  the  besieged  city  before  him  ;  and, 
according  to  ver.  8,  is  to  lie  upon  his  side  as  long  as  the  siege 
lasts,  and  during  that  time  is  to  nourish  himself  in  the  manner 
prescribed  in  ver.  9  sqq.  In  harmony  with  this  is  the  formal 
division  of  the  chapter,  inasmuch  as  the  three  acts,  which  the 
prophet  is  to  perform  for  the  purpose  of  portraying  the  im- 
pending siege  of  Jerusalem,  are  co-ordinated  to  each  other 
by  the  repetition  of  the  address  nriNi  in   vers.  3,   4,  and  8, 


CHAP.  IV.  1-3.  69 

and  subordinated  to  the  general  injunction — to  portray  Jeru- 
salem as  a  besieged  city — introduced  in  ver.  1  with  the  words 

mx  p  nnxi. 

T  T     '  V         T  -  : 

Vers.  1-3.  The  first  symbolical  action. — Ver.  1.  And  tliou^ 
son  of  man,  take  to  thyself  a  hrich^  and  lay  it  before  thee,  and 
draw  thereon  a  city,  Jerusalem  :  Ver.  2.  And  direct  a  siege 
against  it;  build  against  it  siege-towers,  raise  up  a  mound  against 
it,  erect  camps  against  it,  and  place  battering-rams  against  it 
round  about.  Ver.  3.  Aiid  thou,  take  to  thyself  an  iron  pan, 
and  place  it  as  an  iron  loall  between  thee  and  the  city,  and  direct 
thy  face  towards  it;  thus  let  it  be  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  besiege 
it.     Let  it  be  a  sign  to  the  house  of  Israel. 

The  directions  in  vers.  1  and  2  contain  the  general  basis  for 
the  symbolical  siege  of  Jerusalem,  which  the  prophet  is  to  lay 
before  Israel  as  a  sign.  Upon  a  brick  he  is  to  sketch  a  citv 
(Pi^n,  to  engrave  with  a  writing  instrument)  which  is  to  repre- 
sent Jerusalem :  around  the  city  he  is  to  erect  siege-works — 
towers,  walls,  camps,  and  battering-rams ;  i.e.  he  is  to  inscribe 
the  representation  of  them,  and  place  before  himself  the  picture 
of  the  besieged  city.  The  selection  of  a  brick,  i.e.  of  a  tile- 
stone,  not  burnt  in  a  kiln,  but  merely  dried  in  the  sun,  is  not, 
as  Havernick  supposes,  a  reminiscence  of  Babylon  and  monu- 
mental inscriptions ;  in  Palestine,  also,  such  bricks  were  a 
common  building  material  (Isa.  ix.  9),  in  consequence  of  which 
the  selection  of  such  a  soft  mass  of  clay,  on  which  a  picture 
might  be  easily  inscribed,  was  readily  suggested.  IW'O  ]T^  = 
nii'D  n^b'j  Mic.  iv.  14,  "  to  make  a  siege,"  i.e.  "  to  bring  forward 
siege-works."  liifO  is  therefore  the  general  expression  which 
is  specialized  in  the  following  clauses  by  P;."l,  "'  siege-towers" 
(see  on  2  Kings  xxv.  1)  ;  by  rh%^  "  mound "  (see  on  2  Sam. 
XX.  15)  ;  ni:n»j  "  camps"  in  the  plural,  because  the  hostile  army 
raises  several  camps  around  the  city  ;  C'lS,  "  battering-rams," 
"  wall-breakers,"  arietes  ;  according  to  Joseph  Kimchi,  "  iron 
rams,"  to  break  in  the  walls  (and  gates,  xxi.  27).  They  con- 
sisted  of  strong  beams  of    hard  wood,   furnished  at  the  end 


70  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

with  a  ram's  head  made  of  iron,  which  were  suspended  by  a 
chain,  and  driven  forcibly  against  the  wall  by  the  soldiers. 
Compare  the  description  of  them  by  Josephus,  de  hello  Judaico 
iii.  7.  19.  The  suffix  in  Hvy,  in  ver.  2,  refers  to  I'V-  The  siege- 
works  which  are  named  were  not  probably  to  be  placed  by 
Ezekiel  as  little  figures  around  the  brick,  so  that  the  latter 
would  represent  the  city,  but  to  be  engraved  upon  t?ie  brick 
around  the  city  thereon  portrayed.  The  expressions,  "  to  make 
a  siege,"  "  to  huild  toAvers,"  "  to  erect  a  mound,"  etc.,  are 
selected  because  the  drawing  was  to  represent  what  is  done 
when  a  city  is  besieged.  In  ver.  3,  in  reference  to  this,  the 
inscribed  picture  of  the  city  is  at  once  termed  "  city,"  and  in 
ver.  7  the  picture  of  the  besieged  Jerusalem,  "  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem."  The  meaning  of  the  picture  is  clear.  Every  one 
who  saw  it  was  to  recognise  that  Jerusalem  will  be  besieged. 
But  the  prophet  is  to  do  still  more  ;  he  is  to  take  in  hand  the 
siege  itself,  and  to  carry  it  out.  To  that  end,  he  is  to  place  an 
iron  pan  as  an  iron  wall  between  himself  and  the  city  sketched 
on  the  brick,  and  direct  his  countenance  stedfastly  towards  the 
city  (r?']),  and  so  besiege  it.  The  iron  pan,  erected  as  a  wall, 
is  to  represent  neither  the  wall  of  the  city  (Ewald)  nor  the 
enemies'  rampart,  for  this  was  already  depicted  on  the  brick ; 
while  to  represent  it,  i.e.  the  city  wall,  as  "  iron,"  i.e.  immove- 
ably  fast,  would  be  contrary  to  the  meaning  of  the  prophecy. 
The  iron  wall  represents,  as  Rosenmiiller,  after  the  hints  of 
Theodoret,  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  and  others,  has  already  observed, 
a  firm,  impregnable  wall  of  partition,  which  the  prophet  as 
messenger  and  representative  of  God  is  to  raise  between  himself 
and  the  beleaguered  city,  ut  significaret,  quasi  ferreum  muriim 
interjectum  esse  cives  inter  et  se^  i.e.  Deum  Deique  decretxim  et 
sententiam  contra  illos  latam  esse  irrevocahilem,  nee  Deum  civium 
preces  et  querimonias  auditurum  ant  iis  ad  misericordiam  Jlec- 
tendum.  Cf.  Isa  lix.  2 ;  Lam.  iii.  44.  n?t]Q,  "  pan,"  i.e.  an 
iron  plate  for  baking  their  loaves  and  slices  of  cakes ;  see  on 
Lev.  ii.  5.      The  selection  of  such  an  iron  plate  for  the  purpose 


CHAP,  IV.  4-8.  71 

mentioned  is  not  to  be  explained,  as  Kliefotli  thinks,  from  the 
circumstance  that  the  pan  is  primarily  to  serve  the  prophet  for 
preparing  liis  food  while  he  is  occupied  in  completing  his 
sketch.  The  text  says  nothing  of  that.  If  he  were  to  have 
employed  the  pan  for  such  a  purpose,  he  could  not,  at  the  same 
time,  have  placed  It  as  a  wall  between  himself  and  the  city. 
The  choice  is  to  be  explained  simply  from  this,  that  such  a  plate 
was  to  be  found  in  every  household,  and  was  quite  fitted  for  the 
object  intended.  If  any  other  symbolical  element  is  contained 
in  it,  the  hard  ignoble  metal  might,  perhaps,  with  Grotius,  be 
taken  to  typify  the  hard,  wicked  heart  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  ;  cf.  xxii.  18  ;  Jer.  xv.  12.  The  symbolical  siege 
of  Jerusalem  is  to  be  a  sign  for  the  house  of  Israel,  i.e. 
a  pre-announcement  of  its  impending  destiny.  The  house 
of  Israel  is  the  whole  covenant  people,  not  merely  the  ten 
tribes  as  in  ver.  5,  in  contradistinction  to  the  house  of  Judah 
(ver.  6). 

Vers.  4-8.  The  second  symbolical  act. — Ver.  4.  Ajtd  do  tJiou 
lay  thyself  upon-  thy  left  side,  and  lay  upon  it  the  evil  deeds  of  the 
house  of  Israel ;  for  the  numher  of  the  days  during  which  thou 
liest  thereon  shalt  thou  bear  their  evil  deeds.  Ver.  5.  And  I 
reckon  to  thee  the  years  of  their  evil  deeds  as  a  number  of  days ; 
three  hundred  and  ninety  days  shalt  thou  bear  the  evil  deeds  of 
the  house  of  Israel.  Ver.  6.  And  (icheti)  thou  hast  completed 
these,  thou  shalt  then  lay  thyself  a  second  time  upon  thy  right  side, 
and  bear  the  evil  deeds  of  the  house  of  Jadah  forty  days ;  each 
day  I  reckon  to  thee  as  a  year.  Ver.  7.  And  upon  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  shalt  thou  stedfastly  direct  thy  countenance,  and  thy 
naked  arm^  and  shalt  prophesy  against  it.  Ver.  8.  And,  lo, 
I  lay  cords  upon  thee,  that  thou  stir  not  from  one  side  to  the  other 
until  thou  hast  ended  the  days  of  thy  siege. — Whilst  Ezekiel,  as 
as  God's  representative,  carries  out  in  a  symbolical  manner  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem,  he  is  in  this  situation  to  portray  at  the 
same  time  the  destiny  of  the  people  of  Israel  beleaguered  in 
their  metropolis.     Lying  upon  his  left  side  for  390  days  without 


72  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

turning,  he  is  to  bear  the  guilt  of  Israel's  sin ;  then,  lying  40 
days  more  upon  his  right  side,  lie  is  to  bear  the  guilt  of  Judah's 
sin.  In  so  doing,  the  number  of  the  days  during  which  he 
reclines  upon  his  sides  shall  be  accounted  as  exactly  equal  to 
the  same  number  of  years  of  their  sinning.  PV  ^^%  *'  to  bear 
the  evil  deeds,"  i.e.  to  take  upon  himself  the  consequence  of  sin, 
and  to  atone  for  them,  to  suffer  the  punishment  of  sin  ;  cf.  Num. 
xiv.  34,  etc.  Sin,  which  produces  guilt  and  punishment,  is  re- 
garded as  a  burden  or  weight,  which  Ezekiel  is  to  lay  upon  the 
side  upon  which  he  reclines,  and  in  this  Avay  bear  it.  This  bear- 
ing, however,  of  the  guilt  of  sin  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  vicarious 
and  mediatorial,  as  in  the  sacrifice  of  atonement,  but  is  intended 
as  purely  epideictic  and  symbolical ;  that  is  to  say,  Ezekiel, 
by  his  lying  so  long  bound  under  the  burden  of  Israel  and 
Judah  which  was  laid  upon  his  side,  is  to  show  to  the  people 
how  they  are  to  be  cast  down  by  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and 
how,  while  lying  on  the  ground,  without  the  possibility  of 
turning  or  rising,  they  are  to  bear  the  punishment  of  their 
sins.  The  full  understanding  of  this  symbolical  act,  how- 
ever, depends  upon  the  explanation  of  the  specified  periods 
of  time,  with  regard  to  which  the  various  views  exhibit  great 
discrepancy. 

In  the  first  place,  the  separation  of  the  guilt  into  that  of  the 
house  of  Israel  and  that  of  the  house  of  Judah  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  division  of  the  covenant  people  into  the  two 
kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah.  That  Ezekiel  now  is  to  bear 
the  sin  of  Israel  upon  the  left,  that  of  Judah  on  the  right  side, 
is  not  fully  explained  by  the  circumstance  that  the  kingdom  of 
the  ten  tribes  lay  to  the  left,  i.e.  to  the  north,  the  kingdom 
of  Judah  to  the  right,  i.e.  to  the  south  of  Jerusalem,  but 
must  undoubtedly  point  at  the  same  time  to  the  pre-eminence 
of  Judah  over  Israel ;  cf.  Eccles.  x.  2.  This  pre-eminence  of 
Judah  is  manifestly  exhibited  in  its  period  of  punishment 
extending  only  to  40  days  =  40  years ;  that  of  Israel,  on  the 
contrary,   390  days  =  390   years.      These   numbers,  however, 


CHAP.  IV.  4-8.  73 

cannot  be  satisfactorily  explained  from  a  chronological  point  of 
view,  whether  they  be  referred  to  the  time  during  which  Israel 
and  Judah  sinned,  and  heaped  upon  themselves  guilt  which 
was  to  be  punished,  or  to  the  time  during  which  they  were  to 
atone,  or  suffer  punishment  for  their  sins.  Of  themselves,  both 
references  are  possible ;  the  first,  viz.  in  so  far  as  the  days  in 
■which  Ezekiel  is  to  bear  the  guilt  of  Israel,  might  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  number  of  the  years  of  their  guilt,  as  many 
Kabbins,  Vatablus,  Calvin,  Lightfoot,  Vitringa,  J.  D.  Michaelis, 
and  others  suppose,  while  in  so  doing  the  years  are  calculated 
very  differently ;  cf.  des  Vignoles,  Chronol.  I.  p.  479  sqq.,  and 
Rosenmiiller,  Scholia,  Excvrs.  to  ch.  iv.  All  these  hypotheses, 
however,  are  shattered  by  the  impossibility  of  pointing  out  the 
specified  periods  of  time,  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  chro- 
nology. If  the  days,  reckoned  as  years,  correspond  to  the 
duration  of  their  sinning,  then,  in  the  case  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  only  the  duration  of  this  kingdom  could  come  into  con- 
sideration, as  the  period  of  punishment  began  with  the  captivity 
of  the  ten  tribes.  But  this  kingdom  lasted  only  253  years. 
The  remaining  137  years  the  Kabbins  have  attempted  to  supply 
from  the  period  of  the  Judges ;  others,  from  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  the  ten  tribes  down  to  that  of  Ezekiel,  or  even 
to  that  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Both  are  altogether 
arbitrary.  Still  less  can  the  40  years  of  Judah  be  calculated, 
as  all  the  determinations  of  the  beginning  and  the  end  are  mere 
phantoms  of  the  air.  The  fortieth  year  before  our  prophecy 
would  nearly  coincide  with  the  eighteenth  year  of  Josiah's 
reign,  and  therefore  with  the  year  in  which  this  pious  king 
effected  the  reformation  of  religion.  Ezekiel,  however,  could 
not  represent  this  year  as  marking  the  commencement  of 
Judah's  sin.  We  must  therefore,  as  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
words  primarily  indicates,  regard  the  specified  periods  of  time 
as  periods  of  punishment  for  Israel  and  Judah.  Since  Ezekiel, 
then,  had  to  maintain  during  the  symbolical  siege  of  Jerusalem 
this  attitude  of  reclining  for  Israel  and  Judah,  and  after  the 


74  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

completion  of  the  390  days  for  Israel  must  lie  a  second  time 
(n*:C',  ver.  6)  40  days  for  Judah,  he  had  to  recline  in  all  430 
(390  +  40)  days.  To  include  the  forty  days  in  the  tliree  hun- 
dred and  ninety  is  contrary  to  the  statements  in  the  text.  But 
to  reckon  the  two  periods  together  has  not  only  no  argument 
against  it,  but  is  even  suggested  by  the  circumstance  that  the 
propliet,  while  reclining  on  his  left  and  right  sides,  is  to  repre- 
sent the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  Regarded,  however,  as  periods  of 
punishment,  both  the  numbers  cannot  be  explained  consistently 
with  the  chronology,  but  must  be  understood  as  having  a  sym- 
bolical signification.  The  space  of  430  years,  which  is  an- 
nounced to  both  kingdoms  toi^ether  as  the  duration  of  their 
chastisement,  recalls  the  430  years  which  in  the  far  past  Israel 
had  spent  in  Egypt  in  bondage  (Ex.  xii.  40).  It  had  l)een 
already  intimated  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xv.  13)  that  the  sojourn 
in  Egypt  would  be  a  period  of  servitude  and  humiliation  for 
his  seed ;  and  at  a  later  time,  in  consequence  of  the  oppression 
which  the  Israelites  then  experienced  on  account  of  the  rapid 
increase  of  their  number,  it  was — upon  the  basis  of  the  threat 
in  Deut.  xxviii.  68,  that  God  would  punish  Israel  for  their  per- 
sistent declension,  by  bringing  them  back  into  ignominious 
bondage  in  Egypt — taken  by  the  prophet  as  a  type  of  the 
banishment  of  rebellious  Israel  among  the  heathen.  In  this 
sense  Hosea  already  threatens  (viii.  13,  ix.  3,  6)  the  ten  tribes 
with  being  carried  back  to  Egypt;  see  on  Hos.  ix.  3.  Still 
more  frequently,  upon  the  basis  of  this  conception,  is  the 
redemption  from  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  exile  announced  as 
a  new  and  miraculous  exodus  of  Israel  from  the  bondarre  of 
Egypt,  e.g.  Hos.  ii.  2  ;  Isa.  xi.  15,  16. — This  typical  meaning 
lies  also  at  the  foundation  of  the  passage  before  us,  as,  in 
accordance  with  the  statement  of  Jerome,^  it  was  already  ac- 
cepted by  the  Jews  of  his  time,  and  has  been  again  recognised  in 

^  Alii  vero  et  maxime  Judaei  a  seciuido  anno  Vcspasiani,  qnando  Ilicru- 
salcm  a liomanis cuplii  Umjdumqjie  suhversum  est,  siip]>utari  voltint  in  tribida- 
tione  et  aiirjH!<tia  et  captii-italis  jiujo  populi  constilui   annos  quadrinr/entos 


CHAP.  IV.  4-8.  75 

modern  times  by  Havernick  and  Ilitzig.  That  Ezeklel  looked 
upon  the  period  during  which  Israel  had  been  subject  to  tlie 
heathen  in  the  past  as  "  typical  of  the  future,  is  to  be  assumed, 
because  only  then  does  the  number  of  430  cease  to  be  arbitrary 
and  meaningless,  and  at  the  same  time  its  division  into  390  +  40 
become  explicable."  —  Hitzig.  This  latter  view  is  not,  of 
course,  to  be  understood  as  Hitzig  and  Havernick  take  it,  i.e.  as 
if  the  40  years  of  Judah's  chastisement  were  to  be  viewed  apart 
from  the  40  years'  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness, 
upon  which  the  look  of  the  prophet  would  have  been  turned  bv 
the  sojourn  in  Egypt.  For  the  40  years  in  the  wilderness  are 
not  included  in  the  430  years  of  the  Egyptian  sojourn,  so  that 
Ezekiel  could  have  reduced  these  430  years  to  390,  and  yet 
have  added  to  them  the  40  years  of  the  desert  wanderings. 
For  the  coming  period  of  punishment,  which  is  to  commence 
for  Israel  with  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  is  fixed  at  430  years  with 
reference  to  the  Egyptian  bondage  of  the  Israelites,  and  this 
period  is  divided  into  390  and  40 ;  and  this  division  therefore 
must  also  have,  if  not  its  point  of  commencement,  at  least  a 
point  of  connection,  in  the  430  years  of  the  Egyptian  sojourn. 
The  division  of  the  period  of  chastisement  into  two  parts  is  to 
be  explained  probably  from  the  sending  of  the  covenant  people 
into  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  the  appointment  of 
a  longer  period  of  chastisement  for  Israel  than  for  Judah,  from 
the  greater  guilt  of  the  ten  tribes  in  comparison  with  Judah, 
but  not  the  incommensurable  relation  of  the  divisions  into  390 
and  40  years.  The  foundation  of  this  division  can,  first  of  all, 
only  lie  in  this,  that  the  number  fort}/  already  possessed  the 
symbolical  significance  of  a  measured  period  of  divine  visitation. 
This  significance  it  had  already  received,  not  throutrh  the  40 
years  of  the  desert  wandering,  but  through  the  40  days  of  rain 
at  the  time  of  the  deluge  (Gen.  vii.  17),  so  that,  in  conformity 

(rigiiita,  et  sic  redire  populum  ad  pristinum  statum  ut  quomodo 
filii  Israel  430  annis  fuerunt  in  Aegypto,  sic  in  eodein  numero 
finiatiir:  scriptumqiie  esse  in  Ex.  xii.  40. — Hieronyjius. 


76  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

with  this,  the  punishment  of  Jying  in  the  wilderness,  suspended 
over  the  rebellious  race  of  Israel  at  Kadesh,  is  already  stated  at 
40  years,  although  it  included  in  reality  only  38  years;  see  on 
Num.  xiv.  32  sqq.  If  now,  however,  it  should  be  supposed  that 
this  penal  sentence  had  contributed  to  the  fixing  of  the  number 
40  as  a  symbolical  number  to  denote  a  longer  period  of  punish- 
ment, the  40  years  of  punishment  for  Judah  could  not  yet  have 
been  viewed  apart  from  this  event.  The  fixing  of  the  chastise- 
ment for  Israel  and  Judah  at  390  -j-  40  years  could  only  in 
that  case  be  measured  by  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt, 
if  the  relations  of  this  sojourn  presented  a  point  of  connection 
for  a  division  of  the  430  years  into  390  and  40,  i.e.  if  the  40 
last  jears  of  the  Egyptian  servitude  could  somehow  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  preceding  390.  A  point  of  contact  for 
this  is  offered  by  an  event  in  the  life  of  Moses  which  falls 
within  that  period,  and  was  fertile  in  results  for  him  as  well  as 
for  the  whole  of  Israel,  viz.  his  flight  from  Egypt  in  conse- 
quence of  the  slaughter  of  an  Egyptian  who  had  ill-treated  an 
Israelite.  As  the  Israelites,  his  brethren,  did  not  recognise  the 
meaning  of  this  act,  and  did  not  perceive  that  God  would  save 
them  by  his  hand,  IMoses  was  necessitated  to  flee  into  the  land 
of  Midian,  and  to  tarry  there  40  years  as  a  stranger,  until  the 
Lord  called  him  to  be  the  saviour  of  his  nation,  and  sent  him  as 
His  messenger  to  Pharaoh  (Ex.  ii.  11-iii.  10;  Acts  vii.  23-30). 
These  40  years  were  for  Moses  not  only  a  time  of  trial  and 
purification  for  his  future  vocation,  but  undoubtedly  also  the 
period  of  severest  Egyptian  oppression  for  the  Israelites,  and  in 
this  respect  quite  fitted  to  be  a  type  of  the  coming  time  of 
punishment  for  Judah,  in  which  was  to  be  repeated  what  Israel 
had  experienced  in  Egypt,  that,  as  Israel  had  lost  their  helper 
and  protector  with  the  flight  of  Moses,  so  now  Judah  was  to 
lose  her  king,  and  be  given  over  to  the  tyranny  of  the  heathen 
world-power.* 

*  Another  ingenious  explanation  of  the  numbers  in  question  has  been 
attempted  by  KUcfoth,  Coinmcnt.  p.  123.     Proceeding  from  the  symbolical 


CHAP.  IV.  4-3.  77 

"While  Ezekiel  thus  reclines  upon  one  side,  he  is  to  direct 
liis  look  unchangingly  upon  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  i.e.  upon 
the  picture  of  the  besieged  city,  and  keep  his  arm  bare,  i.e. 
ready  for  action  (Isa.  lii.  10),  and  outstretched,  and  prophesy 
against  the  city,  especially  through  the  menacing  attitude 
which  he  had  taken  up  against  it.  To  be  able  to  carry  this 
out,  God  will  bind  him  with  cords,  i.e.  fetter  liim  to  his  couch 
(see  on  iii.  25),  so  that  he  cannot  stir  from  one  side  to  another 
until  he  has  completed  the  time  enjoined  upon  him  for  the 
siege.     In  this  is  contained  the  thought  that  the  siege  of  Jeru- 

signification  of  the  number  40  as  a  measure  of  time  for  divine  visitation 
and  trial,  he  supposes  that  the  prescription  in  Deut.  xxv.  3 — that  if  an 
Israelite  were  to  be  subjected  to  corporal  punishment,  he  was  not  to  receive 
more  than  40  stripes — is  founded  upon  this  symbolical  signification, — a 
prescription  which,  according  to  2  Cor.  xi.  24,  was  in  practice  so  carried 
out  that  only  39  were  actually  inflicted.  From  the  application  and  bearing 
thus  given  to  the  number  40,  the  symbolical  numbers  in  the  passage  before 
us  are  to  be  explained.  Every  year  of  punishment  is  equivalent  to  a  stripe 
of  chastisement.  To  the  house  of  Israel  10  X  39  years  =  stripes,  were 
adjudged,  i.e.  to  each  of  the  ten  tribes  39  years  =  stripes ;  the  individual 
tribes  are  treated  as  so  many  single  individuals,  and  each  receives  the 
amount  of  chastisement  usual  in  the  case  of  one  individual.  Judah,  on  the 
contrary,  is  regarded  as  the  one  complete  historical  national  tribe,  because 
in  the  two  faithful  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  the  people  collec- 
tively were  represented.  Judah,  then,  may  receive,  not  the  number  of 
stripes  falling  to  individuals,  but  that  only  which  fell  upon  one,  althouo-h, 
as  a  fair  compensation,  not  the  usual  number  of  40,  but  the  higher  number — 
compatible  with  the  Torah — of  40  stripes  =  years.  To  this  explanation  we 
would  give  our  assent,  if  only  the  transformation  into  stripes  or  blows  of 
the  days  of  the  prophet's  reclining,  or  of  the  years  of  Israel's  punishment, 
could  be  shown  to  be  probable  through  any  analogous  Biblical  example, 
and  were  not  merely  a  deduction  from  the  modern  law  of  punishment,  in 
which  corporal  punishment  and  imprisonment  hold  the  same  importance. 
The  assumption,  then,  is  altogether  arbitrary  irrespective  of  this,  that  in 
the  case  of  the  house  of  Israel  the  measure  of  punishment  is  fixed  differently 
from  that  of  Judah  ;  in  the  former  case,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
tribes;  in  the  latter,  according  to  the  unity  of  the  kingdom :  in  the  former 
at  39,  in  the  latter  at  40  stripes.  Finally,  the  presupposition  that  the  later 
Jewish  practice  of  inflicting  only  39  instead  of  40  stripes — in  order  not  to 
transgress  the  letter  of  the  law  in  the  enumeration  which  probably  was 
made  at  the  infliction  of  the  punishment — goes  back  to  the  time  of  the 
exile,  is  extremely  improbable,  as  it  altogether  breathes  the  spirit  of 
Pharisaic  micrology. 


78  THE  PnoniECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

salem  is  to  be  mentally  carried  on  until  its  capture  :  but  no 
new  symbol  of  the  state  of  prostration  of  the  besieged  Jerusalem 
is  implied.  For  such  a  purpose  the  food  of  the  prophet 
(ver.  9  sqq.)  during  this  time  is  employed. 

Vers.  9-17.  The  third  symbolical  act.— Ver.  9.  Aiid  do 
ihou  take  to  thyself  wheat,  and  barley,  and  Leans,  and  lentiles, 
and  millet,  and  spelt,  and  put  tliem  in  a  vessel,  and  prepare  them 
as  bread  for  thyself,  according  to  the  number  of  the  days  on  which 
thou  liest  on  thy  side  ;  three  hundred  and  ninety  days  shalt  thou 
eat  it.  Ver.  10.  And  thy  food,  which  thou  eatesf,  shall  be  ac- 
cording to  weight,  twenty  shekels  for  a  day ;  from  time  to  time 
shalt  thou  eat  it.  Ver.  11.  And  water  shalt  thou  drink  accord- 
ing to  measure,  a  sixth  part  of  the  hin,  from  time  to  time  shalt 
thou  drink  it.  Ver.  12.  And  as  barley  cakes  shalt  thou  eat  it, 
and  shalt  bake  it  before  their  eyes  with  human  excrement. 
Ver.  13.  And  Jehovah  spake;  then  shall  the  children  of  hrael 
eat  their  bread  jwlluted  amongst  the  heathen,  whither  I  shall  drive 
them.  Ver.  14.  Then  said  I:  Ah!  Lord,  Jehovah,  my  soul  has 
never  been  ptolluted ;  and  of  a  carcase,  and  of  that  ivhich  is  torn, 
have  I  never  eaten  from  my  youth  up  xnitil  noio,  and  abominable 
flesh  has  not  come  into  my  mouth.  Ver.  15.  Then  said  He  unto 
me:  Lo,  I  allow  thee  the  dung  of  animals  instead  of  that  of 
man;  therewith  mayest  thou  prepare  thy  bread.  Ver.  16.  And 
lie  said  to  me.  Son  of  man,  lo,  I  will  break  the  staff  of  bread  in 
Jerusalem,  so  that  they  will  eat  bread  according  to  weight,  and 
in  affliction,  and  drink  water  by  measure,  and  in  amazement. 
Ver.  17.  Because  bread  and  xcater  shall  fail,  and  they  shall  pine 
away  one  icith  another,  and  disajypear  in  their  guilt. — For  the 
whole  duration  of  the  symbolical  siege  of  Jerusalem,  Ezekiel  is  to 
furnish  himself  with  a  store  of  grain  corn  and  leguminous  fruits, 
to  place  this  store  in  a  vessel  beside  him,  and  daily  to  prepare 
in  the  form  of  bread  a  measured  portion  of  the  same,  20  shekels 
in  weight  (about  9  ounces),  and  to  bake  this  as  barley  cakes 
upon  a  fire,  prepared  with  dried  dung,  and  then  to  partake  of 
it  at   the  different  hours  for  meals  throughout   the   day.     In 


CHAP.  IV.  9-17.  79 

addition  to  this,  he  is,  at  the  hours  appointed  for  eating,  to 
drink  water,  in  like  manner  according  to  measure,  a  sixth  part 
of  the  hin  daily,  i.e.  a  quantity  less  than  a  pint  (cf.  Biblisch. 
Archdol.  II.  p.  141).  The  Israelites,  probably,  generally  pre- 
pared the  niay  from  wheat  flour,  and  not  merely  when  they  had 
guests  (Gen.  xviii.  6).  Ezekiel,  however,  is  to  take,  in  addi- 
tion, other  kinds  of  grain  with  leguminous  fruits,  which  were 
employed  in  the  preparation  of  bread  when  wheat  was  deficient ; 
barley — baked  into  bread  by  the  poor  (Judg.  vii.  13  ;  2  Kings 
iv.  42  ;  John  vi.  9  ;  see  on  1  Kings  v.  8)  ;  i'ia,  "  beans,"  a  com- 
mon food  of  the  Hebrews  (2  Sam.  xvii.  28),  which  appears  to 
have  been  mixed  with  other  kinds  of  grain  for  the  purpose  of 
being  baked  into  bread.^  This  especially  holds  true  of  the 
lentiles,  a  favourite  food  of  the  Hebrews  (Gen.  xxv.  29  sq.), 
from  which,  in  Egypt  at  the  present  day,  the  poor  still  bake 
bread  in  times  of  severe  famine  (Sonnini,  R.  II.  390 ;  apro^ 
(f)dKivo<;,  Athenaeus,  IV.  158).  JD^^  "millet,"  termed  by  the 
Arabs  "  Dochn"  (  -^  j),  panicwn,  a  fruit  cultivated  in  Egypt, 
and  still  more  frequently  in  Arabia  (see  Wellsted,  Arab.  I. 
295),  consisting  of  longish  round  brown  grain,  resembling  rice, 
from  which,  in  the  absence  of  better  fruits,  a  sort  of  bad  bread 
is  baked.  Cf.  Celsius,  Uierohotan,  i.  453  sqq. ;  and  Gesen. 
Thesaur.  p.  333.  D'''????  "  spelt  or  German  corn "  (cf .  Ex.  ix. 
32),  a  kind  of  grain  which  produces  a  finer  and  whiter  flour 
than  wheat  flour ;  the  bread,  however,  which  is  baked  from  it  is 
somewhat  dry,  and  is  said  to  be  less  nutritive  than  wheat  bread ; 
cf.  Celsius,  Hierohotan.,  ii.  98  sq.  Of  all  these  fruits  Ezekiel 
is  to  place  certain  quantities  in  a  vessel — to  indicate  that  all 
kinds  of  grain  and  leguminous  fruits  capable  of  being  converted 
into  bread  will  be  collected,  in  order  to  bake  bread  for  the 
appeasing  of  hunger.  In  the  intermixture  of  various  kinds 
of  flour  we  are  not,  with  Hitzig,  to  seek  a  transgression  of  the 

^  Cf.  Plinii  Histor.  Katur.  xviii.  80 :  "  Inter  legumina  maximits  Jionos 
fabae,  quippe  ex  qua  tentatus  sit  etiam  panis  .  .  .  Frumento  etiam  miscetur 
apucl  pkrasque  gentes  et  maxime  panico  solida  ac  dellcatius  fracta.''^ 


so  THE  ITiOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

law  In  Lev.  xix.  19;  Deut.  xxll.  9.  13D»  is  tlic  accusative  of 
measure  or  cUuation.  The  quantity  is  to  be  fixed  according  to 
the  number  of  the  days.  In  ver.  9  only  the  390  days  of  the 
house  of  Israel's  period  of  punishment  are  mentioned — quod 
]?lures  essent  et  fere  universa  summa  (Prado) ;  and  because  this 
uas  sufficient  to  make  prominent  the  hardship  and  oppression 
of  the  situation,  the  40  days  of  Judah  were  omitted  for  the 
sake  of  brevity.^  'l21  ^r'?^'??  "  thy  food  which  thou  shalt 
eat,"  i.e.  the  definite  portion  which  thou  shalt  have  to  eat, 
shall  be  according  to  weight  (between  subject  and  predicate 
the  substantive  verb  is  to  be  supplied).  Twenty  shekels  =  8  or 
9  ounces  of  flour,  yield  11  or  12  ounces  of  bread,  i.e.  at  most 
the  half  of  what  a  man  needs  in  southern  countries  for  his 
daily  support."  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  water.  A 
sixth  part  of  a  bin,  i.e.  a  quantity  less  than  a  pint,  is  a  very 
niggardly  allowance   for  a  day.     Both,  however, — eating  the 

^  Kliefoth's  supposition  is  untenable,  that  what  is  required  in  vers.  9-17 
refers  in  reality  only  to  the  390  days  of  Israel,  and  not  also  to  the  40  days 
of  Judah,  so  that  so  long  as  Ezekiel  lay  and  bore  the  sins  of  Israel,  he 
was  to  eat  his  food  by  measure,  and  unclean.  For  this  is  in  contradic- 
tion with  the  distinct  announcement  that  during  the  wliole  time  that 
he  lay  upon  the  one  side  and  the  other,  he  was  besieging  Jerusalem  ;  and 
by  the  scanty  and  unclean  food,  was  to  portray  both  the  deficiency  of 
bread  and  water  wliich  occurred  in  the  besieged  city  (ver.  17),  as  well  as 
the  eating  of  unclean  bread,  which  impended  over  the  Israelites  when 
among  the  heathen  nations.  The  famine  which  took  place  in  Jerusalem 
during  the  siege  did  not  affect  the  ten  tribes,  but  that  of  Judah  ;  while 
unclean  bread  had  to  be  eaten  among  the  heathen  not  only  by  the  Israelites, 
but  also  by  the  Jews  transported  to  Babylon.  By  the  limitation  of  Avhat  is 
prescribed  to  the  prophet  in  vers.  9-15  to  the  time  during  which  the  sin  of 
Israel  was  to  be  borne,  the  significance  of  this  symbolical  act  for  Jerusalem 
and  Judah  is  taken  away. 

2  In  our  climate  (Germany)  we  count  2  lbs.  of  bread  for  the  daily  supply 
of  a  man  ;  but  in  warm  countries  the  demand  for  food  is  less,  so  that 
scarcely  H  lbs.  are  required.  Wellsted  (Travels  in  Arabia,  II.  p.  200) 
relates  that  "the  Bedoweens  will  undertake  a  journey  of  10  to  12  days 
without  carrying  with  them  any  nutriment,  save  a  bottle  full  of  small  cakes, 
baked  of  white  fiour  and  camel  or  goat's  milk,  and  a  leather  bag  of  water. 
Such  a  cake  weighs  about  5  ounces.  Two  of  them,  and  a  mouthful  of  water, 
the  latter  twice  within  24  hours,  is  all  which  they  then  partake  of." 


CHAP.  IV.  9-17.  81 

bread  and  drinking  the  water, — lie  shall  do  from  time  to  time, 
i.e.  "  not  throughout  the  entire  fixed  period  of  390  days " 
(Havernick)  ;  but  he  shall  not  eat  the  daily  ration  at  once,  but 
divided  into  portions  according  to  the  daily  hours  of  meals,  so 
that  he  will  never  be  completely  satisfied.  In  addition  to  this 
is  the  pollution  (ver.  12  sqq.)  of  the  scanty  allowance  of  food 
by  the  manner  in  which  it  is  prepared.  D''"}'yb'  nay  is  predicate : 
"  as  barley  cakes,"  "  prepared  in  the  form  of  barley  cakes," 
shalt  thou  eat  them.  The  suffix  in  '"^jbsxn  is  neuter,  and  refers 
to  DPI?  in  ver.  9,  or  rather  to  the  kinds  of  grain  there  enumerated, 
which  are  ground  and  baked  before  them  :  ^[}b,  i.e.  "  food." 
The  addition  C'lyb'  is  not  to  be  explained  from  this,  that  the 
principal  part  of  these  consisted  of  barley,  nor  does  it  prove 
that  in  general  no  other  than  barley  cakes  were  known  (Hitzig), 
but  only  that  the  cakes  of  barley  meal,  baked  in  the  ashes, 
wei'e  an  extremely  frugal  kind  of  bread,  which  that  prepared 
by  Ezekiei  was  to  resemble.  The  Hjy  was  probably  always 
baked  on  hot  ashes,  or  on  hot  stones  (1  Kings  xix.  6),  not  on 
pans,  as  Kliefoth  here  supposes.  The  prophet,  however,  is  to 
bake  them  in  (with)  human  ordure.  This  is  by  no  means  to 
be  understood  as  if  he  were  to  mix  the  ordure  with  the  food,  for 
which  view  Isa.  xxxvi.  12  has  been  erroneously  appealed  to ;  but 
— as  2i]vy  in  ver.  15  clearly  shows — he  is  to  bake  it  over  the 
dung,  i.e.  so  that  dung  forms  the  material  of  the  fire.  That  the 
bread  must  be  polluted  by  this  is  conceivable,  although  it  can- 
not be  proved  from  the  passages  in  Lev.  v.  3,  vii.  21,  and  Deut. 
xxiii.  13  that  the  use  of  fire  composed  of  dung  made  the  food 
prepared  thereon  levitically  unclean.  The  use  of  fire  with  human 
ordure  must  have  communicated  to  the  bread  a  loathsome  smell 
and  taste,  by  which  it  was  rendered  unclean,  even  if  it  had  not 
been  immediately  baked  in  the  hot  ashes.  That  the  pollution 
of  the  bread  is  the  object  of  this  injunction,  we  see  from  the 
explanation  which  God  gives  in  ver.  13:  ''Thus  shall  the 
children  of  Israel  eat  their  defiled  bread  among  the  heathen." 
The  heart  of  the  prophet,  however,  rebels  against  such  food. 

EZEK.  I.  F 


82  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

He  says  he  has  never  in  his  life  polluted  himself  by  eating  food 
forbidden  in  the  law;  from  his  youth  up  he  has  eaten  no 
unclean  flesh,  neither  of  a  carcase,  nor  of  that  which  was  torn 
bv  wild  beasts  (cf.  Ex.  xxii.  30;  Deut.  xiv.  21),  nor  flesh  of 
sacrifices  decayed  or  putrefying  (?^23,  see  on  Lev.  vii.  18; 
Isa.  Ixv.  4).  On  this  God  omits  the  requirement  in  ver.  12, 
and  permits  him  to  take  for  firing  the  dung  of  oxen  instead  of 
that  of  men.^  In  ver.  16  sq.,  finally,  is  given  the  explanation 
of  the  scanty  allowance  of  food  meted  out  to  the  prophet, 
namely,  that  the  Lord,  at  the  impending  siege  of  Jerusalem,  is 
to  take  away  from  the  people  the  staff  of  bread,  and  leave  them 
to  languish  in  hunger  and  distress.  The  explanation  is  in 
literal  adherence  to  the  tlireatenings  of  the  law  (Lev.  xxvi.  26 
and  39),  wliich  are  now  to  pass  into  fulfilment.  Bread  is 
called  "  staff  of  bread"  as  being  indispensable  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  life.  To  ^^V'P|,  Lev.  xxvi.  26,  nixna,  "in  sorrow,"  is 
added  ;  and  to  the  water,  po'SC'a,  "  in  astonishment,"  i.e.  in  fixed, 
silent  pain  at  the  miserable  death,  by  hunger  and  thirst,  which 
they  see  before  them.  Djiy?  ip^J  as  Lev.  xxvi.39.  If  we,  finally, 
cast  a  look  over  the  contents  of  this  first  sign,  it  says  that 
Jerusalem  is  soon  to  be  besieged,  and  during  the  siege  is  to 
suffer  hunger  and  terror  as  a  punishment  for  the  sins  of  Israel 

^  The  use  of  dung  as  a  material  for  burning  is  so  common  in  the  East, 
that  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  Ezekiel  first  became  acquainted  ■with  it 
in  a  foreign  country,  and  therefore  regarded  it  witli  peculiar  loathing. 
Human  ordure,  of  course,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  is  never  so  em- 
ployed, although  the  objection  raised  by  Ilitzig,  on  the  other  hand,  that  it 
would  not  yield  so  much  heat  as  would  be  necessary  for  roasting  without 
immediate  contact,  i.e.  through  the  medium  of  a  brick,  rests  upon  an 
erroneous  representation  of  the  matter.  But  the  employment  of  cattle- 
dung  for  firing  could  not  be  unknown  to  the  Israelites,  as  it  forms  in  the 
Hauran  (the  ancient  Bashau)  the  customary  firing  material ;  cf.  Wetzstein's 
remarks  on  Delitzsch's  Jvb.,  vol.  I.  pp.  377,  8  (Eng.  tran.),  where  the  pre- 
paration of  the  jclle — this  prevalent  material  for  burning  in  the  Hauran — 
from  cow-dung  mi.xed  with  choj^ped  straw  is  minutely  described  ;  and  this 
remark  is  made  among  others,  tliat  the  flame  of  the  gcUe,  prepared  and 
dried  from  the  dung  of  oxen  that  feed  at  large,  is  entirely  without  smoke, 
and  that  the  ashes,  which  retain  their  heat  for  a  lengthened  time,  are  as 
clean  as  those  of  wood. 


CHAP.  V   1-4,  83 

and  Juclah ;  that  upon  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Israel  (Judah) 
they  are  to  be  dispersed  among  the  heathen,  and  ■will  there  be 
oblio'ed  to  eat  unclean  bread.  To  this  in  ch.  v.  is  joined  a 
second  sign,  which  shows  further  how  it  shall  fare  with  the 
people  at  and  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  (vers.  1-4)  ;  and 
after  that  a  longer  oracle,  which  developes  the  significance  of 
these  signs,  and  establishes  the  necessity  of  the  penal  judgment 
(vers.  5-17). 

Chap.  V.  1-4. — The  Sign  which  is  to  portray 
Israel's  impending  Destiny. — Ver.  1.  And  tJwu,  son  of 
man,  take  to  thyself  a  sharp  sioord,  as  a  razor  shall  thou  take  it 
to  thyself,  and  go  with  it  over  thy  head,  and  over  thy  chin, 
and  take  to  thee  scales,  and  divide  it  {the  hair).  Ver.  2. 
A  third  part  burn  with  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  when 
the  days  of  the  siege  are  accomplished:  and  take  the  (other) 
third,  smite  with  the  sword  round  about  it:  and  the  {re- 
maining) third  scatter  to  the  winds ;  and  the  sword  will  I  draw 
out  after  them.  Ver.  3.  Yet  take  a  few  of  them  hy  nmnber,  and 
bind  them  in  the  skirt  of  thy  garment.  Ver.  4.  A7id  of  these 
again  take  a  few,  and  cast  them  into  the  f  re,  and  burn  them  with 
fire ;  from  thence  a  fire  shall  go  forth  over  the  ivhole  house  of 
Israel. — The  description  of  this  sign  is  easily  understood. 
D''D^an  "lyrij  "  razor  of  the  barbers,"  is  the  predicate,  which  is  to 
be  understood  to  the  suffix  in  "^^ni^n ;  and  the  clause  states  the 
purpose  for  which  Ezekiel  is  to  use  the  sharp  sword — viz.  as  a 
razor,  in  order  to  cut  off  therewith  the  hair  of  his  head  and 
beard.  The  hair,  when  cut  off,  he  is  to  divide  into  three  parts 
with  a  pair  of  scales  (the  suffix  in  Dnppn  refers  ad  sensum  to 
the  hair).  The  one  third  he  is  to  burn  in  the  city,  i.e.  not  in 
the  actual  Jerusalem,  but  in  the  city,  sketched  on  the  brick, 
which  he  is  symbolically  besieging  (iv.  3).  To  the  city  also  is 
to  be  referred  the  suffix  in  ri''riU"'3p,  ver.  2,  as  is  placed  beyond 
doubt  by  ver.  12.  In  the  last  clause  of  ver.  2,  which  is  taken 
from  Lev.  xxvi.  33,  the  description  of  the  sign  passes  over  into 


81  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

its  exposition,  for  2'}''']^^?  does  not  refer  to  the  hair,  but  to  the 
inliabitants  of  Jerusalem.     The  significance  also  of  this  sym- 
bolical act  is  easily  recognised,  and  is,  moreover,  stated  in  ver. 
12.     Ezekiel,  in  this  act,  represents  the  besieged  Jerusalem. 
What  he  does  to  his  hair,  that  will  God  do  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem.     As  the  hair  of  the   prophet  falls  under  the 
sword,  used  as  a  razor,  so  will  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  fall, 
when  the  city  is  captured,  into  destruction,  and  that  verily  an 
ignominious  destruction.     This  idea  is  contained  in  the  picture 
of  the  hair-cutting,  which  was  a  dishonour  done  to  what  forms 
the  ornament  of  a  man.     See  on  2  Sam.  x.  4  sqq.     A  third  of 
the  same  is  to  perish  in  the  city.     As  the  fire  destroys  the  hair, 
so  will  pestilence  and  hunger  consume  the  inhabitants  of  the 
beleaguered  city  (ver.  12).     The   second   third   will,  on   the 
capture  of  the  city,  fall  by  the  sword  in  the  environs  (ver.  12)  ; 
the  last  third  will  God  scatter  to  the  winds,  and — as  Moses  has 
already  threatened  the  people — will  draw  forth  the  sword  after 
them,  still  to  persecute  and  smite  them  (ver.  12).     This  sign  is 
continued   (vers.  3  and  4)  in  a  second  symbolical  act,  which 
shadows  forth  what  is  further  to  happen  to  the  people  when 
dispersed  among  the  heathen.     Of  the  third  scattered  to  the 
winds,  Ezekiel  is  to  bind  a  small  portion  in  the  skirt  of  his 
garment.      D^'O,  "  from  thence,"  refers  not  to  ri''L;"'btJ^n,  but, 
ad  senstim,  to   nil?  n^in  :   "  from    the   place  where    the  third 
that  is  scattered  to  the  winds  is  found" — i.e.,  as  regards  the 
subject-matter,  of  those  who  are  to  be  found  among  the  dis- 
persion.    The  binding  up  into  the  ^".^^V,  "  the  corners  or  ends 
of  the  garment "  (cf .  Jer.  ii.  34),  denotes  the  preservation  of 
the  few,  who  are  gathered  togetlier  out  of  the  whole  of  those 
who  are  dispersed  among  the  heathen ;  cf.  1  Sam.  xxv.  29 ; 
Ezek.  xvi.  8.     But  even  of  these  few  He  shall  still  cast  some 
into  the  fire,  and  consume  them.     Consequently  those  who  are 
gathered  together  out  of  exile  are  not  all  to  be  preserved,  but 
are  still  to  be  sifted  by  fire,  in  which  process  a  part  is  con- 
sumed.    This  image  does  not  refer  to  those  who  remain  behind 


CHAP.  V.  1-4.  85 

in  the  land,  when  the  nation  is  led  away  captive  to  Babylon 
(Theodoret,  Grotius,  and  others),  but,  as  Ephrem  the  Syrian 
and  Jerome  saw,  to  those  who  were  saved  from  Babylon,  and 
to  their  further  destiny,  as  is  already  clear  from  the  DtJ'p,  rightly 
understood.  The  meaning  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  4  is  dis- 
puted ;  in  it,  as  in  the  final  clause  of  ver.  2,  the  symbolical 
representation  passes  over  into  the  announcement  of  the  thing 
itself.  ^2D0j  which  Ewald  would  arbitrarily  alter  into  ''3Sp, 
cannot,  with  Havernick,  be  referred  to  t^•S^  T]in"7X,  because 
this  yields  a  very  forced  sense,  but  relates  to  the  whole  act 
described  in  vers.  3  and  4 :  that  a  portion  thereof  is  rescued 
and  preserved,  and  yet  of  this  portion  many  are  consumed  by 
fire, — from  that  a  fire  shall  go  forth  over  the  whole  house  of 
Israel.  This  fire  is  explained  by  almost  all  expositors,  from 
Theodoret  and  Jerome  onwards,  of  the  penal  judgments  which 
were  inflicted  after  the  exile  upon  the  Jews,  which  reached  their 
culminating  point  in  the  siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
by  the  Romans,  and  which  still  continue  in  their  dispersion 
throughout  the  whole  world.  But  this  view,  as  Kliefoth  has 
already  remarked,  is  not  only  in  decided  antagonism  to  the  in- 
tention of  the  text,  but  it  is,  moreover,  altogether  impossible  to 
see  how  a  judgment  of  extermination  for  all  Israel  can  be 
deduced  from  the  fact  that  a  small  number  of  the  Israelites, 
who  are  scattered  to  the  winds,  is  saved,  and  that  of  those  who 
are  saved  a  part  is  .still  consumed  with  fire.  From  thence 
there  can  only  come  forth  a  fire  of  purification  for  the  whole  of 
Israel,  through  which  the  remnant,  as  Isaiah  had  already  pre- 
dicted (vi.  12  sqq.),  is  converted  into  a  holy  seed.  In  the  last 
clause,  consuming  by  fire  is  not  referred  to.  The  fire,  how- 
ever, has  not  merely  a  destructive,  but  also  a  cleansing,  purify- 
ing, and  quickening  power.  To  kindle  such  a  fire  on  earth 
did  Christ  come  (Luke  xii.  49),  and  from  Him  the  same  goes 
out  over  the  whole  house  of  Israel.  This  view,  for  which 
Kliefoth  has  already  rightly  decided,  receives  a  confirmation 
through  ch.  vi.  8-10,  where  is  announced  the  conversion  of  the 


86  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

remnant  of  those  Israelites  who  had  been  dispersed  among  the 
nations. 

So  far  the  symbolical  acts.  Before,  however,  we  pass  on  to 
the  explanation  of  the  following  oracle,  we  must  still  briefly 
touch  the  question,  whether  these  acts  were  undertaken  and 
performed  by  the  prophet  in  the  world  of  external  reality,  or 
whether  they  were  occurrences  only  internally  real,  which 
Ezekiel  experienced  in  spirit — i.e.  in  an  ecstatic  condition — 
and  afterwards  communicated  to  the  people.  Amongst  modern 
expositors,  Kliefoth  has  defended  the  former  view,  and  has 
adduced  the  following  considerations  in  support :  A  significant 
act,  and  yet  also  a  silent,  leisurely  one,  must  be  performed,  that 
it  may  show  something  to  those  who  behold  it.  Nor  is  the  case 
such,  as  Hitzig  supposes,  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
carry  out  what  had  been  required  of  the  prophet  in  ch.  iv. 
1-17.  It  had,  indeed,  its  difficulty;  but  God  sometimes  re- 
quires from  His  servants  what  is  difficult,  although  He  also 
helps  them  to  the  performance  of  it.  So  here  Pie  will  make  it 
easy  for  the  prophet  to  recline,  by  binding  him  (iv.  8).  "  In 
the  sign,  this  certainly  was  kept  in  view,  that  it  should  be  per- 
formed ;  and  it,  moreover,  %cas  performed,  although  the  text, 
in  a  manner  quite  intelligible  with  reference  to  an  act  com- 
manded by  God,  does  not  expressly  state  it."  For  these  latter 
assertions,  however,  there  is  anything  but  convincing  proof. 
The  matter  is  not  so  simple  as  Kiiefoth  supposes,  although  we 
are  at  one  with  him  in  this,  that  neither  the  difficulty  of 
carrying  out  what  was  commanded  in  the  world  of  external 
reality,  nor  the  non-mention  of  the  actual  performance,  furnishes 
sufficient  grounds  for  the  supposition  of  merely  internal,  spiritual 
occurrences.  We  also  are  of  opinion  that  very  many  of  the 
symbolical  acts  of  the  prophets  were  undertaken  and  performed 
in  the  external  world,  and  that  this  supposition,  as  that  which 
corresponds  most  fully  with  the  literal  meaning  of  the  words,  is 
on  each  occasion  the  most  obvious,  and  is  to  be  firmly  adhered 
to,  unless  there  can  be  good  grounds  for  the  opposite  view.     In 


CHAP.  V.  1-4.  87 

the  case  now  before  us,  we  have  first  to  take  into  consideration 
that  the  oracle  which  enjoins  these  symbolical  acts  on  Ezekiel 
stands  in  close  connection,  both  as  to  time  and  place,  with  the 
inauguration  of  Ezekiel  to  the  prophetic  office.  The  hand  of 
the  Lord  comes  upon  him  at  the  same  place,  where  the  con- 
cluding word  at  his  call  was  addressed  to  him  (tlie  D^,  iii.  22, 
points  back  to  DC'  in  iii.  15)  ;  and  the  circumstance  that  Ezekiel 
found  himself  still  on  the  same  spot  to  which  he  had  been 
transported  by  the  Spirit  of  God  (iii.  14),  shows  that  the  new 
revelation,  which  he  here  still  received,  followed  very  soo7i,  if 
not  immediately,  after  his  consecration  to  the  office  of  prophet. 
Then,  upon  the  occasion  of  this  divine  revelation,  he  is  again, 
as  at  his  consecration,  transported  into  an  ecstatic  condition,  as 
is  clear  not  only  from  the  formula,  "the  hand  of  the  Lord 
came  upon  me,"  which  in  our  book  always  has  this  signification, 
but  also  most  undoubtedly  from  this,  that  he  again  sees  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  seen  it  in  ch.  i. 
— viz.  when  in  an  ecstatic  condition.  But  if  this  were  an 
ecstatic  vision,  it  is  obvious  that  the  acts  also  which  the  divine 
appearance  imposed  upon  him  must  be  regarded  as  ecstatic 
occurrences ;  since  the  assertion  that  every  significant  act  must 
he  performed,  in  order  that  something  may  be  sliown  to  those 
who  witness  it,  is  fundamentally  insufficient  for  the  proof  that 
this  act  must  fall  within  the  domain  of  the  earthly  world  of 
sense,  because  the  occurrences  related  in  ch.  viii.-xi.  are  viewed 
even  by  Kliefoth  himself  as  purely  internal  events.  As  decisive, 
however,  for  the  purely  internal  character  of  the  symbolical  acts 
under  consideration  (ch.  iv.  and  v.),  is  the  circumstance  that 
the  supposition  of  Ezekiel  having,  in  his  own  house,  actually 
lain  390  days  upon  his  left,  and  then,  again,  40  days  upon  his 
right  side  without  turning,  stands  in  irreconcilable  contradiction 
with  the  fact  that  he,  according  to  ch.  viii.  1  sqq.,  was  carried 
away  in  ecstasy  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  behold  in  the  temple  the 
monstrosities  of  Israel's  idolatry  and  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem.    For  the  proof  of  this,  see  the  introduction  to  ch.  viii. 


88  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEEIEL. 

Vers.  5-17.  The  Divine  Word  which  explains  the 
Symbolical  Signs,  in  which  the  judgment  that  is  announced 
is  laid  down  as  to  its  cause  (5-9)  and  as  to  its  nature  (10-17). 
— Ver.  5.  Thus  says  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  This  Jerusalem  have  I 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  nations,  and  raised  about  her  the  countries. 
Ver.  6.  But  in  wickedness  she  resisted  my  laivs  more  than  the 
nations,  and  my  statutes  more  than  the  countries  which  are  round 
about  her  ;  for  they  rejected  my  laws,  and  did  not  walk  in  my  statutes. 
Ver.  7.  Therefore  thus  soys  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Because  ye  have 
raged  more  than  the  nations  round  about  you,  and  have  not  walked 
in  my  statutes,  and  have  not  obeyed  my  laws,  and  have  not  done 
even  according  to  the  laws  of  the  nations  which  are  round  about 
you  ;  Ver.  8.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Lo,  T,  even 
I,  shall  be  against  thee,  and  will  perform  judgments  in  thy  midst 
before  the  eyes  of  the  nations.  Ver.  9.  And  I  loill  do  unto  thee 
what  I  have  never  done,  nor  will  again  do  in  like  manner,  on 
account  of  all  thine  abominations. 

'€'T^]  nxr,  not  "  tliis  is  Jerusalem,"  i.e.  this  is  the  destiny  of 
Jerusalem  (Hiivernick),  but  "  this  Jerusalem "  (Hitzig)  ;  DST 
is  placed  before  the  noun  in  the  sense  of  iste,  as  in  Ex.  xxxii.  1 ; 
cf.  Ewald,  §  293^.  To  place  the  culpability  of  Jerusalem  in 
its  proper  prominence,  the  censure  of  her  sinful  conduct  opens 
with  the  mention  of  the  exalted  position  which  God  had  assigned 
her  upon  earth.  Jerusalem  is  described  in  ver.  5  as  forming  the 
central  point  of  the  earth  :  this  is  done,  however,  neither  in  an 
external,  geographical  (Hitzig),  nor  in  a  purely  typical  sense, 
as  the  city  that  is  blessed  more  than  any  other  (Calvin,  Hiiver- 
nick), but  in  a  historical  sense,  in  so  far  as  "  God's  people  and 
city  actually  stand  in  the  central  point  of  the  God-directed 
world-development  and  its  movements "  (Kliefoth) ;  or,  in 
relation  to  the  history  of  salvation,  as  the  city  in  which  God 
hath  set  up  His  throne  of  grace,  from  which  shall  go  forth  the 
law  and  the  statutes  for  all  nations,  in  order  that  the  salvation 
of  the  whole  world  may  be  accomplished  (Isa.  ii.  2  sqq. ;  Mic. 
iv.  1  sqq.).     But  instead  of  keeping  the  laws  and  statutes  of 


CHAP.  V.  5-9.  89 

the  Lord,  Jerusalem  has,  on  the  contrary,  turned  to  do  wicked- 
ness more  than  the  heathen  nations  in  all  the  lands  roundabout 
(nnpn,  cum  accusat.  object.^  "  to  act  rebelliously  towards"). 
Here  we  may  not  quote  Rom.  ii.  12,  14  against  this,  as  if  the 
heathen,  who  did  not  know  the  law  of  God,  did  not  also  trans- 
gress the  same,  but  sinned  ai/o/xw?;  for  the  sinning  avofico'?, 
of  which  the  apostle  speaks,  is  really  a  transgression  of  the 
law  written  on  the  heart  of  the  heathen.  With  |3?,  in  ver.  7, 
the  penal  threatening  is  introduced  ;  but  before  the  punishment 
is  laid  down,  the  correspondence  between  guilt  and  punishment 
is  brought  forward  more  prominently  by  repeatedly  placing  in 
juxtaposition  the  godless  conduct  of  the  rebellious  city.  2??9l! 
is  infinitive,  from  \^^,  a  secondary  form  lion^  in  the  sense  of 
n^rij  "to  rage,"  i.e.  to  rebel  against  God;  cf.  Ps.  ii.  1.  The 
last  clause  of  ver.  7  contains  a  climax  :  "  And  ye  have  not  even 
acted  according  to  the  laws  of  the  heathen."  This  is  not  in  any 
real  contradiction  to  ch.  xi.  12  (where  it  is  made  a  subject  of 
reproach  to  the  Israelites  that  they  have  acted  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  heathen),  so  that  we  would  be  obliged,  with  Ewald 
and  Hitzig,  to  expunge  the  N?  in  the  verse  before  us,  because 
wanting  in  the  Peshito  and  several  Hebrew  manuscripts. 
Even  in  these  latter,  it  has  only  been  omitted  to  avoid  tlie  sup- 
posed contradiction  with  xi.  12.  The  solution  of  the  apparent 
contradiction  lies  in  the  double  meaning  of  the  D^i^n  '•l22*^p. 
The  heathen  had  laws  which  were  opposed  to  those  of  God, 
but  also  such  as  were  rooted  in  the  law  of  God  written  upon 
their  hearts.  Obedience  to  the  latter  was  good  and  praise- 
worthy ;  to  the  former,  wicked  and  objectionable.  Israel,  which 
hated  the  law  of  God,  followed  the  wicked  and  sinful  laws  of  the 
heathen,  and  neglected  to  observe  their  goodlaws.  The  passage 
before  us  is  to  be  judged  by  Jer.  ii.  10,  11,  to  which  Raschi 
had  already  made  reference.^     In  ver.  8  the  announcement  of 

^  Coccejus  had  already  well  remarked  on  ch.  xi.  12:  "  Haec  prohe  con- 
cordant. Imitahantur  Jiidaei  gentiles  velfovendo  opiniunes  gentiles,  vel  etiam 
assiimendo  ritus  et  sacra  gentilium.    Sed  non  faciehant  ut  gentes,  quae  integre 


90  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

the  punlsliment,  interrupted  by  the  repeated  mention  of  the 
cause,  is  again  resumed  with  the  words  'lil  nb  \y?.  Since  Jeru- 
salem has  acted  worse  than  the  heathen,  God  will  execute  His 
judgments  upon  her  before  the  eyes  of  the  heathen.  D'pD'J'  nb'j; 
or  D'tpsil'D  nL"y  (vers.  10,  15,  ch.  xi.  9,  xvi.  41,  etc.),  "  to  accom- 
plish or  execute  judgments,"  is  used  in  Ex.  xii.  12  and  Num. 
xxxiii.  4  of  the  judgments  which  God  suspended  over  Egypt. 
The  punislniient  to  be  suspended  shall  be  so  great  and  heavy, 
that  the  like  has  never  happened  before,  nor  will  ever  happen 
again.  These  words  do  not  require  us  either  to  refer  the 
threatening,  with  Coccejus,  to  the  last  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
which  was  marked  by  greater  severity  than  the  earlier  one,  or 
to  suppose,  with  Hiivernick,  that  the  prophet's  look  is  directed 
to  both  the  periods  of  IsraeFs  punishment — the  times  of  the 
Babylonian  and  Koman  calamity  together.  Both  suppositions 
are  irreconcilable  with  the  words,  as  these  can  only  be  referred 
to  the  first  impending  penal  judgment  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  This  was,  so  far,  more  severe  than  any  previous 
or  subsequent  one,  inasmuch  as  by  it  the  existence  of  the  people 
of  God  was  for  a  time  suspended,  while  that  Jerusalem  and 
Israel,  Avhich  were  destroyed  and  annihilated  by  the  Komans, 
were  no  longer  the  people  of  God,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  con- 
sisted at  that  time  of  the  Christian  community,  which  was  not 
affected  by  that  catastrophe  (Kliefoth). 

Vers.  10-17.  Further  execution  of  this  threat. — Ver.  10. 
Therefore  shall  fathers  devour  their  children  in  thy  midst,  and 
children  shall  devour  their  fathers  :  and  I  will  exercise  judgments 
■upon  thee,  and  disjjerse  all  thy  remnant  to  the  ivinds.  Yer.  11. 
Therefore^  as  I  live,  is  the  declaration  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Verily,  because  thou  hast  polluted  my  sanctuary  toith  all  thine 
abominations  and  all  thy  crimes,  so  shall  1  take  away  mine 
eye  withoid  mercy,  and  tvill  not  spare.  Ver.  12.  A  tldrd  of 
thee   shall  die   by   the  pestilence,    and  perish  by  hunger  in   thy 

diissuis  serviehant.    Nam  Israelitae  nomine  Dei  ahutehantur  et  ipsius  populus 
videri  vokbant." 


CHAP.  V.  10-17.  91 

midst;  and  the  third  part  shcdl  fall  hy  the  sioord  alout  thee; 
and  the  third  part  will  I  scatter  to  all  the  winds ;  and  ivill  draiu 
out  the  sicord  after  them.  Ver.  13.  ^  nd  my  anger  shall  befalfilledy 
and  I  icill  cool  my  wrath  against  them,  and  loill  take  vengeance. 
Arid  they  shall  experience  that  /,  Jehovah,  have  spoken  in  my 
zeal,  when  I  accomplish  my  lorath  upon  them.  Ver.  14.  And  I 
loill  make  thee  a  desolation  and  a  mockery  among  the  nations 
which  are  round  about  thee,  before  the  eyes  of  every  passer-by. 
Ver.  15.  And  it  shall  be  a  mockery  and  a  scorn,  a  ivarning  and 
a  tensor  for  the  nations  round  about  thee,  when  1  exercise  my 
judgments  upon  thee  in  anger  and  wrath  and  in  grievous  visita- 
tions. I,  Jehovah,  have  said  it.  Ver.  16.  When  I  send  against 
thee  the  evil  arrows  of  hunger,  ichich  minister  to  destruction, 
which  I  shall  send  to  destroy  you  ;  for  hunger  shall  I  heap  upon 
you,  and  shall  break  to  you  the  staff  of  bread:  Ver.  17.  xind  I 
shall  send  hunger  upon  you,  and  evil  beasts,  which  shall  make 
thee  childless  ;  and  pestilence  and  blood  shall  pass  over  thee;  and 
the  sicord  loill  I  bring  iipon  thee.  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken  it. — 
As  a  proof  of  the  unheard-of  severity  of  the  judgment,  there  is 
immediately  mentioned  in  ver.  10  a  most  horrible  circumstance, 
which  had  been  ah'eady  predicted  by  Moses  (Lev.  xxvi.  29  ; 
Deut.  xxviii.  53)  as  that  which  should  happen  to  the  people  when 
hard  pressed  by  the  enemy,  viz.  a  famine  so  dreadful,  during 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  that  parents  would  eat  their  children, 
and  children  their  parents ;  and  after  the  capture  of  the  city, 
the  dispersion  of  those  who  remained  "  to  all  the  winds,  i.e.  to 
all  quarters  of  the  world."  This  is  described  more  minutely,  as 
an  appendix  to  the  symbolical  act  in  vers.  1  and  2,  in  vers.  11 
and  12,  with  a  solemn  oath,  and  with  repeated  and  prominent 
mention  of  the  sins  which  have  drawn  down  such  chastisements. 
As  sin,  is  mentioned  the  pollution  of  the  temple  by  idolatrous 
abominations,  which  are  described  in  detail  in  ch.  viii.  The 
PIJN*,  which  is  variously  understood  by  the  old  translators  (for 
which  some  Codices  offer  the  explanatory  correction  pnjx),  is 
to  be  explained,  after  Job  xxxvi.  7,  of  the  "  turning  away  of  the 


92  THE  PBOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

eye,"  and  the  V''^  following  as  the  object ;  while  D^nn-N?"i,  "  that 
it  feel  no  compassion,"  is  interjected  between  the  verb  and  its 
object  with  the  adverbial  signification  of  "  mercilessly."  For 
that  the  words  Dinn  sh  are  adverbially  subordinate  to  V^.i^, 
distinctly  appears  from  the  correspondence — indicated  by  ''3X  D31 

between  V^iVi  and  ^ionx  i6.  Moreover,  the  thought,  "  Jehovah 

will  mercilessly  withdraw  His  care  for  the  people,"  is  not  to  be 
termed  "  feeble  "  in  connection  with  what  follows  ;   nor  is  the 
contrast,  which  is  indicated  in  the  clause  ''?^^"221,  lost,  as  Hiiver- 
nick  supposes.     "'i'^^'DJi  does  not  require  VIS  to  be  understood  of 
a  positive  act,  which  would  correspond  to  the  desecration  of  the 
sanctuary.     This  is  shown  by  the  last  clause  of  the  verse.    The 
withdrawal  without  mercy  of  the  divine  providence  is,  besides, 
in  reality,  equivalent  to  complete  devotion  to  destruction,  as  it 
is  particularized  in  ver.  12.     For  ver.  12  see  on  vers.  1  and  2. 
By  carrying  out  the  threatened  division  of  the  people  into  three 
parts,  the  wrath  of  God  is  to  be  fulfilled,  i.e.  the  full  measure 
of  the  divine  wrath  upon  the  people  is  to  be  exhausted  (cf.  7,  8), 
and  God  is  to  appear  and  "cool "  His  anger.     HDH  mr}^  «  sedavit 
iram"  occurs  again  in  xvi.  42,  xxi.  22,  xxiv.   13.      ''^^C?'^? 
Ilitlipael,  pausal  form  for  ""^li^nanj  «  se  consolari^'''  "  to   procure 
satisfaction  by  revenge;"  cf.  Isa.  i.  24,  and  for  the  thing, 
Deut.  xxviii.  63.     In  ver.  14  sqq.  the  discourse  turns  again 
from  the  people  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem.     It  is  to  become  a 
wilderness,  as  was  already  threatened  in  Lev.  xxvi.  31  and  33 
to  the  cities  of  Israel,  and  thereby  a  "  mockery"  to  all  nations, 
in  the  manner  described  in  Deut.  xxix.  23  sq.     •^l^'.'^"'.,  in  ver.  15, 
is  not  to  be  changed,  after  the  LXX.,  Vulgate,  and  some  MSS., 
into  the  second  person ;  but  Jerusalem  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
subject  which  is  to  become  the  object  of  scorn  and  hatred,  etc., 
when  God   accomplishes  His  judgments.     lpi^  is  a  warning- 
example.     Among  the  judgments  which  are  to  overtake  it,  in 
ver.  16,  hunger  is  again  made  specially  prominent  (cf.  iv.  16); 
and  first  in  ver.  17   are  wild   beasts,   pestilence,  blood,  and 
sword  added,  and  a  quartette  of  judgments  announced  as  in 


CHAP.  VI.  1-7.  93 

xiv.  21.  For  pestilence  and  blood  are  comprehended  together 
as  a  unity  by  means  of  the  predicate.  Their  connection  is  to 
be  understood  according  to  xiv.  19,  and  the  number  four  is  sig- 
nificant, as  in  xiv.  21;  Jer.  xv.  3sqq.  For  more  minute  details 
as  to  the  meaning,  see  on  xiv.  21.  The  evil  arrows  point  back 
to  Deut.  xxxii.  23;  the  evil  beasts,  to  Lev.  xxiv.  22  and  Deut. 
xxxii.  24  sqq.  To  produce  an  impression,  the  prophet  heaps  his 
words  together.  Unum  ejus  consilium  fuit  penetrare  in  animos 
populi  quasi  lapideos  etfei'reos.  Hcbc  igitur  est  ratio,  cur  Jiic  tarda 
varietate  utatur  et  exornet  suam  doctrtnam  vanis  figuris  (Calvin). 

/ 

CHAP.  VI.   THE  JUDGMENT  UPON  THE  IDOLATROUS  PLACES, 
AND  ON  THE  IDOL- WORSHIPPERS. 

To  God's  address  in  vers.  5-17,  explaining  the  signs  in 
ch.  iv.  1-5,  are  appended  in  ch.  vi.  and  vii.  two  additional 
oracles,  which  present  a  further  development  of  the  contents  of 
these  signs,  the  judgment  portrayed  by  them  in  its  extent  and 
greatness.  In  ch.  vi.  there  is  announced,  in  the  first  section,  to 
the  idolatrous  places,  and  on  their  account  to  the  land,  desola- 
tion, and  to  the  idolaters,  destruction  (vers.  3-7) ;  and  to  this  is 
added  the  prospect  of  a  remnant  of  the  people,  w'ho  are  dis- 
persed among  the  heathen,  coming  to  be  converted  to  the  Lord 
(vers.  8-10).  In  the  second  section  the  necessity  and  terrible 
character  of  the  impending  judgment  is  repeatedly  described  at 
length  as  an  appendix  to  vers.  12,  14  (vers.  11-14). 

Vers.  1-7.  The  desolation  of  the  land,  and  destruction  of  the 
idolaters. — Ver.  1.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  say- 
ing :  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  turn  thy  face  towards  the  mountains 
of  Israel,  and  prophesy  against  them.  Ver.  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  loio  grounds.  Behold,  I  bring  the  sioord  upon 
you,  and  destroy  your  high  places.  Ver.  4.  Your  altars  shall  be 
made  desolate,  and  your  sun-pillars  shall  be  broken ;  and  I  shall 


94  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

mahe  your  slain  fall  in  the  presence  of  your  idols.  Ver.  5.  And 
I  will  lay  the  corpses  of  the  children  of  Israel  hefore  their  idolsj 
and  will  scatter  your  hones  round  about  your  altars.  Ver.  6.  In 
all  your  dwellings  shall  the  cities  be  made  desolate,  and  the  high 
jylaces  icaste ;  that  your  altars  may  be  desolate  and  icaste,  and  your 
idols  hrohen  and  destroyed,  and  your  sun-pillars  heion  dozen,  and 
the  worhs  of  your  hands  exterminated.  Ver.  7.  And  the  slain 
IV ill  fall  in  your  midst ;  that  you  may  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. — 
With  ver.  1  cf.  iii.  16.  The  prophet  is  to  prophesy  against 
the  mountains  of  Israel.  That  tlie  mountains  are  mentioned 
(ver.  2)  as  piars  p)ro  toto,  is  seen  from  ver.  3,  when  to  the  moun- 
tains and  hills  are  added  also  the  valleys  and  low  grounds,  as 
the  places  where  idolatry  was  specially  practised ;  cf.  Hos.  iv. 
13;  Jer.  ii.  20,  iii.  6;  see  on  IIos.  Lc.  and  Deut.  xii.  2.  D^T^^.j 
in  the  older  writings,  denotes  the  "  river  channels,"  "  the  beds 
of  the  stream  ;"  but  Ezekiel  uses  the  word  as  equivalent  to 
valley,  i.e.  ^i]^,  a  valley  with  a  brook  or  stream,  like  the  Arabic 
wady.  ii''},  properly  "  deepening,"  "  the  deep  ground,"  "  the 
deep  valley;"  on  the  form  rivxs,  cf.  Ewald,  §  ISGda.  The 
juxtaposition  of  mountains  and  hills,  of  valleys  and  low 
grounds,  occurs  again  in  xxxvi.  4,  6,  and  xxxv.  8 ;  the  opposi- 
tion between  mountains  and  valleys  also,  in  xxxii.  5,  6,  and 
xxxiv.  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  ver.  15.  On  the  moun- 
tains and  in  the  valleys  were  sanctuaries  erected  to  Baal  and 
Astarte.  The  announcement  of  their  destruction  is  appended 
to  the  threatening  in  Lev.  xxvi.  30,  which  Ezekiel  takes  up 
and  describes  at  greater  length.  Beside  the  J^i'^^^  the  places  of 
sacrifice  and  worship,  and  the  ^''^l^^,  pillars  or  statues  of  Baal, 
dedicated  to  him  as  the  sun-god,  he  names  also  the  altars, 
which,  in  Lev.  I.e.  and  other  places,  are  comprehended  along 
with  the  riiD3 ;  see  on  Lev.  xxvi.  30  and  1  Kings  iii.  3.  With 
the  destruction  of  the  idol  temples,  altars,  and  statues,  the  idol- 
worshippers  are  also  to  be  smitten,  so  as  to  fall  down  iu  the 


CHAP.  VI.  8-10.  95 

presence  of  their  idols.  The  fundamental  meaning  of  the 
word  D71?3,  "idols,"  borrowed  from  Lev.  I.e.,  and  frequently 
employed  by  Ezekiel,  is  uncertain ;  signifying  either  "  logs  of 
wood,"  from  ?r3,  "  to  roll "  (Gesen.),  or  stercorei,  from  ^, 
"dung;"  not  "monuments  of  stone"  (Havernick).  Ver.  5a 
is  taken  quite  literally  from  Lev.  xxvi.  30/>.  The  ignominy  of 
the  destruction  is  heightened  by  the  bones  of  the  slain  idolaters 
being  scattered  round  about  the  idol  altars.  Li  order  that  the 
idolatry  may  be  entirely  rooted  out,  the  cities  throughout  the 
whole  land,  and  all  the  high  places,  are  to  be  devastated,  ver.  6. 
The  forms  n:jp"J'''ri  and  10e^'"^5.''.  are  probably  not  to  be  derived 
from  D^i^'  (Ewald,  §  138&),  but  to  be  referred  back  to  a  stem- 
form  Dti'^,  with  the  signification  of  DQK',  the  existence  of  which 
appears  certain  from  the  old  name  liO''t^'l  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  and  else- 
where. The  N  in  VO'S'^"'  is  certainly  only  mater  lectionis.  In 
ver.  7,  the  singular  bbn  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  fallino-  of  the 
slain — the  idolaters  with  their  idols — leads  to  the  recoo-nition 
of  Jehovah  as  the  omnipotent  God,  and  to  conversion  to  Him. 

Vers.  8-10.  The  survivors  shall  go  away  into  banishment 
amongst  the  heathen,  and  shall  remember  the  word  of  the  Lord 
that  will  have  been  fulfilled. — Ver.  8.  But  I  shall  preserve  a  rem- 
nant^ in  that  there  shall  be  to  you  some  loho  have  escaped  the  sicord 
among  the  nations,  when  ye  shall  he  dispersed  among  the  lands. 
Ver.  9.  And  those  of  you  ivho  have  escaped,  icill  make  mention  of 
me  among  the  nations  whither  they  are  led  captive,  when  I  have 
broken  to  me  their  whorisk  heart,  ivhich  had  departed  from  me, 
and  their  eyes,  which  icent  a  whoring  after  their  idols :  and  they 
shall  loathe  themselves  because  of  the  evil  ivhich  they  have  done  in 
reference  to  all  their  abominations.  Ver.  10.  A  nd  ye  shall  hioio 
that  1  am  Jehovah.  Not  in  vain  have  J  spoken  this  evil  to  you. — 
Tnin^  superstites  facere,  "to  make  or  preserve  survivors."  The 
connection  with  .'iJI  nrna  is  analogous  to  the  construction  of 


96  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Tniiij  in  the  sense  of  "  giving  a  superabundance,"  with  3  rei, 
Deut.  xxviii.  11  and  xxx.  9,  and  is  not  to  be  rejected,  with 
Ewald  and  Hitzig,  as  inadmissible.  For  ni^■^3  is  supported  by 
the  old  versions,  and  the  change  of  ^^iniiTi  into  ''^1?'!"!,  which 
would  have  to  be  referred  to  ver.  7,  is  in  opposition  to  the  two- 
fold repetition  of  the  mn^  ^JS  ^3  Drivi"!  0J^T4)j  ^^^^'  ^^  ''^"^  1^' 
as  this  repetition  shows  that  the  thought  in  ver.  7  is  different 
from  that  in  17,  21,  not  "  they  shall  know  that  Jehovah  has 
spoken,"  but  "  they  shall  know  that  lie  who  has  done  this  is 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel."  The  preservation  of  a  remnant 
will  be  shown  in  this,  that  they  shall  have  some  who  have 
escaped  the  sword.  CiD'^niijn  is  injin.  Niph.  with  a  plural  form 
of  the  suffix,  as  occurs  elsewhere  only  with  the  plural  ending 
ni  of  nouns,  while  Ezekiel  has  extended  it  to  the  ni  of  the 
infinitive  of  rh  verbs;  cf.  xvi.  31,  and  Ewald,  §  259i.  The 
remembrance  of  Jehovah  (ver.  9)  is  the  commencement  of 
conversion  to  Him.  itf'^^.  before  ''^"'St^o  is  not  to  be  connected 
as  relative  pronoun  with  Clip,  but  is  a  conjunction,  though  not 
used  conditionally,  "  if,"  as  in  Lev.  iv.  22,  Deut.  xi.  27,  and  else- 
where, but  of  time,  ore,  "  when,"  as  Deut.  xi.  6  and  2  Chron. 
XXXV.  20,  and  ''^1?^'?  in  the  signification  of  the  futur.  exact. 
The  Niplial  "i?t^'3  here  is  not  to  be  taken  as  passive,  but  middle, 
sihi  frangere,  i.e.  D3?,  poenitentid  conterere  aniinum  eorum  %it  ad 
ipsum  {Deum)  redemit  (Maurer,  Hiivernick).  Besides  the  heart, 
the  eyes  also  are  mentioned,  which  God  is  to  smite,  as  the 
external  senses  which  allure  the  heart  to  whoredom.  1£2pJl  cor- 
responds to  ^I3n  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse.  t2^p,  the  later 
form  for  )'lp,  ''  to  feel  a  loathing,"  Ilipldly  "  to  be  filled  with 
loathing;"  cf.  Job  x.  1  with  3  object.,  "in  (on)  their  D''J3, 
faces,"  i.e.  their  persons  or  themselves :  so  also  in  xx.  43, 
xxxvi. 31.  niyin  px^  in  allusion  to  the  evil  things;  '^yiJTpripj  in 
reference  to  all  their  abominations.  This  fruit,  which  is  pro- 
duced by  chastisement,  namely,  that  the  idolaters  are  inspired 
with  loathing  for  themselves,  and  led  to  the  knowledge  of  Jeho 
van,  will  furnish  the  proof  that  God  has  not  spoken  in  vain. 


CHAP.  VI.  11-14.  97 

Vers.  11-14.  The  punisliment  is  just  and  well  deserved. — 
Ver.  11.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Smite  with  thy  hand, 
and  stamp  loith  thy  foot^  and  say,  Woe  on  all  the  wielded  abomi- 
nations of  the  house  of  Israel!  that  they  must  perish  by  sivord, 
hunger,  and  pestilence.  Ver.  12.  He  that  is  afar  off  loill  die  by 
the  pestilence  ;  and  he  that  is  near  at  hand  shall  fall  by  the  sword ; 
and  he  who  survives  and  is  preserved  will  die  of  hunger :  and  I 
shall  accomplish  my  wrath  upon  them.  Ver.  13.  And  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  your  slain  lie  in  the  midst  of  your 
idols  round  about  your  altars,  on  every  high  hill,  upon  all  the 
summits  of  the  mountains,  and  under  every  green  tree,  and  under 
every  thick-leaved  terebinth,  on  the  places  lohere  they  brought  their 
■pleasant  iricense  to  all  their  idols.  Ver.  14.  And  I  ivill  stretch 
out  my  hand  against  them,  and  make  the  land  loasie  and  desolate 
more  than  the  ivildemess  of  Diblath,  in  all  their  divellings :  so 
shall  ye  know  that  I  arn  Jehovah. — Through  clapping  of  the 
hands  and  stamping  of  the  feet — the  gestures  which  indicate 
violent  excitement — the  prophet  is  to  make  known  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Jehovah  at  the  horrible  idolatry  of  the  people, 
and  thereby  make  manifest  that  the  penal  judgment  is  well 
deserved.  ^2?^  nan  is  in  xxi.  19  expressed  more  distinctly  by 
^13  7X  P)?  Tjiij  "  to  strike  one  hand  against  the  other,"  i.e.  "  to 
clap  the  hands;"  cf.  Num.  xxiv.  10.  ns^  an  exclamation  of 
lamentation,  occurring  only  here  and  in  xxi.  20.  it^'X,  ver.  11, 
is  a  conjunction,  "  at."  Their  abominations  are  so  wicked,  that 
they  must  be  exterminated  on  account  of  them.  This  is  spe- 
cially mentioned  in  ver.  12.  No  one  will  escape  the  judc-ment : 
he  who  is  far  removed  from  its  scene  as  little  as  he  who  is  close 
at  hand ;  while  he  who  escapes  the  pestilence  and  the  sword  is 
to  perish  of  hunger.  "i^V3,  servatus,  preserved,  as  in  Isa.  xlix.  6. 
The  signification  "besieged"  (LXX.,  Vulgate,  Targum,  etc.), 
Hitzig  can  only  maintain  by  arbitrarily  expunging  i^Jti'^n  as  a 
gloss.  On  ver.  126,  cf.  v.  13;  on  13a,  cf.  ver.  5;  and  on  lob, 
cf.  ver.  3,  and  Hos.  iv.  13;  Jer.  ii.  20,  iii.  6;  Deut.  xii.  2. 
'arps  7X,  according  to  later  usage,  for  '3r73  hv.     nn'':  ry-}.^  used 

EZEK.  I.  G 


98  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL, 

in  the  Pentateuch  of  sacrifices  pleasing  to  God,  is  here  trans- 
ferred to  idol  sacrifices;  see  on  Lev.  i.  9  and  Gen.  viii.  21. 
On  account  of  the  prevalence  of  idolatry  in  all  parts,  God  will 
make  the  land  entirely  desolate.  The  union  of  nBC'Ol  noroc' 
serves  to  strengthen  the  idea ;  cf.  xxxiii.  8  sqq.,  xxxv.  3.  The 
words  nnplT  "I3*irii0  are  obscure,  either  "  in  the  wilderness 
towards  Diblath"  (even  to  Diblath),  or  "  more  than  the  wilder- 
ness of  Diblath"  (IP  of  comparison).  There  is  no  doubt  that 
nn72T  is  a  nom.  prop. ;  cf.  the  name  of  the  city  D^n^^T  in  Jer. 
xlviii.  22  ;  Num.  xxxiii.  46.  The  second  acceptation  of  the 
words  is  more  probable  than  the  first.  For,  if  isI'tID  is  the 
terminus  a  quo^  and  'in?3'n  the  terminus  ad  quern  of  the  extent  of 
the  land,  then  must  "•^T'SO  be  punctuated  not  only  as  status 
ahsolut.,  but  it  must  also  have  the  article ;  because  a  definite 
wilderness — that,  namely,  of  Arabia — is  meant.  The  omission 
of  the  article  cannot  be  justified  by  reference  to  xxi.  3  or  to 
Vs.  Ixxv.  7  (Hitzig,  Ewald),  because  both  passages  contain 
general  designations  of  the  quarters  of  the  world,  with  which 
the  article  is  always  omitted.  In  the  next  place,  no  Dihla  can 
be  pointed  out  in  the  north ;  and  the  change  of  Dihlatha  into 
Bibla,  already  proposed  by  Jerome,  and  more  recently  brought 
forward  again  by  J.  D.  !Michaelis,  has  not  only  against  it  the 
authority  of  all  the  old  versions,  but  also  the  circumstance  that 
the  Ribla  mentioned  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  33  did  not  form  the 
northern  boundary  of  Palestine,  but  lay  on  the  other  side  of  it, 
in  the  land  of  Ilamath ;  while  the  "^^^l^)  named  in  Num.  xxxiv. 
11,  is  a  place  on  the  eastern  boundary  to  the  north  of  the  Sea 
of  Gennesareth,  which  would,  moreover,  be  inappropriate  as  a 
designation  of  the  northern  boundary.  Finally,  the  extent  of 
the  land  from  the  south  to  the  north  is  constantly  expressed  in 
a  different  way;  cf.  Num.  xiii.  21  (xxxiv.  8);  Josh.  xiii.  5; 
1  Kings  viii.  Qb;  2  Kings  xiv.  65;  Amos  vi.  14;  1  Chron. 
xiii.  5  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  8  ;  and  even  by  Ezekiel  himself  (xlviii.  1) 
non  Ni27  is  named  as  the  boundary  on  the  north.  The  form 
nr)73"i  is  similar  to  nri2»n  for  nion,  although  the  name  is  hardly 


CHAP.  VII.  1-4.  99 

to  be  explained,  with  Hiivernick,  as  an  appellation,  after  the 

o 

Arabic  Jjj,  calamitas,  exitium.     The  wilderness  of  Dihlah  is 

unknown.  With  'l31  ""S  ^Vy^,  the  discourse  is  rounded  of  in 
returning  to  the  beginning  of  ver.  13,  while  the  thoughts  in 
vers.  13  and  14  are  only  a  variation  of  vers.  4-7. 

CHAP.  VII.    THE  OVERTHROW  OF  ISRAEL. 

The  second  "  word  of  God,"  contained  in  this  chapter,  com- 
pletes the  announcement  of  judgment  upon  Jerusalem  and 
Judah,  by  expanding  the  thought,  that  the  end  will  come 
both  quickly  and  Inevitably  upon  the  land  and  people.  This 
word  is  divided  into  two  unequal  sections,  by  the  repetition  of 
the  phrase,  "  Thus  saith  Adonal  Jehovah "  (vers.  2  and  5). 
In  the  first  of  these  sections  the  theme  is  given  in  short,  expres- 
sive, and  monotonous  clauses ;  namely,  the  end  Is  drawing  nicrh, 
for  God  will  judge  Israel  without  mercy  according  to  its 
abominations.  The  second  section  (vers.  5-27)  is  arranged  in 
four  strophes,  and  contains,  in  a  form  resembling  the  lamenta- 
tion in  chap,  xix.,  a  more  minute  description  of  the  end  predicted. 

Vers.  1-4.  The  endcometh. — Ver.  1.  And  the  word  of  Jelio- 
vdli  came  to  me  thus  :  Ver.  2.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah  :  A  n  end  to  the  land  of  Israel !  the  end  cometh 
upon  the  four  borders  of  the  land.  Ver.  3.  Now  (cometh)  the 
end  upon  thee,  and  I  shall  send  my  wrath  upon  thee,  and  judae 
thee  according  to  thy  ways,  and  bring  upon  thee  all  thine  abomi- 
nations. Ver.  4.  A  nd  my  eye  shall  not  look  with  pity  upon  thee, 
and  I  shall  not  spare,  but  bring  thy  ways  upon  thee ;  and  thy 
abominations  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  thee,  that  ye  may  know  that 
I  am  Jehovah. — <^^^],  with  the  copula,  connects  this  word  of 
God  with  the  preceding  one,  and  shows  It  to  be  a  continuation. 
It  commences  with  an  emphatic  utterance  of  the  thouo-ht,  that 
the  end  is  coming  to  the  land  of  Israel,  i.e.  to  the  kint][dom  of 
Judah,  with  its  capital  Jerusalem.     Desecrated  as  it  has  been 


100  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

by  the  abominations  of  its  inhabitants,  it  will  cease  to  be  the 
land  of  God's  people  Israel,  't^''  n^lN?  (to  the  land  of  Israel) 
is  not  to  be  taken  with  "f?^  nb  (thus  saith  the  Lord)  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  accents,  but  is  connected  with  Y\>,  (an  end),  as  in 
the  Targ.  and  Vulgate,  and  is  placed  first  for  the  sake  of  greater 
emphasis.  In  the  construction,  compare  Job  vi.  14.  nya^K 
}nxn  niSJ3  is  limited  by  the  parallelism  to  the  four  extremities 
of  the  land  of  Israel.  It  is  used  elsewhere  for  the  whole  earth 
(Isa.  xi.  12).  The  Chetih  nya'ix  is  placed,  in  opposition  to  the 
ordinary  rule,  before  a  noun  in  the  feminine  gender.  The 
Keri  gives  the  regular  construction  (yid.  Ewald,  §  267c).  In 
ver.  3  the  end  is  explained  to  be  a  wrathful  judgment.  "  Give 
(inj)  thine  abominations  upon  thee  ;"  i.e.  send  the  consequences, 
inflict  punishment  for  them.  The  same  thought  is  expressed 
in  the  phrase,  "  thine  abominations  shall  be  in  the  midst  of 
thee  ;"  in  other  words,  they  would  discern  them  in  the  punish- 
ments which  the  abominations  would  bring  in  their  train.  For 
ver.  4a  compare  ch.  v.  11. 

Vers.  5-27.  The  execution  of  the  judgment  announced  in 
vers.  2-4,  arranged  in  four  strophes  :  vers.  5-9, 10-14,  15-22, 
23-27. — mhQ  first  strophe  depicts  the  end  as  a  terrible  calamity, 
and  as  near  at  hand.  Vers.  3  and  4  are  repeated  as  a  refrain 
in  vers.  8  and  9,  with  slight  modifications.  Ver.  5.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Misfortune^  a  singular  misfortune,  behold,  it 
cometh.  Ver.  6.  End  cometh  :  there  cometh  the  end ;  it  wahelh 
upon  thee  ;  behold,  it  cometh.  Ver.  7.  The  fate  cometh  upon  thee, 
inhabitants  of  the  land  :  the  time  cometh,  the  day  is  near  ;  tumidt 
and  not  joy  upon  the  mountains.  Ver.  8.  Now  speedily  toill  1 
pour  out  my  fury  upon  thee,  and  accomplish  mine  anger  on 
thee  ;  and  judge  thee  according  to  thy  icays,  and  bring  upon  thee 
all  thine  abominations.  Ver.  9.  My  eye  shall  not  look  toilh 
pity  upon  thee,  and  I  shall  not  spare  ;  according  to  thy  ways  will 
I  bring  it  upon  thee,  and  thy  abominations  shall  be  i)i  the  midst 
of  thee,  that  ye  may  know  that  1,  Jehovah,  am  smiting. — Misfor- 
tune of  a  singular  kind  shall  come.     ny"j  is  made  more  emphatic 


CHAP.  VII.  5-9.  101 

by  nj?T  nns,  in  which  rins  is  placed  first  for  the  sake  of 
emphasis,  in  the  sense  of  unicus,  singularis;  a  calamity  singular 
(unique)  of  its  kind,  such  as  never  had  occurred  before  (cf. 
ch.  V.  9).  In  ver.  6  the  poetical  PPD,  it  (the  end)  waketh 
upon  thee,  is  suggested  by  the  paronomasia  with  }*i?.L'.  The 
force  of  the  words  is  weakened  by  supplying  Jehovah  as  the 
subject  to  ri?n,  in  opposition  to  the  context.  And  it  will  not 
do  to  supply  nyn  (evil)  from  ver.  5  as  the  subject  to  nx3  nan 
(behold,  it  cometh).  nN3  is  construed  impersonally  :  It  cometh, 
namely,  every  dreadful  thing  which  the  end  brings  with  it. 
The  meaning  of  tz^phirdh  is  doubtful.  The  only  other  passage 
in  which  it  occurs  is  Isa.  xxviii.  5,  where  it  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  diadem  or  crown,  which  is  altogether  unsuitable  here.  Raschi 
has  therefore  had  recourse  to  the  Syriac  and  Chaldee  K"J?V, 
cau'ora,  tempus  matutinum,  and  Havernick  has  explained  it 
accordingly,  "  the  dawn  of  an  evil  day."  But  the  dawn  is 
never  used  as  a  symbol  or  omen  of  misfortune,  not  even  in 
Joel  ii.  2,  but  solely  as  the  sign  of  the  bursting  forth  of  light 
or  of  salvation.  Abarbanel  was  on  the  right  track  when  he 
started  from  the  radical  meanino;  of  "IS^*,  to  twist,  and  takino- 
tz^phirdh  in  the  sense  of  orbis^  ordo,  or  periodical  return,  under- 
stood it  as  probably  denoting  rerum  fatique  vicissitudinem  in 
orbem  redeuntem  (Ges.  TJies.  p.  1188).  But  it  has  been  justly 
observed,  that  the  rendering  succession,  or  periodical  return, 
can  only  give  a  forced  sense  in  ver.  10.  Winer  has  given  a 
better  rendering,  viz.  fatum,  malum  fatale,  fate  or  destiny,  for 

which  he  refers  to  the  Arabic  *  js^,  intortum,  then  fatum  hand 

mutandum  inevitalile.  Different  explanations  have  also  been 
given  of  ^'^y}  ^n.  But  the  opinion  that  it  is  synonymous  with 
Ti'^n,  the  joyous  vintage  cry  (Jer.  xxv.  30  ;  Isa.  xvi.  10),  is  a 
more  probable  one  than  that  it  is  an  unusual  form  of  lin, 
splendor,  gloria.  So  much  at  any  rate  is  obvious  from  the 
context,  that  the  hapax  legomenon  "in  is  the  antithesis  of 
n»inp,    tumult,    or  the  noise  of   war.      The  shoutin"-  of  the 


102  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

mountains,  is  shouting,  a  rejoicing  upon  the  mountains.  3i"ii5J3, 
from  the  immediate  vicinity,  in  a  temporal  not  a  local  sense, 
as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  17  (  =  immediately).  For  ^X  n?3^  see  cb. 
vi.  12.  The  remainder  of  the  strophe  (vers.  8b  and  9)  is  a 
repetition  of  vers.  3  and  4 ;  but  nao  is  added  in  the  last  clause. 
They  shall  learn  that  it  is  Jehovah  who  smites.  This  thought 
is  expanded  in  the  following  strophe. 

Vers.  10-14.  Second  strophe. — Ver.  10.  Behold  the  day,  he- 
hold,  it  Cometh;  the  fate  springeth  up;  the  rod  sprouteth;  the  pride 
blossometh.  Ver.  11.  'Hie  violence  risefh  up  as  the  rod  of  evil : 
nothing  of  them,  nothing  of  their  multitude,  nothing  of  their 
croivd,  and  nothing  glorious  upon  them.  Ver.  12.  The  time 
Cometh,  the  day  apiproachetli :  let  not  the  buyer  rejoice,  and  let  not 
the  seller  trouble  himself ;  for  wrath  cometh  upon  the  ivhole  mul- 
titude thereof.  Ver.  13.  For  the  seller  will  not  return  to  that 
lohich  was  sold,  even  though  his  life  were  still  among  the  living : 
for  the  prophecy  against  its  lohole  multitude  will  not  turn  back;  and 
no  one  loill  strengthen  himself  as  to  his  life  through  his  iniquity. 
Ver.  14.  They  blow  the  trumpet  and  make  everything  ready ;  but 
no  one  goeth  into  the  battle :  for  my  wrath  cometh  upon  all  their 
multitude. — The  rod  is  already  prepared  ;  nothing  will  be  left  of 
the  ungodly.  This  is  the  leading  thought  of  the  strophe.  The 
three  clauses  of  ver.  10Z>  are  synonymous ;  but  there  is  a  grada- 
tion in  the  thought.  The  approaching  fate  springs  up  out  of  the 
earth  (N)'^,  applied  to  the  springing  up  of  plants,  as  in  1  Kings 
V.  13 ;  Isa.  xi.  1,  etc.)  ;  it  sprouts  as  a  rod,  and  flowers  as 
pride.  Matteh,  the  rod  as  an  instrument  of  chastisement  (Isa. 
X.  5).  This  rod  is  then  called  zddhon,  pride,  inasmuch  as  God 
makes  use  of  a  proud  and  violent  people,  namely  the  Chaldeans 
(Hab.  i.  G  sqq. ;  Jer.  1.  31  seq.),  to  inflict  the  punishment. 
Sprouting  and  blossoming,  which  are  generally  used  as  figura- 
tive representations  of  fresh  and  joyous  prosperity,  denote  here 
the  vigorous  growth  of  that  power  which  is  destined  to  inflict 
the  punishment.  Both  chdmds  (violence)  and  zddhon  (pride) 
refer  to  the  enemy  who   is  to  cliastisc  Israel.     The  violence 


'      CHAP.  VII.  10-14.  103 

which  he  employs  rises  up  into  the  chastening  rod  of  "  evil,' 
i.e.  of  ungodly  Israel.  In  ver.  lib  the  effect  of  the  blow  is 
described  in  short,  broken  sentences.  The  emotion  apparent 
in  the  frequent  repetition  of  N7  is  intensified  by  the  omission 
of  the  verb,  which  gives  to  the  several  clauses  the  character  of 
exclamations.  So  far  as  the  meaning  is  concerned,  we  have  to 
insert  i^'!'}]  in  thought,  and  to  take  \^  in  a  partitive  sense :  there 
will  not  be  anything  of  them,  i.e.  nothing  will  be  left  of  them 
(the  Israelites,  or  the  inhabitants  of  the  land).  DTO  (of  them) 
is  explained  by  the  nouns  which  follow,  lion  and  the  utt.  Xey. 
DriDn,  plural  of  cn  or  nnrij  both  derivatives  of  i^^^,  are  so  com- 
bined that  |ion  signifies  the  tumultuous  multitude  of  people, 
ncn  the  multitude  of  possessions  (like  porij  Isa.  Ix.  2 ;  Ps. 
xxxvii.  16,  etc.).  The  meaning  which  Havernick  assigns  to 
hdmeh,  viz.  anxiety  or  trouble,  is  unsupported  and  inappro- 
priate. The  aTT.  \ey.  nj  is  not  to  be  derived  from  nnj^  to 
lament,  as  the  Rabbins  affirm  ;  or  interpreted,  as  Kimchi — who 
adopts  this  derivation — maintains,  on  the  ground  of  Jer.  xvi. 
4  sqq.,  as  signifying  that,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  the 
dying,  there  will  be  no  more  lamentation  for  the  dead.  This 
leaves  the  Mappik  in  n  unexplained,     rlj  is  a  derivative  of  a 

root  ni3 ;  in  Arabic,  ilj,  elata  fuit  res,  eminuif,  magnijicus  fuit ; 

hence  nb,  res  magnijica.  When  everything  disappears  in  such 
a  way  as  this,  the  joy  occasioned  by  the  acquisition  of  property, 
and  the  sorrow  caused  by  its  loss,  will  also  pass  away  (ver.  12). 
The  buyer  will  not  rejoice  in  the  property  he  has  bought,  for 
he  will  not  be  able  to  enjoy  it ;  and  the  seller  will  not  mourn 
that  he  has  been  obliged  to  part  with  his  possession,  for  he 
would  have  lost  it  in  any  case.^  The  wrath  of  God  is  kindled 
against  their  whole  multitude  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  judgment 
falls  equally  upon  them  all.     The  suflnx  in  njion  refers,  as 

^  "  It  is  a  natural  thing  to  rejoice  in  the  purchase  of  property,  and  to 
mourn  over  its  sale.  But  when  slavery  and  captivity  stare  you  in  the  face, 
rejoicing  and  mourning  are  equally  absurd." — Jerome. 


104-  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Jerome  lias  correctly  shown,  to  the  "  land  of  Israel "  (acJmatJi, 
Yisrael)  in  ver.  2,  i.e.  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.  The 
words,  "  the  seller  will  not  return  to  what  he  has  sold,"  are  to 
be  explained  from  the  legal  regulations  concerning  the  year  of 
jubilee  in  Lev.  xxv,,  according  to  which  all  landed  property 
that  had  been  sold  was  to  revert  to  its  original  owner  (or  his 
heir),  without  compensation,  in  the  year  of  jubilee  ;  so  that  he 
would  then  return  to  his  mimMr  (Lev.  xxv.  14,  27,  28). 
Henceforth,  however,  this  will  take  place  no  more,  even  if 
DH^n,  their  (the  setters')  life,  should  be  still  alive  {sc.  at  the 
time  when  the  return  to  his  property  would  take  place,  accord- 
ing to  the  regulations  of  the  year  of  jubilee),  because  Israel 
will  be  banished  from  the  land.  The  clause  'n  D''*n3  ^iy1  is  a 
conditional  circumstantial  clause.  The  seller  will  not  return 
(a^K'^  N7)  to  his  possession,  because  the  prophecy  concerning 
the  whole  multitude  of  the  people  will  not  return  (^IK'^  N?),  i.e. 
will  not  turn  back  (for  this  meaning  of  31^^,  compare  Isa.  xlv. 
23,  Iv.  11).  As  ^Vu'^  N?  corresponds  to  the  previous  ^rj'^  N7, 
so  does  nJion  ^bTiN  jirn  to  njion-b-i'S  |nn  in  ver.  12.  In  the 
last  clause  of  ver.  13,  in>n  is  not  to  be  taken  with  iiiy?  in  the 
sense  of  "in  the  iniquity  of  his  life,"  which  makes  the  suffix  in 
iiiyn  superfluous,  but  with  ^PJ^^Ij  the  IJUhpael  being  construed 
with  the  accusative,  "  strengthen  himself  in  his  life."  Whether 
these  words  also  refer  to  the  year  of  jubilee,  as  Hiivernick 
supposes,  inasmuch  as  the  regulation  that  every  one  was  to 
recover  his  property  was  founded  upon  the  idea  of  the  restitu- 
tion and  re-creation  of  the  theocracy,  we  may  leave  undecided ; 
since  the  thought  is  evidently  simply  this:  ungodly  Israel  shall 
be  deprived  of  its  possession,  because  the  wicked  shall  not 
obtain  the  stren£;thenin<T  of  his  life  throufrh  his  sin.  This 
thought  leads  on  to  ver.  14,  in  which  we  have  a  description 
of  the  utter  inability  to  offer  any  successful  resistance  to  the 
enemy  employed  in  executing  the  judgment.  There  is  some 
difficulty  connected  with  the  word  VipJ^S,  since  the  injin.  ab- 
solute, which  the  form  i'ipn  seems  to  indicate,  cannot  be  con- 


CHAP.  VII.  15-22.  105 

strued  with  either  a  preposition  or  the  article.  Even  if  tlie 
expression  iyi?0  Vipna  in  Jer.  vi.  1  was  floating  before  tlie  mind 
of  Ezekiel,  and  led  to  his  employing  the  bold  phrase  VipJ^ia^  this 
would  not  justify  the  use  of  the  infinitive  absolute  with  a  pre- 
position and  the  article.  VipJ^  must  be  a  substantive  form,  and 
denote  not  clangour,  but  the  instrument  used  to  sound  an 
alarm,  viz.  the  shophdr  (ch.  xxxiii.  3).  P^n^  an  unusual  form 
of  the  inf.  ahs.  (see  Josh.  vii.  7),  used  in  the  place  of  the 
finite  tense,  and  signifying  to  equip  for  war,  as  in  Nali.  ii.  4. 
•'S'l,  everything  requisite  for  waging  war.  And  no  one  goes 
into  the  battle,  because  the  wrath  of  God  turns  against  them 
(Lev.  xxvi.  17),  and  smites  them  with  despair  (Deut.  xxxii. 
30). 

Vers.  15-22.  TJdrd  strophe.  Thus  will  they  fall  into  irre- 
sistible destruction ;  even  their  silver  and  gold  they  will  not 
rescue,  but  will  cast  it  away  as  useless,  and  leave  it  for  the 
enemy. — Ver.  15.  The  sword  unthout,  and  pestilence  and  famine 
xoitliin:  he  who  is  in  the  field  will  die  hy  tlie  sioord;  and  famine 
aiid pestilence  will  devour  him  that  is  in  the  citij.  Ver.  16.  And 
if  their  escaped  ones  escape,  they  will  be  xipon  tlie  mountains  like 
the  doves  of  tlie  valleys,  all  moaning,  every  one  for  his  iniquity. 
Ver.  17.  All  hands  loill  become  feeble,  and  all  knees  flow  loith 
water.  Ver.  18.  They  loill  gird  themselves  with  sackcloth,  and 
terrors  ivill  cover  them ;  on  all  faces  there  will  be  shame,  and 
baldness  on  all  their  heads.  Ver.  19.  They  toill  throw  their 
silver  into  the  streets,  and  their  gold  will  be  as  filth  to  them. 
Their  silver  and  their  gold  ivill  not  be  able  to  rescue  them  in  the 
day  of  Jehovali  s  wrath  ;  they  will  not  satisfy  their  souls  there- 
with, nor  fill  their  stomachs  thereby,  for  it  was  to  them  a  stum- 
bling-block to  gidlt.  Ver.  20.  And  His  beautiful  ornament,  they 
used  it  for  pride ;  and  their  abominable  images,  their  abomina- 
tions they  made  thereof:  therefore  I  make  itflth  to  them.      Ver. 

21.  And  I  shall  give  it  into  the  hand  of  foreigners  for  prey,  and 
to  the  loicked  of  the  earth  for  spoil,  that  they  may  defile  it.      Ver. 

22.  I  shall  turn  my  face  from  them,  that  they  defle  my  treasure  ; 


106  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

and  oppressors  shall  come  upon  it  and  defile  it. — The  cliastise- 
inent  of  God  penetrates  everywhere  (ver.  15  compare  with 
cli.  V.  12)  ;  even  flight  to  the  mountains,  that  are  inaccessible 
to  the  foe  (compare  1  Mace.  ii.  28  ;  Matt.  xxiv.  16),  will  only 
bring  misery.  Those  who  have  fled  to  the  mountains  will  coo 
— i.e.  mourn,  moan — like  the  doves  of  the  valleys,  which  (as 
Bochart  has  correctly  interpreted  the  simile  in  his  liieroz.  II. 
p.  546,  ed.  Ros.),  '•  when  alarmed  by  the  bird-catcher  or  the 
hawk,  are  obliged  to  forsake  their  natural  abode,  and  fly  else- 
where to  save  their  lives.  The  mountain  doves  are  contrasted 
with  those  of  the  valleys,  as  wild  with  tame."  In  nion  D?3  the 
figure  and  the  fact  are  fused  together.  The  words  actually  re- 
late to  the  men  who  have  fled  ;  whereas  the  gender  of  nio'n  is 
made  to  agree  with  that  of  ^^T"^.  The  cooing  of  doves  was 
regarded  by  the  ancients  as  a  moan  (Jtcojah),  a  mournful  note 
(for  proofs,  see  Gesen.  on  Isa.  xxxviii.  14) ;  for  which  Ezekiel 
uses  the  still  stronger  expression  hdmdh  fremere,  to  howl  or 
growl  (cf.  Isa.  lix.  11).  The  low  moaning  has  reference  to 
their  iniquity,  the  punishment  of  which  they  are  enduring. 
When  the  judgment  bursts  upon  them,  they  will  all  (not 
merely  those  who  have  escaped,  but  the  whole  nation)  be  over- 
whelipaed  with  terror,  shame,  and  suffering.  The  words,  "  all 
knees  flow  with  water"  (for  Jidlak  in  this  sense,  compare  Joel 
iv.  18),  are  a  hyperbolical  expression  used  to  denote  the  entire 
loss  of  the  strength  of  the  knees  (here,  ver.  17  and  ch.  xxi.  12), 
like  the  heart  meltinfr  and  turning  to  water  in  Josh.  vii.  5. 
With  this  utter  despair  there  are  associated  grief  and  horror  at 
the  calamity  that  has  fallen  upon  them,  and  shame  and  pain  at 
the  thought  of  the  sins  that  have  plunged  them  into  such 
distress.  For  T\xh^  nntpa,  compare  Ps.  Iv.  6 ;  for  nir!i3  D-JD-^Ja-^x, 
]\Iic.  vii.  10,  Jer.  li.  51  ;  and  for  nn-i,?  'cKTba,  Isa.  xv.  2, 
Amos  viii.  10.  On  the  custom  of  shaving  the  head  bald  on 
account  of  great  suffering  or  deep  sorrow,  see  the  comm.  on 
Mic.  i.  16. — In  this  state  of  anguish  they  will  throw  all  their 
treasures  away  as  sinful  trash  (ver.  19  sqq.).     By  the  silver 


CHAP.  VII.  15-22.  107 

and  gold  which  they  will  throw  away  (ver.  19),  we  are  not  to 
understand  idolatrous  images  particularly,  —  these  are  first 
spoken  of  in  ver.  20, — but  the  treasures  of  precious  metals 
on  which  they  had  hitherto  set  their  hearts.  They  will  not 
merely  throw  these  away  as  worthless,  but  look  upon  them  as 
nidddh,  filth,  an  object  of  disgust,  inasmuch  as  they  have  been 
the  servants  of  their  evil  lust.  The  next  clause,  "  silver  and 
i!;old  cannot  rescue  them,"  are  a  reminiscence  from  Zeph.  i.  18. 
But  Ezekiel  gives  greater  force  to  the  thought  by  addinir, 
"  they  will  not  appease  their  hunger  therewith," — that  is  to 
say,  they  will  not  be  able  to  protect  their  lives  thereby,  either 
from  the  sword  of  the  enemy  (see  the  comm.  on  Zeph.  i.  18)  or 
from  death  by  starvation,  because  there  will  be  no  more  food 
to  purchase  within  the  besieged  city.  The  clause  'iJl  -'ii/bo  ''3 
assigns  the  reason  for  that  which  forms  the  leadinr'  thouo-ht  of 
the  verse,  namely,  the  throwing  away  of  the  silver  and  gold  as 
filth;  Djij;  -'it^'DO,  a  stumbling-block  through  which  one  falls  into 
guilt  and  punishment ;  V'lJ?  ''3^,  the  beauty  of  his  ornament,  i.e. 
his  beautiful  ornament.  The  allusion  is  to  the  silver  and  gold; 
and  the  singular  suffix  is  to  be  explained  from  the  fact  that  the 
prophet  fixed  his  mind  upon  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  used 
the  singular  in  a  general  and  indefinite  sense.  The  words  are 
written  absolutely  at  the  commencement  of  the  sentence;  hence 
the  suffix  attached  to  ^n)D*^'.  Jerome  has  given  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  words :  "what  I  (God)  gave  for  an  ornament  of  the 
possessors  and  for  their  wealth,  they  turned  into  pride."  And 
not  merely  to  ostentatious  show  (in  the  manner  depicted  in  Isa. 
iii.  16  sqq.),  but  to  abominable  images,  i.e.  idols,  did  they 
apply  the  costly  gifts  of  God  (cf.  Hos.  viii.  4,  xiii.  2).  n  nby^ 
to  make  of  (gold  and  silver)  ;  3  denoting  the  material  with 
which  one  works  and  of  which  anything  is  made  (as  in  Ex. 
xxxi.  4,  xxxviii.  8).  God  punishes  this  abuse  by  making  it 
(gold  and  silver)  into  nidddh  to  them,  i.e.,  according  to  ver.  19, 
by  placing  them  in  such  circumstances  that  they  cast  it  away 
as  filth,  and  (ver.  21)  by  giving  it  as  booty  to  the  foe.     The 


108  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

enemy  is  described  as  "  the  wicked  of  the  earth  "  (cf .  Ps.  Ixxv. 
0),  i.e.  godless  men,  who  not  only  seize  upon  the  possession  of 
Israel,  but  in  the  most  wicked  manner  lay  hands  upon  all  that 
is  holy,  and  defile  it.     The  Chetib  ■^^-'^n  is  to  be  retained,  not- 
witlistanding  the  fact  that  it  was   preceded    by  a  masculine 
suffix.      What  is  threatened  will  take  place,  because  the  Lord 
will  turn    away    His    face    from    His   people   (Di!!^,   from   the 
Israelites),  i.e.   will    withdraw    His   gracious    protection    from 
them,  so  that  the  enemy  will  be  able  to  defile  His  treasure. 
Tsdphun,  that  which  is  hidden,   the   treasure    (Job   xx.    26  ; 
Obad.  ver.  6).     Ts'phunl  is  generally  supposed  to  refer  to  the 
temple,  or  the  Most  Holy  Place  in  the  temple.    Jerome  renders 
it  arcanum  menm,  and  gives  this  explanation  :  "signifying  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  which  no  one  except  the  priests  and  the  high 
priest  dared  to  enter."      This  interpretation  was  so  commonly 
adopted  by  the  Fathers,  that  even  Theodoret  explains  the  ren- 
dering given  in  the  Septuagint,  rrjv  iiriaKOTn'-jv  fiov^  as  signify- 
in  cf  the  Most  Holy  Place  in  the  temple.      On  the  other  hand, 
the  Chaldee  has  ^nr^C'  n'2  N*ynx,  "  the  land  of  the  house  of  my 
majesty;"  and  Calvin  understands  it  as  signifying  "the  land 
which  was  safe  under   His  {i.e.  God's)  protection."     But  it  is 
difficult  to  reconcile  either  explanation  with  the  use  of  the  word 
tsdphun.     The  verb  tsdphan  signifies  to  hide,  shelter,  lay  up  in 
safety.     These  meanings  do  not  befit  either  the  Holy  of  Holies 
in  the  temple  or  the  land  of  Israel.     It  is  true  that  the  Holy  of 
Holies  was  unapproachable  by  the  laity,  and  even  by  the  ordi- 
nary priests,  but  it  was  not  a  secret,  a  hidden  place ;  and  still 
less  was  this  the  case  with  the  land  of  Canaan.      AVe  therefore 
adhere  to  the   meaning,  which  is  so   thoroughly  sustained  by 
Job  XX.  26  and  Obad.  ver.  6, — namely,  "  treasure,"  by  which, 
no   doubt,   the    temple-treasure   is  primarily   intended.      This 
rendering   suits  the  context,  as  only  treasures  have  been  re- 
ferred  to    before ;    and    it  may  be   made  to   harmonize   with 
nn  1X3  which  follows.      3  t^is  signifies  not  merely  intrare  in 
locum,  but  also  venire  in  {e.g.  2  Kings  vi.  23 ;  possibly  Ezek. 


CHAP.  VII.  23-27.  109 

XXX.  4),  and  may  therefore  be  very  properly  rendered,  "  to  get 
possession  of,"  since  it  is  only  possible  to  obtain  possession  of  a 
treasure  by  penetrating  into  the  place  where  it  is  laid  up  or 
concealed.  There  is  nothing  at  variance  with  this  in  the  word 
Tpjij  pi'ofanare,  since  it  has  already  occurred  in  ver.  21  in  con- 
nection with  the  defiling  of  treasures  and  jewels.  Moreover, 
as  Calvin  has  correctly  observed,  the  word  is  employed  here  to 
denote  "  an  indiscriminate  abuse,  when,  instead  of  considering 
to  what  purpose  things  have  been  entrusted  to  us,  we  squander 
them  rashly  and  without  selection,  in  contempt  and  even  in 
scorn." 

Vers.  23-27.  Fourth  strophe.  Still  worse  is  coming,  namely, 
the  captivity  of  the  people,  and  overthrow  of  the  kingdom. — 
Ver.  23.  Make  the  chain,  for  the  land  is  full  of  capital  crime, 
and  the  city  full  of  outrage.  Ver.  24.  /  sliall  hinng  evil  ones  of 
the  nations,  that  they  may  take  possession,  of  their  houses ;  and  I 
shall  put  an  end  to  the  pride  of  the  strong,  that  their  sanctuaries 
may  be  defiled.  Ver.  25.  Ruin  has  come ;  they  seek  salvation, 
but  there  is  none.  Ver.  26.  Destruction  upon  destruction 
cometh,  and  report  upon  report  ariseth ;  they  seek  visions  from 
prophets,  but  the  law  will  vanish  away  from  the  priest,  and 
counsel  from  the  elders.  Ver.  27.  The  king  will  ynourn,  and  the 
prince  loill  clothe  himself  in  liorror,  and  the  hands  of  the  common 
people  will  tremble.  I  will  deal  loith  them  according  to  their 
way,  and  according  to  their  judgments  will  [judge  them,  that  they 
may  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah, — Those  who  have  escaped  death 
by  sword  or  famine  at  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  have  captivity 
and  exile  awaiting  them.  This  is  the  meaninii  of  the  command 
to  make  the  chain,  i.e.  the  fetters  needed  to  lead  the  people  into 
exile.  This  punishment  is  necessary,  because  the  land  is  full 
of  mishpat  ddmim,  judgment  of  blood.  This  cannot  mean, 
there  is  a  judgment  upon  the  shedding  of  blood,  i.e.  upon 
murder,  which  is  conducted  by  Jehovah,  as  Havernick  sup- 
poses. Such  a  thought  is  irreconcilable  with  ^^"'^f  and  with 
the  parallel  D»n  n^i^o.     D''OT  DSi^'p  is  to  be  explained  after  the 


no  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

same  manner  as  nv3  tas'ki'p  (a  matter  for  sentence  of  cleatli,  a 
capital  crime)  in  Deut.  xix.  6,  21,  22,  as  signifying  a  matter 
for  sentence  of  bloodshed,  i.e.  a  crime  of  blood,  or  capital 
crime,  as  the  Chaldee  has  already  rendered  it.  Because  the 
land  is  filled  with  capital  crime,  and  the  city  (Jerusalem)  with 
violence,  the  Lord  will  bring  D^iJ  ^jn,  evil  ones  of  the  heathen, 
i.e.  the  worst  of  the  heathen,  to  put  an  end  to  the  pride  of  the 
Israelites.  D''iy  lixa  is  not  "  pride  of  the  insolents ; "  for  QTJ 
does  not  stand  for  Q''33  ''^V  (Deut.  xxviii.  50,  etc.).  The  ex- 
pression is  rather  to  be  explained  from  TV  lixa,  pride  of  strength, 
in  ch.  xxiv.  21,  xxx.  6,  18  (cf.  Lev.  xxvi.  19),  and  embraces 
everything  on  which  a  man  (or  a  nation)  bases  his  power  and 
rests  his  confidence.  The  Israelites  are  called  Q"'iy,  because  they 
thonnht  themselves  stronij,  or,  accordino-  to  ch.  xxiv.  21,  based 
their  strength  upon  the  possession  of  the  temple  and  the  holy 
land.  This  is  indicated  by  0^'?^''-?  ^''"•1  ^^'^'i^'^  follows,  ^m, 
Niphal  of  ^^n  and  DH'^C'lpp,  not  a  participle  Plel,  from  ^pj^, 
with  the  Dagesh  dropped,  but  an  unusual  form,  from  ti'^iPP  for 
Qi;}'??^!?'?  {vid.  Evv.  §  215a). — The  u-k.  Xey.  niSi?,  with  the  tone 
drawn  back  on  account  of  the  tone-syllable  which  follows  (cf. 
Ges.  §  29.  3.  6),  signifies  excidium,  destruction  (according  to 
the  Rabbins),  from  1?i^,  to  shrink  or  roll  up  (Isa.  xxxviii.  12). 
S3  is  a  prophetic  perfect.  In  ver.  25  the  ruin  of  the  kingdom 
is  declared  to  be  certain,  and  in  vers.  26  and  27  the  occurrence 
of  it  is  more  minutely  depicted.  Stroke  upon  stroke  does  the 
ruin  come;  and  it  is  intensified  by  reports,  alarming  accounts, 
which  crowd  together  and  increase  the  terror,  and  also  by  the 
desperation  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  leaders  of  the  nation, 
— the  prophets,  priests,  and  elders, — whom  God  deprives  of 
revelation,  knowledge,  and  counsel;  so  that  all  ranks  (king 
and  princes  and  the  common  people)  sink  into  mourning, 
alarm,  and  horror.  That  it  is  to  no  purpose  that  visions  or 
prophecies  are  sought  from  the  prophets  (ver.  26),  is  evident 
from  the  antithetical  statement  concerning  the  priests  and 
elders  which  immediately  follows.     The  three  statements  serve 


CHAP.  VIII.-XI.  Ill 

as  complements  of  one  another.  They  seek  for  predictions 
from  prophets,  but  the  prophets  receive  no  vision,  no  revelation. 
They  seek  instrnction  from  priests,  but  instruction  is  with- 
drawn from  the  priests ;  and  so  forth.  7ora/i  signifies  instruc- 
tion out  of  the  law,  which  the  priests  were  to  give  to  the 
people  (Mai.  ii.  7).  In  ver.  27,  the  three  classes  into  which 
the  people  were  divided  are  mentioned — viz.  king,  prince  {i.e. 
tribe-princes  and  heads  of  families),  and,  in  contradistinction  to 
both,  nt^n  Dy,  the  common  people,  the  people  of  the  land,  in 
distinction  from  the  civil  rulers,  as  in  2  Kings  xxi.  24,  xxiii. 
30.  ^3"!'^'?,  literally  from  their  way,  their  mode  of  action,  will 
I  do  to  them  :  i.e.  my  action  will  be  derived  from  theirs,  and 
regulated  accordingly,  cnii^  for  DriN,  as  in  ch.  iii.  22,  etc.  (See 
the  comm.  on  ch.  xvi.  59.) 


CHAP.  VIII.-XI.    VISION  OF   THE  DESTRUCTION  OF 
JERUSALEM. 

A  year  and  two  months  after  his  call,  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
appeared  to  the  prophet  a  second  time,  as  he  had  seen  it  by  the 
Chebar.  He  is  transported  in  spirit  to  Jerusalem  into  the 
court  of  the  temple  (ch.  viii.  1-4),  where  the  Lord  causes  him 
to  see,  first  the  idolatry  of  Israel  (ch.  viii.  5-18),  and  secondly, 
the  judgment  why,  on  account  of  this  idolatry,  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  are  smitten  (chap,  ix.),  the  city  is  burned 
with  fire,  and  the  sanctuary  forsaken  by  God  (ch.  x.).  Lastly, 
after  he  has  been  charged  to  foretell  to  the  representatives  of 
the  people  more  especially  the  coming  judgment,  and  to  those 
who  are  sent  into  exile  a  future  salvation  (ch.  xi.  1—21),  he 
describes  how  the  gracious  presence  of  God  forsakes  the  city 
before  his  own  eyes  (ch.  xi.  22,  23).  After  this  has  taken 
place,  Ezekiel  is  carried  back  in  the  vision  to  Chaldea  once 
more ;  and  there,  after  the  vision  has  come  to  an  end,  he 
announces  to  the  exiles  what  he  has  seen  and  heard  (ch.  xi. 
24,  25). 


112  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Chap.  vili.  Abominations  of  the  Idolatry  of  the  House 
OF  Israel. — Vers.  1-4.  Time  and  place  of  the  divine  revela- 
tion.— Ver.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  sixth  year,  in  the  sixth 
(month)^  on  the  fifth  {day)  of  the  month,  I  teas  sitting  in  my  house, 
and  the  elders  of  Judaic  loere  sitting  before  me  ;  there  fell  upon  me 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  there.  Ver.  2.  And  1  saw,  and 
behold  a  figure  like  the  look  of  fire,  from  the  look  of  its  loins  doion- 
icards  fire,  and  from  its  loins  upioards  like  a  look  of  brilliance,  like 
the  sight  of  red-hot  brass.  Ver.  3.  And  he  stretched  out  the  form 
of  a  hand,  and  took  me  by  the  locks  of  my  head,  and  wind  carried 
me  aioay  between  earth  and  heaven,  and  brought  me  to  Jerusalem 
in  visions  of  God,  to  the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  the  inner  court, 
which  faces  towards  the  north,  ivhere  the  image  of  jealousy  exciting 
jealousy  had  its  stand.  Ver.  4.  And,  behold,  the  glory  of  the 
God  of  Israel  loas  there,  like  the  vision  which  I  have  seen  in  the 
valley. — The  place  where  Ezekiel  received  this  new  theophany 
agrees  with  the  statements  in  ch.  iii.  24  and  iv.  4,  6,  that  he 
was  to  shut  himself  up  in  his  house,  and  lie  390  days  upon  the 
left  side,  and  40  days  upon  the  right  side — in  all,  430  days. 
The  use  of  the  word  ^C'V,  "  I  sat,"  is  not  at  variance  with  this, 
as  yy\  does  not  of  necessity  signify  sitting  as  contrasted  with 
lying,  but  may  also  be  used  in  the  more  general  sense  of  stay- 
in  "•,  or  living,  in  the  house.  Nor  is  the  presence  of  the  elders 
of  Judah  opposed  to  the  command,  in  ch.  iii.  24,  to  shut  himself 
up  in  the  house,  as  we  have  already  observed  in  the  notes  on 
that  passage.  The  new  revelation  is  made  to  him  in  the  pre- 
sence of  these  elders,  because  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
them.  They  are  to  be  witnesses  of  his  ecstasy ;  and  after  this 
lias  left  the  prophet,  are  to  hear  from  his  lips  the  substance  of 
the  divine  revelation  (ch.  xi.  25).  It  is  otherwise  with  the 
time  of  the  revelation.  If  we  compare  the  date  given  in 
ch.  viii.  1  with  those  mentioned  before,  this  new  vision  ap- 
parently falls  within  the  period  required  for  carrying  out  the 
symbolical  actions  of  the  previous  vision.  Between  ch.  i.  1,  2 
(the  fifth  day  of  the  fourth  month   in   the   fifth  year)   and 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-4.  113 

cli.  viii.  1  (the  fifth  day  of  the  sixth  month  in  the  sixth  year) 
we  have  one  year  and  two  months,  that  is  to  say  (reckoning 
the  year  as  a  lunar  year  at  354  days,  and  the  two  months  at 
59  days),  413  days ;  whereas  the  two  events  recorded  in  ch.  i. 
1-vii.  27  require  at  least  437  days,  namely  7  days  for  ch.  iii.  15, 
and  390  +  40  =  430  days  for  ch.  iv.  5,  6.  Consequently  the 
new  theophany  would  fall  within  the  40  days,  during  which 
Ezekiel  was  to  lie  upon  the  right  side  for  Judah.  To  get  rid 
of  this  difficulty,  Hitzig  conjectures  that  the  fifth  year  of 
Jehoiachin  (ch.  i.  2)  was  a  leap  year  of  13  months  or  385  days, 
by  which  he  obtains  an  interval  of  444  days  after  adding  59 
for  the  two  months, — a  period  sufficient  not  only  to  include  the 
7  days  (ch.  iii.  15)  and  390  +  40  days  (ch.  iv.  5,  6),  but  to  leave 
7  days  for  the  time  that  elapsed  between  ch.  vii.  and  viii. 
But  however  attractive  this  reckoning  may  appear,  the  assump- 
tion that  the  fifth  year  of  the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin.  was  a 
leap  year  is  purely  conjectural ;  and  there  is  nothing  whatever 
to  give  it  probability.  Consequently  the  only  thing  that  could 
lead  us  to  adopt  such  a  solution,  would  be  the  impossibility  of 
reconcilins;  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  chronological 
data,  as  to  the  time  of  the  two  theophanies,  with  the  substance 
of  these  divine  revelations.  If  we  assume  that  Ezekiel  carried 
out  the  symbolical  acts  mentioned  in  ch.  iv.  and  v.  in  all  their 
entirety,  we  can  hardly  imagine  that  the  vision  described  in  the 
chapters  before  us,  by  which  he  was  transported  in  spirit  to 
Jerusalem,  occurred  within  the  period  of  forty  days,  during 
which  he  was  to  typify  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  lying  upon 
his  right  side.  Nevertheless,  Kliefoth  has  decided  in  favour 
of  this  view,  and  argues  in  support  of  it,  that  the  vision  de- 
scribed in  ch.  viii.  1  sqq.  took  place  in  the  prophet's  own  house, 
that  it  is  identical  in  substance  with  what  is  contained  in 
ch.  iii.  22-vii.  27,  and  that  there  is  no  discrepancy,  because  all 
that  occurred  here  was  purely  internal,  and  the  propliet  himself 
was  to  address  the  words  contained  in  ch.  xi.  4—12  and  xi. 
14-21  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  in  his  state  of  ecstasy. 
EZEK.  I.  H 


114  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Moreover,  when  it  is  stated  in  ch.  xi.  25  that  Ezeklel  related 
to  the  exiles  all  that  he  had  seen  in  the  vision,  it  is  perfectly 
open  to  us  to  assume  that  this  took  place  at  the  same  time  as 
his  report  to  them  of  the  words  of  God  in  ch.  vi.  and  vii.,  and 
those  which  follow  in  ch.  xii.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may 
be  replied  that  the  impression  produced  by  ch.  xi.  25  is  not  that 
the  prophet  waited  several  weeks  after  his  visionary  transport  to 
Jerusalem  before  communicating  to  the  elders  what  he  saw  in 
the  vision.  And  even  if  the  possibility  of  this  cannot  be  dis- 
puted, we  cannot  imagine  any  reason  why  the  vision  should  be 
shown  to  the  prophet  four  weeks  before  it  was  to  be  related  to 
the  exiles.  Again,  there  is  not  sufficient  identity  between  the 
substance  of  the  vision  in  ch.  viii.-xi.  and  the  revelation  in 
ch.  iv.-vii.,  to  suggest  any  motive  for  the  two  to  coincide.  It 
is  true  that  the  burning  of  Jerusalem,  which  Ezekiel  sees  in 
ch.  viii.-xi.,  is  consequent  upon  the  siege  and  conquest  of  that 
city,  which  he  has  already  predicted  in  ch.  iv.-vii.  both  in 
figure  and  word;  but  they  are  not  so  closely  connected,  that  it 
was  necessary  on  account  of  this  connection  for  it  to  be  shown 
to  him  before  the  completion  of  the  symbolical  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem. And,  lastly,  although  the  ecstasy  as  a  purely  internal 
process  is  so  far  reconcilable  with  the  prophet's  lying  upon  his 
right  side,  that  this  posture  did  not  preclude  a  state  of  ecstasy 
or  render  it  impossible,  yet  this  collision  would  ensue,  that 
while  the  prophet  was  engaged  in  carrying  out  the  former  word 
of  God,  a  new  theophany  would  be  received  by  him,  which 
must  necessarily  abstract  his  mind  from  the  execution  of  the 
previous  command  of  God,  and  place  him  in  a  condition  in 
which  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  set  his  face  firmly  upon 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  as  he  had  been  commanded  to  do  in 
ch.  iv.  7.  On  account  of  this  collision,  we  cannot  subscribe  to 
the  assumption,  that  it  was  during  the  time  that  Ezekiel  was 
lying  bound  by  God  upon  his  right  side  to  bear  the  sin  of 
Jerusalem,  that  he  was  transported  in  spirit  to  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem.      On    the  contrary,   the  fact   that  this   transport 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-4.  115 

occurred,  according  to  ch.  viii.  1,  at  a  time  when  he  could  not 
have  ended  the  symbohcal  acts  of  ch.  iv.,  if  he  had  been 
required  to  carry  them  out  in  all  their  external  reality,  furnishes 
us  with  conclusive  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  the  view  we 
have  already  expressed,  that  the  symbolical  acts  of  ch.  iv.  and  v. 
did  not  lie  within  the  sphere  of  outward  reality  (see  coram. 
on  ch.  v.  4). — And  If  Ezekiel  did  not  really  lie  for  430  days, 
there  was  nothing  to  hinder  his  having  a  fresh  vision  14  months 
after  the  theophany  In  ch.  I.  and  ch.  ill.  22  sqq.  For  vy  hbn 
'''  t:,  see  at  ch.  lil.  22  and  i.  3. 

The  figure  which  Ezekiel  sees  in  the  vision  Is  described  in 
ver.  2  In  precisely  the  same  terms  as  the  appearance  of  God  in 
ch.  i.  27.  The  sameness  of  the  two  passages  Is  a  sufficient 
defence  of  the  reading  tJ'XTiX'ioa  against  the  arbitrary  emenda- 
tion ^'^^  '^3,  after  the  Sept.  rendering  o/xoiafxa  dvSp6<;,  In  sup- 
port of  which  Ewald  and  Hitzig  appeal  to  ch.  I.  26,  though 
without  any  reason,  as  the  reading  there  is  not  tJ'''^5,  but 
D^N*.  It  Is  not  expressly  stated  here  that  the  apparition  was 
In  human  form — the  fiery  appearance  Is  all  that  Is  mentioned ; 
but  this  Is  taken  for  granted  In  the  allusion  to  the  Q^^no  (the 
loins),  either  as  self-evident,  or  as  well  known  from  ch.  i.  inf 
is  synonymous  with  nJJ  In  ch.  i.  4,  27.  What  is  new  in  the 
present  theophany  Is  the  stretching  out  of  the  hand,  which 
grasps  the  prophet  by  the  front  hair  of  his  head,  whereupon  he 
is  carried  by  wind  between  heaven  and  earth,  i.e.  through  the 
air,  to  Jerusalem,  not  In  the  body,  but  in  visions  of  God  (cf. 
ch.  i.  1),  that  Is  to  say,  In  spiritual  ecstasy,  and  deposited  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Inner  northern  door  of  the  temple.  JTip^jan 
is  not  an  adjective  belonging  to  "^W,  for  this  is  not  a  feminine 
noun,  but  Is  used  as  a  substantive,  as  In  ch.  xHii.  5  (="1^9:1 
JT'O'^psn :  cf.  ch.  xl.  40)  :  gate  of  the  inner  court,  i.e.  the  gate 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Inner  court  which  led  Into  the  outer 
court.  We  are  not  Informed  whether  Ezekiel  was  placed  on 
the  Inner  or  outer  side  of  this  gate,  i.e.  in  the  inner  or  outer 
court ;  but  It  is  evident  from  ver.  5  that  he  w'as  placed  in  the 


116  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

inner  court,  as  his  position  commanded  a  view  of  the  image 
which  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  gate  towards  tlie  north. 
The  further  statement,  "  where  the  standing  place  of  the 
image  of  jealousy  was,"  anticipates  what  follows,  and  points 
out  the  reason  why  the  prophet  was  placed  just  there.  The 
expression  "image  of  jealousy"  is  explained  by  npipisrij  which 
excites  the  jealousy  of  Jehovah  (see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  xx.  5). 
Consequently,  we  have  not  to  think  of  any  image  of  Jehovali, 
but  of  an  image  of  a  heathen  idol  (cf.  Deut.  xxxii.  21)  ;  pro- 
bably of  Baal  or  Asherah,  whose  image  had  already  been 
placed  in  the  temple  by  Manasseh  (2  Kings  xxi.  7) :  certainly 
not  the  image  of  the  corpse  of  Adonis  moulded  in  wax  or  clay. 
This  opinion,  which  Hiivernick  advances,  is  connected  with  the 
erroneous  assumption  that  all  the  idolatrous  abominations  men- 
tioned in  this  chapter  relate  to  the  celebration  of  an  Adonis- 
festival  in  the  temple.  There  (ver.  4)  in  the  court  of  the 
temple  Ezekiel  saw  once  more  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel, 
as  he  had  seen  it  in  the  valley  (ch.  iii.  22)  by  the  Chaboras, 
i.e.  the  appearance  of  God  upon  the  throne  with  the  cherubim 
and  wheels ;  whereas  the  divine  figure,  whose  hand  grasped 
him  in  his  house,  and  transported  him  to  the  temple  (ver.  2), 
showed  neither  throne  nor  cherubim.  The  expression  "  God 
of  Israel,"  instead  of  Jehovah  (ch.  iii.  23),  is  chosen  as  an 
antithesis  to  the  strange  god,  the  heathen  idol,  whose  image 
stood  in  the  temple.  As  the  God  of  Israel,  Jehovah  cannot 
tolerate  the  image  and  worship  of  another  god  in  His  temple. 
To  set  up  such  an  image  in  the  temple  of  Jehovah  was  a  prac- 
tical renunciation  of  the  covenant,  a  rejection  of  Jehovah  on 
the  part  of  Israel  as  its  covenant  God. 

Here,  in  the  temple,  Jehovah  shows  to  the  prophet  the 
various  kinds  of  idolatry  which  Israel  is  practising  both  publicly 
and  privately,  not  merely  in  the  temple,  but  throughout  the 
whole  land.  The  arranfjement  of  these  different  forms  of 
idolatry  in  four  groups  or  abomination  scenes  (vers.  5,  6,  7-12, 
13-15,  and  16-18),  which  the  prophet  sees  both  in  and  from 


CHAP.  VIII.  5,  6.  117 

the  court  of  the  temple,  belong  to  the  visionary  drapery  of  this 
divine  revelation.  It  is  altogether  erroneous  to  interpret  the 
vision  as  signifying  that  all  these  forms  of  idolatry  were  prac- 
tised in  the  temple  itself;  an  assumption  which  cannot  be 
carried  out  without  doing  violence  to  the  description,  more 
especially  of  the  second  abomination  in  vers.  7-12.  Still  more 
untenable  is  Havernick's  view,  that  the  four  pictures  of  idola- 
trous practices  shown  to  the  prophet  are  only  intended  to 
represent  different  scenes  of  a  festival  of  Adonis  held  in  the 
temple.  The  selection  of  the  courts  of  the  temple  for  depicting 
the  idolatrous  worship,  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  temple  was 
the  place  where  Israel  was  called  to  worship  the  Lord  its  God. 
Consequently  the  apostasy  of  Israel  from  the  Lord  could  not 
be  depicted  more  clearly  and  strikingly  than  by  the  following 
series  of  pictures  of  idolatrous  abominations  practised  in  the 
temple  under  the  eyes  of  God. 

Vers.  5  and  6.  First  abomination-picture. — Ver.  5.  And  He 
said  to  me,  Son  of  man,  lift  up  thine  eyes  noio  foivards  the 
north.  And  I  lifted  up  my  eyes  toivards  the  north,  and,  behold, 
to  the  north  of  the  gate  of  the  altar  was  this  image  of  jealousy  at 
the  entrance.  Ver.  6.  And  He  said  to  me,  Son  of  man,  seest 
thou  lohat  they  do  ?  great  abominations,  lohich  the  house  of  Israel 
doeth  here,  that  I  may  go  far  away  from  my  sanctuary ;  and  thou 
shall  yet  again  see  greater  abominations  still. — As  Ezekiel  had 
taken  his  stand  in  the  inner  court  at  the  entrance  of  the  north 
gate,  and  when  looking  thence  towards  the  north  saw  the  imao-e 
of  jealousy  to  the  north  of  the  altar  gate,  the  image  must  have 
stood  on  the  outer  side  of  the  entrance,  so  that  the  prophet  saw 
it  as  he  looked  through  the  open  doorway.  The  altar  gate  is 
the  same  as  the  northern  gate  of  the  inner  court  mentioned  in 
ver.  3.  But  it  is  impossible  to  state  with  certainty  how  it  came 
to  be  called  the  altar  gate.  Possibly  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  sacrificial  animals  were  taken  through  this  gate  to  the 
altar,  to  be  slaughtered  on  the  northern  side  of  the  altar,  accord- 
ing to  Lev.  i.  4,  v.  11,  etc.     Dno^  contracted  from  Q^"'"'^,  like 


118  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

n^O  from  ^l  no  in  Ex.  iv.  2.  The  words  "what  they  are  doing 
here  "  do  not  force  us  to  assume  that  at  that  very  time  they  were 
worshipping  the  idoh  They  simply  describe  what  was  generally 
practised  there.  The  setting  up  of  the  image  involved  the  wor- 
ship of  it.  The  subject  to  ■"'i^i^^c'  is  not  the  house  of  Israel,  but 
Jehovah.  They  perform  great  abominations,  so  that  Jehovah  is 
compelled  to  go  to  a  distance  from  His  sanctuary,  i.e.  to  forsake 
it  (cf.  ch.  xi.  23),  because  they  make  it  an  idol-temple. 

Vers.  7-12.  Second  abomination  :  Worship  of  beasts. — Ver. 

7.  Aiid  He  brougJit  me  to  the  entrance  of  the  court,  and  I  saw, 

and  behold  there  was  a  hole  in  the  loall.     Ver.  8.  And  He  said 

to  me,  Son  of  man,  break  through  the  wall :   and  I  broke  through 

the  ivall,  and  behold  there  toas  a  door.    Ver.  9.   And  He  said  to 

one.  Come  and  see  the  ivicked  abominations  xohich  they  are  doing 

here.    Ver.  10.  And  I  came  and  saw,  and  behold  there  tvere  all 

kinds  of  figures  of  reptiles,  and  beasts,  abominations,  and  all  kinds 

of  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel,  drawn  on  the  ivall  round  about. 

Ver.  11.  And  seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel, 

with  Jaazanicdi  the  son  of  Shaphan  standing  among  them,  stood 

in  front,  every  man  with  his  censer  in  his  hand  ;  and  the  smell  of 

a  cloud  of  incense  arose.     Ver.  12.  And  He  said  to  me,  Seest 

thou,  son  of  man,  lohat  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel  do  in  the 

dark,  every  one  in  his  image-chambers  ?     For  they  say :   JeJiovah 

doth  not  see  us  ;  Jehovah  hath  forsaken  the  land. — The  entrance 

of  the  court  to  which  Ezekiel  was  now  transported  cannot  be 

the   principal  entrance  to    the  outer  court  towards  the  east 

(Ewald).     This  would  be  at  variance  with  the  context,  as  we 

not  only  find  the  prophet  at  the  northern  entrance  in  vers.  3 

and  5,  but  at  ver.  14  we   find  him  there  still.     If  he  had  been 

taken  to  the  eastern  gate  in  the  meantime,  this  would  certainly 

have  been  mentioned.     As  that  is  not  the  case,  the  reference 

must  be  to  that  entrance  to  the  court  which  lay  between  the 

entrance-gate  of  the  inner  court   (ver.  3)  and  the   northern 

entrance-gate  to  the  house  of  Jehovah  (ver.  14),  or  northern 

gate  of  the  outer  court,  in  other  words,  the  northern  entrance 


CHAP.  VIII.  7-12.  119 

into  the  outer  court.  Thus  the  prophet  was  conducted  out  of 
the  inner  court  through  its  northern  gate  into  the  outer  court, 
and  placed  in  front  of  the  northern  gate,  which  led  out  into  the 
open  ah'.  There  he  saw  a  hole  in  the  wall,  and  on  breaking 
through  the  wall,  by  the  command  of  God,  he  saw  a  door,  and 
having  entered  it,  he  saw  all  kinds  of  figures  of  animals  en- 
graved on  the  wall  round  about,  in  front  of  which  seventy  of 
the  elders  of  Israel  were  standing  and  paying  reverence  to  the 
imao;es  of  beasts  with  burnino;  incense.  Accordino;  to  ver.  12, 
the  prophet  was  thereby  shown  what  the  elders  of  Israel  did  in 
the  dark,  every  one  in  his  image-chamber.  From  this  explana- 
tion on  the  part  of  God  concerning  the  picture  shown  to  the 
prophet,  it  is  very  evident  that  it  had  no  reference  to  any 
idolatrous  worship  practised  by  the  elders  in  one  or  more  of  the 
cells  of  the  outer  court  of  the  temple.  For  even  though  the 
objection  raised  by  Kliefoth  to  this  view,  namely,  that  it  can- 
not be  proved  that  there  were  halls  with  recesses  in  the  outer 
court,  is  neither  valid  nor  correct,  since  the  existence  of  such 
halls  is  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt  by  Jer.  xxxv.  4, 
2  Kings  xxiii.  11,  and  1  Chron.  xxviii.  12;  such  a  supposition 
is  decidedly  precluded  by  the  fact,  that  the  cells  and  recesses  at 
the  gates  cannot  have  been  large  enough  to  allow  of  seventy-one 
men  taking  part  in  a  festive  idolatrous  service.  The  supposition 
that  the  seventy-one  men  were  distributed  in  different  chambers 
is  at  variance  with  the  distinct  words  of  the  text.  The  prophet 
not  only  sees  the  seventy  elders  standing  along  with  Jaazaniah, 
but  he  could  not  look  through  one  door  into  a  number  of 
chambers  at  once,  and  see  the  pictures  drawn  all  round  upon 
their  walls.  The  assembling  of  the  seventy  elders  in  a  secret 
cell  by  the  northern  gate  of  the  outer  temple  to  worship  the 
idolatrous  images  engraved  on  the  walls  of  the  cell,  is  one 
feature  in  the  visionary  form  given  to  the  revelation  of  what 
the  elders  of  the  people  were  doing  secretly  throughout  the 
whole  land.  To  bring  out  more  strikingly  the  secrecy  of  this 
idolatrous  worship,  the  cell  is  so  completely  hidden  in  the  wall, 


120  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

that  the  prophet  is  obliged  to  enlarge  the  hole  by  breakiiif^ 
through  the  wall  before  he  cau  see  the  door  which  leads  to  the 
cell  and  gain  a  view  of  them  and  of  the  things  it  contains,  and 
the  things  that  are  done  therein.^  And  the  number  of  the 
persons  assembled  there  suggests  the  idea  of  a  symbolical  repre- 
sentation, as  well  as  the  secrecy  of  the  cell.  The  seventy  elders 
represent  the  whole  nation  ;  and  the  number  is  taken  from 
Ex.  xxiv.  Isqq.  and  Num.  xi.  16,  xxlv.  25,  where  Moses,  by  the 
command  of  God,  chooses  seventy  of  the  elders  to  represent  the 
whole  congregation  at  the  making  of  the  covenant,  and  after- 
wards to  support  his  authority.  This  representation  of  the 
congregation  was  not  a  permanent  institution,  as  we  may  see 
from  the  fact  that  in  Num.  xi.  seventy  other  men  are  said  to 
have  been  chosen  for  the  purpose  named.  The  high  council, 
consisting  of  seventy  members,  the  so-called  Sanhedrim,  was 
formed  after  the  captivity  on  the  basis  of  these  Mosaic  types. 
In  the  midst  of  the  seventy  was  Jaazaniah  the  son  of  Shaphan, 
a  different  man  therefore  from  the  Jaazaniali  mentioned  in 
ch.  xi.  1.  Shaphan  is  probably  the  person  mentioned  as  a  man 
of  distinction  in  2  Kings  xxii.  3  sqq. ;  Jer.  xxix.  3,  xxxvi.  10, 
xxxix.  14.  It  is  impossible  to  decide  on  what  ground  Jaazaniah 
is  specially  mentioned  by  name  ;  but  it  can  hardly  be  on 
account  of  the  meaning  of  the  name  he  bore,  "  Jehovah  hears," 
as  Havernick  supposes.  It  is  probable  that  he  held  a  prominent 
position  among  the  elders  of  the  nation,  so  that  he  is  mentioned 
here  by  name  as  the  leader  of  this  national  representation. 
— On  the  wall  of  the  chamber  round  about  there  were  drawn 
all  kinds  of  figures  of  nnnni  ^0")^  reptiles  and  quadrupeds  (see 
Gen.  i.  24).  Ti?^  is  in  apposition  not  only  to  nnna^  but  also 
to  b'^"?.,  and  therefore,  as  belonging  to  both,  is  not  to  be  con- 
nected with  i^^[}^  in  the  construct  state.      The   drawing    of 

^  "  Because  the  whole  is  exhibited  pictorially  and  figuratively,  he  says 
that  he  saw  one  hole  in  a  wall,  and  was  directed  to  dig  through  and  make 
it  larger,  that  he  miglit  enter  as  if  through  an  open  door,  and  see  the 
things  which  he  could  not  posaiby  have  seen  while  stationed  outside." — 

jEROilE. 


CHAP.  VIII.  13-15.  1^1 

reptiles  and  quadrupeds  became  a  sheqetz,  or  abomination,  from 
the  fact  that  the  pictures  had  been  drawn  for  the  purpose  of 
religious  worship.  The  following  clause,  "  and  all  the  idols  of 
the  house  of  Israel,"  is  co-ordinate  with  'l^l  n''32n"?3.  Besides 
the  animals  drawn  on  the  walls,  there  were  idols  of  other  kinds 
in  the  chamber.  The  drawing  of  reptiles  and  quadrupeds 
naturally  suggests  the  thought  of  the  animal-worship  of  Egypt. 
We  must  not  limit  the  words  to  this,  however,  since  the  worship 
of  animals  is  met  with  in  the  nature-worship  of  other  heathen 
nations,  and  the  expression  IT'Jnn"?!!,  "  all  kinds  of  figures,"  as 
well  as  the  clause,  "all  kinds  of  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel," 
points  to  every  possible  form  of  idol-worship  as  spread  abroad 
in  Israel,  "iny^  according  to  the  Aramaean  usage,  signifies 
suffimentum,  perfume,  ^■?'n3,  in  the  dark,  i.e.  in  secret,  like 
"inD3  in  2  Sam.  xii.  12 ;  not  in  the  sacred  darkness  of  the 
cloud  of  incense  (Havernick).  H'^zb'O  "'nin,  image-chambers,  is 
the  term  applied  to  the  rooms  or  closets  in  the  dwelling- 
houses  of  the  people  in  which  idolatrous  images  were  set  up  and 
secretly  worshipped.  IT'Sb'O  signifies  idolatrous  figures,  as  in 
Lev.  xxvi.  1  and  Num.  xxxiii.  52.  This  idolatry  was  justified 
by  the  elders,  under  the  delusion  that  "  Jehovah  seeth  us  not ; " 
that  is  to  say,  not :  "  He  does  not  trouble  Himself  about  us," 
but  He  does  not  see  what  we  do,  because  He  is  not  omniscient 
(cf.  Isa.  xxix.  15)  ;  and  He  has  forsaken  the  land,  withdrawn 
His  presence  and  His  help.  Thus  they  deny  both  the  omni- 
science and  omnipresence  of  God  (cf.  ch.  ix.  9). 

Vers.  13-15.  Third  abomination  :  Worship  of  Thammuz. — 
Ver.  13.  And  He  said  to  me,  Thou  shall  yet  again  see  still  greater 
abominations  lohich  they  do.  Ver.  14.  And  He  brought  me  to  the 
entrance  of  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  xohich  is  toioards  the 
north,  and  behold  there  sat  the  women,  loeeping  for  Thammuz. 
Ver.  15.  And  He  said  to  me,  Dost  thou  see  it,  0  son  of  man  ? 
TIiou  shall  yet  again  see  still  greater  abominations  than  these. — 
The  prophet  is  taken  from  the  entrance  into  the  court  to  the 
entrance  of  the  gate  of  the  temple,  to  see  the  women  sitting 


122  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

there  weeping  for  Tliammuz.  The  article  in  D''*^'3n  is  used 
generically.  Whilst  the  men  of  the  nation,  represented  by 
the  seventy  elders,  were  secretly  carrying  on  their  idolatrous 
worship,  the  women  were  sitting  at  the  temple  gate,  and  indulg- 
ing in  public  lamentation  for  Thammuz.  Under  the  weeping 
for  Thammuz,  Jerome  (with  Melito  of  Sardis  and  all  the  Greek 
Fathers)  has  correctly  recognised  the  worship  of  Adonis. 
"  T=isrij  QafjLfiov^  or  ©a/ji/jLov^,^'  says  Jerome,  "  whom  we  have 
interpreted  as  Adonis,  is  called  Tliamuz  both  in  Hebrew  and 
Syriac ;  and  because,  according  to  the  heathen  legend,  this  lover 
of  Venus  and  most  beautiful  youth  is  said  to  have  been  slain  in 
the  month  of  June  and  then  restored  to  life  again,  they  call 
this  mouth  of  June  by  the  same  name,  and  keep  an  annual 
festival  in  his  honour,  at  which  he  is  lamented  by  women  as 
though  he  were  dead,  and  then  afterwards  celebrated  in  songs 
as  having  come  to  life  again."  This  view  has  not  been  shaken 
even  by  the  objections  raised  by  Chwolson  in  his  Ssaahins  (II. 
27.  202  sqq.),  his  relics  of  early  Babylonian  literature  (p.  101), 
and  his  Tammuz  and  human-worship  among  the  ancient  Baby- 
lonians. For  the  myth  of  Thammuz,  mentioned  in  the 
Nabataean  writings  as  a  man  who  was  put  to  death  by  the 
king  of  Babylon,  whom  he  had  commanded  to  introduce  the 
worship  of  the  seven  planets  and  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac, 
and  who  was  exalted  to  a  god  after  his  death,  and  honoured 
with  a  mourning  festival,  is  nothing  more  than  a  refined  inter- 
pretation of  the  very  ancient  nature-worship  which  spread  over 
the  whole  of  Hither  Asia,  and  in  which  the  power  of  the  sun 
over  the  vegetation  of  the  year  was  celebrated.  The  etymology 
of  the  word  Tammuz  is  doubtful.  It  is  probably  a  contraction 
of  titpri,  from  TTO  =  DDD,  so  that  it  denotes  the  decay  of  the  force 
of  nature,  and  corresponds  to  the  Greek  a^aviaixo^  ^ABoovtBo'i 
(see  Ilavernick  in  loc). 

Vers.  16-18.  Fourth  abomination  :  Worship  of  the  sun  by 
the  priests. — Ver.  16.  And  He  took  me  into  the  inner  court  of  ihe 
house  of  Jehovah,  and  behold,  at  the  entrance  into  ihe  temple  of 


CHAP.  VIII.  16-18.  123 

JehovaJi,  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  as  it  were  five  and 
twenty  men,  with  their  backs  toioards  the  temple  of  Jehovah  and 
their  faces  toioards  the  east;  they  were  icorshipping  the  sun 
towards  the  east.  Ver.  17.  And  He  said  to  me,  Seest  thou  this, 
son  of  man  ?  Is  it  too.  little  for  the  house  of  Judah  to  perform 
the  abominations  ivhich  they  are  performing  here,  that  they  also 
fill  the  land  loith  violence,  and  provohe  me  to  anger  again  and 
again  ?  For  behold  they  stretch  out  the  vine-branch  to  their  nose. 
Ver.  18.  But  1  also  loill  act  in  fury ;  my  eye  shall  not  look  com- 
passionately, and  I  luill  not  spare  ;  and  if  they  cry  loiih  a  loud 
voice  in  my  ears,  I  loill  not  hear  them. — After  Ezekiel  has  seen 
the  idolatrous  abominations  in  the  outer  court,  or  place  for 
the  people,  he  is  taken  back  into  the  inner  court,  or  court  of 
the  priests,  to  see  stilt  greater  abominations  there.  Between 
the  porch  of  the  temple  and  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  the 
most  sacred  spot  therefore  in  the  inner  court,  which  the  priests 
alone  were  permitted  to  tread  (Joel  ii.  17),  he  sees  as  if  twenty- 
five  men,  with  their  backs  toward  the  temple,  were  worshipping 
the  sun  in  the  east.  3  before  ^'''pV  is  not  a  preposition,  circa, 
about,  but  a  particle  of  comparison  (an  appearance) :  as  if 
twenty-five  men ;  after  the  analogy  of  3  before  an  accusative 
{vid.  Ewald,  §  282e).  For  the  number  here  is  not  an  approxi- 
mative one;  but  twenty-five  is  the  exact  number,  namely,  the 
twenty-four  leaders  of  the  classes  of  priests  (1  Chron.  xxiv. 
5  sqq. ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  14 ;  Ezra  x.  5),  wuth  the  high  priest  at 
the  head  (see  Lightfoot's  Chronol.  of  0.  T.,  0pp.  I.  124).  As 
the  whole  nation  was  seen  in  the  seventy  elders,  so  is  the  entire 
priesthood  represented  here  in  the  twenty-five  leaders  as  deeply 
sunk  in  disgraceful  idolatry.  Their  apostasy  from  the  Lord  is 
shown  in  the  fact  that  they  turn  their  back  upon  the  temple, 
and  therefore  upon  Jehovah,  who  was  enthroned  in  the  temple, 
and  worship  the  sun,  with  their  faces  turned  towards  the  east. 
The  worship  of  the  sun  does  not  refer  to  the  worship  of  Adonis, 
as  Havernick  supposes,  although  Adonis  was  a  sun-god;  but 
generally  to  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  against  which 


124  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Moses  had  warned  the  people  (Deut.  iv.  19,  xvii.  3),  and  which 
found  its  way  in  the  time  of  Manasseh  into  the  courts  of  the 
temple,  whence  it  was  afterwards  expelled  by  Josiah  (2  Kings 
xxiii.  5,  11).     The  form  Dri"'wnc'p  must  be  a  copyist's  error  for 
DMnriK'b ;  as  the  supposition  that  it  is  an  unusual  form,  with  a 
play  upon  IT'nC'n/  is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  it  would  in  that 
case  be  a  2d  per.  plur.  perf.,  and  such  a  construction  is  ren- 
dered impossible  by  the  nan  which  immediately  precedes  it  (cf. 
Ewald,  §  118a). — To  these  idolatrous  abominations  Judah  has 
added  other  sins,  as  if  these  abominations  were  not  bad  enough 
in  themselves.     This  is  the  meaning  of  the  question  in  ver.  17, 
'131  ^ipan :  is  it  too  little  for  the  house  of  Judah,  etc.  ?     p\^^  with 
i»,  as  in  Isa.  xlix.  6.     To  indicate  the  fulness  of  the  measure  of 
guilt,  reference  is  again  briefly  made  to  the  moral  corruption 
of  Judah.     Dr:ri  embraces  all  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  men ; 
niajjiPj  impiety  towards  God,  i.e.  idolatry.     By  violent  deeds 
they  provoke  God  repeatedly  to  anger  (311^',  followed  by  an  in- 
finitive, expresses  the  repetition  of  an  action).     The  last  clause 
of  ver.  17  ('li1  D^npy  Q^ni)  is  very  obscure.     The  usual  explana- 
tion, which  has  been  adopted  by  J.  D.  Michaelis  and  Gesenius : 
^'they  hold  the  twig  to  their  nose,"  namely,  the  sacred  twig 
Barsom,  which  the  Parsees  held  in  their  hands  when  praying 
{vid.  Hyde,  de  rellg.  vet.  Pars.  p.  350,  ed.  2 ;   and  Kleuker, 
Zend-Avesta,  III.  p.  204),  suits  neither  the  context  nor  the 
words.     According  to  the  position  of  the  clause  in  the  context, 
we  do  not  expect  an  allusion  to  a  new  idolatrous  rite,  but  an 
explanation  of  the  way  in  which  Judah  had  excited  the  wrath 
of  God  by  its  violent  deeds.     Moreover,  "T^i^T  is  not  a  suitable 
word  to  apply  to  the  Barsom, — Z'mOrdh  is  a  shoot  or  tendril 
of  the  vine  (cf.  ch.  xv.  2  ;   Isa.  xvii.   10 ;   Num.   xiii.  23). 
The  Barsom,  on  the  other  hand,  consisted  of  bunches  of  twigs 
of  the  tree  Gez  or  Horn,  or  of  branches  of  the  pomegranate, 
the  tamarisk,  or  the  date  (cf.  Kleuker  I.e.,  and  Strabo,  XV.  733), 

1  "  An  extraordinary  form,  invented  for  the  purpose  of  more  effectually 
expressing  their  extraordinary  abomination." — Lightfoot. 


CHAP.  IX.  1-3.  125 

and  was  not  held  to  the  nose,  but  kept  in  front  of  the  mouth 
as  a  magical  mode  of  driving  demons  away  {vid.  Hyde,  I.e.). 
Lastly,  ^^  ^c^  does  not  mean  to  hold  anything,  but  to  stretch 
out  towards,  to  prepare  to  strike,  to  use  violence.  Of  the 
other  explanations  given,  only  two  deserve  any  consideration, — 
namely,  first,  the  supposition  that  it  is  a  proverbial  expression, 
'•  to  apply  the  twig  to  anger,"  in  the  sense  of  adding  fuel  to  the 
fire,  which  Doederlein  (ad  Grotii  adnott.)  applies  in  this  way, 
"  by  these  things  they  supply  food,  as  it  were,  to  my  wrath, 
which  burns  against  themselves,"  i.e.  they  bring  fuel  to  the  fire 
of  my  wrath.  Liglitfoot  gives  a  similar  explanation  in  his 
Hor.  lielr.  ad  John  xv.  6.  The  second  is  that  of  Hitzig: 
"  they  apply  the  sickle  to  their  nose,"  i.e.  by  seeking  to  injure 
me,  they  injure  themselves.  In  this  case  nniOT  must  be  taken 
in  the  sense  of  •"I'J^l'?,  a  sickle  or  pruning-knife,  and  pointed 
rriiOT.  The  saying  does  appear  to  be  a  proverbial  one,  but  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  the  proverb  have  not  yet  been  satisfac- 
torily explained. — Ver.  18.  Therefore  will  the  Lord  punish 
unsparingly  (cf.  ch.  vii.  4,  9,  v.  11).  This  judgment  he  shows 
to  the  prophet  in  the  two  following  cliapters. 

Chap.  ix.  The  Angels  which  smite  Jerusalem. — 
Vers.  1-3.  At  the  call  of  Jehovah,  His  servants  appear  to 
execute  the  judgment. — Ver.  1.  And  He  called  in  my  ears  loith 
a  loud  voice,  saying,  Come  lather,  ye  icatchmen  of  the  city,  and 
every  one  his  instrument  of  destruction  in  his  hand.  Ver.  2. 
And  behold  six  men  came  ly  the  icay  of  the  upper  gate,  ivhich  is 
directed  toward  the  north,  every  one  with  his  smashing-tool  in  his 
hand ;  and  a  man  in  the  midst  of  them,  clothed  in  ivhite  linen, 
and  icriting  materials  by  his  hip  ;  and  they  came  and  stood  near 
the  brazen  altar.  Ver.  3.  And  the  glory  oj  the  God  of  Israel 
rose  up  from  the  cherub,  upon  xohich  it  ivas,  to  the  threshold  of 
the  house,  and  called  to  the  man  clothed  in  ivhite  linen,  by  whose 
hip  the  writing  materials  were. — ^^''pn  nnp3  does  not  mean  the 
punishments  of  the  city.     This  rendering  does  not  suit  the  con- 


126  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

text,  since  it  is  not  the  punishments  that  are  introduced,  but 
the  men  who  execute  them ;  and  it  is  not  established  by  the 
usage  of  the  language.  H'npsi  is  frequently  used,  no  doubt,  in 
the  sense  of  visitation  or  chastisement  {e.g.  Isa.  x.  3 ;  Ho?, 
ix.  7) ;  but  it  is  not  met  with  in  the  plural  in  this  sense.  In 
the  plural  it  only  occurs  in  the  sense  of  supervision  or  protec- 
torate, in  which  sense  it  occurs  not  only  in  Jer.  lii.  11  and 
Ezek.  xliv.  11,  but  also  (in  the  singular)  in  Isa.  Ix.  17,  and  as 
early  as  Num.  iii.  38,  where  it  relates  to  the  presidency  of  the 
priests,  and  very  frequently  in  the  Chronicles.  Consequently 
nni^Ei  are  those  whom  God  has  appointed  to  watch  over  the 
city,  the  city-guard  (2  Kings  xi.  18), — not  earthly,  but  heavenly 
watchmen, — who  are  now  to  inflict  punishment  upon  the  un- 
godly, as  the  authorities  appointed  by  God.  I^IP^  is  an  impera- 
tive Piel,  as  in  Isa.  xli.  21,  and  must  not  be  altered  into  ^3"}i5 
(Kal),  as  Hitzig  proposes.  The  Piel  is  used  in  an  intransitive 
sense,  festinanter  appropinquavit,  as  in  ch.  xxxvi.  8.  The 
persons  called  come  by  the  way  of  the  upper  northern  gate  of 
the  temple,  to  take  their  stand  before  Jehovah,  whose  glory  had 
appeared  in  the  inner  court.  The  upper  gate  is  the  gate  lead- 
ing from  the  outer  court  to  the  inner,  or  upper  court,  which 
stood  on  higher  ground, — the  gate  mentioned  in  ch.  viii.  3 
and  5.  In  the  midst  of  the  six  men  furnished  with  smashing- 
tools  there  was  one  clothed  in  white  byssus,  with  writing 
materials  at  his  side.  The  dress  and  equipment,  as  well  as  the 
instructions  which  he  afterwards  receives  and  executes,  show 
him  to  be  the  prince  or  leader  of  the  others.  Kliefoth  calls  in 
question  the  opinion  that  these  seven  men  are  angels ;  but 
without  any  reason.  Angels  appearing  in  human  form  are 
frequently  called  D''K'JN  or  t^^'N,  according  to  their  external 
hahitus.  But  the  number  seven  neither  presupposes  the 
dogma  of  the  seven  archangels,  nor  is  copied  from  the  seven 
Parsic  amscJiaspands.  The  dress  worn  by  the  high  priest, 
when  presenting  the  sin-offering  on  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment (Lev.  xvi.  4,  23),  was  made  of  13,  i.e.  of  white  material 


CHAP.  IX.  1-3.  127 

woven  from  byssus  thread  (see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  xxviii.  42). 
It  has  been  inferred  from  this,  that  the  figure  clothed  in  white 
linen  was  the  angel  of  Jehovah,  who  appears  as  the  heavenly 
high  priest,  to  protect  and  care  for  his  own.  In  support  of 
this,  the  circumstance  may  be  also  adduced,  that  the  man  whom 
Daniel  saw  above  the  water  of  the  Tigris,  and  whose  appearance 
is  described,  in  Dan.  x.  5,  6,  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of 
Jehovah  in  Ezek.  i.  4,  26,  27,  and  that  of  the  risen  Christ  in 
Rev.  i.  13-15,  appears  clothed  in  D''^?  (Dan.  x.  5,  xii.  6,  7).^ 
Nevertheless,  we  cannot  regard  this  view  as  established.  The 
shining  white  talar,  which  is  evidently  meant  by  the  plural  Ci''"n3j 
occurring  only  here  and  in  Daniel  {ut.  sup.)j  is  not  a  dress 
peculiar  to  the  angel  of  Jehovah  or  to  Christ.  The  seven 
angels,  with  the  vials  of  wrath,  also  appear  in  garments  of 
shining  white  linen  (ivSeBu/xevoi  \lvov  KaOapov  Xa/xirpov,  Rev. 
XV.  6) ;  and  the  shining  white  colour,  as  a  symbolical  represen- 
tation of  divine  holiness  and  glory  (see  comm.  on  Lev.  xvi.  4 
and  Rev.  xix.  8),  is  the  colour  generally  chosen  for  the  clothing 
both  of  the  heavenly  spirits  and  of  "just  men  made  perfect" 
(Rev.  xix.  8).  Moveover,  the  angel  with  the  writing  materials 
here  is  described  in  a  totally  different  manner  from  the  appear- 
ance of  Jehovah  in  Ezek.  i.  and  Dan.  x.,  or  that  of  Christ  in 
Rev.  i. ;  and  there  is  nothincr  whatever  to  indicate  a  beino- 
equal  with  God.  Again,  the  distinction  between  him  and  the 
other  six  men  leads  to  no  other  conclusion,  than  that  he  stood 
in  the  same  relation  to  them  as  the  high  priest  to  the  Levites, 
or  the  chancellor  to  the  other  ofBcials.  This  position  is  indi- 
cated by  the  writing  materials  on  his  hips,  i.e.  in  the  girdle  on 

1  Qirja  ^2^  is  rendered  by  the  LXX.,  in  the  passage  before  us,  hh^vKu; 
•^troHtpy.  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  that  Christ  is  described  in  Rev. 
i.  13  as  clothed  with  a  s-o3-/5g>5j,  and  not  after  Dan.  x.  5,  as  Hengstenberg 
supposes.  In  Dan.  x.  5,  the  Septuagint  has  lulilvy.ivo;  jictt^lv  or  ra  fixloiv. 
In  other  places,  the  Sept.  rendering  of  ^3  is  "kivov  (thus  Lev.  xvi.  4,  23, 

T  ' 

vi.  3  ;  Ex.  xxviii.  42,  etc.) ;  and  hence  the  "hivov  Aa^s-p'y  of  Eev,  xv.  6 
answers  to  the  13  made  of  ti'^^',  /Swcor,  and  is  really  the  same  as  the 
(ivaaivov  'hoe.^.Trpiv  of  Rev.  xix.  8. 


l'^8  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

liis  hips,  in  wliicli  scribes  in  the  East  are  accustomed  to  carry 
their  writing  materials  (vid,  Rosenmiiller,  A.  u.  N.  Morgenland, 
IV.  p.  323).  He  is  provided  with  these  for  the  execution  of 
the  commission  given  to  him  in  ver.  4.  In  this  way  the  de- 
scription can  be  very  simply  explained,  without  the  slightest 
necessity  for  our  resorting  to  Babylonian  representations  of 
the  god  Nebo,  i.e.  Mercury,  as  the  scribe  of  heaven.  The 
seven  men  take  their  station  by  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
because  the  glory  of  God,  whose  command^  they  were  about 
to  receive,  had  taken  up  its  position  there  for  the  moment 
(Kliefoth) ;  not  because  the  apostate  priesthood  was  stationed 
there  (Havernick).  The  glory  of  Jehovah,  however,  rose  up 
from  the  cherub  to  the  threshold  of  the  house.  The  meaning 
of  this  is  not  that  it  removed  from  the  interior  of  the  sanctuary 
to  the  outer  threshold  of  the  temple-building  (Havernick),  for 
it  was  already  stationed,  according  to  ch.  viii.  16,  above  the 
cherub,  between  the  porch  and  the  altar.  It  went  back  from 
thence  to  the  threshold  of  the  temple-porch,  through  which  one 
entered  the  Holy  Place,  to  give  its  orders  there.  The  reason  for 
leaving  its  place  above  the  cherubim  (the  singular  2^3  is  used 
collectively)  to  do  this,  was  not  that  "  God  would  have  had  to 
turn  round  in  order  to  address  the  seven  from  the  throne,  since, 
according  to  ch.  viii.  4  and  16,  He  had  gone  from  the  north 
gate  of  the  outer  court  into  the  inner  court,  and  His  servants 
had  followed  Him "  (Hitzig) ;  for  the  cherubim  moved  in  all 
four  directions,  and  therefore  God,  even  from  the  throne, 
could  turn  without  difficulty  to  every  side.  God  left  His 
throne,  that  He  might  issue  His  command  for  the  judgment 
upon  Israel  from  the  threshold  of  the  temple,  and  show  Him- 
self to  be  the  judge  who  would  forsake  the  throne  which  He 
had  assumed  in  Israel.  This  command  He  issues  from  the 
temple  court,  because  the  temple  was  the  place  whence  God 
attested  Himself  to  His  people,  both  by  mercy  and  judgment. 

Vers.  4-7.  The  divine  command. — Ver.  4.  And  Jehovah  said 
to  him)  Go  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  through  the  midst  of 


CHAP.  IX.  4-7.  129 

Jerusalem^  and  mark  a  cj^oss  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  men  who 
sigh  and  groan  over  all  the  ahominations  which  take  place  in  their 
midst.  Ver.  5.  And  to  those  he  said  in  my  ears :  Go  through 
the  city  behind  hinij  and  smite.  Let  not  your  eye  look  compas- 
sionately, and  do  not  spare.  Ver.  6.  Old  men,  young  men,  and 
maidens,  and  children,  and  women,  slay  to  destruction :  hut  ye 
shall  not  touch  any  one  icho  has  the  cross  upon  him ;  and  begin  at 
my  sanctuary.  And  they  began  with  the  old  men,  who  were  before 
the  house.  Ver.  7.  And  He  said  to  them,  Defile  the  house,  and 
fill  the  courts  with  slain;  go  ye  out.  And  they  went  out,  and 
smote  in  the  city. — God  commands  the  man  provided  witli  the 
■writing  materials  to  mark  on  the  forehead  with  a  cross  all  the 
persons  in  Jerusalem  who  mourn  over  the  abominations  of  the 
nation,  in  order  that  they  may  be  spared  in  the  time  of  the 
judgment.  1J^,  the  last  letter  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  had  the 
form  of  a  cross  in  the  earlier  writing,  in  njnn^  to  mark  a  D,  is 
therefore  the  same  as  to  make  a  mark  in  the  form  of  a  cross ; 
although  there  was  at  first  no  other  purpose  in  this  sign  than 
to  enable  the  servants  employed  in  inflicting  the  judgment  of 
God  to  distinguish  those  who  were  so  marked,  so  that  they 
might  do  them  no  harm.  Ver.  6.  And  this  was  the  reason 
why  the  in  was  to  be  marked  upon  the  forehead,  the  most 
visible  portion  of  the  body ;  the  early  Christians,  according  to 
a  statement  in  Origen,  looked  upon  the  sign  itself  as  significant, 
and  saw  therein  a  prophetic  allusion  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  as 
the  distinctive  mark  of  Christians.  A  direct  prophecy  of  the 
cross  of  Christ  is  certainly  not  to  be  found  here,  since  the  form 
of  the  letter  Tdv  was  the  one  generally  adopted  as  a  sign,  and, 
according  to  Job  xxxi.  35,  might  supply  the  place  of  a  signa- 
ture. Nevertheless,  as  Schmieder  has  correctly  observed,  there 
is  something  remarkable  in  this  coincidence  to  the  thoughtful 
observer  of  the  ways  of  God,  whose  counsel  has  carefully  con- 
sidered all  beforehand,  especially  when  we  bear  in  mind  that 
in  the  counterpart  to  this  passage  (Eev.  vii.  3)  the  seal  of  the 
living  God  is  stamped  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  servants  of 

EZEK.  T.  I 


130  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

God,  who  are  to  be  exempted  from  the  judgment,  and  that 
according  to  Rev.  xiv.  1  they  had  the  name  of  God  written 
upon  tlieir  foreheads.  So  much,  at  any  rate,  is  perfectly 
obvious  from  this,  namely,  that  the  sign  was  not  arbitrarily 
chosen,  but  was  inwardly  connected  with  the  fact  which  it 
indicated ;  just  as  in  the  event  upon  which  our  vision  is  based 
(Ex.  xii.  13,  22  sqq.)  the  distinctive  mark  placed  upon  the 
houses  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  in  order  that  the  destroying 
angel  might  pass  them  by,  namely,  the  smearing  of  the  door- 
posts with  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  that  had  been  slain, 
was  selected  on  account  of  its  significance  and  its  corresponding 
to  the  thing  signified.  The  execution  of  this  command  is 
passed  over  as  being  self-evident;  and  it  is  not  till  ver.  11  that 
it  is  even  indirectly  referred  to  again. — In  vers.  5,  6  there 
follows,  first  of  all,  the  command  given  to  the  other  six  men. 
They  are  to  go  through  the  city,  behind  the  man  clothed  in 
white  linen,  and  to  smite  without  mercy  all  the  inhabitants  of 
whatever  age  or  sex,  with  this  exception,  that  they  are  not  to 
touch  those  who  are  marked  with  the  cross.  The  ^V  for  ^i^ 
before  Dinn  is  either  a  slip  of  the  pen,  or,  as  the  continued 
transmission  of  so  striking  an  error  is  very  improbable,  is  to  be 
accounted  for  from  the  change  of  N  into  y,  which  is  so  com- 
mon in  Aramaean.  The  Chetib  ca^rj;  is  the  unusual  form 
grammatically  considered,  and  the  singular,  which  is  more 
correct,  has  been  substituted  as  KerL  ^i']<]^  is  followed  by 
JVn^'up^  to  increase  the  force  of  the  words  and  show  the  impos- 
sibility of  any  life  being  saved.  They  are  to  make  a  commence- 
ment at  the  sanctuary,  because  it  has  been  desecrated  by  the 
worship  of  idols,  and  therefore  has  ceased  to  be  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  To  this  command  the  execution  is  immediately 
appended ;  they  began  with  the  old  men  who  were  before  the 
house,  i.e.  they  began  to  slay  them.  2''Ji]^i'7  ^^^'^^7  are  neither 
the  twenty-five  priests  (ch.  viii.  16)  nor  the  seventy  elders 
(ch.  viii.  11).  The  latter  were  not  ri;3n  '•jQp,  but  in  a  chamber 
by  the  outer  temple  gate;  whereas  ri'3n  ''327,  in  front  of  the 


CHAP.  IX.  8-11.  131 

temple  house,  points  to  the  inner  court.  This  locality  makes 
it  natural  to  think  of  priests,  and  consequently  the  LXX. 
rendered  "tini^rsp  by  airo  rcov  dyicov  fiov.  But  the  expression 
a^Ji^T  D''^:x  is  an  unsuitable  one  for  the  priests.  We  have  there- 
fore no  doubt  to  think  of  men  advanced  in  years,  who  had 
come  into  the  court  possibly  to  offer  sacrifice,  and  thereby  had 
become  liable  to  the  judgment.  In  ver.  7  the  command,  which 
was  interrupted  in  ver.  6b,  is  once  more  resumed.  They  are  to 
defile  the  house,  i.e.  the  temple,  namely,  by  filling  the  courts 
with  slain.  It  is  in  this  way  that  we  are  to  connect  together, 
so  far  as  the  sense  is  concerned,  the  two  clauses,  "  defile  .  .  . 
and  fill."  This  is  required  by  the  facts  of  the  case.  For  those 
slain  "  before  the  house "  could  only  have  been  slain  in  the 
courts,  as  there  was  no  space  between  the  temple  house  and  the 
courts  in  which  men  could  have  been  found  and  slain.  But 
jT3n  ^p2p  cannot  be  understood  as  signifying  "in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  temple,"  as  Kliefoth  supposes,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  progressive  order  of  events  would  thereby  be 
completely  destroyed.  The  angels  who  were  standing  before 
the  altar  of  burnt-offering  could  not  begin  their  work  by  going 
out  of  the  court  to  smite  the  sinners  who  happened  to  be  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  temple,  and  then  returning  to  the  court 
to  do  the  same  there,  and  then  again  going  out  into  the  city  to 
finish  their  work  there.  They  could  only  begin  by  slaying  the 
sinners  who  happened  to  be  in  the  courts,  and  after  having 
defiled  the  temple  by  their  corpses,  by  going  out  into  the  city 
to  slay  all  the  ungodly  there,  as  is  related  in  the  second  clause 
of  the  verse  (ver.  7b). 

Vers.  8-11.  Intercession  of  the  prophet,  and  the  answer  of 
the  Lord. — Ver.  8.  And  it  came  to  pass  when  they  smote  and  I 
remained,  I  fell  vpon  my  face,  and  cried,  and  said:  Alas!  Lord 
Jehovah,  ivilt  Thou  destroy  all  the  remnant  of  Israel,  by  pouring 
out  Thy  ivrath  iipon  Jerusalem  ?  Ver.  9.  And  He  said  to  me  : 
The  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel  and  Judah  is  immeasurably 
great,  and  the  land  is  full  of  blood-guiltiness,  and  the  city  full  of 


132  TDE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

perversion ;  for  then  say  Jehovah  hath  forsaken  the  land,  and 
Jehovah  seeth  not.  Ver.  10.  So  also  shall  my  eye  not  look  loith 
pify,  and  I  ivill  not  spare;  I  ivill  give  their  loay  upon  their  head. 
Ver.  11.  Aiid,  behold,  the  man  clothed  in  white  linen,  who  had  the 
loriting  materials  on  his  hip,  brought  ansioer,  and  said :  I  have 
done  as  thou  hast  commanded  me. — The  Chetib  "IXK'SJ  is  an  in- 
congruous form,  composed  of  participle  and  imperfect  fused 
into  one,  and  is  evidently  a  copyist's  error.  It  is  not  to  be 
altered  into  "i??^)?,  however  (the  1st  pers.  imperf.  Niph.),  but  to 
be  read  as  a  participle  ""f'^t',  and  taken  with  Drii3n3  as  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  circumstantial  clause.  For  the  words  do  not 
mean  that  Ezekiel  alone  was  left,  but  that  when  the  angels 
smote  and  he  was  left,  i.e.  was  spared,  was  not  smitten  with  the 
rest,  he  fell  on  his  face,  to  entreat  the  Lord  for  mercy.  These 
words  and  the  prophet's  intercession  both  apparently  presup- 
pose that  among  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  there  was  no  one 
found  who  was  marked  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  therefore 
could  be  spared.  But  this  is  by  no  means  to  be  regarded  as 
established.  For,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  not  stated  that  all  had 
been  smitten  by  the  angels;  and,  secondly,  the  intercession  of 
the  prophet  simply  assumes  that,  in  comparison  with  the  multi- 
tude of  the  slain,  the  number  of  those  who  were  marked  with 
the  sign  of  the  cross  and  spared  was  so  small  that  it  escaped  the 
prophet's  eye,  and  he  was  afraid  that  they  might  all  be  slain 
without  exception,  and  the  whole  of  the  remnant  of  the  cove- 
nant nation  be  destroyed.  The  rinsu'  of  Israel  and  Judah  is 
the  covenant  nation  in  its  existing  state,  when  it  had  been  so 
reduced  by  the  previous  judgments  of  God,  that  out  of  the  whole 
of  what  was  once  so  numerous  a  people,  only  a  small  portion 
remained  in  the  land.  Although  God  has  previously  promised 
that  a  remnant  shall  be  preserved  (ch.  v.  3,  4),  He  does  not 
renew  this  promise  to  the  prophet,  but  begins  by  holding  up  the 
greatness  of  the  iniquity  of  Israel,  which  admits  of  no  sparing, 
but  calls  for  the  most  merciless  punishment,  to  show  him  that, 
according  to  the  strict  demand  of  justice,  the  whole  nation  has 


CHAP.  X.  1-8.  133 

deserved  destruction,  na'p  (ver.  9)  is  not  equivalent  to  J^niD, 
oppression  (Isa.  Iviii.  9),  but  signifies  pei'version  of  justice; 
although  OQ^b  is  not  mentioned,  since  this  is  also  omitted  in 
Ex.  xxiii.  2,  where  ntan  occurs  in  the  same  sense.  For  ver.  96, 
vid.  ch.  viii.  12.  For  'nnj  'i3  D3n"n  (ver.  10  and  ch.  xi.  21, 
22,  31),  vid.  1  Kings  viii.  32.  "While  God  is  conversing  with 
tlie  prophet,  the  seven  angels  have  performed  their  work ;  and 
in  ver.  11  their  leader  returns  to  Jehovah  with  the  announce- 
ment that  His  orders  have  been  executed.  He  does  this,  not 
in  his  own  name  only,  but  in  that  of  all  the  rest.  The  first  act 
of  the  judgment  is  thus  shown  to  the  prophet  in  a  figurative 
representation.     The  second  act  follows  in  the  next  chapter. 

Chap.  X.  Burning  of  Jerusalem,  and  Withdrawal  of 
THE  Glory  of  Jehovah  from  the  Sanctuary. — This 
chapter  divides  itself  into  two  sections.  In  vers.  1-8  the 
prophet  is  shown  how  Jerusalem  is  to  be  burned  with  fire.  In 
vers.  9-22  he  is  shown  how  Jehovah  will  forsake  His  temple. 

Vers.  1-8.  The  angel  scatters  coals  of  fire  over  Jerusalem. — 
Ver.  1.  And  I  saw,  and  behold  upon  the  firmament^  which  was 
above  the  cherubimy  it  teas  like  sapphire-stone,  to  look  at  as  the 
likeness  of  a  throne  ;  He  appeared  above  them.  Ver.  2.  And  He 
spake  to  the  man  clothed  in  white  linen,  and  said  :  Come  beticeen 
the  ivheels  beloio  the  cherubim,  and  Jill  thy  holloio  hands  loith 
Jire-coals  from  between  the  chenthim,  and  scatter  them  over  the 
city :  and  he  came  before  my  eyes.  Ver.  3.  And  the  cherubim 
stood  to  the  right  of  the  house  xohen  the  man  came,  and  the  cloud 
filled  the  inner  court.  Ver.  4.  And  the  glory  of  Jehovah  had 
lifted  itself  up  from  the  cherubim  to  the  threshold  of  the  house  ; 
and  the  house  was  filled  loith  the  cloud,  and  the  court  teas  full  of 
the  splendour  of  tlie  glory  of  Jehovah.  Ver.  5.  And  the  noise  of 
the  wings  of  the  cherubim  icas  Jieard  to  the  outer  court,  as  the 
voice  of  the  Almighty  God  when  He  speaketh.  Ver.  6.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  He  commanded  the  man  clothed  in  white  linen, 
and  said,  Take  fire  from  between  the  wheels,  from  betweeii  the 


134  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL, 

cheruhim,  and  he  came  and  stood  hy  the  side  of  the  wheel,  Ver.  7. 
That  the  cherub  stretched  out  his  hand  between  the  cherubim  to 
ilie  fire,  which  loas  between  the  cherubim,  and  lifted  (some)  off 
and  gave  it  into  the  hands  of  the  man  clothed  in  white  linen. 
And  he  took  it,  and  went  out.  Ver.  8.  And  there  appeared 
by  the  cherubim  the  likeness  of  a  mans  hand  under  their  icings. — 
Ver.  1  introduces  the  description  of  the  second  act  of  the  judg- 
ment. According  to  ch.  ix.  3,  Jehovah  had  come  down  from 
His  throne  above  the  cherubim  to  the  threshold  of  tlie  temple 
to  issue  His  orders  thence  for  the  judgment  upon  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Jerusalem,  and  according  to  ch.  x.  4  He  goes  thither 
once  more.  Consequently  He  had  resumed  His  seat  above  the 
cherubim  in  the  meantime.  This  is  expressed  in  ver.  1,  not  in- 
deed in  so  many  words,  but  indirectly  or  by  implication.  Ezekiel 
sees  the  theophany ;  and  on  the  firmament  above  the  cherubim, 
like  sapphire-stone  to  look  at,  he  beholds  the  likeness  of  a 
throne  on  ■which  Jehovah  appeared.  To  avoid  giving  too  great 
prominence  in  this  appearance  of  Jehovah  to  the  bodily  or 
human  form,  Ezekiel  does  not  speak  even  here  of  the  form  of 
Jehovah,  but  simply  of  His  throne,  which  he  describes  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  ch.  i.  26.  bi<  stands  for  pV  according  to  the 
later  usase  of  the  lano;ua(Te.  It  will  never  do  to  take  7^^  in  its 
literal  sense,  as  Kliefoth  does,  and  render  the  words:  "  Ezekiel 
saw  it  move  away  to  the  firmament ; "  for  the  object  to  '"'^"1^) 
nsni  is  not  nini  or  nin";  1U3,  but  the  form  of  the  throne  spark- 
ling in  sapphire-stone ;  and  this  throne  had  not  separated  itself 
from  the  firmament  above  the  cherubim,  but  Jehovah,  or  the 
glory  of  Jehovah,  according  to  ch.  ix.  3,  had  risen  up  from  the 
cherubim,  and  moved  away  to  the  temple  threshold.  The  3 
before  HS^D  is  not  to  be  erased,  as  Hitzig  proposes  after  the 
LXX.,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  found  in  ch.  i.  26;  it  is 
quite  appropriate  here.  For  the  words  do  not  affirm  that 
Ezekiel  saw  the  likeness  of  a  throne  like  sapphire-stone ;  but 
that  he  saw  something  like  sapphire-stone,  like  the  appearance 
of  the  form  of  a  throne.     Ezekiel  does  not  see  Jehovah,  or  the 


CHAP.  X.  1-8.  135 

glory  of  Jehovali,  move  away  to  the  firmament,  and  then  return 
to  the  throne.  He  simply  sees  once  more  tlie  resemblance  of 
a  throne  upon  the  firmament,  and  the  Lord  appearing  thereon. 
The  latter  is  indicated  in  0^?^  ^^Ih  These  words  are  not  to 
be  taken  in  connection  with  'iJl  ^^"103,  so  as  to  form  one  sen- 
tence ;  but  have  been  very  properly  separated  by  the  atJinach 
under  ND3^  and  treated  as  an  independent  assertion.  The 
subject  to  ns"):  might,  indeed,  be  NEi3  n^?0"n,  "  the  likeness  of  a 
throne  appeared  above  the  cherubim;"  but  in  that  case  the 
words  would  form  a  pure  tautology,  as  the  fact  of  the  throne 
becoming  visible  has  already  been  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
clause.  The  subject  must  therefore  be  Jehovah,  as  in  the  case 
of  "i?pN'l  in  ver.  2,  where  there  can  be  no  doubt  on  the  matter. 
Jehovah  has  resumed  His  throne,  not  "  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  to  a  distance,  because  the  courts  of  the  temple  have 
been  defiled  by  dead  bodies"  (Hitzig),  but  because  the  object 
for  which  He  left  it  has  been  attained.  He  now  commands 
the  man  clothed  in  white  linen  to  go  in  between  the  wheels 
under  the  cherubim,  and  fill  his  hands  with  fire-coals  from 
thence,  and  scatter  them  over  the  city  (Jerusalem).  This  he 
did,  so  that  Ezekiel  could  see  it.  According  to  this,  it  appears 
as  if  Jehovah  had  issued  the  command  from  His  throne ;  but 
if  we  compare  what  follows,  it  is  evident  from  ver.  4  that  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  had  risen  up  again  from  the  throne,  and 
removed  to  the  threshold  of  the  temple,  and  that  it  was  not 
till  after  the  man  in  white  linen  had  scattered  the  coals  over 
the  city  that  it  left  the  threshold  of  the  temple,  and  ascended 
once  more  up  to  the  throne  above  the  cherubim,  so  as  to  for- 
sake the  temple  (ver.  18  sqq.).  Consequently  we  can  only 
understand  vers.  2-7  as  implying  that  Jehovah  issued  the  com- 
mand in  ver.  2,  not  from  His  throne,  but  from  the  threshold  of 
the  temple,  and  that  He  had  therefore  returned  to  the  threshold 
of  the  temple  for  this  purpose,  and  for  the  very  same  reason  as 
in  ch.  ix.  3.  The  possibility  of  interpreting  the  verses  in  this 
way  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  ver.  2  contains  a  summary 


136  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  the  Avhole  of  the  contents  of  this  section,  and  that  vers.  3-7 
simply  furnish  more  minute  explanations,  or  contain  circum- 
stantial clauses,  which  throw  light  upon  the  whole  affair.  This 
is  obvious  in  the  case  of  ver.  3,  from  the  form  of  tlie  clause  ; 
and  in  vers.  4  and  5,  from  the  fact  that  in  vers.  G  and  7  the  com- 
mand (ver.  2)  is  resumed,  and  the  execution  of  it,  which  was 
already  indicated  in  "'5''Vp  i^ijl  (ver.  2),  more  minutely  described 
and  carried  forward  in  the  closing  words  of  the  seventh  verse, 
^■f'l  '^i?!^  ''???'^  Jn  "^'G^^*'  2  signifies  the  whirl  or  rotatory  motion, 
i.e.  the  wheel-work,  or  the  four  ophannim  under  the  cherubim 
regarded  as  moving.  The  angel  was  to  go  in  between  these, 
and  take  coals  out  of  the  fire  there,  and  scatter  them  over  the 
city.  "  In  the  fire  of  God,  the  fire  of  His  wrath,  will  kindle, 
the  fire  for  consuming  the  city"  (Kliefoth).  To  depict  the 
scene  more  clearly,  Ezekiel  observes  in  ver.  3,  that  at  this 
moment  the  cherubim  were  standing  to  the  nVht  of  the  house, 
i.e.  on  the  south  or  rather  south-east  of  the  temple  house,  on 
the  south  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  According  to  the 
Hebrew  usage  the  right  side  was  the  southern  side,  and  the 
prophet  was  in  the  inner  court,  whither,  according  to  ch.  viii.  16, 
the  divine  glory  had  taken  him  ;  and,  according  to  ch.  ix.  2,  the 
seven  angels  had  gone  to  the  front  of  the  altar,  to  receive  the 
commands  of  the  Lord.  Consequently  we  have  to  picture  to 
ourselves  the  cherubim  as  appearing  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  altar,  and  then  taking  up  their  position  to  the  south  thereof, 
when  the  Lord  returned  to  the  threshold  of  the  temple.  The 
reason  for  stating  this  is  not  to  be  sought,  as  Calvin  supposes, 
in  the  desire  to  show  "  that  the  way  was  opened  for  the  angel 
to  go  straight  to  God,  and  that  the  cherubim  were  standing 
there  ready,  as  it  were,  to  contribute  their  labour."  The  posi- 
tion in  which  the  cherubim  appeared  is  more  probably  given 
with  prospective  reference  to  the  account  which  follows  in 
vers.  9-22  of  the  departure  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  from  the 
temple.  As  an  indication  of  the  significance  of  this  act  to 
Israel,  the  glory  which  issued  from  this  manifestation  of  the 


CHAF.  X.  9-22.  137 

divine  doxa  is  described  in  vers.  3J-5.  The  cloud,  as  the 
earthly  vehicle  of  the  divine  doxa,  filled  the  inner  court ;  and 
when  the  glory  of  the  Lord  stood  upon  the  threshold,  it  filled 
the  temple  also,  while  the  court  became  full  of  the  splendour 
of  the  divine  glory.  That  is  to  say,  the  brilliancy  of  the  divine 
nature  shone  through  the  cloud,  so  that  the  court  and  the 
temple  were  lighted  by  the  shining  of  the  light-cloud.  The 
brilliant  splendour  is  a  symbol  of  the  light  of  the  divine  grace. 
The  wings  of  the  cherubim  rustled,  and  at  the  movement  of 
God  (i.  24)  were  audible  even  in  the  outer  court. 

After  this  picture  of  the  glorious  manifestation  of  the  divine 
doxa,  the  fetching  of  the  fire-coals  from  the  space  between  the 
wheels  under  the  cherubim  is  more  closely  described  in  vers.  6 
and  7.  One  of  the  cherub's  hands  took  the  coals  out  of  the 
fire,  and  put  them  into  the  hands  of  the  man  clothed  in  white 
linen.  To  this  a  supplementary  remark  is  added  in  ver.  8,  to 
the  effect  that  the  figure  of  a  hand  was  visible  by  the  side  of 
the  cherubim  under  their  wings.  The  word  X>'.n,  "  and  he  went 
out,"  indicates  that  the  man  clothed  in  white  linen  scattered  the 
coals  over  the  city,  to  set  it  on  fire  and  consume  it. 

Vers.  9-22.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  forsakes  the  temple. — 
Ver.  9.  And  1  saw,  and  behold  four  icheels  hy  the  side  of  the 
cherubim^  one  wheel  hy  the  side  of  every  cherub,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  wheels  ivas  like  the  look  of  a  chrysolith  stone.  Ver. 
10.  And  as  for  their  ojipearance,  they  had  all  four  one  form,  as 
if  one  wheel  loere  in  the  midst  of  the  other.  Ver.  IL  When  they 
loent,  they  ivent  to  their  four  sides  ;  they  did  not  turn  in  going ; 
for  to  the  place  to  lohich  the  head  was  directed,  to  that  they  went ; 
they  did  not  turn  in  their  going.  Ver.  12.  And  their  ichole  body, 
and  their  back,  and  their  hands,  and  their  wings,  and  the  icheels, 
were  fidl  of  eyes  round  about :  by  all  four  their  icheels.  Ver.  13. 
To  the  icheels,  to  them  was  called,  "ty/iw-Z/"  m  my  hearing. 
Ver.  14.  And  every  one  had  four  faces ;  the  face  of  the  first 
ivas  the  face  of  the  cherub,  the  face  of  the  second  a  man's  face, 
and   the   third  a    lion's  face,   and  the  fourth   an  eagle's  face. 


138  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

Ver.  15.  And  the  chemhim  ascended.  This  icas  the  being  which 
I  saio  by  the  river  Cliehar.  Ver.  16.  And  ichen  the  cherubim 
loent,  the  icheels  loent  by  them ;  and  ichen  the  cherubim  raised 
their  xoings  to  ascend  from  the  earth,  the  icheels  also  did  not  turn 
from  their  side.  Ver.  17.  When  those  stood,  they  stood;  and. 
when  those  ascended,  they  ascended  with  them;  for  the  spirit  of 
the  being  loas  in  them.  Ver.  18.  And  the  glory  of  Jehovah  loent 
out  from  the  threshold  of  the  house,  and  stood  above  the  cherubim. 
Ver.  19.  And  the  cherubim  raised  their  wings,  and  ascended  from 
the  earth  before  my  eyes  on  their  going  out,  and  the  wheels  beside 
them  ;  and  they  stoj^ped  at  the  entrance  of  the  eastern  gate  of  the 
house  of  Jehovah ;  and  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  was  above 
them.  Ver.  20.  This  loas  the  being  which  I  saw  tinder  the  God 
of  Israel  by  the  river  Chebar,  and  I  perceived  that  they  were 
cherubim.  Ver.  21.  Every  one  had  four  faces,  each  and  every 
one  four  wings,  and  something  like  a  man^s  hands  under  their 
wings.  Ver.  22.  And  as  for  the  likeness  of  their  faces,  they  tvere 
the  faces  which  I  had  seen  by  the  river  Chebar,  their  appearance 
and  they  themselves.  They  went  every  one  according  to  its  face. — 
"With  the  words  "  I  saw,  and  behold,"  a  new  feature  in  the 
vision  is  introduced.  The  description  of  the  appearance  of  the 
cherubim  in  these  verses  coincides  for  the  most  part  verbatim 
with  the  account  of  the  theophany  in  ch.  i.  It  differs  from  this, 
however,  not  only  in  the  altered  arrangement  of  the  several 
features,  and  in  the  introduction  of  certain  points  which  serve 
to  complete  the  former  account ;  but  still  more  in  the  insertion 
of  a  number  of  narrative  sentences,  which  show  that  we  have 
not  merely  a  repetition  of  the  first  chapter  here.  On  the  con- 
trary, Ezekiel  is  now  describing  the  moving  of  the  appearance 
of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  from  the  inner  court  or  porch  of  the 
temple  to  the  outer  entrance  of  the  eastern  gate  of  the  outer 
court ;  in  other  words,  the  departure  of  the  gracious  presence 
of  the  Lord  from  the  temple :  and  in  order  to  point  out  more 
distinctly  the  importance  and  meaning  of  this  event,  he  depicts 
once  more  the  leading  features  of  the  theophany  itself.     The 


CHAP.  X.  9-22.  131) 

narrative  sentences  are  found  in  vers.  13,  15,  18,  and  19.  In 
ver.  13  we  have  the  exclamation  addressed  to  the  wheels  by  the 
side  of  the  cherubim  to  set  themselves  in  motion ;  in  ver.  15, 
the  statement  that  the  cherubim  ascended ;  and  in  vers.  18 
and  19,  the  account  of  the  departure  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
from  the  inner  portion  of  the  temple.  To  this  we  may  add  the 
repeated  remark,  that  the  appearance  was  the  same  as  that 
which  the  prophet  had  seen  by  the  river  Chebar  (vers.  15,  20, 
22).  To  bring  clearly  out  to  view  both  the  independence  of 
these  divine  manifestations  and  their  significance  to  Israel, 
Ezekiel  repeats  the  leading  featui'es  of  the  former  description ; 
but  while  doing  this,  he  either  makes  them  subordinate  to  the 
thoughts  expressed  in  the  narrative  sentences,  or  places  them 
first  as  introductory  to  these,  or  lets  them  follow  as  explanatory. 
Thus,  for  example,  the  description  of  the  wheels,  and  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  moved  (vers.  9-12),  serves  both  to  intro- 
duce and  explain  the  call  to  the  wheels  to  set  themselves  in 
motion.  The  description  of  the  wheels  in  vers.  9-11  har- 
monizes with  ch.  i.  16  and  17,  with  this  exception,  however, 
that  certain  points  are  given  with  greater  exactness  here ;  such, 
for  example,  as  the  statement  that  the  movements  of  the  wheels 
were  so  regulated,  that  in  whichever  direction  the  front  one 
turned,  the  others  did  the  same.  K'Nin,  the  head,  is  not  the 
head-wheel,  or  the  wheel  which  was  always  the  first  to  move,  but 
the  front  one,  which  originated  the  motion,  drawing  the  others 
after  it  and  determining  their  direction.  For  ver.  12Z'  and  the 
fact  that  the  wheels  were  covered  with  eyes,  see  ch.  i.  18.  In 
ver.  12a  we  have  the  important  addition,  that  the  whole  of  the 
body  and  back,  as  well  as  the  hands  and  wings,  of  the  cherubim 
were  full  of  eyes.  There  is  all  the  less  reason  to  question  this 
addition,  or  remove  it  (as  Plitzig  does)  by  an  ai-bitrary  erasure, 
inasmuch  as  the  statement  itself  is  apparently  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  the  whole  procedure ;  and  the  significance  possessed 
by  the  eyes  in  relation  to  the  wiieels  was  not  only  appropriate 
in  the  case  of  the  cherubim,  but  necessarily  to  be  assumed  in 


140  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

such  a  connection.  The  fact  that  the  suffixes  in  ^"f""?,  2']???  etc., 
refer  to  the  cherubim,  is  obvious  enough,  if  we  consider  that  the 
wheels  to  which  immediate  reference  is  made  were  by  the  side 
of  the  clierubim  (ver.  9),  and  that  the  cherubim  formed  the 
principal  feature  in  the  whole  of  the  vision. — Ver.  13  does  not 
point  back  to  ver.  2,  and  bring  the  description  of  the  wheel- 
work  to  a  close,  as  Plitzig  supposes.  This  assumption,  by 
which  the  meaning  of  the  whole  description  has  been  obscured, 
is  based  upon  the  untenable  rendering,  "  and  the  wheels  they 
named  before  my  ears  whirl"  (J.  D.  Mich.,  Eos.,  etc.). 
Pliivernick  has  already  pointed  out  the  objection  to  this, 
namely,  that  with  such  a  rendering  ""JTSB  forms  an  unmeaning 
addition ;  whereas  it  is  precisely  this  addition  which  shows  that 
i^l^  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  addressing,  calling,  and  not  of 
naming.  One  called  to  the  wheels  ^i?^_^,  whirl ;  i.e.  they  were 
to  verify  their  name  galgal,  viz.  to  revolve  or  whirl,  to  set 
themselves  in  motion  by  revolving.  Tiiis  is  the  explanation 
given  by  Theodoret :  avaKVKX-elcrOai  koI  avaKuvelaOaL  irpoae- 
rd'xOrjaav.  These  words  therefore  gave  the  signal  for  their 
departure,  and  accordingly  the  rising  up  of  the  cherubim  is 
related  in  ver.  15.  Ver.  14  prepares  the  way  for  their  ascent 
by  mentioning  the  four  faces  of  each  cherub ;  and  this  is  still 
further  expanded  in  vers.  IG  and  17,  by  the  statement  that  the 
wheels  moved  according  to  the  movements  of  the  cherubim. 
iriNl?  without  an  article  is  used  distributively  (every  one),  as  in 
ch.  i.  6  and  10.  The  fact  that  in  the  description  which  fol- 
lows only  one  face  of  each  of  the  four  cherubs  is  given,  is  not 
at  variance  with  ch.  i.  10,  according  to  which  every  one  of  the 
cherubs  had  the  four  faces  named.  It  was  not  Ezekiel's  inten- 
tion to  mention  all  the  faces  of  each  cherub  here,  as  he  had 
done  before ;  but  he  regarded  it  as  sufficient  in  the  case  of  each 
cherub  to  mention  simply  the  one  face,  which  was  turned 
toward  him.  The  only  striking  feature  which  still  remains  is 
the  statement  that  the  face  of  the  one,  i.e.  of  the  first,  was  the 
face  of  the  cherub  instead  of  the  face  of  an  ox  (cf.  ch.  i.  10), 


CHAP.  X.  9-22.  141 

since  the  faces  of  the  man,  the  lion,  and  the  eagle  were  also 
cherubs'  faces.  We  may,  no  doubt,  get  rid  of  the  difficulty  by 
altering  the  text,  but  this  will  not  solve  it ;  for  it  would  still 
remain  inexplicable  how  2T\2r\  could  have  grown  out  of  "lili'  by  a 
copyist's  error ;  and  still  more,  how  such  an  error,  which  might 
have  been  so  easily  seen  and  corrected,  could  have  been  not 
only  perpetuated,  but  generally  adopted.  Moreover,  we  have 
the  article  in  2l"i3i!i,  which  would  also  be  inexplicable  if  the  word 
had  originated  in  an  oversight,  and  which  gives  us  precisely  the 
index  required  to  the  correct  solution  of  the  difficulty,  showing 
as  it  does  that  it  was  not  merely  a  cherub's  face,  but  the  face 
of  tJie  cherub,  so  that  the  allusion  is  to  one  particular  cherub, 
who  was  either  well  known  from  what  had  gone  before,  or 
occupied  a  more  prominent  position  than  the  rest.  Such  a 
cherub  is  the  one  mentioned  in  ver.  7,  who  had  taken  the  coals 
from  the  fire  between  the  wheels,  and  stood  nearest  to  Ezekiel. 
There  did  not  appear  to  be  any  necessity  to  describe  his  face 
more  exactly,  as  it  could  be  easily  seen  from  a  comparison  with 
ch.  i.  10. — In  ver.  15,  the  fact  that  the  cherubim  arose  to  depart 
from  their  place  is  followed  by  the  remark  that  the  cherubic 
figure  was  the  being  (l^'nn,  singular,  as  in  ch.  i.  22)  which 
Ezekiel  saw  by  the  Chaboras,  because  it  was  a  matter  of  im- 
})ortance  that  the  identity  of  the  two  theophanies  should  be 
established  as  a  help  to  the  correct  understanding  of  their  real 
signification.  But  before  the  departure  of  the  theophany  from 
the  temple  is  related,  there  follows  in  vers.  16  and  17  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  circumstantial  description  of  the  harmonious  move- 
ments of  the  wheels  and  the  cherubim  (cf.  ch.  i.  19-21);  and 
then,  in  ver.  18,  the  statement  which  had  such  practical 
significance,  that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  departed  from  the 
threshold  of  the  temple,  and  resumed  the  throne  above  the 
cherubim ;  and  lastly,  the  account  in  ver.  19,  that  the  glory  of 
the  God  of  Israel,  seated  upon  this  throne,  took  up  its  position 
at  the  entrance  of  the  eastern  gate  of  the  temple.  The  entrance 
of  this  gate  is  not  the  gate  of  the  temple,  but  the  outer  side  of 


142  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

tlie  eastern  gate  of  the  outer  court,  which  formed  the  principal 
entrance  to  the  whole  of  the  temple-space.  The  expression 
"  God  of  Israel"  instead  of  "Jehovah"  is  significant,  and  is 
used  to  intimate  that  God,  as  tlie  covenant  God,  withdrew  His 
gracious  presence  from  the  people  of  Israel  by  this  departure 
from  the  temple ;  not,  indeed,  from  the  whole  of  the  covenant 
nation,  but  from  the  rebellious  Israel  whicli  dwelt  in  Jerusalem 
and  Judah ;  for  the  same  glory  of  God  which  left  the  temple 
in  the  vision  before  the  eyes  of  Ezekiel  had  appeared  to  the 
prophet  by  the  river  Chebar,  and  by  calling  him  to  be  the 
prophet  for  Israel,  had  shown  Himself  to  be  the  God  who  kept 
His  covenant,  and  proved  that,  by  the  judgment  upon  the 
corrupt  generation,  He  simply  desired  to  exterminate  its 
untTodly  nature,  and  create  for  Himself  a  new  and  holy  people. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  the  remark  which  is  repeated  in  vers. 
20-22,  that  the  apparition  which  left  the  temple  was  the  same 
being  as  Ezekiel  had  seen  by  the  Chaboras,  and  that  he  recog- 
nised the  beings  under  the  throne  as  cherubim. 

Chap.  xi.  Threatening  of  Judgment  and  Promise  of 
Mercy.  Conclusion  of  the  Vision. — This  chapter  con- 
tains the  concluding  portion  of  the  vision  ;  namely,  first,  the 
prediction  of  the  destruction  of  the  ungodly  rulers  (vers.  1-13)  ; 
secondly,  the  consolatory  and  closing  promise,  that  the  Lord 
would  gather  to  Himself  a  people  out  of  those  who  had  been 
carried  away  into  exile,  and  would  sanctify  them  by  His  Holy 
Spirit  (vers.  14-21);  and,  ihirdli/,  the  withdrawal  of  the 
gracious  presence  of  God  from  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
transportation  of  the  prophet  back  to  Chaldea  with  the  termi- 
nation of  his  ecstasy  (vers.  22-25). 

Vers.  1-13.  Judgment  upon  the  rulers  of  the  nation. — Ver.  1. 
And  a  wind  lifted  me  up,  and  took  me  to  the  eastern  (jate  of  the 
house  of  Jehovah,  lohich  faces  toxcards  the  east;  and  behold,  at 
the  entrance  of  the  gate  loere  five  and  tioentrj  men,  and  T  saw 
among  them  Jaazaniah  the  son  of  Azzur,  and  Pelatiah  the  son  of 


CHAP.  XI.  1-4.  143 

BeimiaJi,  the  chiefs  of  the  nation.  Ver.  2.  And  he  said  to  me : 
Son  of  man,  these  are  the  men  who  devise  iniquity,  and  counsel 
evil  counsel  in  this  city  ;  Ver.  3.  Who  say,  It  is  not  near  to  build 
houses ;  it  is  the  pot,  and  ive  are  the  Jleah.  Ver.  4.  Therefore 
prophesy  against  them  ;  prophesy,  son  of  man. — Ezekiel  is  once 
more  transported  from  the  inner  court  (cb.  viii.  IG)  to  the 
outer  entrance  of  the  eastern  gate  of  the  temple  (nil  ^'^^,  as  in 
eh.  viii.  3),  to  which,  according  to  ch.  x.  19,  the  vision  of  God 
had  removed.  There  he  sees  twenty- five  men,  and  among 
them  two  of  the  princes  of  the  nation,  whose  names  are  given. 
These  twenty-five  men  are  not  identical  with  the  twenty-five 
priests  mentioned  in  ch.  viii.  16,  as  Havernick  supposes.  This 
is  evident,  not  only  from  the  difference  in  the  locality,  the 
priests  standing  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  whereas  the 
men  referred  to  here  stood  at  the  outer  eastern  entrance  to  the 
court  of  the  temple,  but  from  the  fact  that  the  two  who  are 
mentioned  by  name  are  called  DJ?n  ''nb'  (princes  of  the  people), 
so  that  we  may  probably  infer  from  this  that  all  the  twenty- 
fiv^e  were  secular  chiefs.  Hiivernick's  opinion,  that  Cyn  "'t!^  is 
a  term  that  may  also  be  applied  to  princes  among  the  priests, 
is  as  erroneous  as  his  assertion  that  the  priest-princes  are 
called  "  princes"  in  Ezra  viii.  20,  Neh.  x.  1,  and  Jer.  xxxv.  4, 
whereas  it  is  only  to  national  princes  that  these  passages  refer. 
Havernick  is  equally  incorrect  in  supposing  that  these  twenty- 
five  men  take  the  place  of  the  seventy  mentioned  in  ch.  viii.  11 ; 
for  those  seventy  represented  the  whole  of  the  nation,  whereas 
these  twenty-five  (according  to  ver.  2)  were  simply  the  coun- 
sellors of  the  city — not,  however,  the  twenty-four  duces  of 
twenty-four  divisions  of  the  city,  with  a  prince  of  the  house  of 
Judah,  as  Prado  maintains,  on  the  strength  of  certain  Eabbinical 
assertions ;  or  twenty-four  members  of  a  Sanhedrim,  with  their 
president  (Rosenmiiller) ;  but  the  twelve  tribe-princes  (princes 
of  the  nation)  and  the  twelve  royal  officers,  or  military  com- 
manders (1  Chron.  xxvii.),  with  the  king  himself,  or  possibly  with 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army ;  so  that  these  twenty-five 


144  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

men  represent  the  civil  government  of  Israel,  just  as  the  twenty- 
four  priest-princes,  together  with  the  high  priest,  represent  the 
spiritual  authorities  of  the  covenant  nation.     The  reason  why 
two  are  specially  mentioned  by  name  is  involved  in  obscurity, 
as  nothing  further  is  known  of  either  of  these  persons.     The 
words  of  God  to  the  prophet  in  ver.  2  concerning  them  are 
perfectly  applicable  to  representatives  of  the  civil  authorities  or 
temporal  rulers,  namely,  that  they  devise  and  give  unwholesome 
and  evil  counsel.     This  counsel  is  described  in  ver.  3  by  the 
words  placed  in  their  mouths :  "  house-building  is  not  near ;  it 
(the  city)  is  the  caldron,  we  are  the  flesh."     These  words  are 
difficult,  and  different  interpretations  have  consequently  been 
given.     The  rendering,  "  it  (the  judgment)  is  not  near,  let  us 
build  houses,"  is  incorrect;  for  the  infinitive   construct  riiJS 
cannot  stand  for  the  imperative  or  the  infinitive  absolute,  but 
must  be  the  subject  of  the  sentence.     It  is  inadmissible  also  to 
take  the  sentence  as  a  question,  "Is  not  house-building  near?" 
in  the  sense  of  "  it  is  certainly  near,"  as  Ewald  does,  after  some 
of  the  ancient  versions.     For  even  if  an  interrogation  is  some- 
times indicated  simply  by  the  tone  in  an  energetic  address,  as, 
for  example,  in  2   Sam.  xxiii.  5,  this  cannot  be  extended  to 
cases  in  which  the  words  of  another  are  quoted.     Still  less  can 
2\-\p2  N7  mean  non  est  tempus^  it  is  not  yet  time,  as  Maurer 
supposes.     The  only  way  in  which  the  words  can  be  made  to 
yield  a  sense  in  harmony  with  the  context,  is  by  taking  them  as 
a  tacit  allusion  to  Jer.  xxix.  5.     Jeremiah  had  called  upon 
those  in  exile  to  build  themselves  houses  in  their  banishment, 
and  prepare  for  a  lengthened  stay  in  Babylon,  and  not  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  deceived  by  the  words  of  false  prophets,  who 
predicted  a  speedy  return ;  for  severe  judgments  had  yet  to 
fall  upon  those  who  had  remained  behind  in  the  land.     This 
word  of  Jeremiah  the  authorities  in  Jerusalem  ridiculed,  saying 
"  house-building  is  not  near,"  i.e.  the  house-building  in  exile  is 
still  a  long  way  off ;  it  will  not  come  to  this,  that  Jerusalem 
should  fall  either  permanently  or  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the 


CHAP.  XI.  5-12.  145 

king  of  Babylon.  On  the  contrary,  Jerusalem  is  the  pot,  and 
we,  its  inhabitants,  are  the  flesh.  The  point  of  comparison  is 
this :  as  the  pot  protects  the  flesh  from  burning,  so  does  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  protect  us  from  destruction.^  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  assumption  that  the  words 
also  contain  an  allusion  to  other  sayings  of  Jeremiah,  namelj', 
to  Jer.  i.  13,  where  the  judgment  about  to  burst  in  from  the 
north  is  represented  under  the  figure  of  a  smoking  pot ;  or  to 
Jer.  xix.,  where  Jerusalem  is  depicted  as  a  pot  about  to  be 
oroken  in  pieces  by  God;  for  the  reference  in  Jer.  xix.  is 
simply  to  an  earthen  pitcher,  not  to  a  meat-caldron ;  and  the 
words  in  the  verse  before  us  have  nothing  at  all  in  common 
with  the  figure  in  Jer.  i.  13.  The  correctness  of  our  explana- 
tion is  evident  both  from  ch.  xxiv.  3,  6,  where  the  figure  of 
pot  and  flesh  is  met  with  again,  though  differently  applied, 
and  from  the  reply  which  Ezekiel  makes  to  the  saying  of  these 
men  in  the  verses  that  follow  (vers.  7-11).  This  saying 
expresses  not  only  false  confidence  in  the  strength  of  Jerusalem, 
but  also  contempt  and  scorn  of  the  predictions  of  the  prophets 
sent  by  God.  Ezekiel  is  therefore  to  prophesy,  as  he  does  in 
vers.  5-12,  against  this  pernicious  counsel,  which  is  confirming 
the  people  in  their  sins. 

Ver.  5.  And  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  fell  upon  me,  and  said  to 
me :  Say,  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  So  ye  say,  0  house  of  Israel,  and 
U'hat  riseth  up  in  your  spirit,  that  I  know.  Ver.  6.  Ye  have 
increased  your  slain  in  this  city,  and  filled  its  streets  with  slain. 
Ver.  7.  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Your  slain,  whom 
ye  have  laid  in  the  midst  of  it,  they  are  the  flesh,  and  it  is  the  pot ; 
but  men  will  lead  you  out  of  it.  Ver.  8.  The  sword  you  fear ; 
hut  the  sword  shall  I  bring  upon  you,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah.     Ver.  9.  7  shall  lead  you  out  of  it  and  give  you  into 

1  "  This  city  is  a  pot,  our  receptacle  and  defence,  and  we  are  the  flesh 
enclosed  therein ;  as  flesh  is  preserved  in  its  caldron  till  it  is  perfectly  boiled, 
so  shall  we  continue  here  till  an  extreme  old  age." — HUlsemann  in  Calov. 
Bihl.  Illustr. 

EZEK.  I.  K 


146  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

the  hand  of  foreigners,  and  shall  e.recute  judgments  upon  you. 

Ver.  10.  By  the  sioord  shall  ye  fall:  on  the  frontier  of  Israel 

shall  I  judge  you ;  and  ye  shall  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah.    Ver.  11. 

It  shall  not  he  as  a  pot  to  you,  so  that  you  should  he  flesh  therein  : 

on  the  frontier  of  Israel  shall  I  judge.      Ver.  12.  And  ye  shall 

learn  that  I  am  Jehovah,  in  whose  statutes  ye  have  not  xcalked, 

and  my  judgments  ye  have  not  done,  hut  have  acted  according  to 

the  judgments  of  the  heathen  icho  are  round  ahout  you. — For  ?Bn 

'"•*  nn  •'py,  compare  ch.  viii.  1.     Instead  of  the  "hand"  (ch. 

viii.  1),  the  Spirit  of   Jehovah   is   mentioned  here ;   because 

what  follows  is  simply  a  divine  inspiration,  and  there  is  no 

action   connected  with   it.      The  words  of  God  are  directed 

against  the  "  house  of  Israel,"  whose  words  and  thoughts  are 

discerned  by  God,  because  the  twenty-five  men  are  the  leaders 

and  counsellors  of  the  nation,    n^l  nipyo,  thoughts,  suggestions 

of  the  mind,  may  be  explained  from  the  phrase  3?  ?y  rbv^  to 

come  into  the  mind.     Their  actions  furnish  the  proof  of  the 

evil  suggestions  of  their  heart.     They  have  filled  the  city  with 

slain ;  not  "  turned  the  streets  of  the  city  into  a  battle-field," 

however,  by  bringing  about  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  the 

time  of  Jeconiah,  as  Plitzig  would  explain  it.     The  words  are 

to  be  understood  in  a  much  more  general  sense,  as  signifying 

murder,  in  both  the  coarser  and  the  more  refined  signification 

of  the  word.^     ^^^l^^P  is  a  copyist's  error  for  Drispo.     Those 

who  have  been  murdered  by  you  are  the  fiesh  in  the  caldron 

(ver.  7).     Ezekiel  gives  them  back  their  own  words,  as  words 

which  contain  an  undoubted  truth,  but  in  a  different  sense  from 

that  in  which  they  have  used  them.     By  their  bloodshed  they 

have  made  the  city  into  a  pot  in  which  the  flesh  of  the  slain  is 

pickled.     Only  in  this  sense  is  Jerusalem  a  pot  for  them ;  not 

a  pot  to  protect  the  flesh  from  burning  while  cooking,  but  a 

1  Calvin  has  given  the  correct  explanation,  thus:  "  He  docs  not  mean 
that  men  had  been  openly  assassinated  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem ;  but 
under  this  form  of  speech  he  embraces  all  kinds  of  injustice.  For  we  know 
that  all  who  oppressed  the  poor,  deprived  men  of  their  possessions,  or  shed 
innocent  blood,  were  regarded  as  murderers  in  the  sight  of  God." 


CHAP.  XI.  13.  147 

pot  Into  which  the  flesh  of  the  slaughtered  is  thrown.     Yet 

even  in  this  sense  will  Jerusalem  not  serve  as  a  pot  to  these 

worthless  counsellors  (ver.  11).     They  will  lead  you  out  of  the 

city  (^^''ViHj  in  ver.  7,  is  the  3d  pers.  sing,  with  an  indefinite 

subject).     The  sword  which  ye  fear,  and  from  which  this  city 

is  to  protect  you,  will  come  upon  you,  and  cut  you  down — not 

in  Jerusalem,  but  on  the  frontier  of  Israel,      ''^^rpy,  in  ver.  10, 

cannot  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  "  away  over  the  frontier,"  as 

Kliefoth  proposes ;  if  only  because  of  the  synonym  -'^32"''^  in 

ver.  11.     This  threat  was  literally  fulfilled  in  the  bloody  scenes 

at  Riblah  (Jer.  lii.  24-27).     It  is  not  therefore  a  vaticinium 

ex  eventu,  but  contains  the  general  thought,  that  the  wicked 

who  boasted  of  security  in  Jerusalem  would  not  find  protection 

either  in  Jerusalem  or  in  the  land  of  Israel  as  a  whole,  but  were 

to  be  led  out  of  the  land,   and  judged  outside.     This  threat 

intensifies  the  punishment,  as  Calvin  has  already  sliown.^     In 

ver.  11  the  negation  (x?)  of  the  first  clause  is  to  be  supplied  in 

the  second,  as,  for  example,  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  6.     For  ver.  12, 

compare  the  remarks  on  ch.  v.  7.     The  truth  and  the  power  of 

this  word  are  demonstrated  at  once  by  what  is  related  in  the 

following  verse. 

Ver.  13.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  I  was  prophe ikying,  that 

Pelatiali  the  son  of  Benaiah  died :    then  I  fell  upon  my  face^ 

and  cried  ivith  a  loud  voice,  and  said :  Alas !  Lord  Jehovah, 

dost  Thou  make  an  end  of  the  remnant  of  Israeli — The  sudden 

death  of  one  of  the  princes  of  the  nation,  while  Ezekiel  was 

prophesying,  was  intended  to  assure  the  house  of  Israel  of  the 

certain  fulfilment  of  this  word  of  God.     So  far,  however,  as 

^  "  He  threatens  a  double  punishment ;  first,  that  God  will  cast  them  out 
of  Jerusalem,  in  which  they  delight,  and  where  they  say  that  they  will 
still  make  their  abode  for  a  long  time  to  come,  so  that  exile  may  be  the 
first  punishment.  He  then  adds,  secondly,  that  He  will  not  be  content 
with  exile,  but  will  send  a  severer  punishment,  after  they  have  been  cast 
out,  and  both  home  and  land  have  spued  them  out  as  a  stench  which  they 
could  not  bear.  1  will  judge  you  at  the  frontier  of  Israel,  i.e.  outside  the 
holy  land,  so  that  when  one  curse  shall  have  become  manifest  in  exile,  a 
severer  and  more  formidable  punishment  shall  stiU  await  you." 


148  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

the  fact  itself  Is  concerned,  we  must  bear  in  mind,  that  as 
it  was  only  in  spirit  that  Ezekiel  was  at  Jerusalem,  and  pro- 
phesied to  the  men  whom  he  saw  in  spirit  there,  so  the  death 
of  Pelatiah  was  simply  a  part  of  the  vision,  and  in  all  pro- 
bability was  actually  realized  by  the  sudden  death  of  this  prince 
during  or  immediately  after  the  publication  of  the  vision.  But 
the  occurrence,  even  when  the  prophet  saw  it  in  spirit,  made 
such  an  impression  upon  his  mind,  that  with  trembling  and 
despair  he  once  more  made  an  importunate  appeal  to  God,  as 
in  ch.  ix.  8,  and  inquired  whether  He  meant  to  destroy  the 
wliole  of  the  remnant  of  Israel.  n73  nt^y,  to  put  an  end  to  a 
thing,  with  nx  before  the  object,  as  in  Zeph.  i.  18  (see  the 
comm.  on  Nah.  i.  8).  The  Lord  then  gives  him  the  comfort- 
ing assurance  in  vers.  14-21,  that  He  will  preserve  a  remnant 
among  the  exiles,  and  make  them  His  people  once  more. 

Vers.  14-21.  Promise  of  the  gathering  of  Israel  out  of  the 
nations. — Ver.  14.  And  the  xoord  of  JeliovaJi  came  to  me,  saying, 
Ver.  15.  Son  of  man,  thy  brethren,  thy  brethren  are  the  j^eople 
of  thy  proxy,  and  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  the  whole  of  it,  to 
whom  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  say,  Remain  far  away  from 
Jehovah;  to  us  the  land  is  given  for  a  possession.  Ver.  16. 
Therefore  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Yea,  I  have  sent 
them  far  aivay,  and  have  scattered  them  in  the  lands,  but  I  have 
become  to  them  a  sanctuary  for  a  little  while  in  the  lands  whither 
they  have  come.  Ver.  17.  Therefore  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  And  I  will  gather  you  from  the  nations,  and  will  collect 
you  together  from  the  lands  in  which  ye  are  scattered,  and  icill 
give  you  the  land  of  Israel.  Ver.  18.  And  they  loill  come  thither, 
and  remove  from  it  all  its  detestable  things,  and  all  its  abomina- 
tions. Ver.  19.  And  I  will  give  them  one  heart,  and  give  a  new 
spirit  within  you ;  and  will  take  the  heart  of  stone  out  of  their 
flesh,  and  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh  ;  Ver.  20.  That  they  may 
tvalk  in  my  statutes,  and  preserve  my  rights,  and  do  them :  and 
they  will  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God.  Ver.  21.  But 
those  whose  heart  goeth  to  the  heart  of  their  detestable  things  and 


CHAP.  XI.  14-2L  149 

tJieir  ahomi7iat{ons,  I  will  give  their  loay  xipon  their  head,  is  the 
saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — The  prophet  had  interceded,  first 
of  all  for  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  (ch.  ix.  8),  and  then 
for  the  rulers  of  the  nation,  and  had  asked  God  whether  He 
would  entirely  destroy  the  remnant  of  Israel.     To  this  God 
replies  that  his  brethren,  in  whom  he  is  to  interest  himself,  are 
not  these  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem   and  these  rulers  of  the 
nation,  but  the  Israelites  carried  into  exile,  who  are  regarded 
by  these  inhabitants  at  Jerusalem  as  cut  off  from  the  people  of 
God.     The  nouns  in  ver.  15a  are  not  ''  accusatives,  which  are 
resumed  in  the  suffix  to  ^''riipn'in  in  ver.  16,"  as  Hitzig  imagines, 
but  form  an  independent  clause,  in  which  ^^n^?.  is  the  subject, 
and  ^n^'XJ  ^k'JN  as  well  as  bxib'^  n^3-b   the  predicates.      The 
repetition  of  "  thy  brethren"  serves  to  increase  the  force  of  the 
expression :  thy  true,  real  brethren  ;  not   in  contrast  to  the 
priests,  who  were  lineal  relations  (Havernick),  but  in  contrast 
to  the  Israelites,  who  had  only  the  name  of  Israel,  and  denied 
its  nature.     These  brethren  are  to  be  the  people  of  his  proxy ; 
and  toward  these  he  is  to  exercise  n?N3.     n?X3  is  the  business, 
or  the  duty  and  right,  of  the  Goel.     According  to  the  law,  the 
Goel  was  the  brother,  or  the  nearest  relation,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  come  to  the  help  of  his  impoverished  brother,  not  only  by 
redeeming  (buying  back)  his  possession,  which  poverty  had 
compelled  him  to  sell,  but  to  redeem  the  man  himself,  if  he 
had  been  sold  to  pay  his  debts  (yid.  Lev.  xxv.  25,  48).     The 
Goel  therefore  became  the  possessor  of  the  property  of  which 
his  brother  had  been  unjustly  deprived,  if  it  were  not  restored 
till  after  his  death  (Num.  v.  8).     Consequently  he  was  not 
only  the  avenger  of  blood,  but  the  natural  supporter  and  agent 
of  his  brother;   and  n^xa  signifies  not  merely  redemption  or 
kindred,  but  proxy,  i.e.  both  the  right  and  obligation  to  act  as 
the  legal  representative,  the  avenger  of  blood,  the  heir,  etc.,  of 
the  brother.    The  words  "  and  the  whole  of  the  house  of  Israel" 
are  a  second  predicate  to  "  thy  brethren,"  and  affirm  that  the 
brethren,  for  whom  Ezekiel  can  and  is  to  intercede,  form  the 


150  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

whole  of  the  house  of  Israel,  the  term  "  whole"  being  rendered 
more  emphatic  by  the  repetition  of  hb  in  n>3.  A  contrast  is 
drawn  between  this  "  whole  house  of  Israel "  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem,  who  say  to  those  brethren,  "  Remain  far 
away  from  Jehovah,  to  us  is  the  land  given  for  a  possession." 
It  follows  from  this,  first  of  all,  that  the  brethren  of  Ezekiel, 
towards  whom  he  was  to  act  as  Goel,  were  those  v/ho  had  been 
taken  away  from  the  land,  his  companions  in  exile ;  and, 
secondly,  that  the  exiles  formed  the  whole  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  that  is  to  say,  that  they  alone  would  be  regarded  by  God 
as  His  people,  and  not  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  or  those 
left  in  the  land,  who  regarded  the  exiles  as  no  longer  a  portion 
of  the  nation  :  simply  because,  in  their  estrangement  from  God, 
they  looked  upon  the  mere  possession  of  Jerusalem  as  a  pledge 
of  participation  in  the  grace  of  God.  This  shows  the  prophet 
where  the  remnant  of  the  people  of  God  is  to  be  found.  To 
this  there  is  appended  in  ver.  16  sqq.  a  promise  of  the  way  in 
which  the  Lord  will  make  this  remnant  His  true  people.  15?. 
therefore,  viz.  because  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  regard  the 
exiles  as  rejected  by  the  Lord,  Ezekiel  is  to  declare  to  them 
that  Jehovah  is  their  sanctuary  even  in  their  dispersion  (ver.  16)  ; 
and  because  the  others  deny  that  they  have  any  share  in  the 
possession  of  the  land,  the  Lord  will  gather  them  together 
again,  and  give  them  the  land  of  Israel  (ver.  17).  The  two  |3? 
are  co-ordinate,  and  introduce  the  antithesis  to  the  disparaging 
sentence  pronounced  by  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  upon 
those  who  have  been  carried  into  exile.  The  ""S  before  the  two 
leading  clauses  in  ver.  16  does  not  mean  "  because,"  serving  to 
introduce  a  protasis,  to  which  ver.  17  would  form  the  apodosis, 
as  Ewald  affirms;  but  it  stands  before  the  direct  address  in  the 
sense  of  an  assurance,  which  indicates  that  there  is  some  truth 
at  the  bottom  of  the  judgment  pronounced  by  tlieir  opponents, 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  The  thought  is  this :  the  present 
position  of  affairs  is  unquestionably  that  Jehovah  has  scattered 
them  (the  house  of  Israel)  among  the  Gentiles;  but  He  has 


CHAP.  XI.  14-21.  151 

not  therefore  cast  them  off.  He  has  become  a  sanctuary  to 
them  in  the  lands  of  then'  dispersion.  Migddsh  does  not  mean 
either  asylum  or  an  object  kept  sacred  (Hitzig),  but  a  sanc- 
tuary, more  especially  the  temple.  They  had,  indeed,  lost  the 
outward  temple  (at  Jerusalem) ;  but  the  Lord  Himself  had 
become  their  temple.  What  made  the  temple  into  a  sanctuary' 
was  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  the  covenant  God,  therein. 
This  even  the  exiles  were  to  enjoy  in  their  banishment,  and  in 
this  they  would  possess  a  substitute  for  the  outward  temple. 
This  thought  is  rendered  still  more  precise  by  the  word  t^VDj 
which  may  refer  either  to  time  or  measure,  and  signify  "  for  a 
short  time,"  or  "  in  some  measure."  It  is  difficult  to  decide 
between  these  two  renderings.  In  support  of  the  latter,  which 
Kliefoth  prefers  (after  the  LXX.  and  Vulgate),  it  may  be 
argued  that  the  manifestation  of  the  Lord,  both  by  the  mission 
of  prophets  and  by  the  outward  deliverances  and  inward  con- 
solations which  He  bestowed  upon  the  faithful,  was  but  a  partial 
substitute  to  the  exile  for  His  gracious  presence  in  the  temple 
and  in  the  holy  land.  Nevertheless,  the  context,  especially  the 
promise  in  ver.  17,  that  He  will  gather  them  again  and  lead 
them  back  into  the  land  of  Israel,  appears  to  favour  the  former 
signification,  namely,  that  this  substitution  was  only  a  provi- 
sional one,  and  was  only  to  last  for  a  short  time,  although  it 
also  implies  that  this  could  not  and  was  not  meant  to  be  a  per- 
fect substitute  for  the  gracious  presence  of  the  Lord.  For 
Israel,  as  the  people  of  God,  could  not  remain  scattered  abroad ; 
it  must  possess  the  inheritance  bestowed  upon  it  by  the  Lord, 
and  have  its  God  in  the  midst  of  it  in  its  own  land,  and  that 
in  a  manner  more  real  than  could  possibly  be  the  case  in 
captivity  among  the  Gentiles.  This  will  be  fully  realized  in 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  where  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and 
the  Lamb  will  be  a  temple  to  the  redeemed  (Rev.  xxi.  22). 
Therefore  will  Jehovah  gather  together  the  dispersed  once 
more,  and  lead  them  back  into  the  land  of  Israel,  i.e.  into  the 
land  which  He  designed  for  Israel ;  whereas  the  inhabitants  of 


152  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Jerusalem,  who  boast  of  their  possession  of  Canaan  (ver.  15), 
will  lose  what  they  now  possess.  Those  who  are  restored  will 
then  remove  all  idolatrous  abominations  (ver.  17),  and  receive 
from  God  a  new  and  feeling  heart  (ver.  19),  so  that  they  will 
walk  in  the  ways  of  God,  and  be  in  truth  the  people  of  God 
(ver.  20). 

The  fulfilment  of  this  promise  did,  indeed,  begin  with  the 
return  of  a  portion  of  the  exiles  under  Zerubbabel ;  but  it  was 
not  completed  under  either  Zerubbabel  or  Ezra,  or  even  in  the 
Maccabean  times.  Although  Israel  may  have  entirely  relin- 
quished the  practice  of  gross  idolatry  after  the  captivity,  it  did 
not  then  attain  to  that  newness  of  heart  which  is  predicted  in 
vers.  19,  20.  This  only  commenced  with  the  Baptist's  preach- 
ing of  repentance,  and  with  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and  it  was 
realized  in  the  children  of  Israel,  who  accepted  Jesus  in  faith, 
and  suffered  Him  to  make  them  children  of  God.  Yet  even 
by  Christ  this  prophecy  has  not  yet  been  perfectly  fulfilled  in 
Israel,  but  only  in  part,  since  the  greater  portion  of  Israel  has 
still  in  its  hardness  that  stony  heart  which  must  be  removed  out 
of  its  flesh  before  it  can  attain  to  salvation.  The  promise  in 
ver.  19  has  for  its  basis  the  prediction  in  Dent.  xxx.  6.  "  What 
the  circumcision  of  the  heart  is  there,  viz.  the  removal  of  all 
uncleanliness,  of  which  outward  circumcision  was  both  the  type 
and  pledge,  is  represented  here  as  the  giving  of  a  heart  of  flesh 
instead  of  one  of  stone"  (Hengstcnberg).  I  give  them  one 
heart.  "^^^  37,  which  Hitzig  is  wrong  in  proposing  to  alter  into 
"ins  37,  another  heart,  after  the  LXX.,  is  supported  and  ex- 
plained by  Jer.  xxxii.  39,  "  I  give  them  one  heart  and  one  way 
to  fear  me  continually"  (cf.  Zeph,  iii.  9  and  Acts  iv.  32).  One 
heart  is  not  an  upright,  undivided  heart  (Qr?v'  ■■)}  ^^^  ^  ^^^^'" 
monious,  united  heart,  in  contrast  to  the  division  or  plurality  of 
hearts  which  prevails  in  the  natural  state,  in  which  every  one 
follows  his  own  heart  and  his  own  mind,  turning  "  every  one  to 
his  own  way"  (Isa.  liii.  6).  God  gives  one  heart,  when  He 
causes  all  hearts  and  minds  to  become  one.     Tiiis  can  only  be 


CHAP.  XI.  22-25.  153 

effected  by  His  giving  a  "  new  spirit,"  taking  away  the  stone- 
heart,  and  giving  a  heart  of  flesh  instead.  For  the  old  spirit 
fosters  nothing  but  egotism  and  discord.  The  heart  of  stone 
has  no  susceptibility  to  the  impressions  of  the  word  of  God  and 
the  drawing  of  divine  grace.  In  the  natural  condition,  the 
heart  of  man  is  as  hard  as  stone.  '•'  The  word  of  God,  the 
external  leadings  of  God,  pass  by  and  leave  no  trace  behind. 
The  latter  may  crush  it,  and  yet  not  break  it.  Even  the  frag- 
ments continue  hard;  yea,  the  hardness  goes  on  increasing" 
(Hengstenberg).  The  heart  of  flesh  is  a  tender  heart,  suscep- 
tible to  the  drawing  of  divine  grace  (compare  ch.  xxxvi.  26, 
where  these  figures,  which  are  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  recur ;  and 
for  the  substance  of  the  prophecy,  Jer.  xxxi.  33).  The  fruit 
of  this  renewal  of  heart  is  walking  in  the  commandments  of 
the  Lord ;  and  the  consequence  of  the  latter  is  the  perfect 
realization  of  the  covenant  relation,  true  fellowship  with  the 
Lord  God.  But  judgment  goes  side  by  side  with  this  renewal. 
Those  who  will  not  forsake  their  idols  become  victims  to  the 
judgment  (ver.  21).  The  first  hemistich  of  ver.  21  is  a  relative 
clause,  in  which  "iC'X  is  to  be  supplied  and  connected  with 
Dap :  "  Whose  heart  walketh  after  the  heart  of  their  abomina- 
tions." The  heart,  which  is  attributed  to  the  abominations 
and  detestations,  i.e.  to  the  idols,  is  the  inclination  to  idolatry, 
the  disposition  and  spirit  which  manifest  themselves  in  the 
worship  of  idols.  Walking  after  the  heart  of  the  idols  forms 
the  antithesis  to  walking  after  the  heart  of  God  (1  Sam.  xiii. 
14).     For  'lJ"i  Dsn-n,  "  I  will  give  their  way,"  see  ch.  ix.  10. 

Vers.  22-25.  The  promise  that  the  Lord  would  preserve  to 
Himself  a  holy  seed  among  those  who  had  been  carried  away 
captive,  brought  to  a  close  the  announcement  of  the  judgment 
that  would  fall  upon  the  ancient  Israel  and  apostate  Jerusalem. 
All  that  is  now  wanting,  as  a  conclusion  to  the  whole  vision,  is 
the  practical  confirmation  of  the  announcement  of  judo-ment. 
This  is  given  in  the  two  following  verses. — Ver.  22.  Aiid  the 
cherubim  raised  their  wings,  and  the  loheels  beside  them ;  and  the 


154  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  teas  vp  ahove  them.     Ver.  23.  And 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  ascended  from  the  midst  of  the  city,  and 
took  its  stand  upon  the  mountain  which  is  to  the  east  of  the  city. 
Ver.  24.  And  toind  lifted  me  up,  and  brought  me  to  Chaldea  to 
the  exiles^  in  the  vision,  in  the  Spirit  of  God;  and  the  vision 
ascended  away  from  me,  ichich  I  had  seen.     Ver.  25.  A^id  I 
spolce  to  the  exiles  all  the  words  of  Jehovah,  ivhich  He  had  shown 
io  me. — The  manifestation  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had  ah'eady 
left  the  temple,  after  the   announcement  of  the  burning  of 
Jerusalem,  and  had  taken  its  stand  before  the  entrance  of  the 
eastern   gate  of  the  outer  court,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  city 
itself  (ch.  X.  19,  xi.  1).     But  now,  after  the  announcement  had 
been  made  to   the  representatives  of  the  authorities  of  their 
removal  from  the  city,  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  forsook 
the  devoted  city  also,  as  a  sign  that  both  temple  and  city  had 
ceased  to  be  the  seats  of  the  gracious  presence  of  the  Lord. 
The  mountain  on  the  east  of  the  city  is  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
Avhich  affords  a  lofty  outlook  over  the  city.     There  the  glory 
of  God  remained,  to  execute  the  judgment  upon  Jerusalem. 
Thus,  according  to  Zech.  xiv.  4,  will  Jehovah  also  appear  at 
the  last  judgment  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  above  Jerusalem,  to 
fio-ht  thence  against  His  foes,  and  prepare  a  way  of  escape  for 
those  who  are  to  be  saved.     It  was  from  the  Mount  of  Olives 
also  that  the  Son  of  God  proclaimed  to  the  degenerate  city 
the  second  destruction  (Luke  xix.  21 ;  Matt.  xxiv.  3)  ;  and  from 
the  same  mountain  He  made  His  visible  ascension  to  heaven 
after  His  resurrection   (Luke  xxiv.  50;  cf.  Acts  i.  12) ;  and, 
as  Grotius  has  observed,  "  thus   did  Christ  ascend  from  this 
mountain   into   His  kingdom,  to  execute  judgment  upon  the 

J„   5) 
ews. 

After  this  vision  of  the  judgments  of  God  upon  the  ancient 

people  of  the  covenant  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  Ezekiel  Avas 

carried  back  in  the  spirit  into  Chaldea,  to  the  river  Chaboras. 

The  vision  then  vanished ;  and  he  related  to  the  exiles  all  that 

he  had  seen. 


CHAP.  XII.  155 

CHAP.  XII.  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  KIXG  AND  PEOPLE  ; 
AND  BREAD  OF  TEARS. 

The  words  of  God  which  follow  in  ch.  xii.-xix.  do  not  con- 
tain any  chronological  data  defining  the  exact  period  at  which 
they  were  communicated  to  the  prophet  and  reported  by  him. 
But  so  far  as  their  contents  are  concerned,  they  are  closely  con- 
nected with  the  foregoing  announcements  of  judgment ;  and 
this  renders  the  assumption  a  very  probable  one,  that  they  were 
not  far  removed  from  them  in  time,  but  fell  within  the  space  of 
eleven  months  intervening  between  ch.  viii.  1  and  xx.  1,  and 
were  designed  to  carry  out  still  further  the  announcement  of 
judgment  in  ch.  viii.-xi.  This  is  done  more  especially  in  the 
light  thrown  upon  all  the  circumstances,  on  which  the  im- 
penitent people  rested  their  hope  of  the  preservation  of  the 
kingdom  and  Jerusalem,  and  of  their  speedy  liberation  from 
the  Babylonian  yoke.  The  purpose  of  the  whole  is  to  show  the 
worthlessness  of  this  false  confidence,  and  to  affirm  the  cer- 
tainty and  irresistibility  of  the  predicted  destruction  of  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,  in  the  hope  of  awakening  the  rebellious  and 
hardened  generation  to  that  thorough  repentance,  without 
which  it  was  impossible  that  peace  and  prosperity  could  ever 
be  enjoyed.  This  definite  purpose  in  the  prophecies  which 
follow  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  introductory  remarks  in  ch. 
xii.  2,  xiv.  1,  and  xx.  1.  In  the  first  of  these  passages  the 
hardness  of  Israel  is  mentioned  as  the  motive  for  the  ensuing 
prophecy ;  whilst  in  the  other  two,  the  visit  of  certain  elders  of 
Israel  to  the  prophet,  to  seek  the  Lord  and  to  inquire  through 
him,  is  given  as  the  circumstance  which  occasioned  the  further 
prophetic  declarations.  It  is  evident  from  this  that  the  previous 
words  of  God  had  already  made  some  impression  upon  the 
hearers,  but  that  their  hard  heart  had  not  yet  been  broken  by 
them. 

In  ch.  xii.,  Ezekiel  receives  instructions  to  depict,  by  means 
of  a  symbolical  action,  the  departure  of  the  king  and  people 


156  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

from  Jerusalem  (vers.  3-7),  and  to  explain  the  action  to  the 
refractory  generation  (vers.  8-16).  After  this  he  is  to  exhibit, 
by  another  symbolical  sign,  the  want  and  distress  to  which  the 
people  will  be  reduced  (vers.  17-20).  And  lastly,  he  is  to 
rebut  the  frivolous  sayings  of  the  people,  to  the  effect  that 
what  is  predicted  will  either  never  take  place  at  all,  or  not  till 
a  very  distant  time  (vers.  21-28). 

Vers.  1-7.  Symbol  of  the  Emigration. — Ver.  1.  And 
the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man, 
thou  dwellest  amidst  the  refractory  generation,  luho  have  eyes  to 
see,  and  see  not ;  and  have  ears  to  hear,  and  hear  not ;  for  they  are 
a  refractory  generation.  Ver.  3.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  make 
thyself  an  outfit  for  exile,  and  depart  hy  day  before  their  eyes ;  and 
depart  from  thy  place  to  another  place  before  their  eyes :  perhaps 
they  might  see,  for  they  are  a  refractory  generation.  Ver.  4. 
And  carry  out  thy  things  lihe  an  outfit  for  exile  by  day  before 
their  eyes ;  but  do  thou  go  out  in  the  evening  before  their  eyes,  as 
ivhen  going  out  to  exile.  Ver.  5.  Before  their  eyes  break  through 
the  xoall,  and  carry  it  out  there.  Ver.  6.  Before  their  eyes  take  it 
upon  thy  shoulder,  carry  it  out  in  the  darkness :  cover  thy  face, 
and  look  not  upon  the  land ;  for  I  have  set  thee  as  a  sign  to  the 
house  of  Israel.  Ver.  7.  And  I  did  so  as  I  was  commanded :  I 
carried  out  my  things  like  an  outfit  for  exile  by  day,  and  in  the 
evening  I  broke  tlirough  the  tcall  iviih  my  hand ;  I  carried  it  out 
in  the  darkness ;  I  took  it  upon  my  shoulder  before  their  eyes. — 
In  ver.  2  the  reason  is  assigned  for  the  command  to  perform 
the  symbolical  action,  namely,  the  hard-heartedness  of  the 
people.  Because  the  generation  in  the  midst  of  which  Ezekiel 
dwelt  was  blind,  with  seeing  eyes,  and  deaf,  with  hearing  ears, 
the  prophet  was  to  depict  before  its  eyes,  by  means  of  the  sign 
that  followed,  the  judgment  which  was  approaching;  in  the  hope, 
as  is  added  in  ver.  3,  that  they  might  possibly  observe  and  lay 
the  sign  to  heart.  The  refractoriness  Qy^  ^%  as  in  ch.  ii. 
5,  6,  iii.  26,  etc.)  is  described  as  obduracy,  viz.  having  eyes. 


CHAP.  XII.  1-7.  lo7 

and  not  seeing  ;  having  ears,  and  not  hearing,  after  Deut.  xxix. 
3  (cf.  Jer.  V.  21 ;  Isa.  vi.  9 ;  Matt.  xiii.  14,  15).  The  root  of 
this  mental  blindness  and  deafness  was  to  be  found  in  obsti- 
nacy, i.e.  in  not  willing  ;  ''  in  that  presumptuous  insolence,"  as 
Michaelis  says,  "  through  which  divine  light  can  obtain  no  ad- 
mission." npij  ""PSj  the  goods  (or  outfit)  of  exile,  were  a  pilgrim's 
staff  and  traveller's  wallet,  with  the  provisions  and  utensils 
necessary  for  a  journey.  Ezekiel  was  to  carry  these  out  of  the 
house  into  the  street  in  the  day-time,  that  the  people  might  see 
them  and  have  their  attention  called  to  them.  Then  in  the 
evening,  after  dark,  he  was  to  go  out  himself,  not  by  the  door 
of  the  house,  but  through  a  hole  which  he  had  broken  in  the 
wall.  He  was  also  to  take  the  travelling  outfit  upon  his 
shoulder  and  carry  it  through  the  hole  and  out  of  the  place, 
covering  his  face  all  the  while,  that  he  might  not  see  the  land 
to  which  he  was  going.  "  Thy  place "  is  thy  dwelling-place. 
TvSi  ""i^^'i^S  :  as  the  departures  of  exiles  generally  take  place, 
i.e.  as  exiles  are  accustomed  to  depart,  not  "  at  the  usual  time 
of  departure  into  exile,"  as  Havernick  proposes.  For  ^V^^?  ^^® 
the  comm.  on  Mic.  v.  1.     riDpya  differs  from  2'M}2  and  sio;nifies 

T  T-;  T  V  V  T  7  O 

the  darkness  of  the  depth  of  night  (cf.  Gen.  xv.  17) ;  not, 
however,  "  darkness  artificially  produced,  equivalent  to,  with 
the  eyes  shut,  or  the  face  covered ;  so  that  the  words  which 
follow  are  simply  explanatory  of  riDpya,"  as  Schmieder  imagines. 
Such  an  assumption  would  be  at  variance  not  only  with  ver.  7, 
but  also  with  ver.  12,  where  the  covering  or  concealing  of  the 
face  is  expressly  distinguished  fi'om  the  carrying  out  "  in  the 
dark."  The  order  was  to  be  as  follows:  In  the  day-time 
Ezekiel  was  to  take  the  travelling  outfit  and  carry  it  out  into 
the  road ;  then  in  the  evening  he  was  to  go  out  himself,  having 
first  of  all  broken  a  hole  throuo;h  the  wall  as  evenino;  was 
coming  on ;  and  in  the  darkness  of  night  he  was  to  place  upon 
his  shoulders  whatever  he  was  about  to  carry  with  him,  and 
take  his  departure.  This  he  was  to  do,  because  God  had  made 
him  a  mOpheth  for  Israel :  in  other  words,  by  doing  this  he  was 


158  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

to  show  himself  to  be  a  marvellous  sign  to  Israel.  For  mopJieth, 
see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  iv.  21.  In  ver.  7,  the  execution  of  the 
command,  which  evidently  took  place  in  the  strictness  of  the 
letter,  is  fully  described.  There  was  nothing  impracticable  in 
the  action,  for  breaking  through  the  wall  did  not  preclude  the 
use  of  a  hamm.er  or  some  other  tool. 

Vers.  8-16.  Explanation  of  the  symbolical  action. — Ver.  8. 
And  the  word  ofJeliovah  came  to  me  in  the  morning^  saying,  Ver.  9. 
Son  of  man,  have  they  not  said  to  thee,  the  house  of  Israel,  the 
refractory  generation,  What  art  thou  doing'?  Ver.  10.  Say  to  them, 
Tims  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  This  burden  applies  to  the  prince  in 
Jerusalem,  and  to  all  the  house  of  Israel  to  whom  they  belong. 
Ver.  11.  Say,  lam  your  sign :  as  I  have  done,  so  shall  it  happen 
to  them  ;  into  exile,  into  captivity,  loill  they  go.  Ver.  12.  And 
the  prince  who  is  in  the  midst  of  them  he  will  lift  it  upon  his 
shoulder  in  the  dark,  and  will  go  out :  they  ivill  break  through  the 
icall,  and  carry  it  out  thereby :  he  will  cover  his  face,  that  lie  may 
not  see  the  land  with  eyes.  Ver.  13.  And  I  loill  spread  my  net 
over  him,  so  that  he  loill  be  caught  in  my  snare  :  and  I  will  take 
him  to  Babel,  into  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans ;  but  he  ivill  not  see 
it,  and  will  die  there.  Ver.  14.  And  all  that  is  about  him,  his 
help  and  all  his  troops,  I  ivill  scatter  into  all  winds,  and  draw  out 
the  sword  behind  them.  Ver.  15.  And  they  shall  learn  that  lam 
Jehovah,  when  I  scatter  them  among  the  nations,  and  winnow  them 
in  the  lands.  Ver.  16.  Yet  I  will  leave  of  them  a  small  number 
of  men  from  the  sword,  from  the  famine,  and  from  the  pestilence; 
that  they  may  relate  all  their  abominations  among  the  nations 
lohither  they  have  come ;  and  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. — As 
queries  introduced  with  N?n  have,  as  a  rule,  an  affirmative  sense, 
the  words  "  have  they  not  asked,"  etc.,  imply  that  the  Israel- 
ites had  asked  the  prophet  what  he  was  doing,  though  not  in  a 
proper  state  of  mind,  not  in  a  penitential  manner,  as  the  epithet 
nan  n"'3  plainly  shows.  The  prophet  is  therefore  to  interpret 
the  action  which  he  had  just  been  performing,  and  all  its 
different  stages.    The  words  njn  nU'sn  N"'t^3nj  to   which  very 


CHAP,  XII.  8-16.  159 

different  renderings  have  been  given,  are  to  be  translated  simplv 
"the  prince  is  this  burden,"  i.e.  the  object  of  this  burden. 
Hammassd  does  not  mean  the  carrying,  but  the  burden,  i.e.  the 
threatening  prophecy,  the  prophetic  action  of  the  prophet,  as 
in  the  headings  to  the  oracles  (see  the  comm.  on  Nah.  i.  1). 
The  "  prince "  is  the  king,  as  in  ch.  xxi.  30,  though  not 
Jehoiachin,  who  had  been  carried  into  exile,  but  Zedekiah. 
This  is  stated  in  the  apposition  "  in  Jerusalem,"  which  belongs 
to  "  the  prince,"  though  it  is  not  introduced  till  after  the  predi- 
cate, as  in  Gen.  xxi  v.  24.  To  this  there  is  appended  the 
further  definition,  "  the  whole  house  of  Israel,"  which,  being 
co-ordinated  with  ^''t^'^n,  affirms  that  all  Israel  (the  covenant 
nation)  will  share  the  fate  of  the  prince.  In  the  last  clause  of 
ver.  10  D^ins  does  not  stand  for  ^^^na,  so  that  the  suffix  would 
refer  to  Jerusalem,  "  in  the  midst  of  which  they  (the  house  of 
Israel)  are."  1^'X  cannot  be  a  nominative,  because  in  that 
case  nQH  would  be  superfluous ;  it  is  rather  to  be  taken  with 
D3in3,  and  ^'^\}  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  persons 
addressed,  i.e.  to  the  Israelites  in  exile  (Hitzig,  Kliefoth)  :  in 
the  midst  of  whom  they  are,  i.e.  to  whom  they  belono-.  The 
sentence  explains  the  reason  why  the  prophet  was  to  announce 
to  those  in  exile  the  fate  of  the  prince  and  people  in  Jerusalem  ; 
namely,  because  the  exiles  formed  a  portion  of  the  nation,  and 
would  be  affected  by  the  judgment  which  was  about  to  burst 
upon  the  king  and  people  in  Jerusalem.  In  this  sense  Ezekiel 
was  also  able  to  say  to  the  exiles  (in  ver.  11),  "  I  am  your 
sign  ;  "  inasmuch  as  his  sign  was  also  of  importance  for  them, 
as  those  who  were  already  banished  would  be  so  far  affected  by 
the  departure  of  the  king  and  people  which  Ezekiel  depicted,  that 
it  would  deprive  them  of  all  hope  of  a  speedy  return  to  their 
native  land,  urh,  in  ver.  11,  refers  to  the  king  and  the  house 
of  Israel  in  Jerusalem,  n^ian  is  rendered  more  forcible  by  the 
addition  of  ''?^'3.  The  announcement  that  both  king  and  people 
must  go  into  exile,  is  carried  out  still  further  in  vers.  12  and 
13  with  reference  to  the  king,  and  in  ver.  14  with  reo^ard  to  the 


160  THE  PKOrHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

people.  The  king  will  experience  all  that  Ezeklel  has  described. 
The  literal  occurrence  of  what  is  predicted  here  is  related  in 
Jer.  xxxix.  1  sqq.,  lii.  4  sqq. ;  2  Kings  xxv.  4  sqq.  When  the 
Chaldeans  forced  their  way  into  the  city  after  a  two  years' 
siege,  Zedekiah  and  his  men  of  war  fled  by  night  out  of  the 
city  through  the  gate  between  the  two  walls.  It  is  not  expressly 
stated,  indeed,  in  the  historical  accounts  that  a  breach  was  made 
in  the  wall ;  but  the  expression  "  through  the  gate  between  the 
two  walls"  (Jer.  xxxix.  4,  lii.  7  ;  2  Kings  xxv.  4)  renders  this 
very  probable,  whether  the  gate  had  been  walled  up  during  the 
siege,  or  it  was  necessary  to  break  through  the  wall  at  one  par- 
ticular spot  in  order  to  reach  the  gate.  The  king's  attendants 
would  naturally  take  care  that  a  breach  was  made  in  the  wall, 
to  secure  for  him  a  way  of  escape ;  hence  the  expression,  "  they 
will  break  through."  The  covering  of  the  face,  also,  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  historical  accounts ;  but  in  itself  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable,  as  a  sign  of  the  shame  and  grief  with  which 
Zedekiah  left  the  city.  The  words,  "  that  he  may  not  see  the 
land  with  eyes,"  do  not  appear  to  indicate  anything  more  than 
the  necessary  consequence  of  covering  the  face,  and  refer 
primarily  to  the  simple  fact  that  the  king  fled  in  the  deepest 
sorrow,  and  did  not  want  to  see  the  land;  but,  as  ver.  13 
clearly  intimates,  they  were  fulfilled  in  another  way,  namely, 
by  the  fact  that  Zedekiah  did  not  see  with  his  eyes  the  land  of 
the  Chaldeans  into  which  he  was  led,  because  he  had  been 
blinded  at  Iliblah  (Jer.  xxxix.  5,  lii.  11 ;  2  Kings  xxv.  7). 
rVr',  by  eye  =  with  his  eyes,  is  added  to  give  prominence  to  the 
idea  of  seeing.  For  the  same  purpose,  the  subject,  which  is 
already  implied  in  the  verb,  is  rendered  more  emphatic  by  N*n ; 
and  tliis  Nin  is  placed  after  the  verb,  so  that  it  stands  in  con- 
trast with  P'J^^.  The  capture  of  the  king  was  not  depicted  by 
Ezekiel;  so  that  in  this  respect  the  announcement  (ver.  13) 
goes  further  than  the  symbolical  action,  and  removes  all  doubt 
as  to  the  credibility  of  the  prophet's  word,  by  a  distinct  predic- 
tion of  the  fate  awaiting  him.     At  the  same  time,  his  not  seeing 


CHAP.  XII.  17-20.  161 

the  land  of  Babylon  is  left  so  indefinite,  that  it  cannot  be 
regarded  as  a  vaticinium  post  eventum.  Zedekiah  died  in  prison 
at  Babylon  (Jer.  lii.  11).  Along  with  the  king,  the  whole  of 
his  military  force  will  be  scattered  in  all  directions  (ver.  14). 
n'lTy,  his  help,  i.e.  the  troops  that  break  through  with  him. 
VSiJS"73,  all  his  wings  (the  wings  of  his  army),  i.e.  all  the  rest 
of  his  forces.  The  word  is  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  and  is  rendered 
*'  wings"  by  Jos.  Kimchi,  like  k^ndphaim  in  Isa.  viii.  8.  For  the 
rest  of  the  verse  compare  ch.  v.  2 ;  and  for  the  fulfilment,  Jer. 
lii.  8,  xl.  7,  12.  The  greater  part  of  the  people  will  perish, 
and  only  a  small  number  remain,  that  they  may  relate  among 
the  heathen,  w^herever  they  are  led,  all  the  abominations  of 
Israel,  in  order  that  the  heathen  may  learn  that  it  is  not  from 
weakness,  but  simply  to  punish  idolatry,  that  God  has  given 
up  His  people  to  them  (cf.  Jer.  xxii.  8). 

Vers.  17-20.  Sign  depicting  the  Tekrors  and  Conse- 
quences OF  THE  Conquest  of  Jerusalem. — Ver.  17.  Arid 
the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  18.  Son  of  man, 
thou  shalt  eat  thy  bread  with  quaking,  and  drink  thy  water  luith 
trembling  and  trouble  ;  Ver.  19.  And  say  to  the  people  of  the 
land,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  land  of  Israel,  They  will  eat  their  bread  in  trouble, 
and  drink  their  water  in  amazement,  because  her  land  is  laid 
waste  of  all  its  fulness  for  the  wickedness  of  all  ivho  divell  therein. 
Ver.  20.  And  the  inhabited  cities  become  desolate,  and  the  land 
will  be  laid  waste ;  that  ye  may  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. — 
The  carrying  out  of  this  sign  is  not  mentioned  ;  not  that  there 
is  any  doubt  as  to  its  having  been  done,  but  that  it  is  simply 
taken  for  granted.  The  trouble  and  trembling  could  only  be 
expressed  by  means  of  gesture.  ^)y\,  generally  an  earthquake 
or  violent  convulsion ;  here,  simply  shaking,  synonymous  with 
nW"!,  trembling.  "  Bread  and  water  "  is  the  standing  expression 
for  food  ;  so  that  even  here  the  idea  of  scanty  provisions  is  not 
to  be  sought  therein.     This  idea  is  found  merely  in  the  signs 

EZEK.  I.  L 


lf)2  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  anxiety  and  trouble  witli  which  Ezekiel  was  to  eat  his  food, 
ri^l^'^^i!  =  'n5<"^y,  "  upon  the  land,"  equivalent  to  "  in  the  land." 
This  is  appended  to  show  that  the  prophecy  does  not  refer 
to  those  who  had  already  been  carried  into  exile,  but  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  who  were  still  in  the  land.  For  the 
subject-matter,  compare  ch.  iv.  16,  17.  iV'^p  indicates  not  the 
intention,  "  in  order  that/'  but  the  motive,  "  because." 

Vers.  21-28.  Declarations  to  remove  all  Doubt  as 
TO  THE  Truth  of  the  Threat.  —  The  scepticism  of  the 
people  as  to  the  fulfilment  of  these  threatening  prophecies, 
which  had  been  made  still  more  emphatic  by  signs,  manifested 
itself  in  two  different  ways.  Some  altogether  denied  that  the 
prophecies  would  ever  be  fulfilled  (ver.  22)  ;  others,  who  did 
not  go  so  far  as  this,  thought  that  it  would  be  a  long  time 
before  they  came  to  pass  (ver.  27).  These  doubts  were  fed 
by  the  lying  statements  of  false  prophets.  For  this  reason  the 
refutation  of  these  sceptical  opinions  (vers.  21-28)  is  followed 
in  the  next  chapter  by  a  stern  reproof  of  the  false  prophets  and 
prophetesses  who  led  the  people  astray. — Ver.  21.  And  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying^  Ver.  22.  Son  of  man,  lohat 
hind  of  2:)roverh  have  ye  in  the  land  of  Israel,  that  ye  say,  The 
days  become  long,  and  every  prophecy  comes  to  nothing'^  Ver.  23. 
Therefore  say  to  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  I  will  jjut 
an  end  to  this  saying,  and  they  shall  say  it  no  more  in  Israel ;  but 
soy  to  them.  The  days  are  near,  and  the  word  of  every  prophecy. 
Ver.  24.  For  henceforth  there  shall  be  no  vain  prophecy  and 
flattering  soothsaying  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel.  Ver.  25. 
For  I  am  Jehovah  ;  I  speak ;  the  toord  which  I  sjjeak  will  come 
to  pass,  and  no  longer  be  postponed ;  for  in  your  days,  0  refractory 
generation,  I  speak  a  word  and  do  it,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jeho- 
vah.— Mdshdl,  a  proverb,  a  saying  current  among  the  people, 
and  constantly  repeated  as  a  truth.  "  The  days  become  long," 
etc.,  i.e.  the  time  is  lengthening  out,  and  yet  the  prophecy  is 
not  being  fulfilled.     13K,  perire,  to  come  to  nothing,  to  fail  of 


CHAP.  XIL  21-28.  163 

fulfilment,  is  the  opposite  of  sn,  to  come,  to  be  fulfilled.  God 
will  put  an  end  to  these  sayings,  by  causing  a  very  speedy 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy.  The  days  are  near,  and  every 
word  of  the  prophecy,  i.e.  the  days  in  which  every  word  pre- 
dicted shall  come  to  pass.  The  reason  for  this  is  given  in 
vers.  24  and  25,  in  two  co-ordinate  sentences,  both  of  which  are 
introduced  with  ''3.  First,  every  false  prophecy  shall  henceforth 
cease  in  Israel  (ver.  24)  ;  secondly,  God  will  bring  about  the 
fulfilment  of  His  own  word,  and  that  without  delay  (ver.  25). 
Different  explanations  have  been  given  of  the  meaning  of 
ver.  24.  Kliefoth  proposes  to  take  i^]^  and  P^n  Dppjp  as  the 
predicate  to  f\^i^  :  no  prophecy  in  Israel  shall  be  vain  and  flatter- 
ing soothsaying,  but  all  prophecy  shall  become  true,  i.e.  be 
fulfilled.  Such  an  explanation,  however,  is  not  only  artificial 
and  unnatural,  since  CiDi?»  would  be  inserted  as  a  predicate  in  a 
most  unsuitable  manner,  but  it  contains  this  incongruity,  that 
God  would  apply  the  term  QppD^  soothsaying,  to  the  predictions 
of  prophets  inspired  by  Himself.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
no  force  in  the  objection  raised  by  Kliefoth  to  the  ordinary- 
rendering  of  the  words,  namely,  that  the  statement  that  God 
was  about  to  put  an  end  to  false  prophecy  in  Israel  would 
anticipate  the  substance  of  the  sixth  word  of  God  (i.e.  ch.  xiii.). 
It  is  impossible  to  see  why  a  thought  should  not  be  expressed 
here,  and  then  still  further  expanded  in  ch.  xiii.  ppn,  smooth, 
z'.^.  flattering  (compare  Hos.  x.  2;  and  for  the  prediction,  Zech. 
xiii.  4,  5).  The  same  reply  serves  also  to  overthrow  the  sceptical 
objection  raised  by  the  frivolous  despisers  of  the  prophet^s 
words.  Hence  there  is  only  a  brief  allusion  made  to  them  in 
vers.  26-28. — Ver.  26.  And  the  u'ord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me, 
saying^  Ver.  27.  Son  of  vfimij  behold,  the  house  of  Israel  saith, 
The  vision  that  he  seeth  is  for  many  days  of,  and  he  prophesies 
for  distant  times.  Ver.  28.  Therefore  say  to  them,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  All  my  zvords  shall  be  no  longer  postponed : 
the  ivord  which  I  shall  speak  shall  come  to  pass,  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah. — The  words  are  plain  ;  and  after  what  has  already 


164  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

been  said,  they  need  no  special    explanation.     Ver.  20  com- 
pare with  ver.  25. 


CHAP.  XIII.   AGAINST  THE  FALSE  PROPHETS  AND 
PROPHETESSES. 

The  way  was  already  prepared  for  the  address  in  this  chapter 
by  the  announcement  in  ch.  xii.  24.  It  divides  itself  into  two 
parts,  viz.  vers.  1-16,  directed  against  the  false  prophets;  and 
vers.  17-23,  against  the  false  prophetesses.  In  botli  parts 
their  conduct  is  first  described,  and  then  the  punishment  fore- 
told. Jeremiah,  like  Ezekiel,  and  sometimes  still  more  strongly, 
denounces  the  conduct  of  the  false  prophets,  who  are  therefore 
to  be  sought  for  not  merely  among  the  exiles,  but  principally 
among  those  who  were  left  behind  in  the  land  (vid.  Jer.  xxiii. 
9  sqq.).  A  lively  intercourse  was  kept  up  between  the  two,  so 
that  the  false  prophets  extended  their  operations  from  Canaan 
to  the  Chaboras,  and  vice  versa. 

Vers.  1-16.  Against  the  False  Prophets. — Vers.  1-7. 
Their  conduct. — Ver.  1.  And  the  tcord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me, 
saying,  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  prophesy  against  the  prophets  of 
Israel  icho  prophesy,  and  say  to  the  prophets  out  of  their  heart, 
Hear  ye  the  xcord  of  Jehovah.  Ver.  3.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Woe  xipon  the  foolish  prophets,  who  go  after  their  spirit, 
and  that  lohich  they  have  not  seen  !  Ver.  4.  Lile  foxes  in  ruins 
have  thy  prophets  become,  0  Israel.  Ver.  5.  Ye  do  not  stand 
before  the  breaches,  nor  wall  tip  theicall  around  the  house  of  Israel 
to  stand  firm  in  the  battle  on  the  day  of  Jehovah.  Ver.  6.  They 
see  vanity  and  lying  soothsaying,  tvho  say,  "  Oracle  of  Jehovah;'^ 
and  Jehovah  hath  not  sent  them ;  so  that  they  might  hope  for  the 
fulfilment  of  the  xoord.  Ver.  7.  Do  ye  not  see  vain  visions,  and 
speak  lying  soothsaying,  and  say,  Oracle  of  Jehovah ;  and  I  have 
not  spoken  ? — The  addition  C^^fSn^  "  who  prophesy,"  is  not  super- 
fluous.    Ezekiel  is  not  to  direct  his  words  against  the  prophets 


CHAP.  XIII.  1-7.  165 

as  a  body,  but  against  those  who  follow  the  vocation  of  prophet 
in  Israel  without  being  called  to  it  by  God  on  receiving  a  divine 
revelation,  but  simply  prophesying  out  of  their  own  heart,  or 
according  to  their  own  subjective  imagination.  In  the  name 
of  the  Lord  he  is  to  threaten  them  with  woes,  as  fools  who 
follow  their  own  spirit;  in  connection  with  which  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  folly,  according  to  the  Hebrew  idea,  was  not 
merely  a  moral  failing,  but  actual  godlessness  (cf.  Ps.  xiv.  1). 
The  phrase  "going  after  their  spirit"  is  interpreted  and  ren- 
dered more  emphatic  by  ^N"J  ""rip^Pj  which  is  to  be  taken  as  a 
relative  clause,  "  that  which  they  have  not  seen,"  i.e.  whose 
prophesying  does  not  rest  upon  intuition  inspired  by  God. 
Consequently  they  cannot  promote  the  welfare  of  the  nation, 
but  (ver.  4)  are  like  foxes  in  ruins  or  desolate  places.  The 
point  of  comparison  is  to  be  found  in  the  undermining  of  the 
ground  by  foxes,  qui  per  cuniculos  suhjectam  terrain  excavant  et 
suffodiunt  (Bochart).  For  the  thought  is  not  exhausted  by  the 
circumstance  that  they  withdraw  to  their  holes  instead  of  stand- 
ing in  front  of  the  breach  (Hitzig) ;  and  there  is  no  force  in 
the  objection  that,  with  this  explanation,  ^i^^'^'jl?  is  passed  over 
and  becomes  in  fact  tautological  (Hiivernick).  The  expression 
*'  in  ruins  "  points  to  the  fall  of  the  theocracy,  which  the  false 
prophets  cannot  prevent,  but,  on  the  contrary,  accelerate  by 
undermining  the  moral  foundations  of  the  state.  For  (ver.  5) 
they  do  not  stand  in  the  breaches,  and  do  not  build  up  the  wall 
around  the  house  of  Israel  (yt>  belongs  to  both  clauses).  He 
who  desires  to  keep  off  the  enemy,  and  prevent  his  entering  the 
fortress,  will  stand  in  the  breach.  For  the  same  purpose  are 
gaps  and  breaches  in  the  fortifications  carefully  built  up.  The 
sins  of  the  people  had  made  gaps  and  breaches  in  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem ;  in  other  words,  had  caused  the  moral  decay  of  the 
city.  But  they  had  not  stood  in  the  way  of  this  decay  and 
its  causes,  as  the  calling  and  duty  of  prophets  demanded,  by 
reproving  the  sins  of  the  people,  that  they  might  rescue  the 
people   and  kingdom  from  destruction  by  restoring  its  moral 


166  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

and  religious  life.  •Tf'?-'?^  ''^.V?,  to  stand,  or  keep  ground,  i.e. 
so  that  ye  might  have  kept  your  ground  in  the  war.  Tlie 
subject  is  the  false  prophets,  not  Israel,  as  Hiivernick  supposes. 
"  In  the  day  of  Jehovah,"  i.e.  in  the  judgment  which  Jehovah 
has  decreed.  Not  to  stand,  does  not  mean  merely  to  avert  the 
threatening  judgment,  but  not  to  survive  the  judgment  itself, 
to  be  overthrow^n  by  it.  This  arises  from  the  fact  that  their 
prophesying  is  a  lie ;  because  Jehovah,  whose  name  they  have 
in  their  mouths,  has  not  sent  them  (ver.  6).  vn^l  is  dependent 
upon  CnptJ':  God  has  not  sent  them,  so  that  they  could  hope 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  word  which  they  speak.  The  render- 
ing adopted  by  others,  "  and  they  cause  to  hope,"  is  untenable ; 
for  P^l  with  ?  does  not  mean  "  to  cause  to  hope,"  or  give  hope, 
but  simply  to  hope  for  anything.  This  was  really  the  case ; 
and  it  is  affirmed  in  the  declaration,  which  is  repeated  in  the 
form  of  a  direct  appeal  in  ver.  7,  to  the  effect  that  their  visions 
were  vain  and  lying  soothsaying.  For  this  they  are  threatened 
with  the  judgment  described  in  the  verses  which  follow. 

Vers.  8-16.  Punishment  of  the  false  prophets. — Ver.  8. 
Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  ye  speak  vanity 
and  proplcesy  lying,  therefore,  behold,  I  ivill  deal  with  you,  is  the 
saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  9.  And  my  hand  shall  he 
against  the  propliets  who  see  vanity  and  divine  lies :  in  the  council 
of  my  people  they  shall  not  he,  and  in  the  register  of  the  house  of 
Israel  they  shall  not  he  registered,  and  into  the  land  of  Israel  shall 
they  not  come ;  and  ye  shall  learn  that  I  am  the  Lord  Jehovah. 
Ver.  10.  Because,  yea  because  they  lead  my  jyeople  astray,  and 
say,  "  Peace,""  though  there  is  no  peace ;  and  when  it  {my  people) 
build  a  wall,  behold,  they  plaster  it  with  cement:  Ver.  11.  Say 
to  the  plasterers,  that  it  will  fall :  there  cometh  a  pouring  rain ; 
and  ye  hailstones  fall,  and  thou  stormy  wind  break  loose  !  Ver.  12. 
And,  behold,  the  lo all  falleth  ;  will  men  not  say  to  you,  Where  is 
the  plaster  loilh  ivhich  ye  have  plastered  it?  Ver.  13.  Therefore 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  I  cause  a  stormy  wind  to  break 


CHAP.  XIII.  8-16.  167 

forth  in  my  xcrath,  and  a  pouring  rain  loill  come  in  my  anger, 
and  hailstones  in  wrath,  for  destruction.  Ver.  14.  And  I  demo- 
lish the  xoall  which  ye  have  plastered,  and  cast  it  to  the  ground, 
thai  its  foundation  may  he  exposed,  and  it  shall  fall,  and  ye  shall 
perish  in  the  midst  of  it;  and  shall  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. 
Ver.  15.  And  I  will  exhaust  my  wrath  xipon  the  ivall,  and  upon 
those  ivho  plaster  it ;  and  ivill  soy  to  you,  It  is  all  over  with  the 
wall,  and  all  over  with  those  who  plastered  it;  Ver.  16.  With  the 
prophets  of  Israel  who  prophesied  to  Jerusalem,  and  saw  visions  of 
peace  for  her,  though  there  is  no  peace,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah. — In  ver.  8  the  punishment  which  is  to  fall  upon  the 
false  prophets  is  threatened  in  general  terms ;  and  in  ver.  9  it 
is  more  specifically  described  in  the  form  of  a  climax,  rising 
higher  and  higher  in  the  severity  of  its  announcements.  (1) 
They  are  no  longer  to  form  part  of  the  council  of  the  people  of 
God  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  will  lose  their  influential  position 
among  the  people.  (liD  is  the  sphere  of  counsellors,  not  the 
social  sphere.)  (2)  Their  names  shall  not  be  registered  in  the 
book  of  the  house  of  Israel.  The  book  of  the  house  of  Israel 
is  the  register  in  which  the  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  God  are 
entered.  Any  one  whose  name  was  not  admitted  into  this  book, 
or  was  struck  out  of  it,  was  separated  thereby  from  the  citizen- 
ship of  Israel,  and  lost  all  the  privileges  which  citizenship 
conferred.  The  figure  of  the  book  of  life  is  a  similar  one  (cf. 
Ex.  xxxli.  32).  For  Israel  is  not  referred  to  here  with  regard 
to  its  outward  nationality,  but  as  the  people  of  God ;  so  that 
exclusion  from  Israel  was  also  exclusion  from  fellowship  with 
God.  The  circumstance  that  it  is  not  the  erasure  of  their 
names  from  the  book  that  is  mentioned  here,  but  their  not 
being  entered  in  the  book  at  all,  may  be  accounted  for  from 
the  reference  contained  in  the  words  to  the  founding  of  the 
new  kingdom  of  God.  The  old  theocracy  was  abolished, 
although  Jerusalem  was  not  yet  destroyed.  The  covenant 
nation  had  fallen  under  the  judgment ;  but  out  of  that  portion 
of  Israel  which  was  dispersed  among  the  heathen,  a  remnant 


168  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

would  be  gathered  together  again,  and  having  been  brought 
back  to  its  own  land,  would  be  made  anew  into  a  holy  people 
of  God  (cf.  ch.  xi.  17  sqq.).  But  the  false  prophets  are  not  to 
be  received  into  the  citizenship  of  the  new  kingdom.  (3)  They 
are  not  even  to  come  into  the  land  of  Israel ;  i.e.  they  are  not 
merely  to  remain  in  exile,  but  to  lose  all  share  in  the  privileges 
and  blessings  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  judgment  will 
come  upon  them  because  they  lead  astray  the  people  of  God, 
by  proclaiming  peace  where  there  is  no  peace ;  i.e.  by  raising 
and  cherishing  false  hopes  of  prosperity  and  peace,  by  which 
they  encourage  the  people  in  their  sinful  lives,  and  lead  them  to 
imafrine  that  all  is  well,  and  there  is  no  judgment  to  be  feared 
(cf.  Jer.  xxiii.  17  and  Mic.  iii.  5).  The  exposure  of  this  offence 
is  introduced  by  the  solemn  1^.31  ]V\  because  and  because  (cf. 
Lev.  xxvi.  43) ;  and  the  offence  itself  is  exhibited  by  means 
of  a  figure.  When  the  people  build  a  wall,  the  false  prophets 
plaster  the  wall  with  lime.  ^51^'!  (ver.  10)  refers  to  "•'SJ?,  and  the 
clause  is  a  circumstantial  one.  ^'QJ^  signifies  the  plaster  coating 
or  cement  of  a  wall,  probably  from  the  primary  meaning  of 
bp^,  to  stick  or  plaster  over  (=ppi^,  conghitinare,  to  glue,  or 
fasten  together),  from  which  the  secondary  meaning  of  weak, 
insipid,  has  sprung.  The  proper  word  for  plaster  or  cement  is 
n^t?  (ver.  12),  and  ^'S'^  is  probably  chosen  with  an  allusion  to 
the  tropical  signification  of  that  which  is  silly  or  absurd  (Jer. 
xxiii.  13;  Lam.  ii.  14).  The  meaning  of  the  figure  is  intelli- 
gible enough.  The  people  build  up  foolish  hopes,  and  the  pro- 
phets not  only  paint  these  hopes  for  them  in  splendid  colours, 
but  even  predict  their  fulfilment,  instead  of  denouncing  their 
folly,  pointing  out  to  the  people  the  perversity  of  their  ways, 
and  showing  them  that  such  sinful  conduct  must  inevitably  be 
followed  by  punishment  and  ruin.  The  plastering  is  therefore 
a  figurative  description  of  deceitful  flattery  or  hypocrisy,  i.e. 
the  covering  up  of  inward  corruption  by  means  of  outward 
appearance  (as  in  Matt,  xxiii.  27  and  Acts  xxiii.  3).  This 
figure  leads  the  prophet  to  describe  the  judgment  which  they 


CHAP.  XIII.  8-16.  169 

are  bringing  upon  the  nation  and  themselves,  as  a  tempest 
accompanied  with  hail  and  pouring  rain,  which  throws  down 
the  wall  that  has  been  erected  and  plastered  over;  and  in 
connection  with  this  figure  he  opens  out  this  double  thought : 
(1)  the  conduct  of  the  people,  which  is  encouraged  by  the  false 
prophets,  cannot  last  (vers.  11  and  12)  ;  and  (2)  when  this 
work  of  theirs  is  overthrown,  the  false  prophets  themselves  will 
also  meet  with  the  fate  they  deserve  (vers.  13-16).  The  threat 
of  judgment  commences  with  the  short,  energetic  ^S^l,  let  it 
(the  wall)  fall,  or  it  shall  fall,  with  Vav  to  indicate  the  train  of 
thought  (Ewald,  §  347a).  The  subject  is  ^sn,  to  which  ^3^. 
suggests  a  resemblance  in  sound.  In  ver.  12  this  is  predicted 
as  the  fate  awaiting  the  plastered  wall.  In  the  description  of 
the  bursting  storm  the  account  passes  with  njriSI  (and  ye)  into 
a  direct  address ;  in  other  words,  the  description  assumes  the 
form  of  an  appeal  to  the  destructive  forces  of  nature  to  burst 
forth  wnth  all  their  violence  against  the  work  plastered  over  by 
the  prophets,  and  to  destroy  it.  ^^S^  Dt;*3,  pouring  rain ;  cf. 
ch.  xxxviii.  22.  K'^^pX  ''J3S  here  and  ch.  xxxviii.  22  are  hail- 
stones. The  word  '^''?2?*?,  which  is  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  is  pro- 
bably ti'''33  (Job  xxviii.  18),  with  the  Arabic  article  bii ;  ice, 
then  crystal.  ni"iJ?D  nn^  wind  of  storms,  a  hurricane  or  tempest. 
Vijizn  (ver.  11)  is  used  intransitively,  to  break  loose;  but  in 
ver.  13  it  is  transitive,  to  cause  to  break  loose.  The  active 
rendering  adopted  by  Kliefoth,  ''  the  storm  will  rend,"  so.  the 
plaster  of  the  wall,  is  inappropriate  in  ver.  11;  for  a  tempest 
does  not  rend  either  the  plaster  or  the  wall,  but  throws  the  wall 
down.  The  translation  which  Kliefoth  gives  in  ver.  13,  "  I 
will  rend  by  tempest,"  is  at  variance  with  both  the  language 
and  the  sense.  Jehovah  will  cause  this  tempest  to  burst  forth 
in  His  wrath  and  destroy  the  wall,  and  lay  it  level  with  the 
ground.  The  suffix  in  iiaina  refers  {ad  sensuui)  to  Jerusalem, 
not  to  "fi?  (the  wall),  which  is  masculine,  and  has  no  "r])ri  (midst). 
The  words  pass  from  the  figure  to  the  reality  here ;  for  the 
plastered  wall  is  a  symbol  of  Jerusalem,  as  the  centre  of  the 


170  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

theocracy,  which  is  to  be  destroyed,  and  to  bury  the  lying 
prophets  in  its  ruins,  "'^''^^'i  (ver.  15)  contains  a  phiy  upon  the 
word  n^3^  in  ver.  13.  By  a  new  turn  given  to  rh^,  Ezekiel 
repeats  the  thought  that  the  wrath  of  God  is  to  destroy  the 
wall  and  its  plasterers ;  and  through  this  repetition  he  rounds 
off  the  threat  with  the  express  declaration,  that  the  false 
prophets  who  are  ever  preaching  peace  are  the  plasterers  to 
whom  he  refers. 

Vers.  17-23.  Against  the  False  Prophetesses.  —  As 
the  Lord  had  not  endowed  men  only  with  the  gifts  of  prophecy, 
but  sometimes  women  also,  e.g.  Miriam,  Deborah,  and  Huldah  ; 
so  women  also  rose  up  along  with  the  false  prophets,  and  pro- 
phesied out  of  their  own  hearts  without  being  impelled  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Vers.  17-19.  Their  conduct.— Ver.  17.  A7id 
i/iou,  son  of  man,  direct  thy  face  towards  the  daughters  of  thy 
people.)  who  prophesy  out  of  their  heart  and  prophesy  against 
them,  Ver.  18.  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Woe  to 
those  loho  sew  coverings  together  over  all  the  joints  of  my  hands, 
and  make  caps  for  the  head  of  every  size,  to  catch  soids .'  Ye 
catch  the  souls  of  my  people,  and  keep  your  souls  alive.  Ver.  19. 
And  ye  profane  me  ivith  my  people  for  handfuls  of  barley  and 
for  p)ieces  of  bread,  to  slay  souls  which  shoidd  not  die,  and  to 
keep  alive  which  should  not  live,  by  your  lying  to  my  people  who 
hearken  to  lying. — Like  the  prophets  in  ver.  2,  the  prophetesses 
are  here  described  as  prophesying  out  of  their  own  heart 
(ver.  17)  ;  and  in  vers.  18  and  19  their  offences  are  more 
particularly  described.  The  meaning  of  these  verses  is  en- 
tirely dependent  upon  the  view  to  be  taken  of  '''!^,  which  the 
majority  of  expositors,  following  the  lead  of  the  LXX.,  the 
Syriac,  and  the  Vulgate,  have  regarded  as  identical  with  DJ'iJ  or 
1^,  and  understood  as  referring  to  the  hands  of  the  women  or 
prophetesses.  But  there  is  nothing  to  justify  the  assumption 
that  ''']^  is  an  unusual  form  for  D^l),  which  even  Evvald  takes 
it  to  be  {Lehrhuch,  §  177a).     Still  less  can  it  stand  for  the 


CHAP.  XIII.  17-19.  171 

singular  1\  And  we  have  not  sufficient  ground  for  altering 
the  text,  as  the  expression  03"'^'^'^"'?  in  ver.  20  (I  will  tear  the 
ninos  from  your  arms)  does  not  require  the  assumption  that 
the  prophetesses  had  hidden  their  arms  in  ninD3;  and  such 
a  supposition  is  by  no  means  obviously  in  harmony  with  the 
facts.  The  word  ninps^  from  HDZi^  with  n  fern,  treated  as  a 
radical  letter  (cf.  Ewaki,  §  18 6e),  means  a  covering  or  conceal- 
ment =riiD3.  The  meaning  "cushion"  or  "pillow"  (LXX. 
TrpoaKecfiaXata,  Vulg.  pulvilli)  is  merely  an  inference  diawn 
from  this  passage,  and  is  decidedly  erroneous ;  for  the  word  is^i 
(to  sew  together)  is  inapplicable  to  cushions,  as  well  as  the 
phrase  "''])  '''P''^*X~73  py,  inasmuch  as  cushions  are  not  placed 
upon  the  joints  of  the  hands,  and  still  less  are  they  sewed 
together  upon  them.  The  latter  is  also  a  decisive  reason  for 
rejecting  the  explanation  given  by  Hiivernick,  namely,  that  the 
Usdthotli  were  carpets,  which  were  used  as  couches,  and  upon 
which  these  voluptuous  women  are  represented  as  reclinino-. 
For  cushions  or  couches  are  not  placed  upon,  but  under,  the 
arm-joints  (or  elbows)  and  the  shoulders,  which  Hiivernick 
understands  by  T  Y^^.  This  also  overthrows  another  expla- 
nation given  of  the  words,  namely,  that  they  refer  to  carpets, 
which  the  prophetesses  had  sewed  together  for  all  their  arm- 
joints,  so  as  to  form  comfortable  beds  upon  splendid  carpets, 
that  they  may  indulge  in  licentiousness  thereon.  The  explana- 
tion given  by  Ephraem  Syrus,  and  adopted  by  Hitzig,  namely, 
that  the  ¥sdtlwth  were  amulets  or  straps,  which  they  wound 
round  their  arm-joints  when  they  received  or  delivered  their 
oracles,  is  equally  untenable.  For,  as  Kliefoth  has  observed, 
*'  it  is  evident  that  there  is  not  a  word  in  the  text  about  adultery, 
or  amulets,  or  straps  used  in  prayer."  And  again,  when  we 
proceed  to  the  next  clause,  the  traditional  rendering  of  riinapD^ 
as  signifying  either  pillows  {vivavyevia^  Symm. ;  cevmcalia^ 
Vulg.)  or  broad  cloaks  =  ninstpo  (Hitzig,  Havernick,  etc.),  is 
neither  supported  by  the  usage  of  the  language,  nor  in  har- 
mony with  C\xi  7y.     Mispdcholhj  from  sdphach,  to  join,  cannot 


172  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

have  any  other  meaning  in  the  present  context  than  a  cap 
fittinf»  close  to  the  head  ;  and  ^V  must  denote  the  pattern  which 
was  followed,  as  in  Ps.  ex.  4,  Esth.  ix.  26  :  they  make  the  caps 
after  (answering  to)  the  head  of  every  stature.  The  words  of 
both  clauses  are  figurative,  and  have  been  correctly  explained 
by  Kliefoth  as  follows  :  "  A  double  charge  is  brought  against 
the  prophetesses.  In  the  first  place,  they  sew  coverings  to- 
gether to  wrap  round  all  the  joints  of  the  hand  of  God,  so  that 
He  cannot  touch  them ;  i.e.  they  cover  up  and  conceal  the  word 
of  God  by  their  prophesying,  more  especially  its  rebuking  and 
threatening  force,  so  that  the  threatening  and  judicial  arm  of 
God,  which  ought  above  all  to  become  both  manifest  and  effec- 
tive through  His  prophetic  word,  does  not  become  either  one  or 
the  other.  In  the  second  place,  they  make  coverings  upon  the 
heads  of  men,  and  construct  them  in  such  a  form  that  they 
exactly  fit  the  stature  or  size  of  every  individual,  so  that  the 
men  neither  hear  nor  see ;  i.e.,  by  means  of  their  flattering  lies, 
which  adapt  themselves  to  the  subjective  inclinations  of  their 
hearers  at  the  time,  they  cover  up  the  senses  of  the  men,  so 
that  they  retain  neither  ear  nor  eye  for  the  truth."  They  do 
both  of  these  to  catch  souls.  The  inevitable  consequence  of 
their  act  is  represented  as  having  been  intended  by  them  ;  and 
this  intention  is  then  still  further  defined  as  being  to  catch  the 
souls  of  the  people  of  God ;  i.e.  to  allure  them  to  destruction, 
and  take  care  of  their  own  souls.  The  clause  n3"i'ii^n  DiC'Dsn 
is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  question,  "  Will  ye  catch  the  souls?" 
implying  a  doubt  whether  they  really  thought  that  they  could 
carry  on  such  conduct  as  theirs  with  perfect  impunity  (Hiiver- 
nick).  It  contains  a  simple  statement  of  what  really  took 
place  in  their  catching  of  souls,  namely,  "  they  catch  the  souls 
of  the  people  of  God,  and  preserve  their  own  souls  ;"  i.e.  they 
rob  the  people  of  God  of  flieir  lives,  and  take  care  of  their 
own  (Kliefoth).  ^sy?  is  used  instead  of  the  genitive  (stat. 
const7'.)  to  show  that  the  accent  rests  upon  ^Kiy.  And  in  the 
same  way  we  have  nja?  instead  of  the  suffix.    The  construction 


CHAP.  XIII,  20-23.  173 

is  the  same  as  in  1  Sam  xiv.  16.  Ver.  19  shows  how  great  their 
sin  had  been.  They  profane  God  among  His  people  ;  namely, 
by  delivering  the  suggestions  of  their  own  heart  to  the  people 
as  divine  revelations,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  daily 
bread  thereby  (cf.  Mic.  iii.  5)  ;  by  hurling  into  destruction, 
through  their  lies,  those  who  are  only  too  glad  to  listen  to 
lying ;  by  slaying  the  souls  of  the  people  which  ought  to  live, 
and  by  preserving  those  which  ought  not  to  live,  i.e.  their  own 
souls  (Deut.  xviii.  20).  The  punishment  for  this  will  not  fail 
to  come. 

Vers.  20-23.  Punishment  of  the  false  prophetesses. — Ver.  20. 
Therefore  thus  saitli  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  will  deal  with 
your  coverings  with  which  ye  catch,  1  ivill  let  the  souls  Jly  ;  and 
I  loill  tear  them  away  from  your  arms,  and  set  the  souls  free, 
which  ye  catch,  the  souls  to  fly.  Ver.  21.  Ajid  I  will  tear  your 
caps  in  pieces,  and  deliver  my  people  out  of  your  liand,  and  they 
shall  no  more  become  a  prey  in  your  hand;  and  ye  shall  learn 
that  I  am  Jehovah.  Ver.  22.  Because  ye  grieve  the  heart  of  the 
righteous  with  lying,  when  I  have  not  pained  him ;  and  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  wiched,  so  that  he  does  not  turn  from  his  evil 
way,  to  preserve  his  life.  Ver.  23.  Therefore  ye  shall  no  more 
see  vanity,  and  no  longer  practise  soothsaying :  and  I  loill  deliver 
my  people  out  of  your  hand;  and  ye  shall  learn  that  I  am 
Jehovah. — The  threat  of  judgment  is  closely  connected  with 
the  reproof  of  their  sins.  Vers.  20  and  21  correspond  to  the 
reproof  in  ver.  18,  and  vers.  22  and  23  to  that  in  ver.  19. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Lord  will  tear  in  pieces  the  coverings 
and  caps,  i.e.  the  tissue  of  lies  woven  by  the  false  prophetesses, 
and  rescue  the  people  from  their  snares  (vers.  20  and  21)  ;  and, 
secondly.  He  will  entirely  put  an  end  to  the  pernicious  conduct 
of  the  persons  addressed  (vers.  22  and  23).  The  words  from 
nans  it^'X  to  riinnbp  (ver.  20a),  when  taken  as  one  clause,  as 
they  generally  are,  offer  insuperable  difficulties,  since  it  is 
impossible  to  get  any  satisfactory  meaning  from  D*^,  and 
ninnb?  will  not  fit  in.     Whether  we  understand  by  k^sdthoth 


174  THE  PROPHECIES  of  ezekiel. 

coverings  or  cushions,  the  connection  of  DK'  with  "it^'J*  (lohere  ye 
catch  the  souls),  whicli  tlie  majority  of  commentators  prefer,  is 
untenable ;  for  coverings  and  cushions  were  not  the  places 
■where  the  souls  were  caught,  but  could  only  be  the  means 
employed  for  catching  them.  Instead  of  ^'^  we  should  expect 
D3  or  Dn3  ;  and  Hitzig  proposes  to  amend  it  in  this  way.  Still 
less  admissible  is  the  proposal  to  take  D^  as  referring  to  Jeru- 
salem ("  wherewith  ye  catch  souls  there  ") ;  as  DC'  would  not 
only  contain  a  perfectly  superfluous  definition  of  locality,  but 
would  introduce  a  limitation  altogether  at  variance  with  the 
context.  It  is  not  affirmed  either  of  the  prophets  or  of  the 
prophetesses  that  tliey  lived  and  prophesied  in  Jerusalem 
alone.  In  vers,  2  and  17  reference  is  made  in  the  most  gene- 
ral terms  to  the  prophets  of  Israel  and  the  daughters  of  thy 
people;  and  in  ver.  16  it  is  simply  stated  that  the  false  prophets 
prophesied  peace  to  Jerusalem  when  there  was  no  peace  at  all. 
Consequently  we  must  regard  the  attempt  to  find  in  D^  an 
allusion  to  Jerusalem  (cf.  ver.  16)  as  a  mere  loophole,  which 
betrays  an  utter  inability  to  get  any  satisfactory  sense  from  the 
word.  Moreover,  if  we  construe  the  words  in  this  manner, 
ninnbp  is  also  incomprehensible.  Commentators  have  for  the 
most  part  admitted  that  n"i3  is  used  here  in  the  Aramaean 
sense  of  volare,  to  fly.  In  the  second  half  of  the  verse  there  is 
no  doubt  about  its  havino;  this  meaning.  For  rr^^  is  used  in 
Deut.  xxii.  7  for  liberating  a  bird,  or  letting  it  fly ;  and  the 
combination  nirribp  'Qjrrns  nw  is  supported  by  the  expression 
^C'snp  ro}y  in  Ex.  xxi.  26,  while  the  comparison  of  souls  to 
birds  is  sustained  by  Ps.  xi.  1  and  cxxiv.  7.  Hence  the  true 
meaning  of  the  whole  passage  riin~ibp  .  .  .  ni:;'S3n-nK  '•nnpB'  is, 
I  send  away  (set  free)  the  souls,  which  ye  have  caught,  as 
flying  ones,  i.e.  so  that  they  shall  be  able  to  fly  away  at  liberty. 
And  in  the  first  half  also  we  must  not  adopt  a  different  render- 
ing for  niiTibpj  since  niC^S3n~ns  is  also  connected  with  it  there. 
But  if  the  words  in  question  are  combined  into  one  clause  in 
the  first  hemistich,  they  will  give  us  a  sense  which  is  obviously 


CHAP.  XIII.  20-23.  175 

wrong,  viz.  "  wherewith  ye  catch  the  souls  to  let  them  fly." 
As  the  impossibility  of  adopting  this  rendering  has  been  clearly 
seen,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  cloak  over  the  difficulty  by 
means  of  paraphrases.  Ewald,  for  example,  renders  nimb?  in 
both  cases  "  as  if  they  were  birds  of  passage ; "  but  in  the  first 
instance  he  applies  it  to  birds  of  passage,  for  which  nets  are 
spread  for  the  purpose  of  catching  them ;  and  in  the  second,  to 
birds  of  passage  which  are  set  at  liberty.  Thus,  strictly  speak- 
ing, he  understands  the  first  ninib^  as  signifying  the  catching 
of  birds ;  and  the  second,  letting  them  fly  :  an  explanation  which 
refutes  itself,  as  paracA,  to  fly,  cannot  mean  "  to  catch "  as 
well.  The  rendering  adopted  by  Kimchi,  Rosenmliller,  and 
others,  who  translate  ninibp  ut  advolent  ad  vos  in  the  first 
hemistich,  and  ut  avolent  in  the  second,  is  no  better.  And  the 
difficulty  is  not  removed  by  resorting  to  the  dialects,  as  Haver- 
nick,  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  upon  nirrib  the  meaning  dis- 
soluteness or  licentiousness,  for  which  there  is  no  authority  in 
the  Hebrew  language  itself.  If,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to 
obtain  any  satisfactory  meaning  from  the  existing  text,  it  can- 
not be  correct ;  and  no  other  course  is  open  to  us  than  to  alter 
the  unsuitable  DK'  into  D^,  and  divide  the  words  from  nariX  "itJ'X 
to  nin^bp  into  two  clauses,  as  we  have  done  in  our  translation 
above.  There  is  no  necessity  to  supply  anything  to  the  re- 
lative "1^^?.,  as  n^::?  is  construed  with  a  double  accusative  (e.g. 
Mic.  vii.  2,  Cl^n  n^^,  to  catch  with  a  net),  and  the  object  to 
ni"!"]'^*^,  viz.  the  souls,  can  easily  be  supphed  from  the  next 
clause.  DK',  as  a  participle,  can  either  be  connected  with 
"'JJHj  "  behold,  I  make,"  or  taken  as  introducing  an  explanatory 
clause :  "  making  the  souls  into  flying  ones,"  i.e.  so  that  they 
are  able  to  fly  (^  Diti',  Gen.  xii.  2,  etc.).  The  two  clauses  of 
the  first  hemistich  would  then  exactly  correspond  to  the  two 
clauses  of  the  second  half  of  the  verse.  Dnx  ''Wli^l  is  explana- 
tory of  'nD3  7^  ''::t}^  I  will  tear  off  the  coverings  from  their 
arms.  These  words  do  not  require  the  assumption  that  the 
prophetesses  wore  the  niDDis  on  their  arms,  but  may  be  fully 


176  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

explained  from  the  supposition  that  the  persons  in  question 
prepared  them  witii  their  own  hands.  'l31  ^'i'Oi'V'"!  corresponds 
to  '1J1  nirs3n-nx  n^ ;  and  nimbb  is  governed  by  ^J^n^?'.  Tlie 
insertion  of  Q^P'^snTiX  is  to  be  accounted  for  from  the  copious 
nature  of  Ezekiel's  style ;  at  the  same  time,  it  is  not  merely  a 
repetition  of  nrj'S^riTix,  which  is  separated  from  nirnbp  by  the 
relative  clause  'i-'O  OriX  "lif'Sj  but  as  the  unusual  plural  form 
D^*J'S3  shows,  is  intended  as  a  practical  explanation  of  the  fact, 
that  the  souls,  while  compared  to  birds,  are  regarded  as  living 
beings,  which  is  the  meaning  borne  by  ti'S3  in  other  passages. 
The  omission  of  the  article  after  DS  may  be  explained,  however, 
from  the  fact  that  the  souls  had  been  more  precisely  defined 
just  before ;  just  as,  for  example,  in  1  Sam.  xxiv.  6,  2  Sam. 
xviii.  18,  where  the  more  precise  definition  follows  immediately 
afterwards  (cf.  Ewald,  §  277a,  p.  683). — The  same  thing  is 
said  in  ver.  21,  with  regard  to  the  caps,  as  has  already  been 
said  of  the  coverings  in  ver.  20.  God  will  tear  these  in  pieces 
also,  to  deliver  His  people  from  the  power  of  the  lying  pro- 
phetesses. In  what  way  God  will  do  this  is  explained  in  vers. 
22  and  23,  namely,  not  only  by  putting  their  lying  prophecies 
to  shame  through  His  judgments,  but  by  putting  an  end  to 
soothsaying  altogether,  and  exterminating  the  false  prophetesses 
by  making  them  an  object  of  ridicule  and  shame.  The  reason 
for  this  threat  is  given  in  ver.  22,  where  a  further  description 
is  given  of  the  disgraceful  conduct  of  these  persons ;  and  here 
the  disgracefulness  of  their  conduct  is  exhibited  in  literal  terms 
and  w^ithout  any  figure.  They  do  harm  to  the  righteous  and 
good,  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  wicked,  riixan^  HipMl 
of  nN3j  in  Syriac,  to  use  harshly  or  depress ;  so  here  in  the 
Hipldl,  connected  with  37,  to  afHict  the  heart,  "li??^  is  used 
adverbially :  with  lying,  or  in  a  lying  manner ;  namely,  by 
predicting  misfortune  and  divine  punishments,  with  which  they 
threatened  the  godly,  who  would  not  acquiesce  in  their  conduct ; 
whereas,  on  the  contrary',  they  predicted  prosperity  and  peace 
to  the  ungodly,  who  were  willing  to  be  ensnared  by  them,  and 


CHAP.  XIV.  1.  177 

thus  strengthened  them  in  their  evil  ways.  For  this  God  would 
put  them  to  shame  through  His  judgments,  which  would  make 
their  deceptions  manifest,  and  their  soothsaying  loathsome. 

CHAP.  XIV.   ATTITUDE  OF  GOD  TOWARDS  THE  WORSHIPPERS 
OF  IDOLS,  AND  CERTAINTY  OF  THE  JUDGMENTS. 

This  chapter  contains  two  words  of  God,  which  have  obvi- 
ously an  internal  connection  with  each  other.  The  first  (vers. 
1-11)  announces  to  the  elders,  who  have  come  to  the  prophet 
to  inquire  of  God,  that  the  Lord  will  not  allow  idolaters  to 
inquire  of  Him,  but  will  answer  all  who  do  not  turn  from 
idolatry  with  severe  judgments,  and  will  even  destroy  the  pro- 
phets who  venture  to  give  an  answer  to  such  inquirers.  The 
second  (vers.  12-23)  denounces  the  false  hope  that  God  will 
avert  the  judgment  and  spare  Jerusalem  because  of  the  right- 
eousness of  the  godly  men  therein. 

Vers.  1-11.  The  Lord  gives  no  Answer  to  the  Idola- 
ters.— Yer.  1  narrates  the  occasion  for  this  and  tlie  following 
words  of  God :  There  came  to  me  men  of  the  elders  of  Israel^ 
and  sat  dorvn  before  me.  These  men  were  not  deputies  from 
the  Israelites  in  Palestine,  as  Grotius  and  others  suppose,  but 
elders  of  the  exiles  amoncp  whom  Ezekiel  had  been  labourino-. 
They  came  to  visit  the  prophet  (ver.  3),  evidently  with  the  in- 
tention of  obtaining,  through  him,  a  word  of  God  concerninc 
the  future  of  Jerusalem,  or  the  fate  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah. 
But  Iltivernick  is  wrong  in  supposing  that  we  may  infer,  from 
either  the  first  or  second  word  of  God  in  this  chapter,  that  they 
had  addressed  to  the  prophet  a  distinct  inquiry  of  this  nature, 
to  which  the  answer  is  given  in  vers.  12-23.  For  although 
their  coming  to  the  prophet  showed  that  his  prophecies  had 
made  an  impression  upon  them,  it  is  not  stated  in  ver.  1  that 
they  had  come  to  inquire  of  God,  like  the  elders  in  ch.  xx.  1, 
and  there  is  no  allusion  to  any  definite  questions  in  the  words  of 

EZEK.  I.  M 


ITS  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

God  themselves.  The  first  (vers.  2-11)  simply  assumes  that 
they  have  come  with  the  intention  of  asking,  and  discloses  the 
state  of  heart  which  keeps  them  from  coming  to  inquire  ;  and 
tlie  second  (vers.  12-23)  points  out  the  worthlessness  of  their 
false  confidence  in  the  righteousness  of  certain  godly  men. 

Ver.  2.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  3. 
Son  of  man,  these  men  have  let  their  idols  rise  up  in  their  heart, 
and  have  set  the  stmnbling-hlock  to  guilt  before  their  face :  shall  I 
allow  myself  to  be  inquired  of  by  them?  Ver.  4.  Jherefore 
speak  to  them,  and  say  to  them,  Tims  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Every  man  of  the  house  of  Israel  who  lifteth  tip  his  idols  in  his 
heart,  and  setteth  the  stumbling-block  to  his  sin  before  his  face,  and 
Cometh  to  the  prophet,  to  him  do  I,  Jehovah,  show  myself,  answe^'ing 
according  thereto,  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  idols ;  Ver.  5. 
To  grasp  the  house  of  Israel  by  their  heart,  because  they  have  turned 
aioay  from  me,  all  of  them  through  their  idols. — We  have  not  to 
picture  these  elders  to  ourselves  as  given  up  to  gross  idolatry. 
^.  ^V  *^^]tJ}.  means,  to  allow  anything  to  come  into  the  mind,  to 
permit  it  to  rise  up  in  the  heart,  to  be  mentally  busy  therewith. 
"To  set  before  one's  face"  is  also  to  be  understood,  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  as  relating  to  a  thing  which  a  man  will  not  put 
out  of  his  mind.  UiSv  ?vcbp,  stumbling-block  to  sin  and  guilt 
(cf.  ch.  vii.  19),  i.e.  the  idols.  Thus  the  two  phrases  simply 
denote  the  leaning  of  the  heart  and  spirit  towards  false  gods. 
God  does  not  suffer  those  whose  heart  is  attached  to  idols  to 
seek  and  find  Him.  The  interrogative  clause  'iil  ty'Tnxn  con- 
tains a  strong  negation.  The  emphasis  lies  in  the  infinitive 
absolute  t^"i"^X  placed  before  the  verb,  in  which  the  n  is  softened 
into  N,  to  avoid  writing  n  twice.  ^''V.'^,  to  allow  oneself  to  be 
sought,  involves  the  finding  of  God ;  hence  in  Isa.  Ixv.  1  we 
have  tnnj  as  parallel  to  ^^>P^  ^"^  \qv?,.  4,  5,  there  follows  a 
positive  declaration  of  the  attitude  of  God  towards  those  who 
are  devoted  to  idolatry  in  their  heart.  Every  such  Israelite 
will  be  answered  by  God  according  to  the  measure  of  the 
multitude  of  his  idols.     The  Niphal  nJVi  has  not  the  significa- 


CHAP.  XIV.  G-8.  179 

tion  of  the  Kal,  and  does  not  mean  "  to  be  answerable,"  as 
Ewald  supposes,  or  to  converse ;  but  is  generally  used  in  a 
passive  sense,  "  to  be  answered,"  i.e.  to  find  or  obtain  a  hearing 
(Job  xi.  2,  xix.  7).  It  is  employed  here  in  a  reflective  sense, 
to  hold  or  show  oneself  answering.  n3,  according  to  the 
Chetib  "^3,  for  which  the  Keri  suggests  the  softer  gloss  Na, 
refers  to  '^^  3"i3  which  follows;  the  nominative  beins  antici- 
pated,  according  to  an  idiom  very  common  in  Aramaean,  by  a 
previous  pronoun.  It  is  written  here  for  the  sake  of  emphasis, 
to  bring  the  following  object  into  more  striking  prominence. 
2  is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  secundum,  according  to,  not 
because,  since  this  meaning  is  quite  unsuitable  for  the  3  in 
ver.  7,  where  it  occurs  in  the  same  connection  C?).  The 
manner  in  which  God  will  show  Himself  answering  the 
idolatry  according  to  their  idols,  is  reserved  till  ver.  8.  Here, 
in  ver.  5,  the  design  of  this  procedure  on  the  part  of  God  is 
given :  viz.  to  grasp  Israel  by  the  heart;  i.e.  not  merely  to  touch 
and  to  improve  them,  but  to  bring  down  their  heart  by  judg- 
ments (cf.  Lev.  xxvi.  41),  and  thus  move  them  to  give  up 
idolatry  and  return  to  the  living  God.  'iifj,  as  in  Isa.  i.  4,  to 
recede,  to  draw  away  from  God.  Dps  is  an  emphatic  repetition 
of  the  subject  belonging  to  ^1T3. 

Vers.  6-8.  In  these  verses  the  divine  threat,  and  the  summons 
to  repent,  are  repeated,  expanded,  and  uttered  in  the  clearest 
words. — Ver.  6.  Therefore  say  to  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  Repent,  and  turn  aioay  from  your  idols  ;  and 
turn  away  your  face  from  all  your  abominations.  Ver.  7.  For 
every  one  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  of  the  foreigners  loho  sojourn 
in  Israel,  if  he  estrange  himself  from  me,  and  let  his  idols  rise  up 
in  his  heart,  and  set  the  stumbling-block  to  his  sin  before  his  face, 
and  come  to  the  prophet  to  seek  me  for  himself ;  I  loill  shoio  my- 
self to  him,  answering  in  my  own  icay.  Ver.  8.  1  luill  direct 
my  face  against  that  man,  and  ivill  destroy  him,  for  a  sign  and 
for  proverbs,  and  loill  cut  him  off  out  of  7ny  people  ;  and  ye  shall 
learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. — I??  in  ver.  6  is  co-ordinate  with  the 


180  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

I??  in  ver.  4,  so  far  as  the  thought  is  concerned,  but  it  is  directly 
attached  to  ver.  5b :  because  they  have  estranged  themselves 
from  God,  therefore  God  requires  them  to  repent  and  turn. 
For  God  will  answer  with  severe  judgments  every  one  who 
would  seek  God  with  idols  in  his  heart,  whether  he  be  an 
Israelite,  or  a  foreigner  living  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  'in^t:', 
turn,  be  converted,  is  rendered  still  more  emphatic  by  the 
addition  of  ^^^P  .  .  .  ''^''y''^.  This  double  call  to  repentance 
corresponds  to  the  double  reproof  of  their  idolatry  in  ver.  3, 
viz.  UV;^,  to  ^5?  ^V  '^3  n^yn ;  and  Q^V.?  ^2'"^'^',  to  their  setting  the 
idols  Qt]\^?  n3J.  ^3''K'n  is  not  used  intransitively,  as  it  apparently 
is  in  ch.  xviii.  30,  but  is  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  the 
object  D3"'3S,  which  follows  at  the  end  of  the  verse ;  and  it  is 
simply  repeated  before  uyz^  for  the  sake  of  clearness  and 
emphasis.  The  reason  for  the  summons  to  repent  and  give  up 
idolatry  is  explained  in  ver.  7,  in  the  threat  that  God  will 
destroy  every  Israelite,  and  every  foreigner  in  Israel,  who 
di'aws  away  from  God  and  attaches  himself  to  idols.  The 
phraseology  of  ver.  la  is  adopted  almost  verbatim  from  Lev. 
xvii.  8,  10,  13.  On  the  obligation  of  foreigners  to  avoid 
idolatry  and  all  moral  abominations,  vicl.  Lev.  xx.  2,  xviii.  2Q, 
xvii.  10 ;  Ex.  xii.  19,  etc.  The  )  before  "iT3>  and  W  does  not 
stand  for  the  Vav  relat.,  but  simply  supposes  a  case :  "  should 
he  separate  himself  from  my  followers,  and  let  his  idols  rise  up, 
etc."  ""^  V'ly'y^  does  not  mean,  "  to  seek  counsel  of  him  (the 
prophet)  from  me,"  for  i^  cannot  be  taken  as  referring  to  the 
prophet,  although  t>'")T  with  ?  does  sometimes  mean  to  seek  any 
one,  and  p  may  therefore  indicate  the  person  to  whom  one  goes 
to  make  inquiry  (cf.  2  Chron.  xv.  13,  xvii.  4,  xxxi.  21),  be- 
cause it  is  Jehovah  who  is  sought  in  this  case ;  and  Iliivernick's 
remark,  that  "  C'"}"!  with  p  merely  indicates  the  external  object 
sought  by  a  man,  and  therefore  in  this  instance  the  medium  or 
organ  through  whom  God  speaks,"  is  proved  to  be  erroneous  by 
the  passages  just  cited.  )b  is  reflective,  or  to  be  taken  as  a  dat. 
commodi^  denoting  the  inquirer  or  seeker.     The  person  ap- 


CHAP.  XIV.  9-11.  181 

proaclied  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  or  seeking,  i.e.  God,  is 
indicated  by  the  preposition  3,  as  in  1  Chron.  x.  14  (nin''3  ti'i'i); 
and  also  frequently,  in  the  case  of  idols,  when  either  an  oracle 
or  help  is  sought  from  them  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  7;  2  Kings  i. 
2  sqq.).  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  )7  and  ""a  can  be  made  to 
correspond  to  the  same  words  in  the  apodosis :  Whosoever  seeks 
counsel  of  God,  to  him  will  God  show  Himself  answering  ''^,  in 
Him,  i.e.  in  accordance  with  His  nature,  in  His  own  way, — 
namely,  in  the  manner  described  in  ver.  8.  The  threat  is  com- 
posed of  passages  in  the  law  :  'l3"i  ""JS  "'ijinj  and  'lJ1  ''^'l^n,  after 
Lev.  XX.  3,  5,  6 ;  and  'iJl  ^in'niDC'ni,  though  somewhat  freely, 
after  Deut.  xxviii.  37  ('lJ1  ^"f?^  ^W'^  ^l^)-  There  is  no  doubt, 
therefore,  that  "'0^^^'lI  is  to  be  derived  from  ^^^,  and  stands  for 
"•riiD'J'n,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  in  later  writings  of  re- 
solving the  Dagesh  forte  into  a  long  vowel.  The  allusion  to 
Deut.  xxviii.  37,  compared  with  T\\)^b  .Tn  in  ver.  46  of  the  same 
chapter,  is  sufficient  to  set  aside  the  assumption  that  Tiin'J'n  is 
to  be  derived  from  Q^,  and  pointed  accordingly ;  although  the 
LXX.,  Targ.,  Syr.,  and  Vulg.  have  all  renderings  of  D''b'  (cf. 
Ps.  xliv.  16).  Moreover,  D''i^  in  the  perfect  never  takes  the 
Hipliil  form ;  and  in  ch.  xx.  26  we  have  2?C'^?  in  a  similar 
connection.  The  expression  is  a  pregnant  one :  I  make  him 
desolate,  so  that  he  becomes  a  sign  and  proverbs. 

Vers.  9-11.  No  prophet  is  to  give  any  other  answer. — Ver.  9. 
But  if  a  prophet  alloio  himself  to  he  j^ersnaded,  and  give  a  tvord, 
I  have  persuaded  this  p>'>'ophet,  and  loill  stretch  out  my  hand 
against  him,  and  cut  him  off  aid  of  my  people  Israel.  Ver.  10. 
They  shall  bear  their  guilt :  as  the  guilt  of  the  inquirer,  so  shall 
the  guilt  of  the  prophet  be  ;  Ver.  11.  In  order  that  the  house  of 
Israel  may  no  more  stray  from  me,  and  may  no  more  defile  itself 
with  all  its  transgressions ;  hut  they  may  be  my  pteople,  and  I 
their  God,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — The  prophet  who 
allows  himself  to  be  persuaded  is  not  a  prophet  Sih'q  (ch. 
xiii.  2),  but  one  who  really  thinks  that  he  has  a  word  of  God. 
nria,  to  persuade,  to  entice  by  friendly  words  (in  a  good  sense, 


182  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Hos.  ii.  16)  ;  but  generally  sensii  malo,  to  lead  astray,  or  seduce 
to  that  wliicli  is  unallowable  or  evil.  ''  If  he  allow  himself  to 
be  persuaded:"  not  necessarily  "with  the  hope  of  payment 
from  the  hypocrites  who  consult  him "  (Michaelis).  This 
weakens  the  thought.  It  might  sometimes  be  done  from  un- 
selfish good-nature.  And  "the  word"  itself  need  not  have 
been  a  divine  oracle  of  his  own  invention,  or  a  false  prophecy. 
The  allusion  is  simply  to  a  word  of  a  different  character  from 
that  contained  in  vers.  6—8,  which  either  demands  repentance 
or  denounces  judgment  upon  the  impenitent :  every  word, 
therefore,  which  could  by  any  possibility  confirm  the  sinner  in 
his  security. — By  nin*  ""JX  (ver.  9)  the  apodosis  is  introduced  in 
an  emphatic  manner,  as  in  vers.  4  and  7 ;  but  ''^"JIiS  cannot  be 
taken  in  a  future  sense  ("  I  will  persuade ").  It  must  be  a 
perfect ;  since  the  persuading  of  the  prophet  would  necessarily 
precede  his  allowing  himself  to  be  persuaded.  The  Fathers 
and  earlier  Lutheran  theologians  are  wrong  in  their  interpreta- 
tion of  ''0"'{^r',  which  they  understand  in  a  permissive  sense, 
meaning  simply  that  God  allowed  it,  and  did  not  prevent  their 
being  seduced.  Still  more  wrong  are  Storr  and  Schmieder, 
the  former  of  whom  regards  it  as  simply  declaratory,  "  I  will 
declare  him  to  have  gone  astiay  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah;" 
the  latter,  "  I  will  show  him  to  be  a  fool,  by  punishing  him  for 
his  disobedience."  The  words  are  rather  to  be  understood  in 
accordance  with  1  Kings  xxii.  20  sqq.,  where  the  persuading 
(jnUdh)  is  done  by  a  lying  spirit,  which  inspires  the  prophets  of 
Ahab  to  predict  success  to  the  king,  in  order  that  he  may  fall. 
As  Jehovah  sent  the  spirit  in  that  case,  and  put  it  into  the 
mouth  of  the  prophets,  so  is  the  persuasion  in  this  instance  also 
effected  by  God :  not  merely  divine  permission,  but  divine 
ordination  and  arrangement;  though  this  does  not  destroy 
human  freedom,  but,  like  all  "persuading,"  presupposes  the 
possibility  of  not  allowing  himself  to  be  persuaded.  See  the 
discussion  of  this  question  in  the  commentary  on  1  Kings  xxii. 
20  sqq.      The  remark  of   Calvin   on   the   verse   before   us  is 


CHAP.  XIV.  12-23,  183 

correct :  "  it  teaches  that  neither  impostures  nor  frauds  take 
place  apart  from  the  will  of  God  "  {nisi  Deo  volente).  But  this 
willing  on  the  part  of  God,  or  the  persuading  of  the  prophets 
to  the  utterance  of  self-willed  words,  which  have  not  been  in- 
spired by  God,  only  takes  place  in  persons  who  admit  evil  into 
themselves,  and  is  designed  to  tempt  them  and  lead  them  to 
decide  whether  they  will  endeavour  to  resist  and  conquer  the 
sinful  inclinations  of  their  hearts,  or  will  allow  them  to  shape 
themselves  into  outward  deeds,  in  which  case  they  will  become 
ripe  for  judgment.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  God  persuades  such 
a  prophet,  in  order  that  He  may  then  cut  him  off  out  of  His 
people.  But  this  punishment  will  not  fall  upon  the  prophet 
only.  It  will  reach  the  seeker  or  inquirer  also,  in  order  if 
possible  to  bring  Israel  back  from  its  wandering  astray,  and 
make  it  into  a  people  of  God  purified  from  sin  (vers.  10  and 
11).  It  was  to  this  end  that,  in  the  last  times  of  the  kingdom 
of  Judah,  God  allowed  false  prophecy  to  prevail  so  mightily, — 
namely,  that  it  might  accelerate  the  process  of  distinguishing 
between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  ;  and  then,  by  means  of 
the  judgment  which  destroyed  the  wicked,  purify  His  nation 
and  lead  it  on  to  the  great  end  of  its  calling. 

Vers.  12-23.  The  Righteousness  of  the  Godly  will 
NOT  AVERT  THE  JUDGMENT. — The  threat  contained  in  the 
preceding  word  of  God,  that  if  the  idolaters  did  not  repent, 
God  would  not  answer  them  in  any  other  way  than  with  an 
exterminating  judgment,  left  the  possibility  still  open,  that  He 
would  avert  the  destruction  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  for  the 
sake  of  the  righteous  therein,  as  He  had  promised  the  patriarch 
Abraham  that  He  would  do  in  the  case  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
(Gen.  xviii.  23  sqq.).  This  hope,  which  might  be  cherished 
by  the  people  and  by  the  elders  who  had  come  to  the  prophet, 
is  now  to  be  taken  from  the  people  by  the  word  of  God  which 
follows,  containing  as  it  does  the  announcement,  that  if  any 
land  should  sin  so  grievously  against  God  by  its  apostasy,  He 


18-1  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

would  be  driven  to  inflict  upon  it  the  punishments  threatened 
by  Moses  against  apostate  Israel  (Lev.  xxvi.  22,  25,  26,  and 
elsewhere),  namely,  to  destroy  both  man  and  beast,  and  make 
the  land  a  desert ;  it  would  be  of  no  advantage  to  such  a  land 
to  have  certain  righteous  men,  such  as  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job, 
livinji  therein.  For  although  these  rio;liteous  men  would  be 
saved  themselves,  their  righteousness  could  not  possibly  secure 
salvation  for  the  sinners.  The  manner  in  which  this  thought 
is  carried  out  in  vers.  13-20  is,  that  four  exterminating  punish- 
ments are  successively  supposed  to  come  upon  tlie  land  and  lay 
it  waste ;  and  in  the  case  of  every  one,  the  words  are  repeated, 
that  even  righteous  men,  such  as  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  would 
only  save  their  own  souls,  and  not  one  of  the  sinners.  And 
thus,  according  to  vers.  21-23,  will  the  Lord  act  when  He 
sends  His  judgments  against  Jerusalem ;  and  He  will  execute 
them  in  such  a  manner  that  the  necessity  and  righteousness  of 
His  acts  shall  be  made  manifest  therein. — This  word  of  God 
forms  a  supplementary  side-piece  to  Jer.  xv.  1-4,  where  the 
Lord  replies  to  the  intercession  of  the  prophet,  that  even  the 
intercession  of  a  Moses  and  a  Samuel  on  behalf  of  the  people 
would  not  avert  the  judgments  which  were  suspended  over  them. 
Ver.  12.  And  the  icord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saxjhuj, 
Ver.  13.  Son  of  man,  if  a  land  sin  against  me  to  act  treacher- 
onsli/,  and  I  stretch  out  my  liand  against  it,  and  break  in  pieces 
for  it  the  snpjjort  of  bread,  and  send  famine  into  it,  and 
cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast :  Ver.  14.  And  there  should  be 
these  three  men  therein,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  they  ivould 
ihrovgh  their  righteousness  deliver  their  soul,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  15.  If  [bring  evil  beasts  into  the  land,  so 
that  they  make  it  childless,  and  it  become  a  desert,  so  that  no  one 
passeth  through  it  because  of  the  beasts:  Ver.  IG.  These  three 
men  therein,  as  1  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  ivould 
not  deliver  sons  and  daughters  ;  they  only  ivoidd  be  delivered,  but 
the  land  would  become  a  desert.  Ver.  17.  Or  1  bring  the  sword  into 
that  land,  and  say.  Let  the  sword  go  through  the  land;  and  1  cut  off 


CHAP.  XIV.  12-20.  185 

from  it  man  and  beast:  Ver.  18.  TJiese  three  men  therein,  as  I 
live,  is  the  saving  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  ivould  not  deliver  sons 
and  daughters,  but  they  only  would  be  delivered.  Ver.  19.  Or 
I  send  pestilence  into  that  land,  and  pour  out  my  fury  upon  it  in 
blood,  to  cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast :  Ver.  20.  Verily,  Noah, 
Daniel,  and  Job,  in  the  midst  of  it,  as  I  live,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  loonld  deliver  neither  son  nor  daughter ;  they 
icould  only  deliver  their  own  soul  through  their  righteousness. — 
pX  in  ver.  13  is  intentionallj  left  indefinite,  that  the  thought 
may  be  expressed  in  the  most  general  manner.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  sin  is  very  plainly  defined  as  bv^'bvu?.  bv^^  literally, 
to  cover,  signifies  to  act  in  a  secret  or  treacherous  manner, 
especially  towards  Jehovah,  either  by  apostasy  from  Him,  in 
other  words,  by  idolatry,  or  by  withholding  what  is  due  to  Him 
(see  comm.  on  Lev.  v.  15).  In  the  passage  before  us  it  is 
the  treachery  of  apostasy  from  Him  by  idolatry  that  is  intended. 
As  the  epithet  used  to  denote  the  sin  is  taken  fi'om  Lev.  xxvi. 
40  and  Deut.  xxxii.  51,  so  the  four  punishments  mentioned  in 
the  following  verses,  as  well  as  inch.  v.  17,  are  also  taken  from 
Lev.  xxvi., — viz.  the  breaking  up  of  the  staff  of  bread,  from 
ver.  26;  the  evil  beasts,  from  ver.  22;  and  the  sword  and 
pestilence,  from  ver.  25.  The  three  men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and 
Job,  are  named  as  examples  of  true  righteousness  of  life,  or 
^?^'^  (vers.  14,  20) ;  i.e.,  according  to  Calvin's  correct  explana- 
tion, quicquid  'pertinet  ad  regulam  sancte  et  juste  vivendi.  Noah 
is  so  described  in  Gen.  vi.  9  ;  and  Job,  in  the  Book  of  Job  i.  1, 
xii.  4,  etc. ;  and  Daniel,  in  like  manner,  is  mentioned  in  Dan. 
i.  8  sqq.,  vi.  11  sqq.,  as  faithfully  confessing  his  faith  in  his  life. 
The  fact  that  Daniel  is  named  before  Job  does  not  warrant  the 
conjecture  that  some  other  older  Daniel  is  meant,  of  whom 
nothing  is  said  in  the  history,  and  whose  existence  is  merely 
postulated.  For  the  enumeration  is  not  intended  to  be  chrono- 
logical, but  is  arranged  according  to  the  subject-matter ;  the 
order  being  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  deliverance  ex- 
perienced by  these  men  for  their  righteousness  in  the  midst  of 


18G  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

great  judgments.  Consequently,  as  Hiivernick  and  Kliefoth 
have  sliown,  we  have  a  climax  here  :  Noah  saved  his  family 
along  with  himself ;  Daniel  was  able  to  save  his  friends  (Dan. 
ii.  17,  18)  ;  but  Job,  with  his  righteousness,  was  not  even 
able  to  save  his  children. — The  second  judgment  (ver.  15)  is 
introduced  with  ^b,  which,  as  a  rule,  supposes  a  case  that  is  not 
expected  to  occur,  or  even  regarded  as  possible ;  here,  however, 
5|^  is  used  as  perfectly  synonymous  with  D^?.  "^Jj^j?^  has  no 
3fappik,  because  the  tone  is  drawn  back  upon  the  penultima 
(see  comm.  on  Amos  i.  11).  In  ver.  19,  the  expression  '•'  to 
pour  out  my  wrath  in  blood  "  is  a  pregnant  one,  for  to  pour  out 
my  wrath  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  manifested  in  the  shed- 
ding of  blood  or  the  destruction  of  life,  for  the  life  is  in  the 
blood.  In  this  sense  pestilence  and  blood  were  also  associated 
in  ch.  v.  17. — If  we  look  closely  at  the  four  cases  enumerated, 
we  find  the  following  difference  in  the  statements  concerning 
the  deliverance  of  the  righteous  :  that,  in  the  first  instance,  it 
is  simply  stated  that  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  would  save  their 
soul,  i.e.  their  life,  by  their  righteousness  ;  whereas,  in  the  three 
others,  it  is  declared  that  as  truly  as  the  Lord  liveth  they  would 
not  save  either  sons  or  daughters,  but  they  alone  would  be 
delivered.  The  difference  is  not  merely  a  rhetorical  climax  or 
progress  in  the  address  by  means  of  asseveration  and  anti- 
thesis, but  indicates  a  distinction  in  the  thought.  The  first 
case  is  only  intended  to  teach  that  in  the  approaching  judg- 
ment the  righteous  would  save  their  lives,  i.e.  that  God  would 
not  sweep  away  the  righteous  with  the  ungodly.  The  three 
cases  which  follow  are  intended,  on  the  other  hand,  to  exemplify 
the  truth  that  the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  will  be  of  no 
avail  to  the  idolaters  and  apostates ;  since  even  such  patterns 
of  righteousness  as  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  would  only  save 
their  own  lives,  and  would  not  be  able  to  save  the  lives  of 
others  also.  This  tallies  with  the  omission  of  the  asseveration 
in  ver.  14.  The  first  declaration,  that  God  would  deliver  the 
righteous  in   the  coming   judgments,  needed  no  asseveration, 


CHAP.  XiV.  21-23,  187 

inasmuch  as  tliis  truth  was  not  called  in  question ;  but  it  was 
required  in  the  case  of  the  declaration  that  the  righteousness 
of  the  righteous  would  bring  no  deliverance  to  the  sinful 
nation,  since  this  was  the  hope  which  the  ungodly  cherished, 
and  it  was  this  hope  which  was  to  be  taken  from  them.  The 
other  differences  which  we  find  in  the  description  given  of  the 
several  cases  are  merely  formal  in  their  nature,  and  do  not  in 
any  way  affect  the  sense ;  e.g.  the  use  of  ^h,  in  ver.  18,  instead 
of  the  particle  DX,  which  is  commonly  employed  in  oaths,  and 
which  we  find  in  vers.  16  and  20 ;  the  choice  of  the  singular  i? 
and  n?,  in  ver.  20,  in  the  place  of  the  plural  ni321  D^pn,  used  in 
vers.  16  and  18  ;  and  the  variation  in  the  expressions,  2t:'23  -b^i^ 
(ver.  14),  D"J'D3  ^^>*:  (ver.  20),  and  li'vr.  D^aj)  man  (vers.  16  and 
18),  which  Hitzig  proposes  to  remove  by  altering  the  first  two 
forms  into  the  third,  though  without  the  slightest  reason.  For 
although  the  Plel  occurs  in  Ex.  xii.  36  in  the  sense  of  taking 
away  or  spoiling,  and  is  not  met  with  anywhere  else  in  the 
sense  of  delivering,  it  may  just  as  well  be  used  in  this  sense,  as 
the  Hipldl  has  both  significations. 

Vers.  21—23.  The  rule  expounded  in  vers.  13-20  is  here 
applied  to  Jerusalem. — Ver.  21.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  How  much  more  lohen  1  send  my  four  evil  judgments, 
sword,  and  famine,  and  evil  beasts,  and  pestilence,  against  Jeru- 
salem, to  cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast  ?  Ver.  22.  And,  behold, 
there  remain  escaped  ones  in  her  icho  will  be  brought  out,  sons 
and  daughters  ;  behold,  they  will  go  out  to  yon,  that  ye  may  see 
their  icalk  and  their  xoorhs  ;  and  console  yourselves  concerning  the 
evil  which  I  have  brought  upon  Jerusalem.  Ver.  23.  And  they 
will  console  you,  when  ye  see  their  walk  and  their  works  :  and 
ye  will  see  that  I  have  not  done  loithout  cause  all  that  I  have 
done  to  her,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  —  By  ''S  in 
ver.  21  the  application  of  the  general  rule  to  Jerusalem 
is  made  in  the  form  of  a  reason.  The  meaning,  however,  is 
not,  that  the  reason  why  Jehovah  was  obliged  to  act  in  this 
unsparing  manner  was  to  be  found  in  the  corrupt  condition  of 


188  TnE  pnoPHECiES  of  ezekikl. 

the  nation,  as  Hiivernick  supposes, — a  thought  quite  foreign  to 
the  context: ;  but  ''3  indicates  that  the  judgments  upon  Jerusalem 
will  furnish  a  practical  proof  of  the  general  truth  expressed 
in  vers.   13-20,  and  so  confirm  it.      This  *3  is  no   more  an 
emphatic  yea  tl)an  the  following  "  ^1^  is  a  forcible  introduction 
to  the  antithesis   formed   by  the  coming  fact,  to  the  merely 
imanrinary  cases   mentioned  above"   (Hitzig).       ^1^?    has    un- 
doubtedly the  force  of  a  climax,  but  not  of  an  asseveration, 
"verily"    (Iliiv.)  ;   a  meaning  which   this  particle  never  has. 
It  is  used  here,  as  in  Job  iv.  19,  in  the  sense  of  ""S  ^l^^ ;    and 
the  ■'3  which  follows  ^^?  in  this  case  is  a  conditional  particle  of 
time,  "  when."     Consequently  ^2  ought  properly  to  be  written 
twice  ;  but  it  is  only  used  once,  as  in  ch.  xv.  5;  Job  ix.  14,  etc. 
The  thought  is  this :  how  much  more  will  this  be  the  case, 
namely,  that  even  a  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  will  not  deliver 
either  sons  or  daughters  when   I  send   my  judgments  upon 
Jerusalem.     The  perfect  ''ijin^^  is  used,  and  not  the  imperfect, 
as  in  ver.  13,  because  God  has  actually  resolved  upon  sending 
it,  and  does  not  merely  mention  it  as  a  possible  case.     The 
number  four  is  significant,  symbolizing  the  universality  of  the 
judgment,  or  the  thought  that  it  will  fall  on  all  sides,  or  upon 
the  whole  of  Jerusalem ;  whereby  it  must  also  be   borne  in 
mind  that  Jerusalem  as  the  capital  represents  the  kingdom  of 
Judah,  or  the  whole  of  Israel,  so  far  as  it  was  still  in  Canaan. 
At  the  same  time,  by  the  fact  that  the  Lord  allows  sons  and 
daughters  to  escape  death,  and  to  be  led  away  to  Babylon,  He 
forces  the  acknowledgment  of  the  necessity  and  righteousness 
of  His  judgments  among  those  who  are  in  exile.     This  is  in 
general   terms  the  thought  contained  in  vers.  22  and  23,  to 
which  very  different  meanings  have  been  assigned  by  the  latest 
expositors.     Havernick,  for  example,  imagines  that,  in  addition 
to  the  four  ordinary  judgments  laid  down  in  the  law,  ver.  22 
announces  a  new  and  extraordinary  one ;  whereas  Hitzig  and 
Kliefoth  have  found  in  these  two  verses  the  consolatory  assur- 
ance, that  in  the  time  of  the  judgments  a  few  of  the  younger 


CHAP.  XIV.  21-23.  189 

generation  will  be  rescued  and  taken  to  those  already  in  exile 
in  Babylon,  there  to  excite  pity  as  well  as  to  express  it,  and  to 
give  a  visible  proof  of  the  magnitude  of  the  judgment  which 
has  fallen  upon  Israel.  They  differ  so  far  from  each  other, 
however,  that  Hitzig  regards  those  of  the  younger  generation 
who  are  saved  as  2''i?^1V;  who  have  saved  themselves  through 
their  innocence,  but  not  their  guilty  parents,  and  who  will 
excite  the  commiseration  of  those  already  in  exile  through 
their  blameless  conduct ;  whilst  Kliefoth  imagines  that  those 
who  are  rescued  are  simply  less  criminal  than  the  rest,  and 
when  they  come  to  Babylon  will  be  pitied  by  those  who  have 
been  longer  in  exile,  and  will  pity  them  in  return. — Neither  of 
these  views  does  justice  to  the  words  themselves  or  to  the  con- 
text. The  meaning  of  ver.  22a  is  clear  enough ;  and  in  the 
main  there  has  been  no  difference  of  opinion  concerning  it. 
When  man  and  beast  are  cut  off  out  of  Jerusalem  by  the  four 
judgments,  all  will  not  perish ;  but  no^a^  i,e.  persons  who 
have  escaped  destruction,  will  be  left,  and  will  be  led  out  of 
the  city.  These  are  called  sons  and  daughters,  with  an  allusion 
to  vers.  16,  18,  and  20  ;  and  consequently  we  must  not  take 
these  words  as  referring  to  the  younger  generation  in  contrast 
to  the  older.  They  will  be  led  out  of  Jerusalem,  not  to  remain 
in  the  land,  but  to  come  to  "  you,"  i.e.  those  already  in  exile, 
that  is  to  say,  to  go  into  exile  to  Babylon.  This  does  not  imply 
either  a  modification  or  a  sharpening  of  the  punishment ; 
for  the  cutting  off  of  man  and  beast  from  a  town  may  be 
effected  not  only  by  slaying,  but  by  leading  away.  The  design 
of  God  in  leaving  some  to  escape,  and  cai'rying  them  to 
Babylon,  is  explained  in  the  clauses  which  follow  from  cri''X"i^ 
onwards,  the  meaning  of  which  depends  partly  upon  the  more 
precise  definition  of  D3"]"n  and  C:rn7"'5>j;,  and  partly  upon  the  ex- 
planation to  be  given  of  nynn'ijj;  nri?pn3  and  csrix  ^»mi.  The 
Avays  and  works  are  not  to  be  taken  without  reserve  as  good 
and  righteous  works,  as  Kliefoth  has  correctly  shown  in  his 
reply  to  Hitzig.     Still  less  can  ways  and  works  denote  their 


100  the:  rnoPHECiES  of  ezekiel. 

experience  or  fate,  wliich  is  the  explanation  given  by  Kliefoth 
of  the  words,  when  expounding  the  meaning  and  connection  of 
vers.  21-23.     The  context  certainly  points  to  wicked  ways  and 
evil  works.     And  it  is  only  the  sight  of  such  works  that  could 
lead  to  tlie  conviction   that  it  was  not  Dsn^  jn  vain,  i.e.  without 
cause,  that  God  had  inflicted   such   severe   judgments  upon 
Jerusalem.     And  in  addition  to  this  effect,  which  is  mentioned 
in  ver.  23  as  produced  upon  those  who  were  already  in  exile, 
by  the  siglit  of  the  conduct  of  the  '^^"'^S  that  came  to  Babylon, 
the  immediate  design  of  God  is  described  in  ver.  22h  as  Dripn?"! 
'iJl  nj?nn"^y.     The  verb  Dn3  with  V^  cannot  be  used  here  in  the 
sense  of  to  repent  of  anything,  or  to  grieve  over  it  (Hitzig) ; 
still  less  can  it  mean  to  pity  any  one  (KMefoth).     For  a  man 
cannot  repent  of,  or  be  sorry  for,  a  judgment  which  God  has 
inflicted  upon  him,  but  only  of  evil  which  he  himself  has  done ; 
and  DHJ  does  not  mean  to  pity  a  person,  either  when  construed 
in  the  Piel  with  an  accusative  of  the  person,  or  in  the  Niphal 
€.  hVj  rei.     ^^''r'^^  is  Niphal,  and  signifies  here  to  console  one- 
self, as  in  Gen.  xxxviii.  12  with  pV,  concerning  anything,  as  in 
2  Sam.  xiii.  39,  Jer.  xxxi.  15,  etc.;   and  ion?  (ver.  23),  with 
the  accusative  of  the  person,  to  comfort  any  one,  as  in  Gen. 
li.  21 ;  Job  ii.  11,  etc.     But  the  works  and  doings  of  those  wlio 
came  to  Babyh  n  could  only  produce  this  effect  upon  those  wlio 
were  already  there,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  of  such  a 
character  as  to  demonstrate  the  necessity  for  the  judgments 
which  had  fallen  upon  Jerusalem.     A  conviction  of  the  neces- 
sity for  the  divine  judgments  would  cause  them  to  comfort 
themselves  with  regard  to  the  evil  inflicted  by  God  ;  inasmuch 
as  they  would  see,  not  only  that  the  punishment  endured  was 
a  chastisement  well  deserved,  but  that  God  in  His  righteousness 
would  stay  the  punishment  when  it  had  fulfilled  His  purpose, 
and  restore  the  penitent  sinner  to  favour  once   more.      But 
the  consolation    which  those  who  were  in   exile  would  derive 
from  a  sight  of  the  works  of  the  sons  and  daughters  who  had 
escaped  from  death    and    come  to  Babylon,  is  attributed  in 


CHAP.  XV.  1-8.  191 

ver.  23  (0?^^  '"^H?)  to  the  persons  themselves.  It  is  in  this 
sense  that  it  is  stated  that  "  they  will  comfort  you ; "  not  by 
expressions  of  pity,  but  by  the  sight  of  their  conduct.  This  is 
directly  affirmed  in  the  words,  "  when  ye  shall  see  their  conduct 
and  their  works."  Consequently  ver.  23a  does  not  contain 
a  new  thought,  but  simply  the  thought  already  expressed  in 
ver.  22b,  which  is  repeated  in  a  new  form  to  make  it  the  more 
emphatic.  And  the  expression  nvJ?  "'nx3n  "ik:'X"?3  nst,  in  ver.  22, 
serves  to  increase  the  force ;  whilst  nx,  in  the  sense  of  quoad, 
serves  to  place  the  thought  to  be  repeated  in  subordination  to 
the  whole  clause  (cf.  Ewald,  §  277a,  p.  683). 

CHAP.  XV.    JERUSALEM,  THE  USELESS  WOOD  OF  A  WILD  TINE. 

As  certainly  as  God  will  not  spare  Jerusalem  for  the  sake  of 
the  righteousness  of  the  few  righteous  men  therein,  so  certain 
is  it  that  Israel  has  no  superiority  over  other  nations,  which 
could  secure  Jerusalem  against  destruction.  As  the  previous 
word  of  God  overthrows  false  confidence  in  the  righteousness 
of  the  godly,  what  follows  in  this  chapter  is  directed  against 
the  fancy  that  Israel  cannot  be  rejected  and  punished  by  the 
overthrow  of  the  kingdom,  because  of  its  election  to  be  tlie 
people  of  God. 

Ver.  1.  And  the  loord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  2. 
Son  of  man,  ivhat  advantage  has  the  wood,  of  the  vine  over  every 
wood,  the  vine-hranch,  ichich  was  among  the  trees  of  the  forest'? 
Ver.  3.  Is  icood  taken  from  it  to  use  for  any  work  ?  or  do  men 
take  a  peg  from  it  to  hang  all  kinds  of  vessels  upon  ?  Ver.  4. 
Behold,  it  is  given  to  the  fre  to  consume.  If  the  fire  has  con- 
sumed its  two  ends,  and  the  middle  of  it  is  scorched,  will  it  then 
^^  f^  Z^^'  '^^y  ii^ork  ?  Ver.  5.  Behold,  lohen  it  is  uninjured,  it  is 
not  used  for  any  work :  hoiv  much  less  ivhen  the  fire  has  con- 
sumed it  and  scorched  it  can  it  he  still  used  for  work  !  Ver.  6. 
Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  As  the  wood  of  the  vine 
among  the  wood  of  the  forest,  which  I  give  to  the  fire  to  consume, 


192  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL, 

SO  do  I gice  up  the  iuhahitants  of  Jerusalem^  Ver.  7.  And  direct 
my  face  against  them.  They  have  gone  out  of  the  fire,  and  the 
lire  will  consume  them ;  that  ye  may  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when 
1  set  my  face  against  them.  Ver.  ^.  And  I  make  the  land  a  desert, 
because  they  committed  treachery,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 
— Israel  is  like  the  wood  of  the  wild  vine,  which  is  put  into  the 
fire  to  burn,  because  it  is  good  for  nothing.  From  Deut. 
xxxii.  32,  33  onwards,  Israel  is  frequently  compared  to  a  vine 
or  a  vineyard  (cf.  Ps.  Ixxx.  9  sqq. ;  Isa.  v. ;  Hos.  x.  1 ;  Jer.  ii. 
21),  and  always,  with  the  exception  of  Ps.  Ixxx.,  to  point  out 
its  degeneracy.  This  comparison  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the 
figure  employed,  in  vers.  2-5,  of  the  wood  of  the  wild  vine. 
This  wood  has  no  superiority  over  any  other  kind  of  wood.  It 
cannot  be  used,  like  other  timber,  for  any  useful  purposes ;  but 
is  only  fit  to  be  burned,  so  that  it  is  really  inferior  to  all  other 
wood  (vers.  2  and  3a).  And  if,  in  its  perfect  state,  it  cannot 
be  used  for  anything,  how  much  less  when  it  is  partially 
scorched  and  consumed  (vers.  4  and  5)  !  '^^.'7'''"'^>  followed  by 
IP,  means,  what  is  it  above  (IP,  comparative)  1 — i.e.  what 
superiority  has  it  to  T^'-'^,  all  kinds  of  wood?  i.e.  any  other 
wood.  '1J1  "I'f  ^5  nniDin  is  in  apposition  to  \^P,^  YV,  and  is  not  to 
be  connected  with  Y)!'?^^,  as  it  has  been  by  the  LXX.  and 
Vulgate, — notwithstanding  the  Masoretic  accentuation, — so  as 
to  mean  every  kind  of  fagot ;  for  HiiDT  does  not  mean  a  fagot, 
but  the  tendril  or  branch  of  the  vine  (cf.  ch.  viii.  17),  which  is 
still  further  defined  by  the  following  relative  clause  :  to  be  a 
wood-vine,  i.e.  a  wild  vine,  which  bears  only  sour,  uneatable 
grapes.  The  preterite  ^l>}  (which  loas ;  not,  "  is  ")  may  be  ex- 
plained from  the  idea  that  the  vine  had  been  fetched  from  the 
forest  in  order  that  its  wood  might  be  used.  The  answer  given 
in  ver.  3  is,  that  this  vine-wood  cannot  be  used  for  any  pur- 
pose whatever,  not  even  as  a  peg  for  hanging  any  kind  of 
domestic  utensils  upon  (see  comm.  on  Zech.  x.  4).  It  is  too 
weak  even  for  this.  The  object  has  to  be  supplied  to  riib'j;? 
naXj'ro!' :  to  make,  or  apply  it,  for  any  work.     Because  it  cannot 


CHAP.  XV.  1-8.  193 

be  used  as  timber,  it  is  burned.  A  fresh  thought  is  introduced 
in  ver.  46  by  the  words  'P  V.^  ^^.  The  two  clauses  in  ver.  Ab 
are  to  be  connected  together.  The  first  supposes  a  case,  from 
which  the  second  is  deduced  as  a  conclusion.  The  question, 
'^  Is  it  fit  for  any  work  ? "  is  determined  in  ver.  5  in  the 
negative.  ""S  ^b* :  as  in  ch.  xiv.  21.  inj :  perfect;  and  "in.''.: 
imperfect,  Niphal,  of  "i^n,  in  the  sense  of,  to  be  burned  or 
scorched.  The  subject  to  in*!  is  no  doubt  the  wood,  to  which 
the  suffix  in  ^nri^3i<  refers.  At  the  same  time,  the  two  clauses 
are  to  be  understood,  in  accoi'dance  with  ver.  4i,  as  relating  to 
the  burning  of  the  ends  and  the  scorching  of  the  middle. — 
Vers.  6-8.  In  the  application  of  the  parable,  the  only  thing  to 
which  prominence  is  given,  is  the  fact  that  God  will  deal  with 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  in  the  same  manner  as  with  the 
vine-wood,  which  cannot  be  used  for  any  kind  of  work.  This 
implies  that  Israel  resembles  the  wood  of  a  forest-vine.  As 
this  possesses  no  superiority  to  other  wood,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
is  utterly  useless,  so  Israel  has  no  superiority  to  other  nations, 
but  is  even  worse  than  they,  and  therefore  is  given  up  to  the 
fire.  This  is  accounted  for  in  ver.  7  :  "  They  have  come  out 
of  the  fire,  and  the  fire  will  consume  them"  (the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem).  These  words  are  not  to  be  interpreted  proverbi- 
ally, as  meaning,  "he  who  escapes  one  judgment  falls  into 
another"  (Havernick),  but  show  the  application  of  vers.  4b 
and  5  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  Out  of  a  fire  one  must 
come  either  burned  or  scorched.  Israel  has  been  in  the  fire 
already.  It  resembles  a  wild  vine  which  has  been  consumed 
at  both  ends  by  the  fire,  while  the  middle  has  been  scorched, 
and  which  is  now  about  to  be  given  up  altogether  to  the  fire. 
We  must  not  restrict  the  fire,  however,  out  of  which  it  lias 
come  half  consumed,  to  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  the  time 
of  Jehoiachin,  as  Hitzig  does,  but  must  extend  it  to  all  the  judg- 
ments which  fell  upon  the  covenant  nation,  from  the  destruction 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  to  the  catastrophe  in  the  reign 
of  Jehoiachin,  and  in  consequence  of  which  Israel  now  resembled 
EZEK.  I.  N 


194  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

a  vine  burned  at  both  ends  and  scorched  in  the  middle.  Tlie 
threat  closes  in  the  same  manner  as  the  previous  one.  Compare 
ver.  lb  with  ch.  xiv.  8^,  and  ver.  8  with  ch.  xiv.  15  and  13. 

CHAP.  XVr.   INGRATITUDE  AND  UNFAITHFULNESS  OP 
JERUSALEM.      ITS  PUNISHMENT  AND  SHAME. 

The  previous  word  of  God  represented  Israel  as  a  wild  and 
useless  vine,  which  had  to  be  consumed.  But  as  God  had 
planted  this  vine  in  His  vineyard,  as  He  had  adopted  Israel 
as  His  own  people,  the  rebellious  nation,  though  met  by  these 
threatenings  of  divine  judgment,  might  still  plead  that  God 
would  not  reject  Israel,  on  account  of  its  election  as  the 
covenant  nation.  This  proof  of  false  confidence  in  the  divine 
covenant  of  grace  is  removed  by  the  word  of  God  in  the 
present  chapter,  which  shows  that  by  nature  Israel  is  no  better 
than  other  nations ;  and  that,  in  consequence  of  its  shameful 
ingratitude  towards  the  Lord,  who  saved  it  from  destruction  in 
the  days  of  its  youth,  it  has  sinned  so  grievously  against  Him, 
and  has  sunk  so  low  among  the  heathen  through  its  excessive 
idolatry,  that  God  is  obliged  to  punish  and  judge  it  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  others.  At  the  same  time,  the  Lord  will 
continue  mindful  of  His  covenant;  and  on  the  restoration  of 
Sodom  and  Samaria,  He  will  also  turn  the  captivity  of  Jeru- 
salem,— to  the  deep  humiliation  and  shame  of  Israel, — and  will 
establish  an  everlasting  covenant  with  it. — The  contents  of  this 
word  of  God  divide  themselves,  therefore,  into  three  parts.  In 
the  Jlrst^  we  have  the  description  of  the  nation's  sin,  through 
its  falling  away  from  its  God  into  idolatry  (vers.  2-34)  ;  in 
the  second,  the  announcement  of  the  punishment  (vers.  35-52); 
and  in  the  third,  the  restoration  of  Israel  to  favour  (vers.  53- 
63).  The  past,  present,  and  future  of  Israel  are  all  embraced, 
from  its  first  commencement  to  its  ultimate  consummation. — 
These  copious  contents  are  draped  in  an  allegory,  which  is 
carried  out  on  a  magnificent  scale.      Starting  from  the  repre- 


CHAP.  XVI.  1-5.  195 

sentatlon  of  the  covenant  relation  existing  between  the  Lord 
and  His  people,  under  the  figure  of  a  marriage  covenant, — 
which  runs  through  the  whole  of  the  Scriptures, — Jerusalem, 
the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  the  representative  of 
Israel,  the  covenant  nation,  is  addressed  as  a  wife ;  and  the 
attitude  of  God  to  Israel,  as  well  of  that  of  Israel  to  its  God,  is 
depicted  under  this  figure. 

Vers.  1-14.  Israel,  by  nature  unclean,  miserable,  and  near 
to  destruction  (vers.  3-5),  is  adopted  by  the  Lord  and  clothed 
in  splendour  (vers.  6-14).  Vers.  1  and  2  form  the  introduc- 
tion.— Ver.  1.  And  the  loord  of  Jeliovah  came  to  me,  saying, 
Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  slioio  Jerusalem  her  abominations. — The 
"abominations"  of  Jerusalem  are  the  sins  of  the  covenant 
nation,  which  were  worse  than  the  sinful  abominations  of 
Canaan  and  Sodom.  The  theme  of  this  word  of  God  is  the 
declaration  of  these  abominations.  To  this  end  the  nation  is 
first  of  all  shown  what  it  was  by  nature. — Ver.  3.  And  say, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  Jerusalem,  Thine  origin  and  thy 
birth  are  from  the  land  of  the  Canaanites ;  thy  father  was  the 
Amorite,  and  thy  mother  a  Hittite.  Ver.  4.  And  as  for  thy 
hirth,  in  the  day  of  thy  birth  thy  navel  loas  not  cut,  and  thou 
wast  not  bathed  in  water  for  cleansing  ;  and  not  nibbed  with  salt, 
and  not  lorapped  in  bandages.  Ver.  5.  No  eye  looked  upon 
thee  with  pity,  to  do  one  of  these  to  thee  in  compassion ;  hut 
thou  toast  cast  into  the  field,  in  disgust  at  thy  life,  on  the  day  of 
thy  birth. — According  to  the  allegory,  which  runs  through  the 
whole  chapter,  the  figure  adopted  to  depict  the  origin  of  the 
Israelitish  nation  is  that  Jerusalem,  the  existing  representative 
of  the  nation,  is  described  as  a  child,  born  of  Canaanitish 
parents,  mercilessly  exposed  after  its  birth,  and  on  the  point  of 
perishing.  Hitzig  and  Kliefoth  show  that  they  have  com- 
pletely misunderstood  the  allegory,  when  they  not  only  explain 
the  statement  concerning  the  descent  of  Jerusalem,  in  ver.  3, 
as  relating  to  the  city  of  that  name,  but  restrict  it  to  the  city 
alone,   on   the   ground   that  "  Israel  as  a  whole  was  not  of 


196  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Canaanitish  ony;in,  whereas  the  city  of  Jerusalem  was  radically 
a  Canaanitish,  Amoritish,  and  Hittite  city."  But  were  not  all 
the  cities  of  Israel  radically  Canaanaean  ?  Or  was  Israel  not 
altogether,  but  only  half,  of  Aramaean  descent?  Regarded 
merely  as  a  city,  Jerusalem  was  neither  of  Amoritish  nor 
Hittite  origin,  but  simply  a  Jebusite  city.  And  it  is  too  obvi- 
ous to  need  any  proof,  that  the  prophetic  word  does  not  refer 
to  the  city  as  a  city,  or  to  the  mass  of  houses ;  but  that  Jeru- 
salem, as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  at  that  time,  so 
far  as  its  inhabitants  w^ere  concerned,  represents  the  people  of 
Israel,  or  the  covenant  nation.  It  was  not  the  mass  of  houses, 
but  the  population, — which  was  the  foundling, — that  excited 
Jehovah's  compassion,  and  which  lie  multiplied  into  myriads 
(ver.  7),  clothed  in  splendour,  and  chose  as  the  bride  with 
whom  He  concluded  a  marriage  covenant.  The  descent  and 
birth  referred  to  are  not  physical,  but  spiritual  descent. 
Spiritually,  Israel  sprang  from  the  land  of  the  Canaanites ; 
and  its  father  was  the  Amorite  and  its  mother  a  Hittite,  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  Jesus  said  to  the  Jews,  "  Ye  are  of  your 
father  the  devil "  (John  viii.  44).  The  land  of  the  Canaanites 
is  mentioned  as  the  land  of  the  worst  heathen  abominations; 
and  from  among  the  Canaanitish  tribes,  the  Amorites  and 
Hittites  are  mentioned  as  father  and  mother,  not  because  the 
Jebusites  are  placed  between  the  two,  in  Num.  xiii.  29,  as 
Hitzig  supposes,  but  because  they  were  recognised  as  the 
leaders  in  Canaanitish  ungodliness.  The  iniquity  of  the 
Amorites  Ol'^^v')  was  great  even  in  Abraham's  time,  though 
not  yet  full  or  ripe  for  destruction  (Gen.  xv.  16);  and  the 
daughters  of  Heth,  whom  Esau  married,  caused  Rebekah  great 
bitterness  of  spirit  (Gen.  xxvii.  46).  These  facts  furnish  the 
substratum  for  our  description.  And  they  also  help  to  explain 
the  occurrence  of  ''ibxri  ^vith  the  article,  and  iT'rin  without  it. 
The  plurals  TiTnbO  and  ^^ri'^b  also  point  to  spiritual  descent ; 
for  physical  generation  and  birth  are  both  acts  that  take  place 
once  for  all.     n^'^o  or  nn^an  (ch.  xxi.  35,  xxix.  14)  is  not  the 


CHAP.  XVI.  3-5.  197 

place  of  begetting,  but  generation  itself,  from  n!i3=n'n3,  to  dig 
=  to  beget  (cf.  Isa.  li.  1).  It  is  not  equivalent  to  "^ipo,  or  a 
plural  corresponding  to  the  Latin  natales,  origines.  Trhp : 
birth.  Vers.  4  and  5  describe  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  birth,  ■q^nni'b^  (ver.  4)  stands  at  the  head  as  an 
absolute  noun.  At  the  birth  of  the  child  it  did  not  receive  the 
cleansing  and  care  which  were  necessary  for  the  preservation 
and  strengthening  of  its  life,  but  was  exposed  without  pity. 
The  construction  T]nix  rrh^r\  (the  passive,  with  an  accusative  of 
the  object)  is  the  same  as  in  Gen.  xl.  20,  and  many  other 
passages  of  the  earlier  writings,  ri-na :  for  ri"i3  (Judg.  vi.  28), 
Pual  of  Tr\3  ;  and  '^^^  :  from  lb',  with  the  reduplication  of  the 
-I,  which  is  very  rare  in  Hebrew  {vid.  Ewald,  §  71).  By 
cutting  the  navel-string,  the  child  is  liberated  after  birth  from 
the  blood  of  the  mother,  with  which  it  was  nourished  in  the 
womb.  If  the  cutting  be  neglected,  as  well  as  the  tying  of  the 
navel-string,  which  takes  place  at  the  same  time,  the  child 
must  perish  when  the  decomposition  of  the  placenta  begins. 
The  new-born  child  is  then  bathed,  to  cleanse  it  from  the  im- 
purities attaching  to  it.  '•J^t^'b  cannot  be  derived  from  r\V'^  = 
VV^ ;  because  neither  the  meaning  to  see,  to  look  (nj?C'),  nor  the 
other  meaning  to  smear  {VV'^),  yields  a  suitable  sense.  Jos. 
Kimchi  is  evidently  right  in  deriving  it  from  J?L*'0,  in  Arabic 
«_A^,  ii.  and  iv.,  to  wipe  off,  cleanse.  The  termination  "•  is  the 
Aramaean  form  of  the  absolute  state,  for  the  Hebrew  HT^'b, 
cleansing  (cf.  Ewald,  §  165a).  After  the  washing,  the  body 
was  rubbed  with  salt,  according  to  a  custom  very  widely  spread 
in  ancient  times,  and  still  met  with  here  and  there  in  the  East 
{vid.  Hieron.  ad  h.  I.  Galen,  de  Sanit.  i.  7  ;  Troilo  Reiseheschr.  p. 
721) ;  and  that  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  skin 
drier  and  firmer,  or  of  cleansing  it  more  thoroughly,  but  pro- 
bably from  a  regard  to  the  virtue  of  salt  as  a  protection  from 
putrefaction,  "  to  express  in  a  symbolical  manner  a  hope  and 
desire  for  the  vigorous  health  of  the  child"'  (Hitzig  and  Hiiver- 
nick).     And,   finally,   it   was    bound   round   with   swaddling- 


198  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

clothes.  Not  one  of  these  things,  so  indispensable  to  the  pre- 
servation and  strengthening  of  the  child,  was  performed  in  the 
case  of  Israel  at  the  time  of  its  birth  from  any  feeling  of  com- 
passionate love  {'^^^\}?,  infinitive,  to  show  pity  or  compassion 
towards  it)  ;  but  it  was  cast  into  the  field,  i.e.  exposed,  in  order 
that  it  might  perish  ^*^'S3  pjJiJ2  in  disgust  at  thy  life  (compart 
/J?3,  to  thrust  away,  reject,  despise.  Lev.  xxvi.  11,  xv.  30).  The 
day  of  the  birth  of  Jerusalem,  i.e.  of  Israel,  was  the  period  of 
its  sojourn  in  Egypt,  where  Israel  as  a  nation  was  born, — the 
sons  of  Jacob  who  went  down  to  Egypt  having  multiplied  into 
a  nation.  The  different  traits  in  this  picture  are  not  to  be  in- 
terpreted as  referring  to  historical  peculiarities,  but  have  their 
explanation  in  the  totality  of  the  figure.  At  the  same  time, 
they  express  much  more  than  "  that  Israel  not  only  stood  upon 
a  level  with  all  other  nations,  so  far  as  its  origin  and  its  nature 
were  concerned,  but  was  more  helpless  and  neglected  as  to  both 
its  nature  and  its  natural  advantages,  possessing  a  less  gifted 
nature  than  other  nations,  and  therefore  inferior  to  the  rest  " 
(Kliefoth).  The  smaller  gifts,  or  humbler  natural  advantages, 
are  thoughts  quite  foreign  to  the  words  of  the  figure  as  well  as 
to  the  context.  Both  the  Canaanitish  descent  and  the  merciless 
exposure  of  the  child  point  to  a  totally  different  point  of  view, 
as  indicated  by  the  allegory.  The  Canaanitish  descent  points 
to  the  moral  depravity  of  the  nature  of  Israel ;  and  the  ne- 
glected condition  of  the  child  is  intended  to  show  how  little 
there  was  in  the  heathen  surroundings  of  the  youthful  Israel 
in  Canaan  and  Egypt  that  was  adapted  to  foster  its  life  and 
liealth,  or  to  educate  Israel  and  fit  it  for  its  future  destination. 
To  the  Egyptians  the  Israelites  were  an  abomination,  as  a  race 
of  shepherds;  and  not  long  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  the 
Pharaohs  began  to  oppress  the  growing  nation. 

Vers.  6-14.  Israel  therefore  owes  its  preservation  and  exalta- 
tion to  honour  and  glory  to  the  Lord  its  God  alone. — Ver.  G. 
Then  I  passed  by  t/iee,  and  saio  thee  stamping  in  thy  blood,  and 
said  to  theCj  In  thy  blood  live !  and  said  to  thee,   In  thy  blood 


CHAP.  XVI.  6-14.  199 

live!  Ver.  7.  /  made  thee  into  myriads  as  the  growth  of  the 
field,  and  thou  greivest  and  hecamest  tall,  and  earnest  to  ornament 
of  cheeks.  The  breasts  expanded,  and  thy  hair  grew,  lohereas 
thou  wast  naked  and  hare.  Ver.  8.  And  I  passed  by  thee,  and 
saw  thee,  and,  behold,  it  was  thy  time,  the  time  of  love ;  and  J 
spread  my  loing  over  thee,  and  covered  thy  nakedness  ;  and  I 
swore  to  thee,  and  entered  into  covenant  with  thee,  is  the  saying 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  and  thou  becamest  mine.  Yei\  9.  Aitd  I 
bathed  thee  in  ivater,  and  rinsed  thy  blood  from  thee,  and  anointed 
thee  with  oil.  Ver.  10.  And  I  clothed  thee  loith  embroidered 
tcork,  and  shod  thee  ivith  morocco,  and  wrapped  thee  round  icith 
byssus,  and  covered  thee  icith  silk.  Ver.  11.  /  adorned  thee 
with  ornaments,  and  put  bracelets  upon  thy  hands,  and  a  chain 
around  thy  neck.  Ver.  12.  And  I  gave  thee  a  ring  in  thy  nose, 
and  earrings  in  thine  ears,  and  a  splendid  croion  upon  thy 
head.  Ver.  13.  And  thou  didst  adorn  thyself  loith  gold  and 
silver ;  and  thy  clothing  was  byssus,  and  silk,  and  embroidery. 
Wheaten- flour,  and  honey,  and  oil  thou  didst  eat ;  and  thou  loast 
very  beautiful;  and  didst  thrive  to  regal  dignity.  Ver.  14.  Thy 
name  went  forth  among  the  nations  on  account  of  thy  beauty  ;  for  it 
xcas  perfect  throxigk  my  glory,  ivhich  I  put  upon  thee,  is  the  saying 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — The  description  of  what  the  Lord  did  for 
Israel  in  His  compassionate  love  is  divided  into  two  sections  by 
the  repetition  of  the  phrase  ''  1  passed  by  tliee"  (vers.  6  and  8). 
The  first  embraces  what  God  had  done  for  the  preservation  and 
increase  of  the  nation ;  the  second,  what  He  had  done  for  the 
glorification  of  Israel,  by  adopting  it  as  the  people  of  His 
possession.  When  Israel  was  lying  in  the  field  as  a  neglected 
new-born  child,  the  Lord  passed  by  and  adopted  it,  promising 
it  life,  and  giving  it  strength  to  live.  To  bring  out  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  compassion  of  God,  the  fact  that  the  child  was 
lying  in  its  blood  is  mentioned  again  and  again.  The  explana- 
tion to  be  given  of  riDDiansp  (the  Ilithpolel  of  D^3,  to  trample 
upon,  tread  under  foot)  is  doubtful,  arising  from  the  difficulty 
of  deciding  whether  the  Ilithpolel  is  to  be  taken  in  a  passive  or 


200  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

a  reflective  sense.  The  passive  rendering,  "trampled  upon" 
(Unibreit),  or  ad  conculcandum  projectus,  thrown  down,  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  (Gesenius,  etc.),  is  open  to  the  objection 
that  the  Ilophal  is  used  for  this.  We  therefore  prefer  the 
reflective  meaning,  treading  oneself,  or  stamping ;  as  the  objec- 
tion offered  to  this,  namely,  that  a  new-born  child  thrown  into 
a  field  would  not  be  found  stamping  with  the  feet,  has  no  force 
in  an  allegorical  description.  In  the  clause  ver.  66,  which  is 
written  twice,  the  question  arises  whether  'H!'?*^?  is  to  be  taken 
with  '^n  or  with  T]^  ionJ:  I  said  to  thee,  "  In  thy  blood  live;" 
or,  "  I  said  to  thee  in  thy  blood,  '  Live.' "  We  prefer  the  former, 
because  it  gives  a  more  emphatic  sense.  ^^Jp^?  is  a  concise 
expression  ;  for  although  lying  in  thy  blood,  in  which  thou 
wouldst  inevitably  bleed  to  death,  yet  thou  shalt  live.  Hitzig's 
proposal  to  connect  T.^"]?  in  the  first  clause  with  "iTi,  and  in  the 
second  with  "lOX,  can  hardly  be  entertained.  A  double  con- 
struction of  this  kind  is  not  required  either  by  the  repetition  of 
?|?  "lOX,  or  by  the  uniform  position  of  ^"'013  before  "'Ti  in  both 
clauses,  as  compared  with  1  Kings  xx.  18  and  Isa.  xxvii.  5. — 
In  ver.  la  the  description  of  the  real  fact  breaks  through  the 
allegory.  The  word  of  God  ''^n,  live,  was  visibly  fulfilled  in 
the  innumerable  multiplication  of  Israel.  But  the  allegory  is 
resumed  immediately.  Tiie  child  grew  ip^l,  as  in  Gen.  xxi.  20  ; 
Deut.  XXX.  16),  and  came  into  ornament  of  cheeks  (Ni2  with  3, 
to  enter  into  a  thing,  as  in  ver.  8 ;  not  to  proceed  in,  as  Hitzig 
supposes).  D^iy  """ly,  not  most  beautiful  ornament,  or  highest 
charms,  for  D^^y  is  not  the  plural  of  '•'7^;  but  according  to  the 
Clietih  and  most  of  the  editions,  with  the  tone  upon  the 
penultima,  is  equivalent  to  Ci^^'^y,  a  dual  form;  so  that  '•'ly 
cannot  mean  ornament  in  this  case,  but,  as  in  Ps.  xxxix.  9  and 
ciii.  5,  "  the  cheek,"  which  is  the  traditional  meaning  (cf.  Ges. 
Tlies.  p.  993).  Ornament  of  cheeks  is  youthful  freshness  and 
beauty  of  face.  The  clauses  which  follow  describe  the  arrival 
of  puberty.  Ji33,  when  applied  to  the  breasts,  means  to  expand, 
lit.  to  raise  oneself  up.     ivti*  =  uh^i  ij??',  puhes.     The  descrip- 


CHAP.  XVI.  6-14.  201 

tlon  given  in  these  verses  refers  to  the  preservation  and  mar- 
vellous multiplication  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  where  the  sons  of 
Israel  grew  into  a  nation  under  the  divine  blessing.  Still  it 
was  quite  naked  and  bare  (Qiy  and  ^1~}V  are  substantives  in  the 
abstract  sense  of  nakedness  and  bareness,  used  in  the  place  of 
adjectives  to  give  greater  emphasis).  Naked  and  bare  are 
figurative  expressions  for  still  destitute  of  either  clothing  or 
ornaments.  This  implies  something  more  than  "  the  poverty 
of  the  people  in  the  wilderness  attached  to  Egypt"  (Hitzig). 
Nakedness  represents  deprivation  of  all  the  blessings  of  salva- 
tion with  which  the  Lord  endowed  Israel  and  made  it  glorious, 
after  He  had  adopted  it  as  the  people  of  His  possession.  In 
Egypt,  Israel  was  living  in  a  state  of  nature,  destitute  of  the 
gracious  revelations  of  God. — Ver.  8.  The  Lord  then  went 
past  again,  and  chose  for  His  bride  the  virgin,  who  had  already 
grown  up  to  womanhood,  and  with  whom  He  contracted  mar- 
riage by  the  conclusion  of  the  covenant  at  Sinai.  'TlJ^y,  thy 
time,  is  more  precisely  defined  as  C^M  ny,  the  time  of  conjugal 
love.  I  spread  my  wing  over  thee,  i.e.  the  lappet  of  my 
garment,  which  also  served  as  a  counterpane ;  in  other  words, 
I  married  thee  (cf.  Ruth  iii.  9),  and  thereby  covered  thy 
nakedness.  "  I  swore  to  thee,"  sc.  love  and  fidelity  (cf.  Hos. 
ii.  21,  22),  and  entered  into  a  covenant  with  thee,  i.e.  into 
that  gracious  connection  formed  by  the  adoption  of  Israel  as 
the  possession  of  Jehovah,  which  is  represented  as  a  marriage 
covenant  (compare  Ex.  xxiv.  8  with  xix.  5,  6,  and  Deut.  v.  2  : 
— ^nk  for  ^^i^).  Vers.  9  sqq.  describe  how  Jehovah  provided 
for  the  purification,  clothing,  adorning,  and  maintenance  of 
His  wife.  As  the  bride  prepares  herself  for  the  wedding  by 
washing  and  anointing,  so  did  the  Lord  cleanse  Israel  from  the 
blemishes  and  impurities  which  adhered  to  it  from  its  birth. 
The  rinsing  from  the  blood  must  not  be  understood  as  specially 
referring  either  to  the  laws  of  purification  given  to  the  nation 
(Hitzig),  or  as  relating  solely  to  the  purification  effected  by  the 
covenant  sacrifice  (Havernick).     It  embraces  all  that  the  Lord 


202  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

(lid  for  the  purifying  of  the  people  from  the  pollution  of  sin, 
i.e.  for  its  sanctification.  The  anointing  -with  oil  indicates  the 
powers  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  flowed  to  Israel  from  the 
divine  covenant  of  grace.  The  clothing  with  costly  garments, 
and  adorning  with  all  the  jewellery  of  a  wealthy  lady  or 
princess,  points  to  the  equipment  of  Israel  with  all  the  gifts 
that  promote  the  beauty  and  glory  of  life.  The  clothing  is 
described  as  made  of  the  costliest  materials  with  which  queens 
were  accustomed  to  clothe  themselves.  "^^i?"!?  embroidered 
cloth  (Ps.  xlv.  15).  ti'C^,  probably  the  sea-cow,  Manati  (see 
the  conim.  on  Ex.  xxv.  5).  The  word  is  used  here  for  a  fine 
description  of  leather  of  which  ornamental  sandals  were  m.ade ; 
a  kind  of  morocco.  "I  bound  thee  round  with  byssus:"  this 
refers  to  the  headband ;  for  t;an  is  the  technical  expression  for 
the  binding  or  winding  round  of  the  turban-like  headdress 
(cf.  ch.  xxiv.  17;  Ex.  xxix.  9;  Lev.  viii.  13),  and  is  applied 
by  the  Targum  to  the  headdress  of  the  priests.  Consequently 
coverinfT  with  "V?,  as  distinguished  from  clothing,  can  only 
refer  to  covering  with  the  veil,  one  of  the  principal  articles  of 
a  woman's  toilet.  The  air.  Xey.  ""V'^  (vers.  10  and  13)  is 
explained  by  the  Rabbins  as  signifying  silk.  The  LXX. 
render  it  Tpi-xaTrrov.  According  to  Jerome,  this  is  a  word 
formed  by  the  LXX.:  quod  tantae  suhtiUtatis  fiierit  vestimen- 
tumj  tit  pilorum  et  capilloriim  temdtatem  habere  credatur.  The 
jewellery  included  not  only  armlets,  nose-rings,  and  ear-rings, 
which  the  daughters  of  Israel  were  generally  accustomed  to 
wear,  but  also  necklaces  and  a  crown,  as  ornaments  worn  by 
princesses  and  queens.  For  "I'^i,  see  comm.  on  Gen.  xli.  42. 
Ver.  13  sums  up  the  contents  of  vers.  9-12.  ""l^'V  is  made  to 
conform  to  ""^'^  ?  ^^'®  ^^^^  ^^  referred  to  once  more ;  and  the 
result  of  the  whole  is  said  to  have  been,  that  Jerusalem  became 
exceedingly  beautiful,  and  flourished  even  to  royal  dignity. 
The  latter  cannot  be  taken  as  referring  simply  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  monarchy  under  David,  any  more  than  merely  to 
the  spiritual  sovereignty  for  which  Israel  was  chosen  from  the 


CHAP.  XVI.  15-22.  ^203 

very  beginning  (Ex.  xix.  5,  6).  The  expression  includes  botli, 
viz.  the  call  of  Israel  to  be  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  the  his- 
torical realization  of  this  call  through  the  Davidic  sovereignty. 
The  beauty,  i.e.  glory,  of  Israel  became  so  great,  that  the  name  or 
fame  of  Israel  sounded  abroad  in  consequence  among  the  nations. 
It  was  perfect,  because  the  Lord  had  put  His  glory  upon  His 
Church.  This,  too,  we  must  not  restrict  (as  Hiivernick  does)  to 
the  far-sounding  fame  of  Israel  on  its  departure  from  Egypt 
(Ex.  XV.  14  sqq.) ;  it  refers  pre-eminently  to  the  glory  of  the  theo- 
cracy under  David  and  Solomon,  the  fame  of  which  spread  into 
all  lands. — Thus  had  Israel  been  glorified  by  its  God  above  all 
the  nations,  but  it  did  not  continue  in  fellowship  with  its  God. 
Vers.  15-3-1.  The  apostasy  of  Israel.  Its  origin  and  nature, 
vers.  15-22;  its  magnitude  and  extent,  vers.  23-34.  In  close 
connection  with  what  precedes,  this  apostasy  is  described  as 
whoredom  and  adultery. — Ver.  15.  But  thou  didst  trust  in  thy 
beauty,  and  didst  commit  fornication  upon  thy  name,  and  didst 
pour  out  thy  fornication  over  every  one  ivho  j^c-ssed  by:  his  it 
became.  Ver.  16.  Thou  didst  take  of  thy  clothes,  and  didst 
•make  to  thyself  spotted  heights,  and  didst  commit  fornication  upon 
them:  things  ichich  should  not  come,  and  that  which  should  not 
take  place.  Ver.  17.  And  thou  didst  take  jeicellery  of  thine 
ornament  of  my  gold  and  of  my  silver,  which  I  had  given  thee, 
and  didst  make  thyself  male  images,  and  didst  commit  fornication 
with  them ;  Ver.  18.  And  thou  didst  take  thy  embroidered 
clothes,  and  didst  cover  them  therewith :  and  my  oil  and  my 
incense  thou  didst  set  before  them.  Ver.  19.  And  my  bread, 
which  I  gave  to  thee,  fine  flour,  and  oil,  and  honey,  ivherewith  I 
fed  thee,  thou  didst  set  before  them  for  a  pleasant  odour:  this 
came  to  pass,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  20.  And 
thou  didst  take  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters,  ichom  thou  barest 
to  me,  and  didst  sacrifice  them  to  them  to  devour.  Was  thy 
fornication  too  little?  Ver.  21.  Thoic  didst  slay  my  sons,  and 
didst  give  them  up,  devoting  them  to  them.  Ver.  22.  And  in 
all    thine    abominations    and    thy  fornications    thou    didst    not 


204  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZKKIEL 

rcmemher  the  days  of  tliy  yontJi,  when  thou  wast  naTced  and 
hare,  and  layest  stamping  in  thy  Hood. — The  beauty,  i.e.  the 
glory,  of  Israel  led  to  its  fall,  because  it  made  it  the  ground 
of  its  confidence;  that  is  to  say,  it  looked  upon  the  gifts 
and  possessions  conferred  upon  it  as  its  desert ;  and  for- 
getting the  giver,  began  to  traffic  with  the  heathen  nations, 
and  allowed  itself  to  be  seduced  to  heathen  ways.  For  the 
fact,  compare  Deut.  xxxii.  15  and  Hos.  xiii.  6.  "  We  are 
inflamed  with  pride  and  arrogance,  and  consequently  profane 
the  gifts  of  God,  in  which  His  glory  ought  to  be  resplendent" 
(Calvin).  'Hv??'  ^V  ''??'!i  does  not  mean  either  *'  thou  didst  com- 
mit fornication  notwithstanding  thy  name"  (Winer  and  Ges. 
Tlies.  p.  422),  or  "against  thy  name"  (Hiivernick)  ;  for  hv 
connected  with  Hit  has  neither  of  these  meanings,  even  in  Judg. 
xix.  2.  It  means,  "  thou  didst  commit  fornication  upon  thy 
name,  i.e.m  reliance  upon  thy  name"  (Hitzig  and  Maurer) ; 
only  we  must  not  understand  Di?'  as  referring  to  the  name  of 
the  city  of  God,  but  must  explain  it,  in  accordance  with  ver.  14, 
as  denoting  the  name,  i.e.  the  renown,  which  Israel  had  acquired 
among  the  heathen  on  account  of  its  beauty.  In  the  closing 
words,  "'n^  v,  i^  refers  to  i^ii;"?^^  and  "'H";  stands  for  ^"^'^,  the  copula 
having  been  dropped  from  ''01!!  because  ii?  ought  to  stand  first, 
and  only  "'HI  remaining  (compare  ^?,  Hos.  vi.  1),  The  subject 
to  '•'T.  is  ''^).\  the  beauty  became  his  (cf.  Ps.  xlv.  12).  This 
fornication  is  depicted  in  concrete  terms  in  vers.  16-22;  and 
with  the  marriage  relation  described  in  vers.  8-13  still  in 
view,  Israel  is  represented  as  giving  up  to  idolatry  all  that 
it  had  received  from  its  God. — Ver.  16.  With  the  clothes  it 
made  spotted  heights  for  itself.  ni03  stands  for  riion  "iria^ 
temples  of  heights,  small  temples  erected  upon  heights  by  the 
side  of  the  altars  (1  Kings  xiii.  32 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  29 ;  for  the 
fact,  see  the  comm.  on  1  Kings  iii.  2),  which  may  probably 
have  consisted  simply  of  tents  furnished  with  carpets.  Compare 
2  Kings  xxiii.  7,  where  the  women  are  described  as  weaving 
tents  for  Astarte,  also  the  tent-like  temples  of  the  Slavonian 


CHAP.  XVI.  15-22.  205 

tribes  in  Germany,  which  consisted  of  variegated  carpets  and 
curtains  (see  Mohne  on  Creuzer's  SpnhoUk,  V.  p.  176).  These 
hamoth  Ezekiel  calls  niKpsp,  not  variegated,  but  spotted  or 
speckled  (cf.  Gen.  xxx.  32),  possibly  with  the  subordinate  idea 
of  patched  ('^^^'P,  Josh.  ix.  5),  because  they  used  for  the  carpets 
not  merely  whole  garments,  but  pieces  of  cloth  as  well ;  the 
word  being  introduced  here  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  con- 
temptuously the  worthlessness  of  such  conduct.  "  Thou  didst 
commit  whoredom  upon  them,"  i.e.  upon  the  carpets  in  the  tent- 
temples.  The  words  'lil  niX3  N?  are  no  doubt  relative  clauses ; 
but  the  usual  explanation,  "  which  has  not  occurred,  and  will 
not  be,"  after  Ex.  x.  14,  cannot  be  vindicated,  as  it  is  impossible 
to  prove  either  the  use  of  Ni3  in  the  sense  of  occurrino-  or 
happening  (='n^n)j  or  the  use  of  the  participle  instead  of  the 
preterite  in  connection  wuth  the  future.  The  participle  niX3  in 
this  connection  can  only  supply  one  of  the  many  senses  of  the 
imperfect  (Ewald,  §  IGSc),  and,  like  ^)}^^,,  express  that  which 
ought  to  be.  The  participial  form  riiK3  is  evidently  chosen  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  a  paronomasia  with  niD3:  the  heights 
which  should  not  come  {i.e.  should  not  be  erected) ;  while  ih 
n^n^  points  back  to  Dri\!?j;  •'Jini :  «  what  should  not  happen." — 
Ver.  17.  The  jewellery  of  gold  and  silver  was  used  by  Israel 
for  13T  •'ppv,  idols  of  the  male  sex,  to  commit  fornication  with 
them.  Ewald  thinks  that  the  allusion  is  to  Penates  (teraphim), 
which  were  set  up  in  the  house,  with  ornaments  suspended  upon 
them,  and  worshipped  with  lectisternia.  But  there  is  no  more 
allusion  to  lectisternia  here  than  in  ch.  xxiii.  41.  And  there  is 
still  less  ground  for  thinking,  as  Vatke,  Movers,  and  Havernick 
do,  of  Lingam-  or  Phallus-worship,  of  which  it  is  impossible  to 
find  the  slightest  trace  among  the  Israelites.  The  arguments 
used  by  Havernick  have  been  already  proved  by  Hitzig  to  have 
no  force  whatever.  The  context  does  not  point  to  idols  of  any 
particular  kind,  but  to  the  many  varieties  of  Baal-worship; 
whilst  the  worship  of  Moloch  is  specially  mentioned  in  vers. 
20  sqq.  as  being  the  greatest  abomination  of  the  whole.     The 


20Q  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

fact  that  on^JSp  inj,  to  set  before  them  (the  idols),  does  not 
refer  to  lectisternia,  but  to  sacrifices  offered  as  food  for  the  gods, 
is  indisputably  evident  from  the  words  nrfJ  nnp,  the  technical 
expression  for  the  sacrificial  odour  ascending  to  God  (cf.  Lev. 
i.  9,  13,  etc.).  '•n'l  (ver.  19),  and  it  came  to  pass  {sc.  this 
abomination),  merely  serves  to  give  emphatic  expression  to  the 
disgust  which  it  occasioned  (Hitzig). — Vers.  20,  21.  And  not 
even  content  with  this,  the  adulteress  sacrificed  the  children 
which  God  had  given  her  to  idols.  The  revulsion  of  feeling 
produced  by  the  abominations  of  the  !Moloch-worship  is  shown 
in  the  expression  ''13*??,  thou  didst  sacrifice  thy  children  to  idols, 
that  they  might  devour  them  ;  and  still  more  in  the  reproachful 
question  'no  t21'on,  "was  there  too  little  in  thy  whoredom'?" 
|0  before  "Jl'^i^Tri  is  used  in  a  comparative  sense,  though  not  to 
signify  "  was  this  a  smaller  thing  than  thy  whoredom?"  which 
would  mean  far  too  little  in  this  cormection.  The  IP  is  rather 
used,  as  in  ch.  viii.  17  and  Isa.  xlix.  6,  in  the  sense  of  too:  was 
thy  whoredom,  already  described  in  vers.  16—19,  too  little,  that 
thou  didst  also  slaughter  thy  children  to  idols?  The  Chetih 
TiniJin  (vers.  20  and  25)  is  a  singular,  as  in  vers.  25  and  29 ; 
whereas  the  Keri  has  treated  it  as  a  plural,  as  in  vers.  15,  22, 
and  33,  but  without  any  satisfactory  ground.  The  indignation 
comes  out  still  more  strongly  in  the  description  given  of  these 
abominations  in  ver.  21:  "thou  didst  slay  my  sons"  (whereas 
in  ver.  20  we  have  simply  "  thy  sons,  whom  thou  hast  born  to 
me "),  "  and  didst  give  them  up  to  them,  ">''?J![??,  by  making 
them  pass  through,"  sc.  the  fire,  "'^^yri  is  used  here  not  merely 
for  lustration  or  februation  by  fire,  but  for  the  actual  burning 
of  the  children  slain  as  sacrifices,  so  that  it  is  equivalent  to 
■ilPbp  K'Xa  'i''3J|n  (2  Kings  xxiii.  10).  By  the  process  of  burning, 
the  sacrifices  were  given  to  Moloch  to  devour.  Ezekiel  has 
the  Moloch-worship  in  his  eye  in  the  form  which  it  had  assumed 
from  the  times  of  Ahaz  downwards,  when  the  people  began  to 
burn  their  children  to  ^Moloch  (cf.  2  Kings  xvi.  3,  xxi.  6, 
xxiii.  10),  whereas  all  that  can  be  proved  to  have  been  practised 


CHAP.  XVI.  23-34.  207 

in  earlier  times  by  the  Israelites  was  tlie  passing  of  children 
througli  fire  without  either  slaying  or  burning ;  a  februation  by 
fire  (compare  the  remarks  on  this  subject  in  the  comm.  on 
Lev.  xviii.  21). — Amidst  all  these  abominations  Israel  did  not 
remember  its  youth,  or  how  the  Lord  had  adopted  it  out  of  the 
deepest  wretchedness  to  be  His  people,  and  had  made  it  glorious 
through  the  abundance  of  His  gifts.  This  base  ingratitude 
shows  the  depth  of  its  fall,  and  magnifies  its  guilt.  For  ver. 
22b  compare  vers.  7  and  6. 

Vers.  23-34.  Extent  and  magnitude  of  the  idolatry. — Ver. 
23.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  all  thy  wichedness — Woe,  ivoe  to 
thee  I  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — Ver.  24.  Thou  didst 
build  thyself  arches,  and  didst  make  thyself  high  places  in  all 
the  streets.  Ver.  25.  Thoic  didst  build  thy  high  places  at  every 
cross  road,  and  didst  disgrace  thy  beauty,  and  stretch  open  thy 
feet  for  every  one  that  passed  by,  and  didst  increase  thy  whore- 
dom. Ver.  26.  Thou  didst  commit  fornication  with  the  sons  of 
Egypt  thy  neighbours,  great  in  flesh,  and  didst  increase  thy 
xohoredom  to  provoke  me.  Ver.  27.  And,  behold,  1  stretched 
out  tny  hand  against  thee,  and  diminished  thine  allowance,  and 
gave  thee  up  to  the  desire  of  those  u-ho  hate  thee,  the  daughters  of 
the  Philistines,  ivho  are  ashamed  of  thy  lewd  way.  Ver.  28.  And 
thou  didst  commit  fornication  unth  the  sojis  of  Asshur,  because 
thou  art  never  satisfied;  and  didst  commit  fornication  ivith  them, 
and  wast  also  not  satisfied.  Ver.  29.  Aiid  thou  didst  increase 
thy  whoredom  to  Canaan's  land,  Chaldaea,  and  even  thereby  ivast 
not  satisfied.  Ver.  30.  IIoio  languishing  is  thy  heart!  is  the 
saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  that  thou  doest  all  this,  the  doings 
of  a  dissolute  prostitute.  Ver.  3L  When  thou  buildest  thy 
arches  at  every  cross  road,  and  madest  thy  high  p>laces  in  every 
o'oad,  thou  icast  not  lihe  the  harlot,  since  thou  despisedst  payment. 
Ver.  32.  The  adidterous  icife  taketh  strangers  instead  of  her  hus- 
band. Ver.  33.  Jllen  give  presents  to  all  prostitutes ;  but  thou  gavest 
thy  presents  to  all  thy  suitors,  and  didst  reivard  them  for  coming  to 
thee  from  all  sides,  for  fornication  with  thee.     Ver.  34.  And  there 


208  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

was  in  thee  the  very  opposite  of  the  women  in  tliy  whoredom,  that 
men  did  not  go  whoring  after  thee.  In  that  thou  givest  payment, 
and  payment  was  not  given  to  thee,  thou  wast  the  very  opposite. — 
By  Vy^'f^'^  ^^n^,  the  picture  of  the  wide  spread  of  idolatry, 
commenced  in  ver.  22,  is  placed  in  the  relation  of  chronological 
sequence  to  the  description  already  given  of  the  idolatry  itself. 
For  all  sin,  all  evil,  must  first  exist  before  it  can  spread.  The 
spreading  of  idolatry  was  at  the  same  time  an  increase  of 
apostasy  from  God.  This  is  not  to  be  sought,  however,  in  the 
fact  that  Israel  forsook  the  sanctuary,  which  God  had  ap- 
pointed for  it  as  the  scene  of  His  gracious  presence,  and  built 
itself  idol-temples  (Kliefoth).  It  consisted  rather  in  this,  that 
it  erected  idolatrous  altars  and  little  temples  at  all  street-corners 
and  cross-roads  (vers.  24,  25),  and  committed  adultery  with 
all  heathen  nations  (vers.  26,  28,  29),  and  could  not  be  induced 
to  relinquish  idolatry  either  by  the  chastisements  of  God  (ver. 
27),  or  by  the  uselessness  of  such  conduct  (vers.  32-34). 
^'!?i'y''7'  is  the  wht)le  of  the  apostasy  from  the  Lord  depicted 
in  vers.  15-22,  vviiich  prevailed  more  and  more  as  idolatry 
spread.  The  picture  of  this  extension  of  idolatry  is  introduced 
with  woel  woe!  to  indicate  at  the  outset  the  fearful  judgment 
which  Jerusalem  was  bringing  upon  itself  thereby.  The  ex- 
clamation of  woe  is  inserted  parenthetically ;  for  ''33ni  (ver.  24) 
forms  the  apodosis  to  ^'^''.1  in  ver.  23.  ^33  and  HDn  are  to  be 
taken  as  general  terms ;  but,  as  the  singular  ^33  with  the 
plural  ^'nbn  in  ver.  39  plainly  shows,  33  is  a  collective  word. 
Hiivernick  has  very  properly  called  attention  to  the  analogy 
between  33  aud  nzip  in  Num.  xxv.  8,  which  is  used  there  to 
denote  an  apartment  furnished  or  used  for  the  service  of  Baal- 
Peor.  As  nap,  from  33;?,  signifies  literally  that  which  is  arched, 
a  vault;  so  33,  from  333,  is  literally  that  which  is  curved  or 
arched,  a  hump  or  back,  and  hence  is  used  here  for  buildings 
erected  for  idolatrous  purposes,  small  temples  built  on  heights, 
which  were  probably  so  called  to  distinguish  them  as  chapels 
for  fornication.     The  ancient  translations  sus^est  this,  viz. : 


CHAP.  XVI.  23-31.  209 

LXX.  o'iK7]fia  TTopviKov  and  eKOe/xa,  which  Polychron.  explains 
thus  :  irpoaycioyLov,  ev6a  Ta<;  iropva<i  rpi(f)ecv  elwOaai ;  Vulg. : 
liipanar  and  prostibulum.  HDi  signifies  artificial  heio-hts,  i.e. 
altars  built  upon  eminences,  commonly  called  IdinOlh.  The 
word  rdmdh  is  probably  chosen  here  with  an  allusion  to  the 
primary  signification,  height,  as  Jerome  has  said  :  (juod  excelsus 
sit  ut  volentlhus  fornicari  procul  appareat  fornicationis  locus  et 
non  necesse  sit  quaeri.  The  increase  of  the  whoredom,  i.e.  of 
the  idolatry  and  illicit  intercourse  with  heathenish  ways,  is 
individualized  in  vers.  26-29  by  a  specification  of  historical 
facts.  We  cannot  agree  with  Hitzig  in  restricting  the  illicit 
intercourse  with  Egypt  (ver.  26),  Asshur  (ver.  28),  and 
Chaldaea  (ver.  29)  to  political  apostasy,  as  distinguished  from 
the  religious  apostasy  already  depicted.  There  is  nothino-  to 
indicate  any  such  distinction.  Under  the  figure  of  whoredom, 
both  in  what  precedes  and  what  follows,  the  inclination  of 
Israel  to  heathen  ways  in  all  its  extent,  both  religious  and 
political,  is  embraced.  Egypt  stands  first ;  for  the  apostasy  of 
Israel  from  the  Lord  commenced  with  the  Avorship  of  the  golden 
calf,  and  the  longing  in  the  wilderness  for  the  fleshpots  of 
Egypt.  From  time  immemorial  Egypt  was  most  deeply  sunken 
in  the  heathenish  worship  of  nature.  The  sons  of  Eirypt  are 
therefore  described,  in  accordance  with  the  alle£rorv,  as  li^  -  "h^l. 
magni  came  {huzdr,  a  euphemism  ;  cf.  ch.  xxiii.  20),  i.e.  accord- 
ing to  the  correct  explanation  of  Theodoret :  fxeB'  v7rep/3o\r]<i 
rfj  Toov  elBcoXwv  Bepaireta  irpoarerriKora^,  ovroc  jap  Kal  rpdyov; 
Kal  /36a<;  Kal  Trpofiara,  Kvva^  re  Kal  7ri9i]Kov<;  Kal  KpoKohelXov^ 
Kal  i'ySei?  Kal  lepaKa^  irpoaeKvvqaav.  The  way  in  which  God 
punished  this  erring  conduct  was,  that,  like  a  husband  who 
endeavours  by  means  of  chastisement  to  induce  his  faithless 
wife  to  return,  He  diminished  the  supply  of  food,  clothinir,  etc. 
{cliOg^  as  in  Prov.  xxx.  8),  intended  for  the  wife  (for  the  fact 
compare  Hos.  ii.  9,  10)  ;  this  He  did  by  "  not  allowing  Israel 
to  attain  to  the  glory  and  power  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  conferred  upon  it ;  that  is  to  say,  by  not  permitting  it  to 

EZEK.  I.  O 


210  THE  PnOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

acquire  the  undisturbed  and  undivided  possession  of  Canaan, 
but  (rlviufT  it  up  to  the  power  and  scorn  of  the  princes  of  the 
Philistines "  (Kliefoth).  t'333  }n3,  to  give  any  one  up  to  the 
desire  of  another.  The  daughters  of  the  Philistines  are  the 
Philistian  states,  corresponding  to  the  representation  of  Israel 
as  an  adulterous  wife.  The  Philistines  are  mentioned  as  the 
principal  foes,  because  Israel  fell  completely  into  their  power  at 
the  end  of  the  period  of  the  Judges  (cf.  Judg.  xiii.-xvi.;  1  Sam. 
iv.)  ;  and  they  are  referred  to  here,  for  the  deeper  humiliation 
of  Israel,  as  having  been  ashamed  of  the  licentious  conduct  of 
the  Israelites,  because  they  adhered  to  their  gods,  and  did  not 
exchange  them  for  others  as  Israel  had  done  (compare  Jer. 
ii.  10,  11).  n?3T  (ver.  21)  is  in  apposition  to  'H?'}'!:  thy  way, 
which  is  zimmd/i.  Zimmdh  is  applied  to  the  sin  of  profligacy, 
as  in  Lev.  xviii.  17. — But  Israel  was  not  improved  by  this 
chastisement.  It  committed  adultery  with  Asshur  also  from 
the  times  of  Ahaz,  who  sought  help  from  the  Assyrians 
(2  Kings  xvi.  7  sqq.)  ;  and  even  with  this  it  was  not  satisfied  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  serious  consequences  brought  upon  the  king- 
dom of  Judah  by  seeking  the  friendship  of  Assyria  did  not 
sober  it,  so  as  to  lead  it  to  give  up  seeking  for  help  from  the 
heathen  and  their  gods.  In  ver.  28,  ^^  ^?jn  is  distinguished 
from  t3"'3rri  (n3T,  with  accus.).  The  former  denotes  the  immoral 
pursuit  of  a  person  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  his  favour ; 
the  latter,  adulterous  intercourse  with  him,  when  his  favour 
has  been  secured.  The  thought  of  the  verse  is  this :  Israel 
sought  the  favour  of  Assyria,  because  it  was  not  satisfied  with 
illicit  intercourse  with  Egypt,  and  continued  to  cultivate  it ; 
yet  it  did  not  find  satisfaction  or  sufficiency  even  in  this,  but 
increased  its  adultery  no"'^b'3  IJ'33  pS"?Nl,  to  the  Canaan's-land 
Chaldaea.  IV33  px  is  not  the  proper  name  of  the  land  of 
Canaan  here,  but  an  appellative  designation  applied  to  Chaldaea 
(Kasdhn)  or  Babylonia,  as  in  ch.  xvii.  4  (Raschi).  The  explana- 
tion of  the  words,  as  signifying  the  land  of  Canaan,  is  precluded 
by  the  fact  that  an  allusion  to  Canaanitish  idolatry  and  inter- 


CHAP.  XVI.  23-34.  211 

course  after  the  mention  of  Assliur  would  be  out  of  place,  and 
would  not  coincide  with  the  historical  order  of  things;  since  it 
cannot  be  shown  that  "  a  more  general  diffusion  of  the  religious 
customs  of  Canaan  took  place  after  the  Assyrian  era."  And 
it  is  still  more  decidedly  precluded  by  the  introduction  of  the 
word  n'^''"ny'3,  which  cannot  possibly  mean  as  far  as,  or  unto, 
Chaldaea,  and  can  only  be  a  more  precise  definition  of  px 
iJ?33.  The  only  thing  about  which  a  question  can  be  raised,  is 
the  reason  why  the  epithet  ]v:2  should  have  been  applied  to 
Chaldaea ;  whether  it  merely  related  to  the  commercial  spirit, 
in  which  Babylon  was  by  no  means  behind  the  Canaanitish 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  or  whether  allusion  was  also  made  to  the 
idolatry  and  immorality  of  Canaan.  The  former  is  by  no 
means  to  be  excluded,  as  we  find  that  in  ch.  xvii.  4  "  the  land 
of  Canaan"  is  designated  " a  city  of  merchants"  {rokJiHim). 
But  we  must  not  exclude  the  latter  either,  inasmuch  as  in  the 
Belus-  and  Mylitta-worship  of  Babylon  the  voluptuous  character 
of  the  Baal-  and  Astarte-worship  of  Canaan  had  degenerated 
into  shameless  unchastity  (cf.  Herodotus,  i.  199). 

In  ver.  30,  the  contents  of  vers.  16-29  are  summed  up  in  the 
verdict  which  the  Lord  pronounces  upon  the  harlot  and  adul- 
teress :  "  yet  how  languishing  is  thy  heart ! "  "^^P^.  (as  a 
participle  Kal  air.  \ey.  ;  since  the  verb  only  occurs  elsewhere 
in  the  Fual,  and  that  in  the  sense  of  faded  or  pining  away) 
can  only  signify  a  morbid  pining  or  languishing,  or  the  craving 
of  immodest  desire,  which  has  grown  into  a  disease.  The 
form  i^f^  is  also  cltt.  Xey. ;  but  it  is  analogous  to  the  plural 
ninp.^  np?C',  powerful,  commanding ;  as  an  epithet  applied  to 
zdnCili,  one  wdio  knows  no  limit  to  her  actions,  unrestrained  ; 

^  Hitzig  objects  to  the  two  forms,  which  do  not  occur  elsewhere  ;  and 
with  the  help  of  the  Sept.  rendering  t<  oixSq)  tyjv  Svya-ipa.  aov,  which  is  a 
mere  guess  founded  upon  the  false  reading  T]n3^  n!?DX  no,  he  adopts  the 
conjectural  reading  'i]n37  rhl2ii  ilJO,  "what  hope  is  there  for  thy  daughter?" 
by  which  he  enriches  the  Hebrew  language  with  a  new  word  (n?OX),  and 
the  prophecy  contained  in  this  chapter  with  a  thought  which  is  completely 
foreign  to  it,  and  altogether  unsuitable. 


212  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

hence    in  Arabic,   insolent,  shameless.     Ver.    31   contahis  an 

independent  sentence,  which  facilitates  the  transition   to  the 

thought  expanded  in  vers.  32-34,  namely,  that  Jerusalem  had 

surpassed  all  otlicr  harlots  in  her  whoredoms.    If  we  take  ver.  31 

as  dependent  u[)on  the  protasis  in  ver.  30,  we  not  only  get  a  very 

drafjLrlinfT  style  of  expression,  but  the  new  thouirlit  exijressed  in 

ver.  31i  is  reduced  to  a  merely  secondary   idea  ;  whereas   the 

expansion  of  it  in  vers.  32  sqq.  shows  that  it  introduces  a  new 

feature   into  the  address.      And  if  this   is   the   case,  ^ri''M~N7l 

cannot  be  taken  as  co-ordinate  with  ''^'''^'V,  but  must  be  construed 

as  the  apodosis  :  "  in  thy  building  of  rooms  .  .  .  thou  wast  not 

like  the  (ordinary)  harlot,  since  thou  disdainest  payment."    For 

the  plural  suffix   attached  to  T]*niJ3Zij  see  the  commentary  on 

ch.  vi.  8.     The  infinitive  opjf?  answers  to  the  Latin  gerund  in 

ndo  {vid.  Ewald,  §  237c  and  280(;Z),  indicating  wherein,  or  in 

what  respect,  the  harlot  Jerusalem  differed  from  an  ordinary 

prostitute ;  namely,  in  the  fact  that   she  disdained  to  receive 

payment  for  her  prostitution.     That  this  is  the  meaning  of  the 

words,    is    rendered    indisputable    by  vers.    32-34.      But   the 

majority  of  exj)ositors  have  taken  ijriN  D?j^7  as  indicating  the 

point  of  comparison  between  Israel  and  other  harlots,  i.e.  as 

defining  in  what  respect  Israel  resembled  other  prostitutes  ;  and 

then,  as  this  thought  is  at  variance  with  what  follows,  have 

attempted  to    remove  the    discrepancy   by  various   untenable 

explanations.     Most  of  them  resort  to  the  explanation  :  thou 

wast  not  like  the  other  prostitutes,  who  disdain  to  receive  the 

payment  offered  for  their  prostitution,  in  the  hope  of  thereby 

obtaining  still   more,^ — an   explanation  which  imports  into  the 

^  Jerome  adopts  this  rendering :  no7i  facta  es  quasi  mcrctrix  fastidio 
aiKjem  prctmm,  and  gives  the  following  explanation  :  "  thou  hast  not  imi- 
tated the  cunning  prostitutes,  who  are  accustomed  to  raise  the  price  of  lust 
by  increasing  the  difUcultics,  and  in  tliis  way  to  excite  their  lovers  to 
greater  frenzy."  Kosenmuller  and  Maurer  have  adopted  a  similar  explana- 
tion :  "  thou  differest  greatly  from  other  harlots,  who  despise  the  payment 
offered  them  by  their  lovers,  that  they  may  get  still  more  ;  for  thou  acceptest 
any  reward,  being  content  with  the  lowest  payment ;  yea,  thou  dost  even 
offer  a  price  to  tliine  own  lovers." 


CHAP.  XVI.  23-34.  213 

words  a  thouglit  that  has  no  existence  in  them  at  all.  Haver- 
nick  seeks  to  fix  upon  D?p,  by  means  of  the  Aramaean,  the 
meaning  to  cry  out  (crying  out  payment),  in  opposition  to  the 
ordinary  meaning  of  D?p,  to  disdain,  or  ridicule,  in  wliich  sense 
Ezekiel  also  uses  the  noun  nopp  in  cli.  xxii.  4.  Hitzig  falls 
back  upon  the  handy  method  of  altering  the  text ;  and  finally, 
Kliefoth  gives  to  p  the  imaginary  meaning  "  so  far  as,"  i.e.  "  to 
such  a  degree  that,"  which  cannot  be  defended  either  through 
Ex.  xxxix.  19  or  from  Deut.  xxiv.  5. — With  the  loose  way  in 
which  the  infinitive  construct  with  p  is  used,  we  grant  that  the 
words  are  ambiguous,  and  might  have  the  meaning  which  the 
majority  of  the  commentators  have  discovered  in  them  ;  but 
this  view  is  by  no  means  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the  subordinate 
idea  introduced  by  iJnx  D?Pp  may  refer  quite  as  well  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  sentence,  "  tliou^''  as  to  the  condh  with  whom  the 
subject  is  compared.  Only  in  the  latter  case  the  I^nx  D?p  would 
apply  to  other  harlots  as  well  as  to  Israel;  whereas  in  the 
former  it  applies  to  Israel  alone,  and  shows  in  what  it  was  that 
Israel  did  not  resemble  ordinary  prostitutes.  But  the  explana- 
tion which  followed  was  a  sufficient  safeguard  against  mistake. 
In  this  explanation  adulteresses  are  mentioned  first  (ver.  32), 
and  then  common  prostitutes  (vers.  33,  34).  Ver.  32  must  not 
be  taken,  as  it  has  been  by  the  majority  of  commentators,  as  an 
exclamation,  or  a  reproof  addressed  to  the  adulteress  Jerusalem: 
O  thou  adulterous  wife,  that  taketh  strangers  instead  of  her 
husband  !  Such  an  exclamation  as  this  does  not  suit  the  con- 
nection at  all.  But  the  verse  is  not  to  be  struck  out  on  that 
account,  as  Hitzig  proposes.  It  has  simply  to  be  construed  in 
another  way,  and  taken  as  a  statement  of  what  adulteresses  do 
(Kliefoth).  They  take  strangers  instead  of  their  husband,  and 
seek  their  recompense  in  the  simple  change,  and  the  pleasure 
of  being  with  other  men.  rTJ'"'S  nnrij  lit.  under  her  husband,  i.e. 
as  a  wife  subject  to  her  husband,  as  in  the  connection  with  n:T 
in  ch.  xxiii.  5  and  Hos.  iv.  12  (see  the  comm.  on  Num.  v.  19). — 
Vers.  33,  34.  Common  prostitutes  give  themselves  up  for  pre- 


214  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

sents;  but  Israel,  on  the  contrary,  gave  presents  to  its  lovers,  so 
that  it  did  the  very  opposite  to  all  other  harlots,  and  the  practice 
of  ordinary  prostitutes  was  left  far  behind  by  that  of  Israel. 
The  change  of  forms  i^"]^  and  17^  (a  present)  is  probably  to  be 
explained  simply  on  the  ground  that  the  form  t^lJ  was  length- 
ened into  pJ  with  a  consonant  as  the  termination,  because  the 
suffix  could  be  attached  more  easily  to  the  other.  'HPi?,  the 
reverse,  the  opposite,  i.e.  with  the  present  context,  something 
unheard  of,  which  never  occurred  in  the  case  of  any  other 
harlot.  —  Ezekiel  has  thus  fulfilled  the  task  appointed  him 
in  ver.  2,  to  charge  Jerusalem  with  her  abominations.  The 
address  now  turns  to  an  announcement  of  the  punishment. 

Vers.  '65-52.  As  Israel  has  been  worse  than  all  the  heathen, 
Jehovah  will  punish  it  notwithstanding  its  election,  so  that  its 
shame  shall  be  uncovered  before  all  the  nations  (vers.  36-42),  and 
the  justice  of  the  judgment  to  be  inflicted  upon  it  shall  be  made 
manifest  (vers.  43-52).  According  to  these  points  of  view, 
the  threat  of  punishment  divides  itself  into  two  parts  in  the 
following  manner  : — In  the  first  (vers.  35-42)  we  have,  first  of 
all  (in  ver.  36),  a  recapitulation  of  the  guilty  conduct  described 
in  vers.  16-34  ;  and  secondly,  an  announcement  of  the  punish- 
ment corresponding  to  the  guilt,  as  the  punishment  of  adultery 
and  murder  (vers.  37  and  48),  and  a  picture  of  its  infliction,  as 
retribution  for  the  enormities  committed  (vers.  39-42).  In 
the  second  part  (vers.  43-52)  there  follows  a  proof  of  the 
justice  of  this  judgment. 

Vers.  35-42.  The  punishment  will  correspond  to  the  sin. 
— Ver.  35.  Therefore,  0  harlot,  hear  the  word  of  Jehovah! 
Ver.  36.  Tlius  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thy  brass  has 
been  lavished,  and  thy  shame  exposed  in  thy  ivhoredom  iviih  thy 
lovers,  and  because  of  all  the  idols  of  thine  abominations,  and 
according  to  the  blood  of  thy  sons,  tchich  thou  hast  given  tliem ; 
Ver.  37.  Therefore,  behold,  1  ivill  gather  together  all  thy  lovers, 
xchoin  thou  hast  pleased,  and  all  ichoni  thou  hast  loved,  together 
icith  all  whom  thou  hast  hated,  and  will  gather  them  against  thee 


CHAP.  XVI.  35-42.  215 

from  round  about,  and  will  expose  thy  shame  to  tliem,  that  they 
may  see  all  thy  shame.  Ver.  38.  /  ivill  judge  thee  according  to 
the  judgment  of  adidteresses  and  murderesses,  and  make  thee  into 
blood  of  IV rath  and  jealousy.  Ver.  39.  And  I  loill  give  thee  into 
their  hand,  that  they  may  destroy  thy  arches,  and  pull  down  thy 
heights ;  that  they  may  strip  thy  clothes  off  thee,  and  take  thy 
splendid  jewellery,  and  leave  thee  naked  and  bare.  Ver.  40. 
And  they  shall  bring  uj)  a  company  against  thee,  and  stone  thee, 
and  cut  thee  in  pieces  ivith  their  swords.  Ver.  41.  And  they 
shall  burn  tky  houses  loith  fire,  and  execute  judgment  upon  thee 
before  the  eyes  of  many  xcomen.  Thus  do  I  put  an  end  to  thy 
ichoredom  ;  and  thou  loilt  also  give  paym&nt  no  more.  Ver.  42. 
And  I  quiet  my  fury  toward  thee,  and  loill  turn  aivay  my 
jealousy  from  thee,  that  I  may  repose  and  vex  myself  no  more. 
— In  the  brief  summary  of  the  guilt  of  the  whore,  the  follow- 
ing objects  are  singled  out,  as  those  for  which  she  is  to  be 
punished  :  (1)  the  pouring  out  of  her  brass  and  the  exposure  of 
her  shame ;  (2)  the  idols  of  her  abominations  (with  bv  before 
the  noun,  corresponding  to  \Vl  before  the  infinitive) ;  (3)  the 
blood  of  her  sons,  with  the  preposition  3,  according  to,  to 
indicate  the  measure  of  her  punishment.  Two  things  are 
mentioned  as  constituting  the  first  ground  of  punishment. 
The  first  is,  "  because  thy  brass  has  been  poured  out."  Most 
of  the  commentators  have  explained  this  correctly,  as  referring 
to  the  fact  that  Israel  had  squandered  the  possessions  received 
from  the  Lord,  viz.  gold,  silver,  jewellery,  clothing,  and  food 
(vers.  10-13  and  16-19),  upon  idolatry.  The  only  difficulty 
connected  with  this  is  the  use  of  the  word  n^chosheth,  brass  or 
copper,  in  the  general  sense  of  money  or  metal,  as  there  are  no 
other  passages  to  support  this  use  of  the  word.  At  the  same 
time,  the  objection  raised  to  this,  namely,  that  n^chosheth  cannot 
signify  money,  because  the  Hebrews  had  no  copper  coin,  is  an 
assertion  without  proof,  since  all  that  can  be  affirmed  with  cer- 
tainty is,  that  the  use  of  copper  or  brass  as  money  is  not  men- 
tioned anywhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  with  the  exception  of 


216  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

the  passage  before  us.  But  we  cannot  infer  with  certainty 
from  this  that  it  was  not  then  in  use.  As  soon  as  the  Hebrews 
be^an  to  stamp  coins,  bronze  or  copper  coins  were  stamped  as 
well  as  the  silver  shekels,  and  specimens  of  these  are  still  in 
existence  from  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  with  the  inscription 
"Simon,  prince  of  Israel"  (cf.  Cavedoni,  Bill.  Numismatikj 
transl.  by  Werlhof,  p.  20  sqq.).  Judging  from  their  size, 
these  coins  were  in  all  probability  worth  a  whole,  a  half,  and  a 
quarter  gerah  (Caved,  pp.  50,  51).  If,  then,  the  silver  shekel 
of  the  value  of  21  grains  contained  twenty  gerahs  in  Moses' 
time,  and  they  had  already  silver  pieces  of  the  weight  of  a 
shekel  and  half  shekel,  whilst  quarter  shekels  are  also  men- 
tioned in  the  time  of  Samuel,  there  would  certainly  be  metal 
coins  in  use  of  the  value  of  agcrah  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and 
commerce,  and  these  would  in  all  probability  be  made  of  brass, 
copper,  or  bronze,  as  silver  coins  of  the  value  of  a  penny  would 
have  been  found  too  small.  Consequently  it  cannot  be  positively 
denied  that  brass  or  copper  may  have  been  used  as  coin  for  the 
payment  of  a  gerah,  and  therefore  that  the  word  n^chosheih 
may  have  been  applied  to  money.  We  therefore  adhere  to 
the  explanation  that  brass  stands  for  money,  which  has  been 
already  adopted  by  the  LXX.  and  Jerome;  and  we  do  so  all 
the  more,  because  every  attempt  that  has  been  made  to  fasten 
another  meaning  upon  n^cIiOsheth,  whether  by  allegorical  inter- 
pretation (Ilabb.),  or  from  the  Arabic,  or  by  altering  the  text, 
is  not  only  arbitrary,  but  does  not  even  yield  a  meaning  that 
suits  the  context.  'H?^''?,  to  be  poured  out  =  squandered  or 
lavished.  To  the  squandering  of  the  possessions  bestowed  by 
the  Lord  upon  His  congregation,  there  was  added  the  exposure 
of  its  shame,  i.e.  the  disgraceful  sacrifice  of  the  honour  and 
dignity  of  the  people  of  God,  of  which  Israel  had  made  itself 
guilty  by  its  whoredom  with  idols,  i.e.  by  falling  into  idolatry, 
and  adopting  heathen  ways.  Ti^3nsp"7y,  to  (towards),  i.e.  with 
thy  lovers  (^V  standing  for  ?^5,  according  to  later  usage:  vid. 
Ewald,  §  217i,  p.  5G1),  is  to  be  explained  after  the  analogy  of 


CHAP.  XVI.  35-42.  217 

7N  niT,  as  signifying  to  commit  adultery  towards  a  person,  i.e. 
with  him.  But  it  was  not  enough  to  sacrifice  the  gifts  of  the 
Lord,  i.e.  His  possessions  and  His  glory,  fo  the  heathen  and 
their  idols ;  Israel  also  made  for  itself  rii33;in  Wa"73j  all  kinds 
of  logs  of  abominations,  i.e.  of  idols,  upon  which  it  hung  its 
ornaments,  and  before  which  it  set  oil  and  incense,  meal  and 
honey  (vers.  18  and  19).  And  it  was  not  even  satisfied  with 
this,  but  gave  to  its  idols  the  blood  of  its  sons,  by  slaying  its 
children  to  Moloch  (ver.  20).  Therefore  (vers.  37  sqq.)  the 
Lord  will  uncover  the  shame  of  His  people  before  all  the 
nations.  He  will  gather  them  together,  both  friend  and  foe, 
against  Jerusalem,  and  let  them  execute  the  judgment.  The 
punishment  will  correspond  to  the  sin.  Because  Israel  has 
cultivated  friendship  with  the  heathen,  it  shall  now  be  given  up 
altogether  into  their  power.  On  the  uncovering  of  the  naked- 
ness as  a  punishment,  compare  Hos.  ii.  12.  The  explanation 
of  the  figure  follows  in  ver.  38.  The  heathen  nations  shall 
inflict  upon  Jerusalem  the  punishment  due  to  adultery  and 
bloodshed.  Jerusalem  (i.e.  Israel)  had  committed  this  twofold 
crime.  It  had  committed  adultery,  by  falling  away  from 
Jehovah  into  idolatry ;  and  bloodshed,  by  the  sacrifices  offered 
to  Moloch.  The  punishment  for  adultery  was  death  by  stoning 
(see  the  comm.  on  ver.  40) ;  and  blood  demanded  blood  (Gen. 
ix.  6  ;  Ex.  xxi.  12).  'ui  DT  Tl^nn;^  does  not  mean,  "  I  will  put 
blood  in  thee  "  (Ros.),  or  ''  I  will  cause  thy  blood  to  be  shed  in 
anger  "  (De  Wette,  Maurer,  etc.)  ;  but  I  make  thee  into  blood  ; 
which  we  must  not  soften  down,  as  Hitzig  proposes,  into  cause 
thee  to  bleed.  The  thought  is  rather  the  following  :  thou  shalt 
be  turned  into  blood,  so  that  nothing  but  blood  may  be  left  of 
thee,  and  that  the  blood  of  fury  and  jealousy,  as  the  working 
of  the  wrath  and  jealousy  of  God  (compare  ver.  42).  To  this 
end  the  heathen  will  destroy  all  the  objects  of  idolatry  (33 
and  riinn,  ver.  39,  as  in  vers.  24,  25),  then  take  from  the  harlot 
both  clothes  and  jewellery,  and  leave  her  naked,  i.e.  plunder 
Jerusalem  and  lay  it  waste,  and,  lastly,  execute  upon  her  the 


218  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

])unishment  of  cleatli  by  stoning  and  by  swortl ;  in  other  words, 
destroy  both  city  and  kingdom.  The  words  'iJl  vi/n,  they  bring 
(up)  against  thee  an  assembly,  may  be  explained  from  the 
ancient  mode  of  administering  justice,  according  to  which  the 
popular  assembly  (qdhdl,  cf.  Prov.  v.  14)  sat  in  judgment  on 
cases  of  adultery  and  capital  crimes,  and  executed  the  sentence, 
as  the  law  for  stoning  expressly  enjoins  (Lev.  xx.  2  ;  Num. 
XV.  36  ;  Deut.  xxii.  21 ;  compare  my  Bibl.  Archdol.  II.  p.  257). 
But  they  are  also  applicable  to  the  foes,  who  would  march 
against  Jerusalem  (for  qdhdl  in  this  sense,  compare  ch.  xvii.  17). 
The  punishment  of  adultery  (according  to  Lev.  xx.  10)  was 
death  by  stoning,  as  we  may  see  from  Lev.  xx.  2-27  and  Deut. 
XX.  24  compared  with  John  viii.  5.  This  was  the  usual  mode 
of  capital  punishment  under  the  Mosaic  law,  when  judicial 
sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  upon  individuals  (see  my 
Archdol.  II.  p.  2G4).  The  other  form  of  punishment,  slaying 
by  the  sword,  was  adopted  when  there  were  many  criminals  to 
be  put  to  death,  and  was  not  decapitation,  but  cutLiug  down  or 
stabbing  (hdtliaq,  to  hew  in  pieces)  with  the  sword  (see  my 
Archdol.  I.e.).  The  punishment  of  death  was  rendered  more 
severe  by  the  burning  of  the  corpse  (Lev.  xx.  14,  xxi.  9). 
Consequently  the  burning  of  the  houses  in  ver.  41  is  also  to  be 
regarded  as  intensifying  the  punishment ;  and  it  is  in  the  same 
light  that  the  threat  is  to  be  regarded,  that  the  judgment  would 
be  executed  "before  the  eyes  of  many  women.'  The  many 
women  are  the  many  heathen  nations,  according  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  Jerusalem  or  Israel  as  an  unfaithful  wife.  "  As  it  is 
the  greatest  punishment  to  an  adulterous  woman  to  be  exposed 
in  her  sin  before  the  eyes  of  other  women  ;  so  will  the 
severest  portion  of  Israel's  punishment  be,  that  it  will  stand 
exposed  in  its  sin  before  the  eyes  of  all  other  nations" 
(Klicfoth).  This  is  the  way  in  which  God  will  put  an  end  to 
the  fornication,  and  appease  His  wrath  and  jealousy  upon  the 
harlot  (vers.  41  i  and  42).  n^r^'n,  Avith  i?p,  to  cause  a  person  to 
cease  to  be  or  do  anything.     For  ver.  42,  compare  ch.  v.  13. 


CEAP.  XVI.  43-52.  219 

By  the  execution  of  the  judgment  the  jealousy  ('^^?[?)  of  the 
injured  husband  is  appeased. 

Vers.  43-52.  This  judgment  is  perfectly  just ;  for  Israel  has 
not  only  forgotten  the  grace  of  its  God  manifested  towards  it 
in  its  election,  but  has  even  surpassed  both  Samaria  and  Sodom 
in  its  abominations. — Ver.  43.  Because  thou  hast  not  rememhered 
the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  hast  raged  against  me  in  all  this ; 
behold,  I  also  give  thy  loay  upon  thy  head,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  that  I  may  not  do  that  which  is  wrong  above  all 
thine  abominations.  Ver.  44.  Behold,  every  one  that  useth 
proverbs  loill  use  this  proverb  concerning  thee  :  as  the  mother,  so 
the  daughter.  Ver.  45.  Thou  art  the  daughter  of  thy  mother, 
who  casteih  off  her  husband  and  her  children  ;  and  thou  art  the 
sister  of  thy  sisters,  luho  cast  off  their  liusbands  and  their  children. 
Your  mother  is  a  Hlttite,  and  your  father  an  Amorite.  Ver.  46. 
And  thy  great  sister  is  Samaria  with  her  daughters,  tvho  divelleth 
at  thy  left ;  and  thy  sister,  who  is  smaller  than  thou,  who  dwelleth 
at  thy  right,  is  Sodom  with  her  daughters.  Ver.  47.  But  thou 
hast  not  walked  in  their  ivays  and  done  according  to  their 
abominations  a  little  only ;  thou  didst  act  more  corruptly  than 
they  in  all  thy  ways.  Ver.  48.  As  1  live,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  Sodom  thy  sister,  she  with  her  daughters  hath  not 
done  as  thou  hast  done  ivith  thy  daughters.  Ver.  49.  Behold, 
this  was  the  sin  of  Sodom,  thy  sister:  pride,  superabundance 
of  food,  and  rest  undisturbed  had  she  ivith  her  daughters,  and 
the  hand  of  the  poor  and  needy  she  did  not  hold.  Ver.  50. 
They  were  haughty,  and  did  abominations  before  me;  and  I 
swept  them  away  when  I  saw  it.  Ver.  51.  And  Samaria,  she 
hath  not  sinned  to  the  half  of  thy  sins ;  thou  hast  increased 
thine  abominations  more  than  they,  and  hast  made  thy  sisters 
onghteous  by  all  thine  abominations  ichich  thou  hast  done. 
Ver.  52.  Bear,  then,  also  thy  shame,  ichich  thou  hast  adjudged 
to  thy  sisters.  Through  thy  sins,  ivhich  thou  hast  committed 
more  abominably  than  they,  they  become  more  righteous  than 
thou.     Be  thou,  then,  also  put  to  shame,  and  bear  thy  disgrace, 


220  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

as  thou  hast  justified  ihj  sisters. — "itf'X  }r,  which  corresponds 
to  ]V]  in  ver.  36,  introduces  a  new  train  of  thought.  ^lost  of 
the  commentators  take  ver.  43  in  connection  with  what  pre- 
cedes, and  place  the  pause  at  ver.  44.  But  the  perfect  ""i^ni 
shows  that  this  is  wrong.  If  ver.  43  simply  contained  a 
recapitulation,  or  a  concluding  summary,  of  the  threat  of 
judgment  in  vers.  35-42,  the  punishment  would  be  announced 
in  the  future  tense,  as  it  is  in  ver.  37.  By  the  perfect  ""rinj,  on 
the  contrary,  the  punishment  is  exhibited  as  a  completed  fact, 
and  further  reasons  are  then  assigned  in  vindication  of  the 
justice  of  the  divine  procedure,  which  we  find  in  vers.  44  sqq. 
To  this  end  the  guilt  of  Jerusalem  is  mentioned  once  more : 
"  thou  didst  not  remember  the  days  of  thy  youth,"  i.e.  what 
thou  didst  experience  in  thy  youth  ;  the  misery  in  which  thou 
didst  find  thyself,  and  out  of  which  I  rescued  thee  and  exalted 
thee  to  glory  (vers.  4-14).  To  this  there  was  added  rage 
against  Jehovah,  which  manifested  itself  in  idolatrous  acts. 
P  fi"3,  to  be  excited  upon  or  against  any  person,  to  rage;  thus 
in  HiOipael  with  ^x  in  2  Kings  xix.  27,  28.  For  TNif  7]-it  |n3, 
compare  ch.  ix.  10.  The  last  clause  of  ver.  43,  'li^  TT'C'j;  N?l,  has 
been  misinterpreted  in  many  ways.  According  to  the  ^lasoretic 
pointing,  Ti^b'i;  is  the  second  person  ;  but  this  does  not  j'ield 
a  suitable  meaning.     For   ni2T  nb'J?   is  not  used  in  the  sense 

O  T  •  T    r 

adopted  by  the  Targum,  upon  which  the  Masoretic  pointing  is 
undoubtedly  based,  and  which  Raschi,  Kimchi,  and  Rusen- 
miiller  retain,  viz.  cogitationem  facere :  "  thou  hast  not  taken 
any  thought  concerning  all  thy  abominations,"  i.e.  hast  not  felt 
any  remorse.  The  true  meaning  is  to  commit  a  crime,  a 
wrung,  and  is  used  for  the  most  part  of  unnatural  offences 
(cf.  Judg.  XX.  6 ;  IIos.  vi.  9).  There  is  all  the  more  reason 
for  retaining  this  meaning,  that  nsT  (apart  from  the  plural 
ni?2T  =  nisTO)  only  occurs  seiisu  malo,  and  for  tlie  most  part  in 
the  sense  of  an  immoral  action  (^vid.  Job  xxxi.  11).  Con- 
sequently we  should  have  to  adopt  the  rendering :  and  thou  no 
longer  committest  this  immorality  above  all  thine  abominations. 


CHAP.  XVI,  43-52.  221 

But  in  that  case  not  only  would  *iij?  have  to  be  supplied,  but  a 
distinction  would  be  drawn  between  the  abominations  committed 
by  Israel  and  the  sin  of  lewdness,  i.e.  adultery,  which  is  quite 
foreign  to  the  connection  and  to  the  contents  of  the  entire 
chapter ;  for,  according  to  these,  the  abominations  of  Israel 
consisted  in  adultery  or  the  sin  of  lewdness.  We  must  there- 
fore take  \Tb'J?  as  the  first  person,  as  Symm.  and  Jerome  have 
done,  and  explain  the  words  from  Lev.  xix.  29,  where  the 
toleration  by  a  father  of  the  whoredom  of  a  daughter  is  de- 
signated as  zimmdh.  If  we  adopt  this  interpretation,  Jehovah 
says  that  He  has  punished  the  spiritual  whoredom  of  Israel,  in 
order  that  He  may  not  add  another  act  of  wrong  to  the  abomina- 
tions of  Israel  by  allowing  such  immorality  to  go  on  unpunished. 
If  He  did  not  punish,  He  would  commit  a  zimmdh  Himself, — 
in  other  words,  would  make  Himself  accessory  to  the  sins  of 
Israel.  The  concludinir  characteristic  of  the  moral  deo-rada- 
tion  of  Israel  fits  in  very  appropriately  here  in  vers.  44  sqq.,  in 
which  Jerusalem  is  compared  to  Samaria  and  Sodom,  both  of 
which  had  been  punished  long  ago  with  destruction  on  account 
of  their  sins.  This  characteristic  is  expressed  in  the  form  of 
proverbial  sayings.  Every  one  who  speaks  in  proverbs  (mOshel, 
as  in  Num.  xxi.  27)  will  then  say  over  thee:  as  the  mother,  so 
her  daughter.  Her  abominable  life  is  so  conspicuous,  that  it 
strikes  every  one,  and  furnishes  occasion  for  proverbial  sayino-s. 
nss  may  be  a  feminine  form  of  DX,  as  Hip  is  of  2^  (ver.  30)  ; 
or  it  may  also  be  a  Raplie  form  for  HffX  :  as  her  (the  daun-hter  s) 
mother,  so  her  (the  mother's)  daughter  (cf.  Evvald,  §  174g, 
note,  with  §  21,  22^).  The  daughter  is  of  course  Jerusalem,  as 
the  representative  of  Israel.  The  mother  is  the  Canaanitish 
race  of  Hiuites  and  Amorites,  whose  immoral  nature  had  been 
adopted  by  Israel  (cf.  vers.  3  and  45^*).  In  ver.  45  the  sisterlv 
relation  is  added  to  the  maternal,  to  carry  out  the  thoucrht  still 
further.  Some  difficulty  arises  here  from  the  statement,  that 
the  mothers  and  the  sisters  despise  their  husbands  and  their 
children,  or  put  them  away.     For  it  is  unquestionable  that  the 


222  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

participle  nH'b  belongs  to  Tjrss*,  and  not  to  na,  from  the  parallel 
relative  clause  I^J^J  "•'-*'?!,  which  applies  to  the  sisters.  The 
husband  of  the  wife  Jerusalem  is  Jehovah,  as  the  matrimonial 
head  of  the  covenant  nation  or  congregation  of  Israel.  The 
children  of  the  wives,  viz.  the  mother,  her  daughter,  and  her 
sisters,  are  the  children  offered  in  sacrifice  to  Moloch.  The 
worship  of  Moloch  was  found  among  the  early  Canaanites,  and 
is  here  attributed  to  Samaria  and  Sodom  also,  though  we  have 
no  other  proofs  of  its  existence  there  than  the  references  made 
to  it  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  husband,  whom  the  mother 
and  sisters  have  put  away,  cannot  therefore  be  any  other  than 
Jehovah ;  from  which  it  is  evident  that  Ezekiel  regarded 
idolatry  generally  as  apostasy  from  Jehovah,  and  Jehovah  as 
the  God  not  only  of  the  Israelites,  but  of  the  heathen  also.^ 
T|ninx  (ver.  45)  is  a  plural  noun,  as  the  relative  clause  which 
follows  and  ver.  46  clearly  show,  and  therefore  is  a  contracted 
form  of  ^^nins*  (ver.  51)  or  T]nvns  (ver.  52  ;  vid.  Ewald,  §  2126, 
]).  538).  Samaria  and  Sodom  are  called  sisters  of  Jerusalem, 
not  because  both  cities  belonged  to  the  same  mother-land  of 
Canaan,  for  the  origin  of  the  cities  does  not  come  into  con- 
sideration here  at  all,  and  the  cities  represent  the  kingdoms,  as 
the  additional  words  "  her  daughters,"  that  is  to  say,  the  cities 
of  a  land  or  kingdom  dependent  upon  the  capital,  clearly  prove. 
Samaria  and  Sodom,  with  the  daughter  cities  belonging  to 
them,  are  sisters  of  Jerusalem  in  a  spiritual  sense,  as  animated 
by  the  same  spirit  of  idolatry.  Samaria  is  called  the  great 
(greater)  sister  of  Jerusalem,  and  Sodom  the  smaller  sister. 
This  is  not  equivalent  to  the  older  and  the  younger,  for  Samaria 
was  not  more  deeply  sunk  in  idolatry  than  Sodom,  nor  was 
her  idolatry  more  ancient  than  that  of  Sodom  (Theodoret  and 
Grotius) ;  and  Hiivernick's  explanation^  that  "  the  finer  form 

^  Theodoret  lias  explained  it  correctly  in  tins  way  :  "He  shows  by  this, 
that  lie  is  not  the  God  of  Jews  only,  but  of  Gentiles  also  ;  for  God  once 
trave  oracles  to  them,  before  they  chose  the  abomination  of  idolatry. 
Tliercfore  he  says  that  they  also  put  away  both  the  husband  aud  the  chil- 
dren by  denying  God,  and  slaying  the  children  to  demons." 


CHAP.  XVI.  43-52.  223 

of  idolatry,  the  mixture  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah  with  that  of 
nature,  as  represented  by  Samaria,  was  the  first  to  find  an 
entrance  into  Judah,  and  this  was  afterwards  followed  by  the 
coarser  abominations  of  heathenism,"  is  unsatisfactory,  for  the 
simple  reason  that,  according  to  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  coarser  forms  of  idolatry  forced  their  way  into 
Judah  at  quite  as  early  a  period  as  the  more  refined.  The 
idolatry  of  the  time  of  Rehoboam  and  Abijam  was  not  merely 
a  mixture  of  Jehovah-worship  with  the  worship  of  nature,  but 
the  introduction  of  heathen  idols  into  Judah,  along  with  which 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  syncretistic  worship  of  the  high 
places  was  also  practised.  7iia  and  l^i^  do  not  generally  mean 
old  and  young,  but  great  and  small.  The  transferred  meaning 
old  and  young  can  only  apply  to  men  and  animals,  when  great- 
ness and  littleness  are  really  signs  of  a  difference  in  age ;  but 
it  is  altogether  inapplicable  to  kingdoms  or  cities,  the  size  of 
which  is  by  no  means  dependent  upon  their  age.  Consequently 
the  expressions  great  and  small  simply  refer  to  the  extent  of 
the  kingdoms  or  states  here  named,  and  correspond  to  the  de- 
scription given  of  their  situation :  "  at  the  left  hand,"  i.e.  to 
the  north,  and  "  at  the  right  hand,"  i.e.  to  the  south  of  Jeru- 
salem and  Judah. 

Jerusalem  had  not  only  equalled  these  sisters  in  sins  and 
abominations,  but  had  acted  more  corruptly  than  they  (ver.  47). 
The  first  hemistich  of  this  verse,  "  thou  walkest  not  in  their 
ways,"  etc.,  is  more  precisely  defined  by  |no  "'Jin'^'ni  in  the  second 
half.  The  link  of  connection  between  the  two  statements  is 
formed  by  £3i^  t2y03.  This  is  generally  rendered,  "  soon  was 
there  disgust,"  i.e.  thou  didst  soon  feel  disgust  at  walking  in 
their  ways,  and  didst  act  still  worse.  But  apart  from  the  fact 
that  while  disgust  at  the  way  of  the  sisters  might  very  well 
constitute  a  motive  for  forsaking  those  ways,  i.e.  relinquishino- 
their  abominations,  it  could  not  furnish  a  motive  for  surpassing 
those  abominations.  This  explanation  is  exposed  to  the  philo- 
logical difficulty,  that  t^i?  by  itself  cannot  signify  taeduit  te,  and 


224  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

the  impersonal  use  of  ti^p  would  at  all  events  require  '^1^,  which 
could  not  be  omitted,  even  if  t^P  were  intended  for  a  substan- 
tive.    These  difBculties  fall  away  if  we  interpret  t^i?  from  the 

Arabic  lai,  omnino,  tantum,  as  Alb.  Schultens  has  done,  and  con- 
nect the  definition  "  a  little  only  "  with  the  preceding  clause. 
We  then  obtain  this  very  appropriate  thought :  thou  didst  walk 
in  the  ways  of  thy  sisters;  and  that  not  a  little  only,  but  thou 
didst  act  still  more  corruptly  than  they.  This  is  proved  in 
vers.  48  sqq.  by  an  enumeration  of  the  sins  of  Sodom.  They 
were  pride,  satiety, — i.e.  superabundance  of  bread  {vid.  Prov. 
XXX.  9), — and  careless  rest  or  security,  which  produce  haughti- 
ness and  harshness,  or  uncharitableness,  towards  the  poor  and 
wretched.  In  this  way  Sodom  and  her  daughters  (Gomorrah, 
Admali,  and  Zeboim)  became  proud  and  haughty,  and  com- 
mitted abominations  "^l^?,  i.e.  before  Jehovah  (alluding  to  Gen. 
xviii.  21) ;  and  God  destroyed  them  when  He  saw  this.  The 
sins  of  Samaria  (ver.  51)  are  not  specially  mentioned,  because 
the  principal  sin  of  this  kingdom,  namely,  image-worship,  was 
well  known.  It  is  simply  stated,  therefore,  that  she  did  not 
sin  half  so  much  as  Jerusalem  ;  and  in  fact,  if  we  except  the 
times  of  Ahab  and  his  dynasty,  pure  heathenish  idolatry  did 
not  exist  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  so  that  Samaria 
seemed  really  a  righteous  city  in  comparison  with  the  idolatry 
of  Jerusalem  and  Judah,  more  especially  from  the  time  of 
Ahaz  onward  (vid.  Jer.  iii.  11).  The  punishment  of  Samaria 
by  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  is  also 
passed  over  as  being  well  known  to  every  Israelite ;  and  in 
ver.  52  the  application  is  directly  made  to  Jerusalem,  i.e.  to 
Judah  :  "  Thou  also,  bear  thy  shame,  thou  who  hast  adjudged 
to  thy  sisters," — sc.  by  pronouncing  an  uncharitable  judgment 
upon  them,  thinking  thyself  better  than  they,  whereas  thou 
hast  sinned  more  abominably,  so  that  they  appear  more  right- 
eous than  thou.  Ply,  to  be  righteous,  and  PIIV,  to  justify,  are 
used  in  a  comparative  sense.     In  comparison  with  the  abomi- 


CHAP.  XVI.  53-63.  225 

nations  of  Jerusalem,  the  sins  of  Sodom  and  Samaria  appeared 
perfectly  trivial.  After  J^^  DJI.,  the  announcement  of  punish- 
ment is  repeated  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  that  in  the  form 
of  a  consequence  resulting  from  the  sentence  with  regard  to 
the  nature  of  the  sin  :  therefore  be  thou  also  put  to  shame, 
and  bear  thy  disgrace. 

Vers.  53-63.  But  this  disgrace  will  not  be  the  conclusion. 
Because  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  concluded  with  Israel, 
Jerusalem  will  not  continue  in  misery,  but  will  attain  to  the 
glory  promised  to  the  people  of  God ; — and  that  in  such  a  way 
that  all  boasting  will  be  excluded,  and  Judah,  with  the  deepest 
shame,  will  attain  to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  compassion  of 
God. — Yet,  in  order  that  all  false  confidence  in  the  gracious 
promises  of  God  may  be  prevented,  and  the  sinful  nation  be 
thoroughly  humbled,  this  last  section  of  our  word  of  God 
announces  the  restoration  of  Sodom  and  Samaria  as  well  as 
that  of  Jerusalem,  so  that  all  boasting  on  the  part  of  Israel  is 
precluded. — Ver.  53.  Aiid  I  will  turn  their  captiviti/,  the  cap- 
tivity of  Sodom  and  her  daughters,  and  the  captivity  of  Samaria 
and  her  daughters,  and  the  captivity  of  thy  captivity  in  the  midst 
of  them:  Ver.  54.  That  thou  inayest  bear  thy  shame,  and  he 
ashamed  of  all  that  thou  hast  done,  in  comforting  them.  Ver.  b5. 
And  thy  sisters,  Sodom  and  her  daughters,  will  return  to  their 
first  estate ;  and  Samaria  and  her  daughters  will  return  to  their 
first  estate  ;  and  thou  and  thy  daughters  will  i^eiurn  to  your  first 
estate.  Ver.  56.  And  Sodom  thy  sister  was  not  a  discourse  in 
thy  mouth  in  the  day  of  thy  haughtinesses,  Ver.  57.  Before  thi/ 
wickedness  was  disclosed,  as  at  the  time  of  the  disgrace  of  the 
daughters  of  Aram  and  all  its  surroundings,  the  daughters  of  the 
Philistines,  who  despised  thee  round  about.  Ver.  58.  T7iy  wrong- 
doing and  all  thy  abominations,  thou  bearest  them,  is  the  saying 
of  Jehovah.  Ver.  59.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I 
do  loith  thee  as  thou  hast  done,  who  hast  despised  oath  to  break 
covenant.  Ver.  60.  And  1  shall  remember  my  covenant  tcith 
thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  shall  establish  an  everlasting 

EZEK.  I.  p 


226  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

covenant  with  thee.  Ver.  61,  And  thou  wilt  remember  thy  loays, 
and  be  ashamed,  when  thou  receivest  thy  sisters,  those  greater  than 
thou  to  those  smaller  than  thou;  and  I  give  them  to  thee  for 
daughters,  although  they  are  not  of  thy  covenant.  Ver.  62.  And 
I u'ill  establish  my  covenant  ivith  thee;  and  thou  wilt  j^erceive  that 
I  am  Jehovah  ;  Ver.  63.  That  thou  mayest  remember,  and  be 
ashamed,  and  there  may  no  longer  remain  to  thee  an  opening  of 
the  mouth  because  of  thy  disgrace,  lohen  I  forgive  thee  all  that 
thou  hast  done,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — The  promise 
commences  with  an  announcement  of  the  restoration,  not  of 
Jerusalem,  but  of  Sodom  and  Samaria.  The  two  kintrdoms,  or 
peoples,  upon  which  judgment  first  fell,  shall  also  be  the  first 
to  receive  mercy ;  and  it  will  not  be  till  after  then  that  Jeru- 
salem, with  the  other  cities  of  Judah,  will  also  be  restored  to 
favour,  in  order  that  she  may  bear  her  disgrace,  and  be  ashamed 
of  her  sins  (ver.  54)  ;  that  is  to  say,  not  because  Sodom  and 
Samaria  have  borne  their  punishment  for  a  longer  time,  but  to 
the  deeper  shaming,  the  more  complete  humiliation  of  Jeru- 
salem, r^y^  y^^,  to  turn  the  captivity,  not  "  to  bring  back  the 
captives"  (see  the  comm.  on  Deut.  xxx.  3),  is  here  used  in  a 
figurative  sense  for  restitutio  in  statum  integritatis,  according  to 
the  explanation  given  of  the  expression  in  ver.  55.  No  carry- 
ing away,  or  captivity,  took  place  in  the  case  of  Sodom.  The 
form  JT'nK^,  which  the  Chetib  has  adopted  several  times  here, 
has  iust  the  same  meaninfj  as  Hilt'.  Tjwa^'  n^3K^  does  not 
mean  the  captives  of  thy  captivity,  since  the  same  word  cannot 
be  used  first  as  a  concrete  and  then  as  an  abstract  noun ;  nor 
does  the  combination  serve  to  give  greater  emphasis,  in  the 
sense  of  a  superlative, — viz.  "  the  captivity  of  thy  captivities, 
equivalent  to  thy  severest  or  most  fearful  captivity," — as 
Stark  and  Htivernick  suppose.  The  genitive  must  be  taken  as 
explanatory,  as  already  proposed  by  Hengstenberg  and  Klie- 
foth  :  "  captivity,  which  is  thy  captivity ;  "  and  the  pleonastic 
mode  of  expression  is  chosen  to  give  greater  prominence  to  the 
thought,  "  thine  own  captivity,"  than  would  have  been  given  to 


CHAP.  XVI.  53-63.  227 

it  by  a  suffix  attached  to  the  simple  noun.  njriDina,  in  their 
midst,  does  not  imply,  that  just  as  Judah  was  situated  now  in 
the  very  midst  between  Sodom  and  Samaria,  so  its  captives 
would  return  home  occupying  the  centre  between  those  two 
(Hitzig) ;  the  reference  is  rather  to  fellowship  in  captivity,  to 
the  fact  that  Jerusalem  would  share  the  same  fate,  and  endure 
the  same  punishment,  as  Samaria  and  Sodom  (Hengst.,  Klief.). 
The  concluding  words  of  ver.  54,  "  in  that  thou  comfortest 
them,"  do  not  refer  to  the  sins  already  committed  by  Israel  (as 
Kliefoth,  who  adopts  the  rendering,  "  didst  comfort  them," 
imagines),  but  to  the  bearing  of  such  disgrace  as  makes  Jeru- 
salem ashamed  of  its  sins.  By  bearing  disgrace,  i.e.  by  its 
endurance  of  well-merited  and  disgraceful  punishment,  Jeru- 
salem consoles  her  sisters  Samaria  and  Sodom;  and  that  not 
merely  by  fellowship  in  misfortune,  —  solamen  miseris,  etc. 
(Calvin,  Hitzig,  etc.), — but  by  the  fact  that  from  the  punish- 
ment endured  by  Jerusalem,  both  Samaria  and  Sodom  can 
discern  the  righteousness  of  the  ways  of  God,  and  find  therein 
a  foundation  for  their  hope,  that  the  righteous  God  will  bring 
to  an  end  the  merited  punishment  as  soon  as  its  object  has 
been  attained  (see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xiv.  22,  23).  The  turning 
of  the  captivity,  according  to  ver.  55,  will  consist  in  the  fact 
that  Sodom,  Samaria,  and  Jerusalem  return  ]T\'Q'X\b^  to  their 
original  state,  i^^li^  does  not  mean  the  former  or  earlier  state, 
but  the  original  state  (co?  r^aav  air  ap-^T]^;^  LXX.),  as  in  Isa. 
xxiii.  7.  Kliefoth  is  wrong,  however,  in  explaining  this  as 
meaning :  "  as  they  were,  when  they  came  in  Adam  from  the 
creative  hand  of  God."  The  original  state  is  the  status  integri- 
iatis,  not  as  a  state  of  sinlessness  or  original  ricrhteousness  and 
holiness, — for  neither  Jerusalem  on  the  one  hand,  nor  Samaria 
and  Sodom  on  the  other,  had  ever  been  in  such  a  state  as  this, 
— but  as  an  original  state  of  glory,  in  which  they  were  before 
they  had  fallen  and  sunk  into  ungodly  ways. 

But  how  could  a  restoration  of  Sodom  and  her  daufrhters 
(Gomorrah,  etc.)  be  predicted,  when  the  destruction  of  these 


228  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

cities  was  accompanied  by  the  sweeping  away  of  all  their  in- 
habitants from  off  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  Many  of  the  com- 
mentators have  attempted  to  remove  the  difficulty  by  assuming 
that  Sodom  here  stands  for  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites,  who 
were  descendants  of  Lot,  who  escaped  from  Sodom.  But  the 
untenableness  of  such  an  explanation  is  obvious,  from  the 
simple  fact  that  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites  were  no  more 
Sodomites  than  Lot  himself.  And  the  view  expressed  by 
Origen  and  Jerome,  and  lately  revived  by  Hiivernick,  that 
Sodom  is  a  typical  name  denoting  heathenism  generally,  is 
also  unsatisfactory.  The  way  in  which  Sodon^  is  classed  with 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem,  and  the  special  reference  to  the  judg- 
ment that  fell  upon  Sodom  (vers.  49,  50),  point  undeniably  to 
the  real  Sodom.  The  heathen  world  comes  into  consideration 
only  so  far  as  this,  that  the  pardon  of  a  heathen  city,  so  deeply 
degraded  as  Sodom,  carries  with  it  the  assurance  that  mercy 
will  be  extended  to  all  heathen  nations.  We  must  therefore 
take  the  words  as  referring  to  the  literal  Sodom.  Yet  we  cer- 
tainly cannot  for  a  moment  think  of  any  earthly  restoration  of 
Sodom.  For  even  if  we  could  conceive  of  a  restoration  of  the 
cities  that  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  sunk  into  the  depths  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  conception  of  an 
earthly  and  corporeal  restoration  of  the  inhabitants  of  those 
cities,  who  were  destroyed  at  the  same  time ;  and  in  this  con- 
nection it  is  chiefly  to  them  that  the  words  refer.  This  does 
not  by  any  means  prove  that  the  thing  itself  is  impossible,  but 
simply  that  the  realization  of  the  prophecy  must  be  sought  for 
beyond  the  present  order  of  things,  in  one  that  extends  into  the 
life  everlasting. 

As  ver.  55  elucidates  the  contents  of  ver.  53,  so  the  thought 
of  ver.  54  is  explained  and  still  further  expanded  in  vers.  5G 
and  57  The  meaning  of  ver.  56a  is  a  subject  of  dispute;  but 
so  much  is  indisputable,  that  the  attempt  of  Kliefoth  to  explain 
vers.  56  and  57  as  referring  to  the  future,  and  signifying  that 
in   the  coming  day  of  its  glory  Israel   will  no  longer  carry 


CHAP.  SVI.  53-63.  229 

Sodom  as  a  legend  in  Its  mouth  as  it  does  now,  does  violence  to 
the  grammar,  and  is  quite  a  mistake.  It  is  no  more  allowable 
to  take  nriTi  N71  as  a  future,  in  tlie  sense  of  "  and  will  not  be," 

T     T  ;  '  7 

than  to  render  riann  ny  iD3  (ver.  57),  "  it  will  be  like  the  time 
of  scorn."  Moreover,  the  application  of  "Hl^i^?  ^i''?  to  the  day 
of  future  glory  is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  in  ver.  49  the 
word  p5<3  is  used  to  denote  the  pride  which  was  the  chief  sin  of 
Sodom ;  and  the  reference  to  this  verse  very  naturally  suggests 
itself.  The  meaning  of  ver.  56  depends  upon  the  rendering  to 
be  given  to  nyint:'?.  The  explanation  given  by  Rosenmiiller 
and  Maurer,  after  Jerome, — viz.  noji  erat  in  audiiione,  i.e.  no7i 
audiebatur,  thou  didst  not  think  at  all  of  Sodom,  didst  not  take 
its  name  into  thy  mouth, — is  by  no  means  satisfactory.  rii'ieC'' 
means  proclamation,  discourse,  and  also  report.  If  we  adopt 
the  last,  we  must  take  the  sentence  as  interrogatory  (iiSb  for 
^^^U),  as  Hengstenberg  and  Hitzig  have  done.  Although  this 
is  certainly  admissible,  there  are  no  clear  indexes  here  to 
warrant  our  assumption  of  an  interrogation,  which  is  only 
hinted  at  by  the  tone.  We  therefore  prefer  the  meaning 
"  discourse : "  thy  sister  Sodom  was  not  a  discourse  in  thy 
mouth  in  the  day  of  thy  haughtinesses,  that  thou  didst  talk  of 
the  fate  of  Sodom  and  lay  it  to  heart  when  thou  wast  in  pro- 
sperity. The  plural  "H!?^^?  is  more  emphatic  than  the  singular. 
Tile  day  of  the  haughtinesses  is  defined  in  ver.  57  as  the 
period  before  the  wickedness  of  Judah  had  been  disclosed. 
This  Avas  effected  by  means  of  the  judgment,  which  burst  upon 
Jerusalem  on  the  part  of  Babylon.  Through  this  judgment 
Jerusalem  is  said  to  have  been  covered  with  disgrace,  as  at  the 
time  when  the  daughters  of  Aram,  i.e.  the  cities  of  Syria,  and 
those  of  the  Philistines  (Aram  on  the  east,  and  the  Philistines 
on  the  west,  Isa.  ix.  11),  scorned  and  maltreated  it  round 
about.  This  refers  primarily  to  the  times  of  Ahaz,  when  the 
Syrians  and  Philistines  pressed  hard  upon  Judah  (2  Kings 
XV.  37,  xvi.  6;  and  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18,  19).  It  must  not  be 
restricted  to  this,  however ;  but  was  repeated  in  the  reign  of 


230  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Jelioiaclnn,  when  Jeliovali  sent  troops  of  the  Chaldaeans, 
Aramaeansy  Ammonites,  and  Moabltes  against  him,  to  destroy 
Judah  (2  Kings  xxiv.  2).  It  is  true,  the  Philistines  are  not 
mentioned  here ;  but  from  the  threat  in  Ezek.  xxv.  15,  we  may 
infer  that  they  also  attempted  at  the  same  time  to  bring  dis- 
grace upon  Judah.  t^XB' =  tD^:;>,  according  to  Aramaean  usage, 
to  treat  contemptuously,  or  with  repudiation  (cf.  ch.  xxviii. 
24,  26).  Jerusalem  will  have  to  atone  for  this  pride,  and  to 
bear  its  wrong-doing  and  its  abominations  (ver.  58).  For 
zimmdh,  see  the  comm.  on  ver.  43.  The  perfect  D''risb'3  indi- 
cates that  the  certainty  of  the  punishment  is  just  as  great  as 
if  it  had  already  commenced.  The  reason  assigned  for  this 
thought  in  ver.  59  forms  a  transition  to  the  further  expansion 
of  the  promise  in  vers.  GO  sqq.  JT'D'yi  (ver.  59)  has  been 
correctly  pointed  by  the  Masoretes  as  the  1st  person.  The  i  is 
copulative,  and  shows  that  what  follows  forms  the  concluding 
summary  of  all  that  precedes,  ^nix  for  "^J^'^5,  as  in  vers.  60, 
etc.,  to  deal  with  any  one.  The  construction  of  nb'y,  with  an 
accusative  of  the  person,  to  treat  any  one,  cannot  be  sustained 
either  from  ch.  xvii.  17  and  xxiii.  25,  or  from  Jer.  xxxiii.  9  ; 
and  Gesenius  is  wronrj  in  assumintr  that  we  meet  with  it  in 
Isa.  xlii.  16. — Despising  the  oath  {^^^)  points  back  to  Deut. 
xxix.  11,  12,  where  the  renewal  of  the  covenant  concluded  at 
Sinai  is  described  as  an  entrance  into  the  covenant  and  oath 
which  the  Lord  then  made  with  His  people. — But  even  if 
Israel  has  faithlessly  broken  the  covenant,  and  must  bear  the 
consequent  punishment,  the  unfaithfulness  of  man  can  never 
alter  the  faithfulness  of  God.  This  is  the  link  of  connection 
between  the  resumption  and  further  expansion  of  the  promise 
in  ver.  60  and  the  closing  words  of  ver.  59.  The  remembrance 
of  His  covenant  is  mentioned  in  Lev.  xxvi.  42  and  45  as  the 
only  motive  that  will  induce  God  to  restore  Israel  to  favour 
again,  when  the  humiliation  effected  by  the  endurance  of 
punishment  has  brought  it  to  a  confession  of  its  sins.  The 
covenant  which  God  concluded  with  Israel  in  the  dav  of  its 


CHAP.  XVI.  53-63.  231 

youth,  I.e.  when  He  led  it  out  of  Egypt,  He  will  establish  as  an 
everlasting  covenant.  Consequently  it  is  not  an  entirely  new 
covenant,  but  simply  the  perfecting  of  the  old  one  for  ever- 
lasting duration.  For  the  fact  itself,  compare  Isa.lv.  3,  where 
the  making  of  the  everlasting  covenant  is  described  as  granting 
the  stedfast  mercies  of  David,  i.e.  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
mise given  to  David  (2  Sam.  vii.).  This  promise  is  called  by 
David  himself  an  everlasting  covenant  which  God  had  made 
with  him  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  5).  And  the  assurance  of  its  ever- 
lasting duration  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  this  covenant 
did  not  rest  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  but  simply  upon 
the  forgiving  grace  of  God  (compare  ver.  63  with  Jer.  xxxi. 
31-34). — The  bestowal  of  this  grace  will  put  Israel  in  remem- 
brance of  its  ways,  and  fill  it  with  shame.  In  this  sense  ^']^'!\ 
(and  thou  slialt  remember),  in  ver.  61,  is  placed  side  by  side 
with  ''iyi^3J  (I  will  remember)  in  ver.  60.  This  shame  will  seize 
upon  Israel  when  the  establishment  of  an  everlasting  covenant 
is  followed  by  the  greater  and  smaller  nations  being  associated 
with  it  in  glory,  and  incorporated  into  it  as  children,  though  they 
are  not  of  its  covenant.  The  greater  and  smaller  sisters  are 
the  greater  and  smaller  nations,  as  members  of  the  universal 
family  of  man,  who  are  to  be  exalted  to  the  glory  of  one  larrfe 
family  of  God.  The  restoration,  which  is  promised  in  vers.  53 
and  55  to  Sodom  and  Samaria  alone,  is  expanded  here  into  a 
prophecy  of  the  reception  of  all  the  greater  and  smaller  nations 
into  fellowship  in  the  glory  of  the  people  of  God.  We  may 
see  from  this  that  Sodom  and  Samaria  represent  the  heathen 
nations  generally,  as  standing  outside  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation :  Sodom  representing  those  that  were  sunk  in  the 
deepest  moral  degradation,  and  Samaria  those  that  had  fallen 
from  the  state  of  grace.  The  attitude  in  which  these  nations 
stand  towards  Israel  in  the  everlasting  covenant  of  grace,  is 
defined  as  the  relation  of  daughters  to  a  mother.  If,  therefore, 
Israel,  which  has  been  thrust  out  among  the  heathen  on  account 
of  its  deep  fall,  is  not  to  return  to  its  first  estate  till  after  the 


232  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

return  of  Sodom,  which  has  been  destroyed,  and  Samaria, 
which  has  been  condemned,  the  election  of  Israel  before  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  to  be  the  first-born  son  of  Jehovah  will 
continue  unchanged,  and  Israel  will  form  the  stem  of  the  new 
kingdom  of  God,  into  which  the  heathen  nations  will  be  incor- 
porated. The  words,  "  and  not  of  thy  covenant,"  have  been 
taken  by  most  of  the  commentators  in  the  sense  of,  "  not  be- 
cause thou  hast  kept  the  covenant ; "  but  this  is  certainly 
incorrect.  For  even  if  "thy  covenant"  really  formed  an  anti- 
thesis to  "my  covenant"  (vers.  60  and  62),  "thy  covenant" 
could  not  possibly  signify  the  fulfilment  of  thy  covenant 
obligations.  The  words  belong  to  hdnoth  (daughters),  who  are 
thereby  designated  as  extra-testamental, — i.e.  as  not  included 
in  the  covenant  which  God  made  with  Israel,  and  consequently 
as  having  no  claim  by  virtue  of  that  covenant  to  participate  in 
the  glory  of  the  everlasting  covenant  which  is  hereafter  to  be 
established. — When  this  covenant  has  been  established,  Israel 
will  know  that  God  is  Jehovah,  the  unchangeably  true  (for  the 
nieanincT  of  the  name  Jehovah,  see  the  commentarv  on  Gen. 
ii.  4) ;  that  it  may  call  to  mind,  sc.  both  its  sinful  abominations 
and  the  compassionate  grace  of  God,  and  be  so  filled  with 
shame  and  penitence  that  it  will  no  more  venture  to  open  its 
mouth,  either  for  the  purpose  of  finding  excuses  for  its  previous 
fall,  or  to  murmur  against  God  and  His  judgments, — namely, 
when  the  Lord  forgives  all  its  sins  by  establishing  the  ever- 
lasting covenant,  the  kernel  and  essence  of  which  consists  in 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  (cf.  Jer.  xxxi.  34).  Thus  will  the  ex- 
perience of  forgiving  grace  complete  what  judgment  has  already 
begun,  viz.  the  transformation  of  proud  and  haughty  sinners 
into  meek  and  humble  children  of  God,  for  whom  the  kingdom 
has  been  prepared  from  the  beginning. 

This  thought  brings  the  entire  prophecy  to  a  close, — a  pro- 
phecy which  embraces  the  whole  of  the  world's  history  and  the 
New  Testament,  the  parallel  to  which  is  contained  in  the  apostle's 
words,  "  God  hath  concluded  them    all  in  unbelief,  that  He 


CHAP.  XVI.  53-C3.  233 

might  have  mercy  upon  all"  (Rom.  xi.  32). — As  the  punish- 
ment threatened  to  the  adulteress,  i.e.  to  the  nation  of  Israel 
that  had  despised  its  God  and  King,  had  been  fulfilled  upon 
Jerusalem  and  the  Jews,  and  is  in  process  of  fulfilment  still, 
so  has  the  promise  also  been  already  fulfilled,  so  far  as  its 
commencement  is  concerned,  though  the  complete  and  ultimate 
fulfilment  is  only  to  be  expected  in  time  to  come.  The  turning 
of  the  captivity,  both  of  Jerusalem  and  her  daughters,  and  of 
Samaria  and  her  daughters,  commenced  with  the  establishment 
of  the  everlastintr  covenant,  i.e.  of  the  covenant  made  throuirh 
Christ,  and  with  the  reception  of  the  believing  portion  of  Israel 
in  Judaea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee  (Acts  viii.  5  sqq.,  25,  ix.  31). 
And  the  turning  of  the  captivity  of  Sodom  commenced  with 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the  heathen,  and  their  entrance 
into  the  kingdom  of  Clirist,  inasmuch  as  Sodom  with  her 
daughters  represents  the  morally  degraded  heathen  world. 
Their  reception  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  founded  by  Christ 
on  earth,  forms  the  commencement  of  the  return  of  the  for- 
given to  their  first  estate  on  the  "  restitution  of  all  things,"  i.e. 
the  restoration  of  all  moral  relations  to  their  original  normal 
constitution  (compare  Acts  iii.  21  and  Meyer's  comm.  thereon 
with  Matt.  xvii.  11),  which  will  attain  its  perfection  in  the 
TraXiyyeveaLa,  the  general  restoration  of  the  world  to  its  origi- 
nal glory  (compare  Matt.  xix.  28  with  Rom.  viii.  18  sqq.  and 
2  Pet.  iii.  13).  The  prophecy  before  us  in  ver.  55  clearly 
points  to  this  final  goal.  It  is  true  that  one  might  understand 
the  return  of  Jerusalem  and  Samaria  to  their  original  state, 
which  is  predicted  here  as  simply  relating  to  the  pardon  of  the 
covenant  nation,  whose  apostasy  had  led  to  the  rejection  of 
both  its  parts ;  and  this  pardon  might  be  sought  in  its  recep- 
tion into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  its  restoration  as  the  people 
of  God.  In  that  case  the  complete  fulfilment  of  our  prophecy 
would  take  place  during  the  present  aeon  in  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  among  all  nations,  and  the  conversion  of  that  portion  of 
Israel  which  still  remained  hardened  after  the  entrance  of  the 


234  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

full  number  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  But 
this  limitation  would  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  equality  of 
position  assigned  to  Sodom  and  her  daughters  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Samaria  and  Jerusalem  on  the  other.  Though  Sodom  is 
not  merely  a  type  of  the  heathen  world,  the  restoration  of 
Sodom  and  her  daughters  cannot  consist  in  the  reception  of  the 
descendants  of  the  cities  on  which  the  judgment  fell  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  or  the  Christian  Church,  since  the  peculiar  man- 
ner in  which  those  cities  were  destroyed  prevented  the  possibility 
of  any  of  the  inhabitants  remaining  alive  whose  descendants 
could  be  converted  to  Christ  and  blessed  in  Him  during  the 
present  period  of  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  the  opinion 
expressed  by  C.  a  Lapide,  that  the  restoration  of  Sodom  is  to  be 
referred  and  restricted  to  the  conversion  of  the  descendants  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Zoar,  which  was  spared  for  Lot's  sake,  when  the 
other  cities  of  the  plain  w'ere  destroyed,  is  too  much  at  variance 
with  the  words  of  the  passage  to  allow  of  our  accepting  such  a 
solution  as  this.  The  turning  of  the  captivity  of  Sodom  and 
her  daughters,  i.e.  the  forgiveness  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom 
and  the  other  cities  of  the  plain,  points  beyond  the  present 
aeon,  and  the  realization  can  only  take  place  on  the  great  day 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  the  persons  of  the  former 
inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  the  neighbouring  cities.  And  in  the 
same  way  the  restoration  of  Samaria  and  Jerusalem  will  not  be 
completely  fulfilled  till  after  the  perfecting  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  glory  at  the  last  day. 

Consequently  the  prophecy  before  us  goes  beyond  Rom. 
xi.  25  sqq.,  inasmuch  as  it  presents,  not  to  the  covenant  nation 
only,  but,  in  Samaria  and  Sodom,  to  all  the  larger  and  smaller 
heathen  nations  also,  the  prospect  of  being  eventually  received 
into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  God ;  although,  in  accordance 
with  the  main  purpose  of  this  prophetic  word,  namely,  to  bring 
the  pride  of  Israel  completely  down,  this  is  simply  hinted  at, 
and  no  precise  intimation  is  given  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
predicted  apokatastasis  will  occur.      But  notwithstanding  this 


CHAP.  XVI.  53 -C3.  235 

indefinlteness,  we  must  not  explain  away  tlie  fact  itself  by 
arbitrary  expositions,  since  it  is  placed  beyond  all  possible  doubt 
by  other  passages  of  the  Scriptures.  The  words  of  our  Lord 
in  Matt.  x.  15  and  xi.  24,  to  the  effect  that  it  will  be  more 
tolerable  in  the  day  of  judgment  for  Sodom  than  for  Capernaum 
and  every  other  city  that  shall  have  rejected  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  teach  most  indisputably  that  the  way  of  mercy 
stands  open  still  even  for  Sodom  itself,  and  that  the  judgment 
which  has  fallen  upon  it  does  not  carry  with  it  the  final  deci- 
sion with  regard  to  its  inhabitants.  For  Sodom  did  not  put 
away  the  perfect  revelation  of  mercy  and  salvation.  If  the 
mighty  works  which  were  done  in  Capernaum  had  been  done 
in  Sodom,  it  would  have  stood  to  the  present  day  (Matt.  xi.  23). 
And  from  this  it  clearly  follows  that  all  the  judgments  which 
fell  before  the  time  of  Christ,  instead  of  carrying  with  them 
the  final  decision,  and  involving  eternal  damnation,  leave  the 
possibility  of  eventual  pardon  open  still.  The  last  judgment, 
which  is  decisive  for  eternity,  does  not  take  place  till  after  the 
full  revelation  of  grace  and  truth  in  Christ.  Not  only  will  the 
gospel  be  preached  to  all  nations  before  the  end  comes  (Matt, 
xxiv.  14),  but  even  to  the  dead  ;  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  who  did 
not  believe  at  the  time  of  Noah,  it  has  been  already  preached, 
at  the  time  when  Christ  went  to  them  in  spirit,  in  order  that, 
although  judged  according  to  man's  way  in  the  flesh,  they 
might  live  according  to  God's  way  in  the  spirit  (1  Pet.  iii.  19, 
iv.  6).  What  the  apostle  teaches  in  the  first  of  these  passao-es 
concerning  the  unbelievers  before  the  flood,  and  affirms  in  the 
second  concerning  the  dead  in  general,  is  equally  applicable 
according  to  our  prophecy  to  the  Sodomites  who  were  judged 
after  man's  way  in  the  flesh,  and  indeed  generally  to  all  heathen 
nations  who  either  lived  before  Christ  or  departed  from  this 
earthly  life  without  having  heard  the  gospel  preached. — It  is 
according  to  these  distinct  utterances  of  the  New  Testament 
that  the  prophecy  before  us  respecting  the  apokatastasis  of 
Sodom,  Samaria,  and  Jerusalem  is  to  be  interpreted ;  and  this 


236  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  heretical  doctrine  of  the 
restoration,  i.e.  the  uhimate  salvation  of  all  the  ungodly,  and 
even  of  the  devil  himself.  If  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  pre- 
cedes the  last  judgment,  the  final  sentence  in  the  judgment 
will  be  regulated  by  the  attitude  assumed  towards  the  gospel 
by  both  the  living  and  the  dead.  All  souls  that  obstinately 
reject  it  and  harden  themselves  in  unbelief,  will  be  given  up  to 
everlasting  damnation.  The  reason  why  the  conversion  of 
Sodom  and  Samaria  is  not  expressly  mentioned,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  general  tendency  of  the  promise,  in  which  the  simple 
fact  is  announced  without  the  intermediate  circumstances,  for 
the  purpose  of  humbling  Jerusalem.  The  conversion  of  Jeru- 
salem also  is  not  definitely  stated  to  be  the  condition  of  pardon, 
but  this  is  assumed  as  well  known  from  the  words  of  Lev.  xxvi., 
and  is  simply  implied  in  the  repeated  assertion  that  Jerusalem 
will  be  seized  with  the  deepest  shame  on  account  of  the  pardon 
which  she  receives. 


CHAP.   XVII.   nUMILIATIOX  AND   EXALTATION   OF   THE 
DAVIDIC  FAMILY. 

The  contents  of  this  chapter  are  introduced  as  a  riddle  and  a 
parable,  and  are  divided  into  three  sections.  Vers.  1-10  con- 
tain the  parable  ;  vers.  11-21,  the  interpretation  and  application 
of  it  to  King  Zedokiah ;  and  vers.  22-24,  the  promise  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom. 

Vers.  1-10.  The  Parable. — Ver.  1.  Andthetcord  of  Jehovah 
came  to  me,  saying^  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  give  a  riddle,  and  relate 
a  parable  to  the  house  of  Israel;  Ver.  3.  And  say,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  A  great  eagle,  icith  great  icings  and  long  pinions, 
full  of  featliers  of  variegated  colours,  came  to  Jjehanon  and  took 
the  top  of  the  cedar  :  Ver.  4.  lie  plucked  of  the  topmost  of  its 
shoots,  and  brought  it  into  Canaaiis  land ;  in  a  merchant-city  he 
set  it.  Ver.  5.  And  he  took  of  the  seed  of  the  land,  and  put  it 
into  seed-land ;  took  it  away  to  many  waters^  set  it  as  a  ivillow. 


CHAP.  XVII.  1-10.  237 

Ver.  6.  And  it  grew,  and  became  an  overhanging  vine  of  loio 
stature,  that  its  branches  might  turn  towards  hinij  and  its  roots 
might  be  under  him  ;  and  it  became  a  vine,  and  produced  shoots, 
and  sent  out  foliage.  Ver.  7.  There  was  another  great  eagle  ivilh 
great  loings  and  many  feathers  ;  and,  behold,  this  vine  stretched 
its  roots  languishingly  towards  him,  and  extended  its  branches 
towards  him,  that  he  might  water  it  fro)n  the  beds  of  its  planting. 
Ver.  8.  It  was  planted  in  a  good  field  by  many  waters,  to  send 
out  roots  and  bear  fruit,  to  become  a  glorious  vine.  Ver.  9.  Say, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Will  it  thrive  ?  ivill  they  not  j^ull 
up  its  roots,  and  cut  off  its  fruit,  so  that  it  icithereth  ?  all  the 
fresh  leaves  of  its  sjyrouting  loill  wither,  and  not  with  strong  arm 
and  with  much  people  loill  it  be  possible  to  raise  it  up  from  its 
roots.  Ver.  10.  And,  behold,  although  it  is  planted,  will  it 
thrive  ?  will  it  not  icither  when  the  east  loind  touches  it  ?  upon 
the  beds  in  ichich  it  grevj  it  will  icither. 

The  parable  (indslidl,  corresponding  exactly  to  the  New 
Testament  Trapa/SoXt])  is  called  chidhdh,  a  riddle,  because  of  the 
deeper  meaning  lying  beneath  the  parabolic  shell.  The  sym- 
bolism of  this  parable  has  been  traced  by  many  commentators 
to  Babylonian  influences  working  upon  the  prophet's  mind  ;  but 
without  any  tenable  ground.  The  figure  of  the  eagle,  or  bird 
of  prey,  applied  to  a  conqueror  making  a  rapid  descent  upon  a 
country,  has  as  little  in  it  of  a  specifically  Babylonian  character 
as  the  comparison  of  the  royal  family  to  a  cedar  or  a  vine. 
Not  only  is  Nebuchadnezzar  compared  to  an  eagle  in  Jer. 
xlviii.  40,  xlix.  22,  as  Cyrus  is  to  a  bird  of  prey  in  Isa. 
xlvi.  11  ;  but  even  Moses  has  described  the  paternal  watchful- 
ness of  God  over  His  own  people  as  bearing  them  upon  eagle's 
wings  (Ex.  xix.  4;  Deut.  xxxii.  11).  The  cedar  of  Lebanon 
and  the  vine  are  genuine  Israelitish  figures.  The  great  eagle 
in  ver.  3  is  the  great  King  Nebuchadnezzar  (compare  ver.  12) 
The  article  is  simply  used  to  indicate  tlie  species,  for  which  ice 
should  use  the  indefinite  article.  In  ver.  7,  instead  of  the 
article,  we  have  "inx  in  the  sense  of  "  another."      This  first 


238  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

eagle  has  large  wings  and  long  pinions ;  he  has  already  flown 
victoriously  over  wide-spread  countries,  '"ittj^-iri  i?""i'^'K,  literally, 
which  is  to  him  the  variegated  ornament,  i.e.  which  he  has 
as  such  an  ornament.  The  feathers  of  variecjated  ornamental 
colours  point  to  the  many  peoples,  differing  in  language, 
manners,  and  customs,  which  were  united  under  the  sceptre  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  (Hitzig,  etc.)  ;  not  to  the  wealth  and  splendour 
of  the  conqueror,  as  such  an  allusion  is  altogether  remote  from 
the  tendency  of  the  parable.  He  came  to  Lebanon.  This  is 
not  a  symbol  of  the  Israelitish  land,  or  of  the  kingdom  of 
Judah ;  but,  as  in  Jer.  xxii.  23,  of  Jerusalem,  or  Mount  Zion, 
with  its  royal  palace  so  rich  in  cedar  wood  (see  the  comm.  on 
Hab.  ii.  17  and  Zech.  xi.  1),  as  being  the  place  where  the  cedar 
was  planted  (compare  the  remarks  on  ver.  12).  The  cedar  is 
the  royal  house  of  David,  and  the  top  of  it  is  King  Jeholachin. 
The  word  tzammereth  is  only  met  with  in  Ezekiel,  and  there 
only  for  the  top  of  a  cedar  (compare  ch.  xxxi.  3  sqq.).  The 
primary  meaning  is  doubtful.  Some  derive  it  from  the  curly, 
or,  as  it  were,  woolly  top  of  the  older  cedars,  in  which  the  small 
twigs  that  constitute  their  foliage  are  only  found  at  the  top  of 
the  tree.  Others  suppose  it  to  be  connected  with  the  Arabic 
^,  to  conceal,  and  understand  it  as  an  epithet  applied  to  the 
foliage,  as  the  veil  or  covering  of  the  tree.  In  ver.  4,  tzammereth 
is  explained  to  be  vnip':"i  k'ni,  the  topmost  of  its  shoots.  This 
the  eagle  plucked  off  and  carried  1^33  p.^"''^?  an  epithet  applied 
to  Babylonia  here  and  in  ch.  xvi.  29,  as  being  a  land  whose 
trading  spirit  had  turned  it  into  a  Canaan.  This  is  evident 
from  the  parallel  Dy?"!  "'"'J';  city  of  traders,  i.e.  Babylon  (com- 
pare ver.  12).  The  seed  of  the  land,  according  to  ver.  13,  is 
King  Zedekiah,  because  he  was  of  the  land,  the  native  king, 
in  contrast  to  a  foreign,  Babylonian  governor.  Hi?,  for  nj^^, 
after  the  analogy  of  ^^\>  in  Hos.  xi.  3,  and  pointed  with  Kametz 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  imperative.  -'X  np?  is  used  as  in 
Num.  xxiii.  27.  The  air.  Xej.  '"iDysv  signifies,  in  Arabic  and  the 
Talmud,  the  willow,  probably  so  called  because  it  grows  in  well- 


CHAP.  XVII.  1-10.  239 

watered  places;  according  to  Gesenius,  it  is  derived  from  f)i^f, 
to  overflow,  literally,  the  inundated  tree.  This  meaning  is  per- 
fectly appropriate  here.  "  He  set  it  as  a  willow  "  means  he 
treated  it  as  one,  inasmuch  as  he  took  it  to  many  waters,  set  it 
in  a  well-watered  soil,  i.e.  in  a  suitable  place.  The  cutting 
grew  into  an  overhanging  vine,  i.e.  to  a  vine  spreading  out  its 
branches  in  all  directions,  though  not  growing  very  high,  as 
the  following  expression  i^1^'\?  ^^r'r^  more  clearly  shows.  The 
object  of  this  growth  was,  that  its  branches  might  turn  to  him 
(the  eagle),  and  its  roots  might  be  under  him  (the  eagle). 
The  suffixes  attached  to  V^t<!  and  vnnn  refer  to  ^K^3.  This 
allusion  is  required  not  only  by  the  explanation  in  ver.  14 
(?  vers.  14,  15),  but  also  by  ver.  7,  where  the  roots  and 
branches  of  the  vine  stretch  to  the  (other)  eagle.  In  ver.  6b, 
what  has  already  been  affirmed  concerning  the  growth  is  briefly 
summed  up  again.  The  form  nnxa  is  peculiar  to  Ezeklel. 
Isaiah  has  rr^SS  — n^NS  in  ch.  x.  33.  The  word  signifies  branch 
and  foliage,  or  a  branch  covered  with  foliage,  as  the  ornament 
of  a  tree. — The  other  eagle  mentioned  in  ver.  7  is  the  king  of 
Egypt,  according  to  ver.  15.  He  had  also  large  wings  and 
many  feathers,  i.e.  a  widely  spread  and  powerful  kingdom  ; 
but  there  is  nothing  said  about  pinions  and  variegated  colours, 
for  Pharaoh  had  not  spread  out  his  kingdom  over  many  coun- 
tries and  peoples,  or  subjugated  a  variegated  medley  of  peoples 
and  tribes.  jM,  as  a  verb  air.  Xey.,  signifies  to  yearn  or  pine 
after  a  thing ;  in  Chaldee,  to  hunger,  nipt^'n?,  that  he  (the 
eagle-Pharaoh)  might  give  it  to  drink,  or  water  it.  The  words 
nytSD  niJijn?  are  not  connected  with  nip^'nj',  but  with  ^rh'C'  and 
nQ33,  from  the  beds  of  its  planting,  i.e.  in  which  it  was  planted  ; 
it  stretched  out  roots  and  branches  to  the  other  eagle,  that  he 
might  give  it  to  drink.  The  interpretation  is  given  in  ver. 
15.  The  words  nnix  nipt^n|)j  which  are  added  by  way  of  ex- 
planation, do  not  interrupt  the  train  of  thought ;  nor  are  they 
superfluous,  as  Hitzig  supposes,  because  the  vine  had  water 
enough  already  (vers.  5  and  8).     For  this  is  precisely  what  the 


240  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

passage  Is  intended  to  show,  namely,  that  there  was  no  occasion 
for  this  pining  and  stretching  out  of  the  branches  towards  the 
other  eagle,  inasmuch  as  it  could  thrive  very  well  in  the  place 
where  it  was  planted.  The  latter  is  expressly  stated  once  more 
in  ver.  8,  the  meaning  of  which  is  perfectly  clear, — namely, 
that  if  Zedekiah  had  remained  quiet  under  Nebuchadnezzar,  as 
a  hanging  vine,  his  government  might  have  continued  and 
prospered.  But,  asks  Ezekiel  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  will 
it  prosper  ?  npyn  is  a  question,  and  the  third  person,  neuter 
gender.  This  question  is  answered  in  the  negative  by  the 
following  question,  which  is  introduced  with  an  affirmative  Ni?n. 
The  subject  to  P^T.  and  ^^'^P\  is  not  the  first  eagle  (Nebuchad- 
nezzar), but  the  indefinite  "one"  (jnan,  they).  In  the  last 
clause  of  ver.  9  niXii'O  is  a  substantive  formation,  used  instead 
of  the  simple  form  of  the  infinitive,  after  the  form  S<bo  in 
2  Chron.  xix.  7,  with  the  termination  ni,  borrowed  from  the  verb 
n?  (compare  Ewald,  §  1606  and  239o),  and  the  construction  is 
the  same  as  in  Amos  vi.  10;  it  will  not  be  to  raise  up  =  it 
will  not  be  possible  to  raise  it  up  (compare  Ges.  §  132, 
3,  Anm.  1).  To  raise  it  up  from  its  root  does  not  mean  to  tear 
it  up  by  the  root  (Havernick),  but  to  rear  the  withered  vine 
from  its  roots  again,  to  cause  it  to  sprout  again.  This  rendering 
of  the  words  corresponds  to  the  interpretation  given  in  ver.  17. 
— In  ver.  10  the  leading  thought  is  repeated  with  emphasis, 
and  rounded  off.  The  east  wind  is  peculiarly  dangerous  to  plants 
on  account  of  its  dryness  (compare  Gen.  xli.  6,  and  Wetstein  on 
Job  xxvii.  21  in  Delitzsch's  Commentary)  ;  and  it  is  used  very 
appropriately  here,  as  the  Chaldeans  came  from  the  east. 

Vers.  11-21.  Interpretation  of  the  riddle. — Ver.  11.  And 
the  word  of  Jeliovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  12.  Say  to  the 
refractory  race:  Do  ye  not  knoio  xchat  this  isf  Say,  Behold, 
the  king  of  Babel  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  took  its  king  and  its 
princes,  and  brought  them  to  himself  to  Babel.  Ver.  13.  And 
he  took  of  the  royal  seed,  and  made  a  covenant  with  him,  and 
caused  him  to  enter  into  an  oalh ;  and  he  took  the  strong  ones 


CHAP.  XVII.  11-21.  2U 

of  the  land :  Ver.  14.  That  it  might  he  a  lowly  kingdom,  not 
to  lift  itself  up,  that  he  might  keep  his  covenant,  that  it  might 
stand.  Ver.  15.  But  he  rebelled  against  him  by  sending  his 
messengers  to  Egypt,  that  it  might  give  him  horses  and  much 
people.  Will  lie  prosper  ?  will  he  that  hath  done  this  escape  ? 
He  has  broken  the  covenant,  and  should  he  escape'^  Ver.  16. 
As  I  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  surely  in  the  plact 
of  the  king,  tcho  made  him  king,  %vhose  oath  lie  despised,  and  ichose 
covenant  he  broke  with  him,  in  Babel  he  will  die.  Ver.  17.  And 
not  with  great  army  and  much  people  will  Pharaoh  act  with  him 
in  the  war,  ivhen  they  cast  up  a  rampart  and  build  siege-toioers,  to 
cut  off  many  souls.  Ver.  18.  He  has  despised  an  oath  to  break 
the  covenant,  and,  behold,  he  has  given  his  hand  and  done  all  this  ; 
he  will  not  escajye.  Ver.  19.  Therefore  thus  saitli  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  As  I  live,  stately  my  oath  ivhich  lie  has  despised,  and 
my  covenant  which  he  has  broken,  I  ivill  give  upon  his  head. 
Ver.  20.  /  will  spread  out  my  net  over  him,  so  that  he  will  be 
taken  in  my  snare,  and  will  bring  him  to  Babel,  and  contend  with 
him  there  on  account  of  his  treachery  ivhich  lie  has  been  guilty  of 
toivards  me.  Ver.  21.  And  all  his  fugitives  in  all  his  regiments, 
by  the  sword  will  they  fall,  and  those  who  remain  ivill  be  scattered 
to  all  winds ;  and  ye  shall  see  that  I  Jehovah  have  spoken  it. 

In  vers.  12-17  the  parable  in  vers.  2-10  is  interpreted  ;  and 
in  vers.  19-21  the  threat  contained  in  the  parable  is  confirmed 
and  still  further  expanded.  We  have  an  account  of  the  carry- 
ing away  of  the  king,  i.e.  Jehoiachin,  and  his  princes  to  Babel 
in  2  Kings  xxiv.  11  sqq.,  Jer.  xxlv.  1,  and  xxix.  2.  The  king's 
seed  (na^sn  i)nT,  ver.  13,  as  in  Jer.  xli.  1  =  ^S^n  i;iT,  1  Kings 
xi.  14)  is  Jehoiachin's  uncle  Mattaniah,  whom  Nebucliadnezzar 
made  king  under  the  name  of  Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxiv.  17), 
and  from  whom  he  took  an  oath  of  fealty  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  13). 
The  strong  of  the  land  (''^''X  = '"b'X,  2  Kings  xxiv.  15),  whom 
Nebucliadnezzar  took  (np^),  i.e.  took  away  to  Babel,  are  not 
the  heads  of  tribes  and  families  (2  Kings  xxiv.  15)  ;  but  the 
expression  is  used  in  a  wide  sense  for  the  several  classes  of 

EZEK.  T.  Q 


242  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

men  of  wealth,  who  are  grouped  together  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  14 
under  the  one  term  ^^n  ^nisrb  (^>n  ^c-JN,  2  Kings  xxiv.  16), 
including  masons,  smiths,  and  carpenters  (2  Kings  xxiv.  14  and 
16),  whereas  the  heads  of  tribes  and  families  are  classed  with 
the  court  officials  (D''p"'"iDj  2  Kings  xxiv.  15)  under  the  title 
rf^b*  (princes)  in  ver.  12.  The  design  of  these  measures  was 
to  make  a  lowly  kingdom,  which  could  not  raise  itself,  i.e. 
could  not  revolt,  and  to  deprive  the  vassal  king  of  the  means 
of   breaking    the    covenant.       The    suffix    attached    to    ^'^'CVb 

O  T  :  1  : 

is  probably  to  be  taken  as  referring  to  "^^^P^  rather  than 
*n"'n3j  although  both  are  admissible,  and  -would  yield  precisely 
the  same  sense,  inasmuch  as  the  stability  of  the  kingdom  was 
dependent  upon  the  stability  of  the  covenant.  But  Zedekiah 
rebelled  (2  Kings  xxiv.  20).  The  Egyptian  king  who  was  to 
give  Zedekiah  horses  and  much  people,  in  other  words,  to  come 
to  his  assistance  with  a  powerful  army  of  cavalry  and  fighting 
men,  was  Hophrah,  the  Apries  of  the  Greeks,  according  to 
Jer.  xliv.  30  (see  the  comni.  on  2  Kings  xxiv.  19,  20).  rih"^':^ 
points  back  to  npvri  in  ver.  9  ;  but  here  it  is  applied  to  the 
rebellious  king,  and  is  explained  in  the  clause  "IJI  '2?'2^n.  The 
answer  is  given  in  ver.  16  as  a  word  of  God  confirmed  by  a 
solemn  oath  :  he  shall  die  in  Babel,  the  capital  of  the  king, 
who  placed  him  on  the  throne,  and  Pharaoh  will  not  render 
him  any  effectual  help  (ver.  17).  ^nix  nb'y,  as  in  ch.  xv.  59,  to 
act  with  him,  that  is  to  say,  assist  him,  come  to  his  help,  inix 
refers  to  Zedekiah,  not  to  Pharaoh,  as  Ewald  assumes  in  an 
inexplicable  manner.  For  'Ul  ^^r^  ^b'J',  compare  ch.  iv.  2  ;  and 
for  the  fact  itself,  Jer.  xxxiv.  21,  22,  and  xxxvii.  5,  according 
to  which,  although  ?in  Egyptian  army  came  to  the  rescue  of 
Jerusalem  at  the  time  when  it  was  besieged  by  the  Chal- 
deans, it  was  repulsed  by  the  Chaldeans  who  marched  to  meet 
it,  without  having  rendered  any  permanent  assistance  to  the 
besieged. — In  ver.  18,  the  main  thought  that  breach  of  faith 
can  biing  no  deliverance  is  repeated  for  the  sake  of  appending 
the   further  expansion  contained  in  vers.  19-21.     i*i)  |nj,  he 


CHAP.  XVII.  11-21,  243 

gave  his  hand,  i.e.  as  a  pledge  of  fidelity.  The  oath  which 
Zedekiah  swore  to  the  kincr  of  Babel  is  desicrnated  in  ver.  19 
as  Jehovah's  oath  (V^^)y  and  the  covenant  made  with  him  as 
Jehovah's  covenant,  because  the  oath  had  been  sworn  by 
Jehovah,  and  the  covenant  of  fidelity  towards  Nebuchadnezzar 
had  thereby  been  made  impUcite  with  Jehovah  Himself ;  so 
that  the  breaking  of  the  oath  and  covenant  became  a  breach  of 
faith  towards  Jehovah.  Consequently  the  very  same  expres- 
sions are  used  in  vers.  16,  18,  and  19,  to  designate  this  breach 
of  oath,  which  are  applied  in  ch.  xvi.  59  to  the  treacherous 
apostasy  of  Jerusalem  (Israel)  from  Jehovah,  the  covenant 
God.  And  the  same  expressions  are  used  to  describe  the 
punishment  as  in  ch.  xii.  13,  14.  in^<  t^Sy'J  is  construed  with 
the  accusative  of  the  thing  respecting  which  he  was  to  be 
judged,  as  in  1  Sam.  xii.  7.  Jehovah  regards  the  treacherous 
revolt  from  Nebuchadnezzar  as  treachery  against  Himself 
Cli  ?yo)  ;  not  only  because  Zedekiah  had  sworn  the  oath  of 
fidelity  by  Jehovah,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  Jehovah  had 
delivered  up  His  people  and  kingdom  into  the  power  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  so  that  revolt  from  him  really  became  re- 
bellion against  God.  nx  before  in"i30"?3  is  nota  accus.,  and 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  quod  adtinet  ad,  as,  for  example,  in 
2  Kings  vi.  5.  ^^I?'^,  his  fugitives,  is  rendered  both  by  the 
Chaldee  and  Syriac  "his  brave  men,"  or  "heroes,"  and  is 
therefore  identified  with  I'J'^'^P  (his  chosen  ones),  which  is  the 
reading  in  some  manuscripts.  But  neither  these  renderings 
nor  the  parallel  passage  in  ch.  xii.  14,  where  vniTnp  apparently 
corresponds  to  it,  will  warrant  our  adopting  this  explanation,  or 
making  any  alteration  in  the  text.  The  Greek  versions  have 
TTao-a?  ^V'yaBela<i  avrov  ;  Theodoret :  iv  Trdaaa  Tat<;  <pu<yaSeiaL'i 
avTov  ;  the  Vulgate  :  omnes  profugi  ejus  ;  and  therefore  they  all 
had  the  reading  imno,  which  also  yields  a  very  suitable  meaning. 
The  mention  of  some  who  remain,  and  who  are  to  be  scattered 
toward  all  the  winds,  is  not  at  variance  with  the  statement  that  all 
the  fugitives  in  the  wings  of  the  army  are  to  fall  by  the  sword. 


2i4:  THE  PROrHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

The  latter  tlireat  simply  declares  that  no  one  will  escape  death 
by  flight.  But  there  is  no  necessity  to  take  those  who  remain 
as  being  simply  fighting  men  ;  and  the  word  "  all "  must  not 
be  taken  too  literally. 

Vers.  22-24.  The  planting  of  the  trne  twig  of  the  stem  of 
David. — Ver.  22.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  loill 
take  from  the  top  of  the  high  cedar,  and  will  set  it ;  from  the 
topmost  of  its  shoots  will  I  pluck  of  a  tender  one,  and  tcill 
plant  it  upon  a  high  and  exalted  viountain.  Ver.  23.  On  the 
high  mountain  of  Israel  icill  I  plant  it,  and  it  icill  put  forth 
branches,  and  bear  fruit,  and  become  a  splendid  cedar,  so  that 
all  the  birds  of  every  plumage  will  dwell  under  it.  In  the 
shade  of  its  branches  lolll  they  dwell.  Ver.  24.  And  all  the 
trees  of  the  field  will  learn  that  I  Jehovah  have  lowered  the 
lofty  tree,  lifted  up  the  low  tree,  viade  the  green  tree  wither, 
and  the  withered  tree  become  green.  I  Jehovah  have  said  it,  and 
have  done  it. — Although  the  sprout  of  David,  whom  Nebuchad- 
nezzar had  made  king,  would  lose  the  sovereignty  because  of 
his  breach  of  faith,  and  bring  about  the  destruction  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah,  the  Lord  would  not  let  His  kingdom  be 
destroyed,  but  would  fulfil  the  promise  which  He  had  given  to 
the  seed  of  David,  The  announcement  of  this  fulfilment  takes 
its  form  from  the  preceding  parable.  As  Nebuchadnezzar 
broke  off  a  twig  from  the  top  of  the  cedar  and  brought  it  to 
Babel  (\'er.  13),  so  will  Jehovah  Himself  also  pluck  off  a  shoot 
from  the  top  of  the  high  cedar,  and  plant  it  upon  a  high  moun- 
tain. The  Vav  before  ""^ni??  is  the  Vav  consec,  and  ^?X  is 
appended  to  the  verb  for  the  sake  of  emphasis;  but  in  antithesis 
to  the  acting  of  the  eagle,  as  described  in  ver.  3,  it  is  placed 
after  it.  The  cedar,  which  it  designated  by  the  epithet  rdmdh, 
as  rising  above  the  other  trees,  is  the  royal  house  of  David,  and 
the  tender  shoot  which  Jehovah  breaks  off  and  plants  is  not 
the  Messianic  kingdom  or  sovereignty,  sa  that  Zerubbabel  could 
be  included,  but  the  Messiah  Himself  as  "  a  distinct  historical 
personage"  (Hiivernick).     The  predicate  ^l,  tender,  refers  to 


CHAP.  XVII.  22-24.  245 

Him ;  also  the  word  P^y,  a  sprout  (Isa.  lili.  2),  which  indicates 
not  so  much  the  youthful  age  of  the  Messiah  (Hitzig)  as 
the  lowliness  of  His  origin  (compare  Isa.  xi.  1,  liii.  2);  and 
even  when  applied  to  David  and  Solomon,  in  2  Sam.  iii.  39, 
1  Chron.  xxii.  5,  xxix.  1,  expresses  not  their  youthfulness, 
but  their  want  of  strength  for  the  proper  administration  of 
such  a  government.  The  high  mountain,  described  in  ver.  23 
as  the  high  mountain  of  Israel,  is  Zion,  regarded  as  the  seat 
and  centre  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is  to  be  exalted  by 
the  Messiah  above  all  the  mountains  of  the  earth  (Isa.  ii.  2, 
etc.).  The  twig  planted  by  the  Lord  will  grow  there  into  a 
glorious  cedar,  under  which  all  birds  will  dwell.  The  Messiah 
grows  into  a  cedar  in  the  kingdom  founded  by  Him,  in  which 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  will  find  both  food  (from  the 
fruits  of  the  tree)  and  protection  (under  its  shadow).  For  this 
figure,  compare  Dan.  iv.  8,  9.  ^J?"''^  liBV,  birds  of  every  kind 
of  plumage  (cf.  ch.  xxxix.  4,  17),  is  derived  from  Gen.  vii. 
14,  where  birds  of  every  kind  find  shelter  in  Noah's  ark. 
The  allusion  is  to  men  from  every  kind  of  people  and  tribe. 
By  this  will  all  the  trees  of  the  field  learn  that  God  lowers  the 
lofty  and  lifts  up  the  lowly.  As  the  cedar  represents  the  royal 
house  of  David,  the  trees  of  the  field  can  only  be  the  other 
kings  or  royal  families  of  the  earth,  not  the  nations  outside 
the  limits  of  the  covenant.  At  the  same  time,  the  nations  are 
not  to  be  entirely  excluded  because  the  figure  of  the  cedars 
embraces  the  idea  of  the  kingdom,  so  that  the  trees  of  the  field 
denote  the  kincfdoms  of  the  earth  tofjether  with  their  kin£i;s. 
The  clauses,  "  I  bring  down  the  high  tree,"  contain  a  purely 
general  thought,  as  in  1  Sam.  ii.  7,  8,  and  the  perfects  are  not 
to  be  taken  as  preterites,  but  as  statements  of  practical  truths. 
It  is  true  that  the  thought  of  the  royal  house  of  David  in  its 
previous  greatness  naturally  suggests  itself  in  connection  with 
the  high  and  green  tree,  and  that  of  Jehoiachin  in  connection 
with  the  dry  tree  (compare  Jer.  xxii.  30) ;  and  these  are  not  to 
be  absolutely  set  aside.     At  the  same  time,  the  omission  of  the 


246  THE  PROPHECIF.S  OF  EZEKIEL. 

article  from  "is  |*y  and  the  objects  which  follow,  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  the  words  are  not  to  be  restricted  to  these  parti- 
cular persons,  but  are  applicable  to  every  high  and  green,  or 
withered  and  lowly  tree ;  i.e.  not  merely  to  kings  alone,  but  to 
all  men  in  common,  and  furnish  a  parallel  to  1  Sam.  ii.  4-9, 
"  The  bows  of  the  mighty  men  are  broken ;  and  they  that 
stumbled  are  girded  with  strength,"  etc. 

CHAP.  XVIII.    THE  RETRIBUTIVE  JUSTICE  OF  GOD. 

In  the  word  of  God  contained  in  this  chapter,  the  delusion 
that  God  visits  the  sins  of  fathers  upon  innocent  children  is 
overthrown,  and  the  truth  is  clearly  set  forth  that  every  man 
bears  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  his  own  sins  (vers.  1-4). 
The  righteous  lives  through  his  righteousness  (vers.  5-9),  but 
cannot  save  his  wicked  son  thereby  (vers.  10-13);  whilst  the 
son  who  avoids  the  sins  and  wickedness  of  his  father,  will  live 
through  his  own  righteousness  (vers.  14-20).  The  man  who 
repents  and  avoids  sin  is  not  even  cliarged  with  his  own  sin  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  forsakes  the  way  of 
ri^T-hteousness,  and  gives  himself  up  to  unrighteousness,  will  not 
be  protected  from  death  even  by  his  own  former  righteousness 
(vers.  21-29).  Thus  will  God  judge  every  man  according  to 
his  way ;  and  it  is  only  by  repentance  that  Israel  itself  can  live 
(vers.  30-32).  The  exposition  of  these  truths  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  substance  and  design  of  the  preceding  and 
following  prophecies.  In  the  earlier  words  of  God,  Ezekiel 
had  taken  from  rebellious  Israel  every  support  of  false  con- 
fidence in  the  preservation  of  the  kingdom  from  destruction. 
But  as  an  impenitent  ^.inner,  even  when  he  can  no  longer 
evade  the  punishment  of  his  sins,  endeavours  as  much  as 
possible  to  transfer  the  guilt  from  himself  to  others,  and  com- 
forts himself  with  the  thought  that  he  has  to  suffer  for  sins  that 
others  have  committed,  and  hardens  himself  against  the  chas- 
tisement of  God  through  such  false  consolation  as  this;  so  even 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-4.  2-17 

among  the  people  of  Israel,  when  the  divine  judgments  burst 
upon  them,  the  delusion  arose  that  the  existing  generation  had 
to  suffer  for  the  fathers'  sins.  If,  then,  the  judgment  were  ever 
to  bear  the  fruit  of  Israel's  conversion  and  renovation,  which 
God  designed,  the  impenitent  generation  must  be  deprived  even 
of  this  pretext  for  covering  over  its  sins  and  quieting  its  con- 
science, by  the  demonstration  of  the  justice  which  characterized 
the  o-overnment  of  God  in  His  kino;dom. 

Vers.  1-4.  The  proverb  and  the  word  of  God. — Ver.  1. 
And  the  loord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  2.  Why 
do  you  use  this  proverb  in  the  land  of  Israel,  saying,  Fathers 
eat  sour  grapes,  and  the  sons'  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  Ver.  3. 
As  I  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  this  proverb  shall 
not  be  used  any  more  in  Israel.  Ver.  4.  Behold,  all  soids 
are  mine;  as  the  father  s  soul,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son,— 
they  are  mine ;  the  soul  lohich  sinneth,  it  shall  die. — On  ver.  2a 
compare  ch.  xii.  22.  D^^'TIO,  what  is  to  you,  what  are  you 
thinking  of,  that  .  .  .?  is  a  question  of  amazement.  riJpns'^j;, 
in  the  land  of  Israel  (ch.  xii.  22),  not  "  concerning  the  land  of 
Israel,"  as  Havernick  assumes.  The  proverb  was  not,  "  The 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,"  for  we  have  not  l-'^i^,  as  in 
Jer.  xxxi.  29,  but  ^''^N^,  they  eat,  are  accustomed  to  eat,  and 
rii2X;  has  no  article,  because  it  applies  to  all  who  eat  sour  grapes. 
Baser,  unripe,  sour  grapes,  like  beser  in  Job  xvi.  33  (see  the 
comm.  in  loc).  The  meaning  of  the  proverb  is  self-evident. 
The  sour  grapes  which  the  fathers  eat  are  the  sins  which  they 
commit;  the  setting  of  the  children's  teeth  on  edge  is  the  con- 
sequence thereof,  i.e.  the  suffering  which  the  children  have  to 
endure.  The  same  proverb  is  quoted  in  Jer.  xxxi.  29,  30,  and 
there  also  it  is  condemned  as  an  error.  The  origin  of  such  a 
proverb  is  esfsily  to  be  accounted  for  from  the  inclination  of  the 
natural  man  to  transfer  to  others  the  guilt  which  has  brought 
suffering  upon  himself,  more  especially  as  the  law  teaches  that 
the  sins  of  the  fathers  are  visited  upon  the  children  (Ex,  xx.  5), 
and   the   prophets  announce  that  the  Lord  would   put  away 


248  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Judah  from  before  His  face  on  account  of  the  sins  of  Manasseh 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  3 ;  Jer.  xv.  4),  while  Jeremiah  complains  in 
Lam.  V.  7  that  the  people  are  bearing  the  fathers'  sins.  Never- 
theless the  proverb  contained  a  most  dangerous  and  fatal  error, 
for  which  the  teachinij  of  the  law  concerninc  the  visitation  of 
the  sins  of  the  fathers,  etc.,  was  not  accountable,  and  which 
Jeremiah,  who  expressly  mentions  the  doctrine  of  the  law  (Jer. 
xxxii.  18),  condemns  as  strongly  as  Ezekiel.  God  will  visit 
the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  who  hate  Him,  and 
who  also  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers'  sins ;  but  to 
those  who  love  Ilim,  and  keep  His  commandments,  He  will 
show  mercy  to  the  thousandth  generation.  The  proverb,  on 
the  other  hand,  teaches  that  the  children  would  have  to  atone 
for  their  fathers'  sins  without  any  culpability  of  their  own. 
How  remote  such  a  perversion  of  the  truth  as  to  the  trans- 
mission of  sins  and  their  consequences,  viz.  their  punishment, 
was  from  the  law  of  Moses,  is  evident  from  the  express  com- 
mand in  Dent.  xxiv.  16,  that  the  children  were  not  to  be  j)ut 
to  death  with  the  fathers  for  the  sins  which  the  latter  had 
committed,  but  that  every  one  was  to  die  for  his  own  sin. 
What  God  here  enjoins  upon  the  judicial  authorities  must 
apply  to  the  infliction  of  His  own  judgments.  Consequently 
what  Ezekiel  says  in  the  following  verses  in  opposition  to  the 
delusion,  which  this  proverb  helped  to  spread  abroad,  is  simply 
a  commentary  upon  the  words,  "  every  one  shall  die  for  his  own 
sin,"  and  not  a  correction  of  the  law,  which  is  the  interpretation 
that  many  have  put  upon  these  prophetic  utterances  of  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel.  In  ver.  3,  the  Lord  declares  with  an  oath  that 
this  proverb  shall  not  be  used  any  more.  The  apodosis  to 
'l31  riM^  DX,  which  is  not  expressed,  would  be  an  imprecation,  so 
that  the  oath  contains  a  solemn  prohibition.  God  will  take 
care  that  this  proverb  shall  not  be  used  any  more  in  Israel,  not 
so  much  by  the  fact  that  He  will  not  give  them  any  further 
occasion  to  make  use  of  it,  as  by  the  way  in  which  He  will 
convince  them,  through  the  judgments  which  He  sends,  of  the 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-4.  249 

justice  of  His  ways.  The  following  is  Calvin's  admirable 
paraphrase  :  "  I  will  soon  deprive  you  of  this  boasting  of  yours ; 
for  your  iniquity  shall  be  made  manifest,  so  that  all  the  world 
may  see  that  you  are  but  enduring  just  punishment,  which  you 
yourselves  have  deserved,  and  that  you  cannot  cast  it  upon 
your  fathers,  as  you  have  hitherto  attempted  to  do."  At  the 
same  time,  this  only  gives  one  side  ;  we  must  also  add  tlie  other, 
which  is  brought  out  so  prominently  in  Jer.  xxxi.  29  sqq., 
namely,  that  after  the  judgment  God  will  manifest  His  grace 
so  gloriously  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  that  those  who  are  for- 
given will  fully  recognise  the  justice  of  the  judgments  inflicted. 
Experience  of  the  love  and  compassion  of  the  Lord,  manifesting 
itself  in  the  foi'giveness  of  sin,  bows  down  the  heart  so  deeply 
that  the  pardoned  sinner  has  no  longer  any  doubt  of  the  justice 
of  the  judgments  of  God.  "/?i  IsraeV  is  added,  to  show  that 
such  a  proverb  is  opposed  to  the  dignity  of  Israel.  In  ver.  4, 
the  reason  assigned  for  the  declaration  thus  solemnly  confirmed 
by  an  oath  commences  with  a  general  thought  which  contains 
the  thesis  for  further  discussion.  All  souls  are  mine,  the  soul  of 
the  father  as  well  as  that  of  the  son,  saith  the  Lord.  In  these 
words,  as  Calvin  has  well  said,  "  God  does  not  merely  vindicate 
His  government  or  His  authority,  but  shows  that  He  is  moved 
with  paternal  affection  toward  the  whole  of  the  human  race 
which  He  created  and  formed."  There  is  no  necessity  for  God 
to  punish  the  one  for  the  other,  the  son  for  the  father,  say 
because  of  the  possibility  that  the  guilty  person  might  evade 
Him ;  and  as  the  Father  of  all.  He  cannot  treat  the  one  in  a 
different  manner  from  the  other,  but  can  only  punish  the  one 
by  whom  punishment  has  been  deserved.  The  soul  that 
sinneth  shall  die.  ^?3n  is  used  here,  as  in  many  other  passages, 
for  *'  man,"  and  riTO  is  equivalent  to  suffering  death  as  a  punish- 
ment. "Death"  is  used  to  denote  the  complete  destruction 
with  which  transgressors  are  threatened  by  the  law,  as  in  Deut. 
XXX.  15  (compare  Jer.  xxi.  8 ;  Prov.  xi.  10).  This  sentence  is 
explained  in  the  verses  which  follow  (vers.  5-20). 


250  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Vers.  5-0.  The  righteous  man  shall  not  die. — Ver.  5.  If 
a  man  is  righteous^  and  doeth  right  and  righteousness,  Ver.  6. 
And  doth  not  eat  upon  the  mountains,  and  doth  not  lift  vp  his 
eyes  to  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  doth  not  defile  his 
neighbour  s  wife,  and  doth  not  approach  his  xoife  in  her  unclean- 
ness,  Ver.  7.  Oppresseth  no  one,  restoreth  his  security  (lit.  debt- 
j)ledge),  committeth  no  robbery,  giveth  his  bread  to  the  hungi^, 
and  covereth  the  naked  loith  clothes,  Ver.  8.  Doth  not  give  vpon 
usury,  and  taketh  not  interest,  tvithholdeth  his  hand  from  wrong, 
e.vecuteth  judgment  of  truth  between  one  and  another,  Ver.  9. 
Walketh  in  my  statutes,  and  keepeth  my  rights  to  execute  truth  ;  lie 
is  righteous,  he  shall  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  ^'  Jehovah ^ 
— Tlie  exposition  of  the  assertion,  tliat  God  only  punishes  the 
sinner,  not  the  innocent,  commences  with  a  picture  of  the 
righteousness  which  has  the  promise  of  life.  The  righteous- 
ness consists  in  the  fulfihiient  of  the  commandments  of  the 
law :  viz.  (1)  those  relating  to  religious  duties,  such  as  the 
avoidance  of  idolatry,  whether  of  the  grosser  kind,  such  as 
eating  upon  the  mountains,  i.e.  observing  sacrificial  festivals, 
and  therefore  sacrificing  to  idols  (cf.  Deut.  xii.  2  sqq.),  or  of  a 
more  refined  description,  e.g.  lifting  up  the  eyes  to  idols,  to 
look  to  them,  or  make  tliem  the  object  of  trust,  and  offer  sup- 
plication to  them  (cf.  Ps.  cxxi.  1 ;  Deut.  iv.  19),  as  Israel  had 
done,  and  was  doing  still  (cf.  ch.  vi.  13)  ;  and  (2)  those  relating 
to  moral  obligations,  such  as  the  avoidance  of  adultery  (com- 
pare Ex.  XX.  14 ;  Lev.  xx.  10 ;  Deut.  xxii.  22 ;  and  for  NlSi?, 
Gen.  xxxiv.  5),  and  of  conjugal  intercourse  with  a  wife  during 
menstruation,  which  was  a  defilement  of  the  marriage  relation 
(cf.  Lev.  xviii.  19,  xx.  18).  All  these  sins  were  forbidden  in 
the  law  on  pain  of  death.  To  these  tliere  are  appended  duties 
to  a  neighbour  (vers.  7  sqq.),  viz.  to  abstain  from  oppressing 
any  one  (Ex.  xxii.  28 ;  Lev.  xxv.  14,  17),  to  restore  the  pledge 
to  a  debtor  (Ex.  xxii.  25  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  6,  10  sqq.).  2\n  is 
hardly  to  be  taken  in  any  other  sense  than  as  in  apposition  to 
inynn^  «  his  pledge,  which  is  debt,"  equivalent  to  his  debt-pledge 


CHAP.  XVIII.  10-13.  251 

or  security,  like  n?3T  'qanT  in  cli.  xvi.  27.  The  supposition  of 
Hitzig,  tliat  nin  is  a  participle,  like  Dip  in  2  Kings  xvi.  7,  in  the 
sense  of  debtor,  is  a  far  less  natural  one,  and  has  no  valid 
support  in  the  free  rendering  of  the  LXX.,  ive^vpaafiov 
ocjiei'XovTO'i.  The  further  duties  are  to  avoid  taking  unlawful 
possession  of  the  property  of  another  (of.  Lev.  v.  23) ;  to  feed 
the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked  (cf.  Isa.  Iviii.  5  ;  Matt.  xxv.  26; 
Jas.  ii.  15,  16)  ;  to  abstain  from  practising  usury  (Deut. 
xxiii.  20;  cf.  Ex.  xxii.  24)  and  taking  interest  (Lev.  xxv.  36, 
37) ;  in  judicial  sentences,  to  draw  back  the  hand  from  wrong, 
and  promote  judgment  of  truth, — a  sentence  in  accordance  with 
the  true  nature  of  the  case  (see  the  comm.  on  Zech.  vii.  9) ; 
and,  lastly,  to  walk  in  the  statutes  and  rights  of  the  Lord, — an 
expression  which  embraces,  in  conclusion,  all  that  is  essential  to 
the  rifhteousness  required  by  the  law. — This  definition  of  the 
idea  of  true  righteousness,  which  preserves  from  death  and 
destruction,  and  ensures  life  to  the  possessor,  is  followed  in 
vers.  10  sqq.  by  a  discussion  of  the  attitude  which  God  sustains 
towards  the  sons. 

Vers.  10-13.  The  righteousness  of  the  father  does  not 
protect  the  wicked,  unrighteous  son  from  death. — Ver.  10. 
7/,  hoivever,  he  hegettelh  a  violent  son,  who  sheddeth  blood,  and 
doeth  only  one  of  these  things,  Ver.  11.  Bat  he  himself  hath 
not  done  all  this, — if  he  even  eateth  upon  the  mountains,  and 
defileth  his  neighhour^s  wife,  Ver.  12.  Oppresseih  the  suffering 
and  poor,  committeth  robbery,  doth  not  restore  a  pledge,  lifteth  up 
his  eyes  to  idols,  committeth  abomination,  Ver.  13.  Giceth  upon 
usury,  and  taketh  interest :  should  he  live  f  He  shall  not  live ! 
He  hath  done  all  these  abominations  ;  he  shall  be  put  to  death  ;  his 
blood  shall  be  upon  him. — The  subject  to  "l  v^!Ti,  in  ver.  10,  is  the 
rio-hteous  man  described  in  the  preceding  verses,  na,  violent, 
literally,  breaking  in  or  through,  is  rendered  more  emphatic  by 
the  words  "shedding  blood"  (cf.  Hos.  iv.  2).  We  regard  nx 
in  the  next  clause  as  simply  a  dialectically  different  form  of 
writing  and  pronouncing,  for  "^I^*,  "  only,"  and  he  doeth  only 


252  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

one  of  these,  the  sins  previously  mentioned  (vers.  6  sqq.).  inx», 
witli  a  partitive  p,  as  in  Lev.  iv.  2,  where  it  is  used  in  a  similar 
connection ;  the  form  ^^^^'?  is  also  met  with  in  Deut.  xv.  7. 
The  explanation  given  by  the  Targum,  *'and  doeth  one  of  these 
to  his  brother,"  is  neither  warranted  by  the  language  nor  com- 
mended by  the  sense,  nb'y  is  never  construed  with  the  accusa- 
tive of  the  person  to  whom  anything  is  done ;  and  the  limitation 
of  the  words  to  sins  against  a  brother  is  unsuitable  in  this 
connection.  The  next  clause,  nb*y  N*^  .  .  .  Ninij  which  has  also 
been  variously  rendered,  we  regard  as  an  adversative  circum- 
stantial clause,  and  agree  with  Kliefoth  in  referring  it  to  the 
begetter  (father)  :  ''  and  he  (the  father)  has  not  committed 
any  of  these  sins."  For  it  yields  no  intelligible  sense  to  refer 
this  clause  also  to  the  son,  since  '1?X"73  cannot  possibly  refer  to 
different  things  from  the  preceding  n^XO,  and  a  man  cannot  at 
the  same  time  both  do  and  not  do  the  same  thinor.  The  ""S 
which  follows  signifies  "  if,"  as  is  frequently  the  case  in  the 
enumeration  of  particular  precepts  or  cases ;  compare,  for 
example,  Ex.  xxi.  1,  7,  17,  etc.,  where  it  is  construed  with  the 
imperfect,  because  the  allusion  is  to  things  that  may  occur. 
Here,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  followed  by  the  perfect,  because  the 
sins  enumerated  are  regarded  as  committed.  The  emphatic  D? 
(even)  forms  an  antithesis  to  insD  HN  (?|S),  or  rather  an  epanor- 
tJiosis  of  it,  inasmuch  as  D3  ""3  resumes  and  carries  out  still 
further  the  description  of  the  conduct  of  the  wicked  son,  which 
was  interrupted  by  the  circumstantial  clause ;  and  that  not 
only  in  a  different  form,  but  with  a  gradation  in  the  thought. 
The  thought,  for  instance,  is  as  follows  :  the  violent  son  of  a 
righteous  father,  even  if  he  has  committed  only  one  of  the  sins 
which  the  father  has  not  committed,  shall  die.  And  if  he  has 
committed  even  the  gross  sins  named,  viz.  idolatry,  adultery, 
violent  oppression  of  the  poor,  robbery,  etc.,  should  he  then 
continue  to  live?  The  *)  in  ""ni  introduces  the  apodosis,  which 
contains  a  question,  that  is  simj)]y  indicated  by  the  tone,  and  is 
immediately  denied.     The  antique  form  ""n  for  n'n^  3d  pers. 


CHAP.  XVIII.  14-20.  253 

perf.,  is  taken  from  the  Pentateuch  (cf.  Gen.  iii.  22  and  Num. 
xxi.  8).  The  formulae  ri?pv  niD  and  13  Vm  are  also  derived 
from  the  language  of  the  law  (cf.  Lev.  xx.  9,  11,  13,  etc.). 

Vers.  14-20.  The  son  who  avoids  his  father's  sin  will  live; 
but  the  father  will  die  for  his  own  sins. — Ver.  14.  Aitd 
behold,  he  hegetteth  a  son,  who  seeth  all  his  father  s  sins  ichich 
he  doeth ;  he  seeth  them,  and  doeth  not  such  things.  Ver.  15. 
He  eateth  not  upon  the  mountains,  and  lifteth  not  up  his  eyes  to 
the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel;  he  defileth  not  his  neighbours 
loife,  Ver.  16.  And  oppressetli  no  one;  he  doth  not  loithhold  a 
pledge,  and  committeth  not  robbery  ;  giveth  his  bread  to  the  hungry, 
and  covereth  the  naked  with  clolhes.  Ver.  17.  He  holdeth  back 
his  hand  from  the  distressed  one,  taketh  not  usury  and  interest, 
doeth  my  rights,  walketh  in  my  statutes ;  lie  will  not  die  for  the  sin 
of  his  father  ;  he  shall  live.  Ver.  18.  His  father,  because  he 
hath  practised  oppression,  committed  robbery  upon  his  brother, 
and  hath  done  that  ichich  is  not  good  in  the  midst  of  his  people ; 
behold,  he  shall  die  for  his  sin.  Ver.  19.  And  do  ye  say,  Why 
doth  the  son  not  help  to  bear  the  father  s  sin  ?  But  the  son  hath 
done  right  and  righteousness,  hath  kept  all  my  statutes,  and  done 
them;  he  shall  live.  Ver.  20.  Tlie  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall 
die.  A  son  shall  not  help  to  bear  the  father  s  sin,  and  a  father 
shall  not  help  to  bear  the  sin  of  the  son.  Tlie  onghteousness 
of  the  righteous  shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the 
wicked  shall  be  upon  him. — The  case  supposed  in  these  verses 
forms  the  antithesis  to  the  preceding  one  ;  the  father  is 
the  transgressor  in  this  instance,  and  the  son  a  keeper  of 
the  law.  The  subject  to  *lvin  in  ver.  14  is  not  the  righteous 
man  described  in  ver.  15,  but  a  man  who  is  described  imme- 
diately afterwards  as  a  transgressor  of  the  commandments  of 
God.  The  Chetib  nt^I  in  the  last  clause  of  ver.  14  is  not  to  be 
read  i^'^^l,  /cat  ^o^rjOfj^  et  timuerit,  as  it  has  been  by  the  transla- 
tors of  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate  ;  nor  is  it  to  be  altered  into 
HK"!*!,  as  it  has  been  by  the  Masoretes,  to  make  it  accord  with 
ver,  28 ;  but  it  is  the  apocopated  form  N"!*5,  as  in  the  preceding 


254  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

clause,  and  the  object  is  to  be  repeated  from  what  precedes,  as 
in  the  similar  case  which  we  find  in  Ex.  xx.  15  (18).  Ewald 
and  Hitziu;  propose  to  alter  ''}V^  in  ver.  17  into  ?)i?p  after  ver.  8, 
but  without  the  slightest  necessity.  The  LXX.  are  not  to  be 
taken  as  an  authority  for  this,  since  the  Chaldee  and  Syriac 
have  both  read  and  rendered  ''^V ;  and  Ezekiel,  when  repeating 
the  same  sentences,  is  accustomed  to  make  variations  in  par- 
ticular words.  Holding  back  the  hand  from  the  distressed,  is 
equivalent  to  abstaining  from  seizing  upon  him  for  the  purpose 
of  crushing  him  (compare  ver.  12) ;  Vsy  "^11^3,  in  the  midst  of 
his  countrymen  =  i^y  '=l^^?j  is  adopted  from  the  language  of  the 
Pentateuch.  T)D  after  n3n  is  a  participle.  The  question,  "  Why 
does  the  son  not  help  to  bear?  "  is  not  a  direct  objection  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  but  is  to  be  taken  as  a  pretext,  which  the 
people  might  offer  on  the  ground  of  the  law,  that  God  would 
visit  the  sin  of  the  fathers  upon  the  sons  in  justification  of  their 
proverb.  Ezekiel  cites  this  pretext  for  the  purpose  of  meeting 
it  by  stating  the  reason  why  this  does  not  occur.  3  N"^'3,  to 
carry,  near  or  with,  to  join  in  carrying,  or  help  to  carry  (cf. 
Num.  xi.  17).  This  proved  the  proverb  to  be  false,  and  con- 
firmed the  assertion  made  in  ver.  4i,  to  which  the  address 
therefore  returns  (ver.  20).  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous 
man  will  come  upon  him,  i.e.  uj)on  the  righteous  man,  namely, 
in  its  consequences.  The  righteous  man  will  receive  the  bless- 
ing of  righteousness,  but  the  unrighteous  man  the  curse  of  his 
wickedness.  There  is  no  necessity  for  the  article,  which  the 
Kei'i  proposes  to  insert  before  V'<^'\ 

Vers.  21-26.  Turning  to  good  leads  to  life;  turning  to  evil 
is  followed  by  death. — Ver.  21.  But  if  the  iviclced  man  turneth 
Jrom  all  his  sins  ichich  he  hath  committed,  and  keepeth  all  nnj 
statutes,  and  doeth  right  and  righteousness,  he  shall  live,  and  not 
die.  Ver.  22.  All  his  transgressions  ivhich  he  hath  committed, 
shall  not  be  remembered  to  him :  for  the  sake  of  the  righteousness 
which  he  hath  done  he  icill  live.  Ver.  23.  Have  I  then  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  the  icicked  ?  is  the  saying  of  Jehovah  :  and  not 


CHAP.  XVril.  21-2G.  255 

rather  that  he  turn  from  his  ways,  and  live  ?  Ver.  24.  But  if 
the  righteous  man  turn  from  his  righteousness,  and  doeth  wicked- 
ness, and  acteth  according  to  all  the  abominations  which  the 
ungodly  man  hath  done,  should  he  live  ?  All  the  righteousness  that 
lie  hath  done  shall  not  be  remembered :  for  his  unfaithfulness  that 
he  hath  committed,  and  for  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  for  these 
he  shall  die.  Ver.  25.  And  ye  say,  "  The  ivay  of  the  Lord  is  not 
right^''  Hear  no70,  0  house  of  Israel:  Is  my  way  not  right'?  Is 
it  not  your  ivays  that  are  not  right  ?  Ver,  2Q.  If  a  righteous 
man  turneth  from  his  righteousness,  and  doeth  wickedness,  and 
dieth  in  consequence,  he  dielh  for  Ids  loickedness  that  he  hath  done. 
— The  proof  that  every  one  must  bear  his  sin  did  not  contain 
an  exhaustive  reply  to  the  question,  in  what  relation  the  nVht- 
eousness  of  God  stood  to  the  sin  of  men  ?  For  the  cases  sup- 
posed in  vers.  5-20  took  for  granted  that  there  was  a  constant 
persistence  in  the  course  once  taken,  and  overlooked  the  in- 
stances, which  are  by  no  means  rare,  when  a  man's  course  of 
life  is  entirely  changed.  It  still  remained,  therefore,  to  take 
notice  of  such  cases  as  these,  and  they  are  handled  in  vers. 
21-26.  The  ungodly  man,  who  repents  and  turns,  shall  live ; 
and  the  righteous  man,  who  turns  to  the  way  of  sin,  shall  die. 
"As  the  righteous  man,  who  was  formerly  a  sinner,  is  not 
crushed  down  by  his  past  sins ;  so  the  sinner,  who  was  once  a 
righteous  man,  is  not  supported  by  his  early  righteousness. 
Every  one  will  be  judged  in  that  state  in  which  he  is  found  " 
(Jerome).  The  motive  for  the  pardon  of  the  repenting  sinner 
is  given  in  ver.  23,  in  the  declaration  that  God  has  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  the  wicked  man,  but  desires  his  conversion,  that 
he  may  live.  God  is  therefore  not  only  just,  but  merciful  and 
gracious,  and  punishes  none  with  death  but  those  who  either 
will  not  desist  from  evil,  or  will  not  persevere  in  the  way  of 
His  commandments.  Consequently  the  complaint,  that  the 
way  of  the  Lord,  i.e.  His  conduct  toward  men,  is  not  weighed 
(i?^^,  see  comm.  on  1  Sam.  ii.  3),  i.e.  not  just  and  right,  is 
altogether  unfounded,  and  recoils  upon  those  who  make  it.     It 


256  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

is  not  God's  wavs,  but  the  sinner's,  tliat  are  wrong  (vcr.  25). 
The  proof  of  this,  which  Hitzig  overlooks,  is  contained  in  the 
declarations  made  in  vers.  23  and  26, — viz.  in  the  fact  that  God 
does  not  desire  the  death  of  the  sinner,  and  in  His  mercy  for- 
gives the  penitent  all  his  former  sins,  and  does  not  lay  them  to 
his  charge ;  and  also  in  the  fact  that  He  punishes  the  man  who 
turns  from  the  way  of  righteousness  and  gives  himself  up  to 
wickedness,  on  account  of  the  sin  which  he  commits  ;  so  that 
He  simply  judges  him  according  to  his  deeds. — In  ver.  24,  nb'J?1 
is  the  continuation  of  the  infinitive  J,Wj  and  "'Hi  is  interrogatory, 
as  in  ver.  13. 

Vers.  27-32.  The  vindication  of  the  ways  of  God  might 
have  formed  a  fitting  close  to  this  divine  oracle.  But  as  the 
prophet  was  not  merely  concerned  with  the  correction  of  the 
error  contained  in  the  proverb  which  was  current  among  the 
people,  but  still  more  with  the  rescue  of  the  people  themselves 
from  destruction,  he  follows  up  the  refutation  with  another 
earnest  call  to  repentance. — Ver.  27.  If  a  wicked  man  turneth 
from  his  wickedness  which  he  hath  done,  and  doeth  riyht  and 
righteousness^  he  will  heep  his  soul  alive.  Ver.  28.  If  he  seeth 
and  turneth  from  all  his  transgressions  which  he  hath  committed, 
he  shall  lice  and  not  die.  Vc-i-.  29.  And  the  house  of  Israel 
saithj  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  right.  Are  my  icays  not  right, 
0  house  of  Israel  f  Is  it  not  rather  your  ways  that  are  not 
right  ?  Ver.  30.  Tlieirfore,  every  one  according  to  his  ways, 
will  I  judge  you,  0  house  of  Israel,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah.  Tarn  and  repent  of  cdl  your  transgressions,  that  it 
may  not  become  to  you  a  stumbling-block  to  guilt.  Ver.  31. 
Cast  from  you  all  your  transgressions  tchich  ye  have  committed, 
and  make  yourselves  a  neiv  heart  and  a  new  spirit !  A  nd 
why  will  ye  die,  0  home  of  Israel"?  Ver.  32.  For  1  have 
no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  dying,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah.  Therefore  repent,  that  ye  may  live. —  For  the 
purpose  of  securing  an  entrance  into  their  hearts  for  the  call 
to    repentance,    the    prophet    not    only    repeats,    in    vers.    27 


CHAP.  XVIII.  27-32.  257 

and  28,  the  truth  declared  in  vers.  21  and  22,  that  he  who 
turns  from  his  sin  finds  life,  but  refutes  once  more  in  ver.  29, 
as  he  has  already  done  in  ver.  25,  the  charge  that  God's  ways 
are  not  right.  The  fact  that  the  singular  ]^^\  is  connected 
with  the  plural  D^'^^'i'ij  does  not  warrant  our  altering  the  plural 
into  ^^pn"!,  but  may  be  explained  in  a  very  simple  manner,  by 
assuming  that  the  ways  of  the  people  are  all  summed  up  in 
one,  and  that  the  meaning  is  this :  what  you  say  of  my  way 
applies  to  your  own  ways, — namely,  "  it  is  not  right ;  there  is 
just  measure  therein."  }5^,  "  therefore,  etc. ;  "  because  my  way, 
and  not  yours,  is  right,  I  will  judge  you,  every  one  according 
to  his  way.  Repent,  therefore,  if  ye  would  escape  from  death 
and  destruction.  ^2V^  is  rendered  more  emphatic  by  ^^V?)  sc. 
D^D^JSj  as  in  ch.  xiv.  6.  In  the  last  clause  of  ver.  30,  PV  is  not 
to  be  taken  as  the  subject  of  the  sentence  according  to  the 
accents,  but  is  a  genitive  dependent  upon  -'V^'^rp,  as  in  ch. 
vii.  19  and  xiv.  3 ;  and  the  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the 
preceding  clause :  that  it  (the  sinning)  may  not  become  to  you 
a  stumbling-block  of  iniquity,  i.e.  a  stumbling-block  through 
which  ye  fall  into  guilt  and  punishment. — The  appeal  in  vei-. 
31  points  back  to  the  promise  in  ch.  xi.  18,  19.  V?^'?^  to  cast 
away.  The  application  of  this  word  to  transgressions  may  be 
explained  from  the  fact  that  they  consisted  for  the  most  part  of 
idols  and  idolatrous  images,  which  they  had  made. — "  Make 
yourselves  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit : "  a  man  cannot, 
indeed,  create  either  of  these  by  his  own  power ;  God  alone 
can  give  them  (ch.  xi.  19).  But  a  man  both  can  and  should 
come  to  God  to  receive  them :  in  other  words,  he  can  turn  to 
God,  and  let  both  heart  and  spirit  be  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  And  this  God  is  willing  to  do ;  for  He  has  no  pleasure 
nipn  nia3,  in  the  death  of  the  dying  one.  In  the  repetition  of 
the  assurance  given  in  ver.  23,  rien  is  very  appropriately  substi- 
tuted for  Vfl,  to  indicate  to  the  people  that  while  in  sin  they 
are  lying  in  death,  and  that  it  is  only  by  conversion  and 
renewal  that  they  can  recover  life  again. 

EZEK    I  K 


258  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

CnAP.  XIX.    LAMENTATION  FOR  THE  PRINCES  OF  ISRAEL. 

Israel,  the  lioness,  brought  up  young  lions  in  the  midst  of 
lions.  But  when  they  showed  their  leonine  nature,  they  were 
taken  captive  by  the  nations  and  led  away,  one  to  Egypt,  the 
other  to  Babylon  (vers.  1-9).  The  mother  herself,  once  a  vine 
planted  by  the  water  with  vigorous  branches,  is  torn  from  tlie 
soil,  so  that  her  strong  tendrils  wither,  and  is  transplanted  into 
a  dry  land.  Fire,  emanating  from  a  rod  of  the  branches,  has 
devoured  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  so  that  not  a  cane  is  left  to  form 
a  ruler's  sceptre  (vers.  10-14).  —  This  lamentation,  which 
bewails  the  overthrow  of  the  royal  house  and  the  banishment 
of  Israel  into  exile,  forms  a  finale  to  the  preceding  prophecies 
of  the  overthrow  of  Judah,  and  was  well  adapted  to  annihilate 
every  hope  that  things  might  not  come  to  the  worst  after  all. 

Vers.  1-9.  Capture  and  Exile  of  the  Princes. — 
Ver.  1.  And  do  thou  raise  a  lamentation  for  the  princes  of  Israel^ 
Ver.  2.  And  say^  Why  did  thy  mother,  a  lioness,  lie  doicn  among 
lionesses;  bring  np  her  ivhelps  among  young  lions'?  Ver.  3. 
A  nd  she  brought  np  one  of  her  lolielps  :  it  became  a  young  lion, 
and  he  learned  to  take  prey;  he  devoured  man.  Ver.  4.  A}id 
nations  heard  of  him;  he  was  caught  in  their  pit,  and  they 
brought  him  with  nose-rings  into  the  land  of  Egypt.  Ver.  5. 
A7id  when  she  saw  that  her  hope  was  exhausted,  overthrown,  she 
took  one  of  her  ivhelps,  made  it  a  young  lion.  Ver.  6.  And  he 
walked  among  lionesses,  he  became  a  young  lion,  and  learned  to 
take  prey.  He  devoured  man.  Ver.  7.  lie  knew  its  widows, 
and  laid  waste  their  cities ;  and  the  land  and  its  fulness  became 
waste,  at  the  voice  of  his  roaring.  Ver.  8.  Then  nations  round 
about  from  the  provinces  set  up  against  him,  and  spread  over  him 
their  net:  he  was  caught  in  their  pit.  Ver.  9.  And  they  put  him 
in  the  cage  with  nose-rings,  and  brought  him  to  the  king  of 
Babylon:  brought  him  into  a  fortress,  that  his  voice  might  not  be 
heard  any  more  on  the  mountains  of  Israel. 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-9.  259 

The  princes  of  Israel,  to  whom  the  lamentation  applies,  are 
the  kings  (^''P'J,  as  in  ch.  xii.  10),  two  of  whom  are  so  clearly 
pointed  out  in  vers.  4  and  9,  that  there  is  no  mistaking 
Jehoahaz  and  Jehoiachin.  This  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  protect 
the  plural  '^^'''^'^  against  the  arbitrary  alteration  into  the  singular 
^''b'^j  proposed  by  Houbigant  and  Hitzig,  after  the  reading  of 
the  LXX.  The  lamentation  is  not  addressed  to  one  particular 
prince,  either  Zedekiah  (Hitzig)  or  Jehoiachin  (Eos.,  Maurer), 
but  to  Israel  as  a  nation  ;  and  the  mother  (ver.  2)  is  fhe 
national  community,  the  theocracy,  out  of  which  the  kings 
were  born,  as  is  indisputably  evident  from  ver.  10.  The  words 
from  "^tp^  n?o  to  nv3"i  form  one  sentence.  It  yields  no  good 
sense  to  separate  "H^sx  no  from  "^y^"!,  whether  we  adopt  the 
rendering,  "what  is  thy  mother?"  or  take  HO  with  t5*3?  and 
render  it,  "how  is  thy  mother  a  lioness?"  unless,  indeed,  we 
supply  the  arbitrary  clause  "  now,  in  comparison  with  what  she 
was  before,"  or  change  the  interrogative  into  a  preterite  :  "  how 
has  thy  mother  become  a  lioness  ? "  The  lionesses,  among 
which  Israel  lay  down,  are  the  other  kingdoms,  the  Gentile 
nations.  The  words  have  no  connection  with  Gen.  xlix.  9, 
where  Judah  is  depicted  as  a  warlike  lion.  The  figure  is  a 
different  one  here.  It  is  not  so  much  the  strength  and  courage 
of  the  lion  as  its  wildness  and  ferocity  that  are  the  points  of 
resemblance  in  the  passage  before  us.  The  mother  brings  up 
her  young  ones  among  young  lions,  so  that  they  learn  to  take 
prey  and  devour  men.  T3  is  the  lion's  whelp,  catulus ;  1*£?, 
the  young  lion,  which  is  old  enough  to  go  out  in  search  of 
prey.  ^V'Pi\  is  a  Hipliil,  in  the  tropical  sense,  to  cause  to  spring 
up,  or  grow  up,  i.e.  to  bring  up.  The  thought  is  the  following: 
Why  has  Israel  entered  into  fellowship  with  the  heathen 
nations  ?  Why,  then,  has  it  put  itself  upon  a  level  with  the 
heathen  nations,  and  adopted  the  rapacious  and  tyrannical 
nature  of  the  powers  of  the  world  ?  The  question  "  why 
then  ?  "  when  taken  with  what  follows,  involves  the  reproof 
that  Israel  has  struck  out  a  course  opposed  to  its  divine  callini:, 


260  THE  PROPHECIES  01-  EZEKIEL. 

and  will  now  have  to  taste  the  bitter  fruits  of  this  assumption 
of  heathen  ways.  The  heathen  nations  have  taken  captive  its 
king,  and  led  him  away  into  heathen  lands.  VPX  1VP'^\  they 
heard  of  him  (IvX  for  I^V)'  The  fate  of  Jehoahaz,  to  Avhich 
ver.  4  refers,  is  related  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  31  sqq. — Vers.  5-7 
refer  to  Jehoiacliin,  the  son  of  Jehoiakim,  and  not  to  Zedekiah, 
as  Hitzig  imagines.  For  the  fact  that  Jehoiachin  went  out  of 
his  own  accord  to  the  king  of  Babylon  (2  Kings  xxiv.  12),  is 
not  at  variance  with  the  figure  contained  in  ver.  8,  according  to 
which  he  was  taken  (as  a  lion)  in  a  net.  He  simply  gave  him- 
self up  to  the  king  of  Babylon  because  he  was  unable  to  escape 
from  the  besieged  city.  Moreover,  Jehoahaz  and  Jehoiachin 
are  simply  mentioned  as  examples,  because  they  both  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  world-powers,  and  their  fate  showed  clearly 
enough  "  what  the  end  must  inevitably  be,  when  Israelitish 
kino's  became  ambitious  of  being  lions,  like  the  kino;s  of  the 
nations  of  the  world"  (Kliefoth).  Jehoiakim  was  not  so  suit- 
able an  example  as  the  others,  because  he  died  in  Jerusalem- 
■^^lI^^j  which  has  been  explained  in  different  ways,  we  agree 
with  Ewald  in  regarding  as  the  NipJuil  of  pn''  —  h^n,  in  the 
sense  of  feeling  vexed,  being  exhausted  or  deceived,  like  the 

Syriac  ^^j^o],  viribus  defecit,  desperavit.     For  even  in  Gen. 

viii.  12,  Pnij  simply  means  to  wait ;  and  this  is  inapplicable 
here,  as  waiting  is  not  equivalent  to  waiting  in  vain.  The 
change  from  ^^in  to  ?n^  is  established  by  Judg.  iii.  25,  where  7^n 
or  aH  occurs  in  the  sense  of  ^^\  In  ver.  7,  the  figurative 
language  passes  into  a  literal  description  of  the  ungodly  course 
pursued  by  the  king.  He  knew,  i.e.  dishonoured,  its  (Israel's, 
the  nation's)  widows.  The  Targum  reads  j;"i*l  here  instead  of 
yTl,  and  renders  it  accordingly,  "  he  destroyed  its  palaces  ;  "  and 
Ewald  has  adopted  the  same  rendering.  But  yj;n,  to  break,  or 
smash  in  pieces,  e.g.  a  vessel  (Ps.  ii.  9),  is  never  used  for  the 
destruction  of  buildings ;  and  fliJ^?^  does  not  mean  palaces 
(niiD")S),  but  windows.     There  is  nothing  in  the  use  of  the 


CHAP.  XIX.  10-14.  261 

word  in  Isa.  xiii.  22  to  support  the  meaning  "palaces,"  because 
the  palaces  are  simply  called  'almdnuth  (widows)  there,  with  a 
sarcastic  side  glance  at  their  desolate  and  widowed  condition. 
Other  conjectures  are  still  more  inadmissible.  The  thought  is 
as  follows :  Jehoiachin  went  much  further  than  Jehoahaz. 
He  not  only  devoured  men,  but  laid  hands  on  defenceless 
widows,  and  laid  the  cities  waste  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
land  with  its  inhabitants  became  perfectly  desolate  through  his 
rapacity.  The  description  is  no  doubt  equally  applicable  to  his 
father  Jehoiakim,  in  whose  footsteps  Jehoiachin  walked,  since 
Jehoiakim  is  described  in  Jer.  xxii.  13  sqq.  as  a  grievous 
despot  and  tyrant.  In  ver.  8  the  object  Ql^*^">  also  belongs  to 
^iP^\ :  they  set  up  and  spread  out  their  net.  The  plural  T])l)i^ 
is  used  in  a  general  and  indefinite  manner :  in  lofty  castles, 
mountain-fortresses,  i.e.  in  one  of  them  (cf.  Judg.  xii.  7). 

Vers.  10-14.  Destruction  of  the  Kingdom,  and  Banish- 
ment OF  THE  People. — Ver.  10.  TIaj  mother  loas  like  a  viiie, 
planted  hy  the  xoater  in  tliy  repose ;  it  became  fruitful  and  rich 
in  tendrils  from  many  loaters.  Ver.  11.  And  it  had  strong 
shoots  for  rulers  sceptres ;  and  its  growth  ascended  among  the 
clouds,  and  icas  visible  in  its  height  in  the  multitude  of  its 
branches.  Ver.  12.  Then  it  ivas  torn  np  in  firy^  cast  to  the 
ground,  and  the  east  wind,  dried  up  its  fridt ;  its  strong  shoots 
icere  broken  off,  and  ivithered ;  fire  devoured  them.  Ver.  13. 
And  noio  if  is  planted  in  the  desert,  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land. 
Ver.  14.  There  goeth  out  fire  from  the  shoot  of  its  branches, 
devoureth  its  fruit,  so  that  there  is  no  more  a  strong  shoot 
upon  it,  a  scep)tre  for  riding.  —  A  lamentation  it  is,  and  it 
will  be  for  lamentation. — From  the  lamentable  fate  of  the 
princes  transported  to  Egypt  and  Babylon,  the  ode  passes 
to  a  description  of  the  fate,  which  the  lion-like  rapacity  of 
the  princes  is  preparing  for  the  kingdom  and  people.  Israel 
resembled  a  vine  planted  by  the  water.  The  difficult  word 
ipna  w'B  agree  with  Havernick  and  Kliefoth  in  tracing  to  the 


262  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

verb  ni3l,  to  rest  (Jer.  xiv.  17),  and  regard  it  as  synonymous 
with  ''^13  in  Isa.  xxxviii.  10 :  "  in  thy  repose,"  i.e.  in  the  time 
of  peaceful,  undisturbed  prosperity.  For  neither  of  the  other 
renderings,  "  in  thy  blood "  and  "  in  thy  likeness,"  yields  a 
suitable  meaning.  The  latter  explanation,  which  originated 
with  Raschi  and  Kimchi,  is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  Ezekiel 
always  uses  the  word  n^OT  to  express  the  idea  of  resemblance. 
— For  the  figure  of  the  vine,  compare  Ps.  Ixxx.  9  sqq.  This 
vine  sent  out  strong  shoots  for  rulers'  sceptres ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  brought  forth  powerful  kings,  and  grew  up  to  a  great  height, 
even  into  the  clouds.  Cnhy  signifies  "  clouds,"  lit.  thicket  of 
clouds,  not  only  here,  but  in  ch.  xxxi.  3,  10,  14.  The  render- 
ing "  branches  "  or  "  thicket  of  foliage"  is  not  suitable  in  any 
of  these  passages.  The  form  of  the  word  is  not  to  be  taken  as 
that  of  a  new  plural  of  nuy^  the  plural  of  2y,  which  occurs  in 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  4  and  Ps.  Ixxvii.  18 ;  but  is  the  plural  of  ^i^i?,  an 
interlacing  or  thicket  of  foliage,  and  is  simply  transferred  to 
the  interlacing  or  piling  up  of  the  clouds.  The  clause  'tJI  i^y], 
and  it  appeared,  was  seen,  or  became  visible,  simply  serves  to 
depict  still  further  the  glorious  and  vigorous  growth,  and  needs 
no  such  alteration  as  Hitzig  proposes.  This  picture  is  followed 
in  ver.  12  sqq.,  without  any  particle  of  transition,  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  destruction  of  this  vine.  It  was  torn  up  in  fury  by 
the  wrath  of  God,  cast  down  to  the  ground,  so  that  its  fruit 
withered  (compare  the  similar  figures  in  ch.  xvii.  10).  ^1^  ntSQ 
is  used  collectively,  as  equivalent  to  I'y  nitsn  (ver.  11)  ;  and  the 
suffix  in  ^nnPDX  is  written  in  the  singular  on  account  of  this 
collective  use  of  niSD.  The  uprooting  ends  in  the  transplanting 
of  the  vine  into  a  waste,  dry,  unwatered  land, — in  other  words, 
in  the  transplanting  of  the  people,  Israel,  into  exile.  The  dry 
land  is  Babylon,  so  described  as  being  a  barren  soil  in  which 
the  kincdom  of  God  could  not  flourish.  According  to  ver.  14, 
this  catastrophe  is  occasioned  by  the  princes.  The  fire,  which 
devours  the  fruit  of  the  vine  so  that  it  cannot  send  out  any 
more  branches,   emanates  n'^'nn  ntSDOj   from    the   shoot  of  its 


CHAP.  XX.  263 

branches,  i.e.  from  its  branches,  which  are  so  prolific  in  shoots. 
n^D  is  the  shoot  which  grew  into  rulers'  sceptres,  i.e.  the  royal 
family  of  the  nation.  The  reference  is  to  Zedekiah,  whose 
treacherous  breach  of  covenant  (ch.  xvii.  15)  led  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  kingdom  and  of  the  earthly  monarchy.  The 
picture  from  ver.  12  onwards  is  prophetic.  The  tearing  up  of 
the  vine,  and  its  transplantation  into  a  dry  land,  had  already 
commenced  with  the  carrying  away  of  Jeconiah ;  but  it  was 
not  completed  till  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  carry- 
ing away  of  Zedekiah,  which  were  still  in  the  future  at  the 
time  when  these  words  were  uttered. — The  clause  'iJl  X'''"'  nj''p 

T        • 

does  not  contain  a  concluding  historical  notice,  as  Hiivernick 
supposes,  but  simply  the  Jinale  of  the  lamentation,  indicating 
the  credibility  of  the  prediction  which  it  contains,  ''n^l  is 
prophetic,  like  the  perfects  from  K'riPii  in  ver.  12  onwards ;  and 
the  meaning  is  this :  A  lamentation  forms  the  substance  of  the 
whole  chapter;  and  it  will  lead  to  lamentation,  when  it  is 
fulfilled. 


CHAP.  XX.    THE  PAST,  PRESENT,  AND  FUTUIIE  OF  ISRAEL. 

The  date  given  in  ch.  xx.  1  applies  not  only  to  ch.  xx.,  but 
also  to  ch.  xx.-xxiii.  (compare  ch.  xxiv.  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  judcre  ?" 
{vid.  ch.  XX.  4,  xxii.  2,  and  xxiii.  36).  The  formula  t^isti'nn, 
which  is  only  omitted  from  the  threat  of  punishment  contained 
in  ch.  xxi.,  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  ch.  xx.  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 


264  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

previous  group  ;  for  we  have  already  been  informed,  in 
ch.  xiv.  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  (ch.  xx.),  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  there- 
fore essentially  the  same  as  for  those  contained  in  ch.  xiv.-xix. ; 
and  this  serves  to  explain  the  relation  in  which  the  two  groups 
stand  to  each  other,  namely,  that  ch.  xx.-xxiv.  simply  contain 
a  further  expansion  of  the  reproachful  and  threatening  ad- 
dresses of  ch.  xiv.-xix. 

In  ch.  XX.  the  prophet  points  out  to  the  elders,  in  the  form  of 
a  historical  survey,  how  rebellious  Israel  had  been  towards  tlie 
Lord  from  the  very  first,  even  in  Egypt  (vers.  5-9)  and  the 
desert  (vers.  10-17  and  18-26),  both  the  older  and  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 
(vers.  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 
judffments  among  the  nations  (vers.  32-38),  and  sanctify  it 
thereby  into  a  people  well-pleasing  to  Him,  and  would  then 
o-ather  it  again  out  of  the  dispersion,  and  bring  it  into  the  land 
promised  to  the  fathers,  where  it  would  serve  Him  with  sacri- 
fices and  gifts  upon  His  holy  mountain  (vers.  39-44).  This 
word  of  God  is  therefore  a  more  literal  repetition  of  tlie 
allegorical  description  contained  in  ch.  xvi. 

Vers.  1-4.  Date,  occasion,  and  theme  of  the  discourse  which 
follows. — Ver.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seventh  year,  in 
the  ffth  (moon),  on  the  tenth  of  the  moon,  there  came  men 
of  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  inquire  of  Jehovah,  and  sat  down 
before  me.      Ver.  2.   Then  the  tcord  of  Jehovah   came  to    me. 


CHAP.  XX.  1-4  265 

saying^  Ver.  3.  Son  of  man^  speak  to  the  elders  of  Israel^  and 
say  to  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Have  ye  come  to 
irjquire  of  me?  As  I  live,  if  I  suffer  myself  to  he  inquired  of 
hy  you,  is  the  soyintj  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  4.  Wilt 
thou  judge  them  ?  Wilt  thou  judge,  0  son  of  man  ?  Mahe 
known  the  abominations  of  their  fathers  to  them. — If  we  com- 
pare the  date  given  in  ver.  1  with  ch.  viii.  1,  we  shall  find 
that  this  word  of  God  was  uttered  only  eleven  months  and  five 
days  after  the  one  in  chap.  viii. ;  two  years,  one  month,  and 
five  days  after  the  call  of  Ezekiel  to  be  a  prophet  (ch.  i.  2)  ; 
and  two  years  and  five  months  before  the  blockading  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Chaldeans  (ch.  xxiv.  1).  Consequently  it  falls 
almost  in  the  middle  of  the  first  section  of  Ezekiel's  prophetic 
work,  nin^  nx  ^y^,  to  seek  Jehovah,  i.e.  to  ask  a  revelation 
from  Him.  The  Lord's  answer  in  ver.  3  is  similar  to  that 
in  ch.  xlv.  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  follomng  clause 
explains,  not  only  in  the  passage  before  us,  but  also  in  ch.  xxii.  3 
and  xxiii.  36,  to  hold  up  before  them  the  sins  and  abominations 
of  Isi'ael.  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  t:iE^^'n^J  which  is  repeated  with 
emotion,  "  gives  expression  to  an  impatient  wish,  that  the  thinrj 
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  tilBD'nn  is 
also  appended  in  the  form  of  an  imperative  (DV^lin). — 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, 


266  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

but  also  to  hold  up  before  the  sinners  themselves,  the  patience 
and  long-suffering  which  have  hitherto  been  displayed  by  the 
Lord. 

Vers.  5-9.  Election  of  Israel  in  E^ypt.  Its  resistance  to 
the  commandments  of  God. — Ver.  5.  And  say  to  them,  T/nis 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah^  In  the  day  that  I  chose  Israel)  and  lifted 
my  hand  to  the  seed  of  Jacoh^  and  made  myself  known  to  them 
in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  lifted  my  hand  to  them,  saying,  I 
am  Jehovah,  your  God:  Ver.  6.  In  that  day  I  lifted  my 
hand  to  them,  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  into 
the  land  which  I  sought  out  for  them,  ivhich  floioeth  with  milk 
and  honey — it  is  an  ornament  of  all  lands:  Ver.  7.  And  said 
to  them,  Cast  away  every  man  the  abominations  of  his  eyes,  and 
do  not  defile  yourselves  with  the  idols  of  Egypt.  I  am  Jehovah, 
your  God.  Ver.  8.  Eat  they  ivere  rebellious  against  me,  and 
loould  not  hearken  to  7ne.  Not  one  of  them  threw  away  the  abo- 
minations of  his  eyes,  and  they  did  not  forsake  the  idols  of  Egypt. 
Then  1  thought  to  pour  out  my  wrath  upon  them,  to  accomplish 
my  anger  upon  them  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Ver.  9. 
Bat  I  did  it  for  my  name^s  sake,  that  it  might  not  be  pro- 
faned before  the  eyes  of  the  nations,  in  the  midst  of  which 
they  tvere,  before  wliose  eyes  I  had  made  myself  known  to 
them,  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. — Vers.  5  and  6 
form  one  period,  ''"inn  Di'3  (ver.  5)  is  resumed  in  N^nn  ni'3 
(ver.  6),  and  the  sentence  continued.  Witli  i'b'SJ  the  construc- 
tion with  tlie  infinitive  passes  over  into  the  finite  verb.  Lift- 
ing tlie  hand,  sc.  to  heaven,  is  a  gesture  employed  in  taking  an 
oath  (see  the  comra.  on  Ex.  vi.  8).  The  substance  of  the  oath 
is  introduced  by  the  word  "ibN?  at  the  close  of  ver.  5 ;  but  the 
clause  'iJI  V']^'<)  (and  made  myself  known)  is  previously  inserted, 
and  then  the  lifting  of  the  hand  mentioned  again  to  indicate 
the  importance  of  this  act  of  divine  grace.  The  contents  of 
vers.  5  and  6  rest  upon  Ex.  vi.  2  sqrp,  where  the  Lord  makes 
Himself  known  to  Moses,  and  through  him  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  according  to  the  nature  involved  in  the  name  Jehovah, 


CHAP.  XX.  5-9.  267 

ill  which  He  had  not  yet  revealed  Himself  to  the  patriarchs 
(Ex.  vl.  3).  Both  'y^  'na^i^  (I  lifted  my  hand)  and  nin^  ^:s'  are 
taken  from  Ex.  vi.  8.  The  word  "^rpJ^,  from  nw,  to  seek  out, 
explore,  also  belongs  to  the  Pentateuch  (compare  Deut.  i.  33)  ; 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  description  given  of  Canaan 
as  "  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey"  (vid.  Ex.  iii.  8,  etc.). 
JBut  ''3V,  ornament,  as  an  epithet  applied  to  the  land  of  Israel, 
is  first  employed  by  the  prophets  of  the  time  of  the  captivity — 
namely,  in  vers.  6  and  15  of  this  chapter,  in  Jer.  iii.  19,  and 
in  Dan.  viii.  9,  xi.  16,  41.  The  election  of  the  Israelites  to  be 
the  people  of  Jehovah,  contained  eo  ipso  the  command  to  give 
up  the  idols  of  Egypt,  although  it  was  at  Sinai  that  the  worship 
of  other  gods  was  for  the  first  time  expressly  prohibited  (Ex. 
XX.  3),  and  Egyptian  idolatry  is  only  mentioned  in  Lev.  xvii.  7 
(cf.  Josh.  xxiv.  14).  Ezekiel  calls  the  idols  "  abominations  of 
their  eyes,"  because,  "  although  they  were  abominable  and 
execrable  things,  they  were  looked  upon  with  delight  by  them  " 
(Rosenmiiller).  It  is  true  that  there  is  nothing  expressly  stated 
in  the  Pentateuch  as  to  the  refusal  of  the  Israelites  to  obey 
the  command  of  God,  or  their  unwillingness  to  give  up  idolatry 
in  Egypt ;  but  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  statements  con- 
tained in  Ex.  vi.  9  and  12,  to  the  effect  that  the  Israelites  did 
not  hearken  to  Moses  when  he  communicated  to  them  the 
determination  of  God  to  lead  them  out  of  Egypt,  and  still 
more  plainly  from  their  relapse  into  Egyptian  idolatry,  from 
the  worship  of  the  golden  calf  at  Sinai  (Ex.  xxxii.),  and  from 
their  repeated  desire  to  return  to  Egypt  while  wandering  in 
the  desert.^  Nor  is  there  anything  said  in  the  Pentateuch 
concerning  the  determination  of  God  to  pour  out  His  wrath 

^  The  remarks  of  Calvin  upon  this  point  are  very  good.  "  We  do  not 
learn  directly  from  Moses,"  he  says,  "■  that  they  had  been  rebels  against 
God,  because  they  would  not  throw  away  their  idols  and  superstitions;  but 
the  conjecture  is  a  very  probable  one,  that  they  had  always  been  so  firmly 
fixed  in  their  abominations  as  to  prevent  in  a  certain  way  the  hand  of  God 
from  bringing  them  relief.  And  assuredly,  if  they  had  embraced  what 
Moses  promised  them  in  the  name  of  God  with  promptness  of  mind,  the 


268  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

upon  the  idolatrous  people  in  Egypt.  We  need  not  indeed 
assume  on  this  account  that  Ezekiel  derived  his  information 
from  some  special  traditional  source,  as  Vitringa  has  done 
Observv.  ss.  I.  263),  or  regard  the  statement  as  a  revelation 
made  by  God  to  Ezekiel,  and  through  him  to  us.  The  words 
do  not  disclose  to  us  either  a  particular  fact  or  a  definite  decree 
of  God  ;  they  simply  contain  a  description  of  the  attitude  whicli 
God,  from  His  inmost  nature,  assumes  towards  sinners  who  rebel 
against  His  holy  commandments,  and  which  He  displayed  both 
in  the  declaration  made  concerning  Himself  as  a  zealous,  or 
jealous  God,  who  visits  iniquities  (Ex.  xx.  5),  and  also  in  the 
words  addressed  to  Moses  when  the  people  fell  into  idolatry  at 
Sinai,  "  Let  me  alone,  that  my  wrath  may  wax  hot  against 
them,  and  that  I  may  consume  them"  (Ex.  xxxii.  10).  All 
that  God  expresses  here,  His  heart  must  have  felt  in  Egypt 
towards  the  people  who  would  not  desist  from  idolatry.  For 
the  words  themselves,  compare  ch.  vii.  8,  vi.  12,  v.  13.  t^'VNl 
(ver.  9),  ''  but  I  did  it  for  my  name's  sake."  The  missing 
object  explaining  what  He  did,  namely,  abstain  from  pouring 
out  His  wrath,  is  to  be  gathered  from  what  follows :  "  that  I 
might  not  profane  my  name."  This  would  have  taken  place  if 
God  had  destroyed  Israel  by  pouring  out  His  wrath ;  in  other 
words,  have  allowed  them  to  be  destroyed  by  the  Egyptians. 
The  heathen  might  then  have  said  that  Jehovah  had  been  unable 
to  liberate  His  people  from  their  hand  and  power  (cf.  Num. 
xiv.  16  and  Ex.  xxxii.  12).  bnn  is  an  injin.  Niphal  of  ?2^  for 
^nn  (cf.  Lev.  xxi.  4). 

Vers.  10-17.  Behaviour  of  Israel  in  the  desert. — Ver.  10. 
And  I  led  them  out  oj  the  land  of  Egi/pt,  and  brought  ihetn 

execution  of  the  promise  would  have  been  more  prompt  and  swift.  But 
we  may  learn  that  it  was  their  own  obtuseness  which  hindered  God  from 
stretching  out  His  hand  forthwith  and  actually  fulfilling  all  that  He  had 
promised  It  was  necessary,  indeed,  that  God  should  contend  with  Pharaoh, 
that  His  power  might  be  more  conspicuously  displayed ;  but  the  people 
would  not  have  been  so  tyrannically  afflicted  if  they  had  not  closed  the 
door  of  divine  mercy." 


CHAP.  XX.  10-17.  269 

into  the  desert;  Ver.  11.  And  gave  them  my  statutes,  and  my 
rights  I  made  known  to  them,  tvhich  man  is  to  do  that  he  may 
live  tlirough  them.  Ver.  12.  /  also  gave  them  my  Sabbaths,  that 
they  anight  be  for  a  sign  between  me  and  them,  that  they  might 
know  that  I  Jehovah  sanctify  them.  Ver.  13.  But  the  house  of 
Israel  was  rebellious  against  me  in  the  desert :  they  did  not  loalk 
in  my  statutes,  and  my  rights  they  rejected,  which  man  is  to 
do,  that  he  may  live  through  them,  and  my  Sabbaths  they  greatly 
profaned:  Then  1  thought  to  pour  out  my  wrath  upon  them  in 
the  desert  to  destroy  them.  Ver.  14.  But  I  did  it  for  my 
name's  sake,  that  it  might  not  be  profaned  before  the  eyes  of  the 
nations,  before  whose  eyes  I  had  led  them  out.  Ver.  15.  /  also 
lifted  my  hand  to  them  in  the  desert,  not  to  bring  them  into  the 
land  which  I  had  given  (them),  which  floiveth  vnth  milk  and  honey ; 
it  is  an  ornament  of  all  lands,  Ver.  16.  Because  they  rejected 
my  rights,  did  not  icalk  in  my  statutes,  and  profaned  my  Sabbaths, 
for  their  heart  went  after  their  idols.  Ver.  17.  But  my  eye 
looked  with  pity  upon  them,  so  that  I  did  not  destroy  them,  and 
make  an  end  of  them  in  the  desert. — God  gave  laws  at  Sinai  to 
the  people  whom  He  had  brought  out  of  Egypt,  through  whicli 
they  were  to  be  sanctified  as  His  own  people,  that  they  might 
live  before  God.  On  ver.  11  compare  Deut.  xxx.  16  and  19. 
Ver.  12  is  taken  almost  word  for  word  from  Ex.  xxxi.  13,  where 
God  concludes  the  directions  for  His  worship  by  urging  upon 
the  people  in  the  most  solemn  manner  tlie  observance  of  His 
Sabbaths,  and  thereby  pronounces  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath 
the  kernel  of  all  divine  worship.  And  as  in  that  passage  we 
are  to  understand  by  the  Sabbaths  the  actual  weekly  Sabbaths, 
and  not  the  institutions  of  worship  as  a  whole,  so  here  we  must 
retain  the  literal  signification  of  the  word.  It  is  only  of  the 
Sabbath  recurring  every  week,  and  not  of  all  the  fasts,  that  it 
could  be  said  it  was  a  sign  between  Jehovah  and  Israel.  It 
was  a  sign,  not  as  a  token,  that  they  who  observed  it  were 
Israelites,  as  Hitzig  supposes,  but  to  know  (that  they  might 
know)   that  Jehovah  was  sanctifying  them,   namely,  by  the 


270  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

Sabbath  rest — as  a  refreshing  and  elevation  of  the  mind,  in 
which  Israel  was  to  have  a  foretaste  of  that  blessed  resting 
from  all  works  to  which  the  people  of  God  was  ultimately  to 
attain  (see  the  conim.  on  Ex,  xx.  11).  It  is  from  this  deeper 
signification  of  the  Sabbath  that  the  prominence  given  to  the 
Sabbaths  here  is  to  be  explained,  and  not  from  the  outward 
circumstance  that  in  exile,  when  the  sacrificial  worship  wns 
necessarily  suspended,  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  was  the  only 
bond  which  united  the  Israelites,  so  far  as  the  worship  of  God 
was  concerned  (Hltzig).  Historical  examples  of  the  rebellion 
of  Israel  against  the  commandments  of  God  in  the  desert  are 
given  in  Ex.  xxxii.  1-6  and  Num.  xxv.  1-3;  and  of  the  dese- 
cration of  the  Sabbath,  in  Ex.  xvi.  27  and  Num.  xv.  32.  For 
the  threat  referred  to  in  ver.  lob,  compare  Ex.  xxxii.  10  ;  Num. 
xiv.  11,  12. — Vers.  15  and  16  are  not  a  repetition  of  ver.  13 
(Hitzig) ;  nor  do  they  introduce  a  limitation  of  ver.  14  (Kliefoth). 
They  simply  relate  what  else  God  did  to  put  bounds  to  the 
rebellion  after  He  had  revoked  the  decree  to  cut  Israel  off,  at 
the  intercession  of  Moses  (Num.  xiv.  11-19).  He  lifted  His 
hand  to  the  oath  (Num.  xiv.  21  sqq.),  that  the  generation 
which  had  come  out  of  Egypt  should  not  come  into  the  land  of 
Canaan,  but  should  die  in  the  wilderness.  Therewith  He 
looked  with  pity  upon  the  people,  so  that  He  did  not  make  an 
end  of  them  by  following  up  the  threat  with  a  promise  that 
the  children  should  enter  the  land.      n?3  nb'y,  as  in  ch.  xi.  13. 

Vers.  18-26.  The  generation  that  grew  up  in  the  desert. — 
Ver.  18.  And  I  spake  to  their  sons  in  the  desert,  Walk  not  in 
the  statutes  of  your  fathers,  and  keep  not  their  rights,  and  do  not 
defile  yourselves  loith  their  idols.  Ver.  19.  /  am  Jehovah  your 
God  ;  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  keep  my  rights,  and  do  them, 
Ver.  20.  And  sanctify  my  Sabbaths,  that  they  may  be  for  a  sign 
betiveen  me  and  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  your 
God.  Ver.  21.  But  the  sons  icere  rebellious  against  me;  they 
walked  not  in  my  statutes,  and  did  not  keep  my  rights,  to  do  them, 
which  man  should  do  that  he  may  live  through  them ;  they  pro- 


CHAP.  XX.  18-26.  271 

faned  my  Sahhailis.  Tlien  I  thought  to  pour  out  my  wrath  upon 
them,  to  accomplish  my  anger  upon  them  in  the  desert.  Ver.  22. 
But  I  turned  hack  my  hand  and  did  it  for  my  names  sake,  that  it 
might  not  heprofaned  before  the  eyes  of  the  nations,  before  ivhose 
eyes  I  had  them  out.  Ver.  23.  7  also  lifted  my  hand  to  them  in 
the  desert,  to  scatter  them  among  the  nations,  and  to  disperse  them 
in  the  lands  ;  Ver.  24.  Because  they  did  not  my  rights,  and 
despised  my  statutes,  profaned  my  Sabbaths,  and  their  eyes  icere 
after  the  idols  of  their  fathers.  Ver.  25.  And  I  also  gave  them 
statutes,  which  loere  not  good,  and  rights,  through  ichich  they  did  not 
live ;  Ver.  26.  And  defiled  them  in  their  sacrificial  gifts,  in  that 
they  caused  all  that  openeth  the  womb  to  pass  through,  that  I  miglit 
fill  them  loith  horror,  that  they  might  knoio  that  I  am  Jehovah. — 
The  sons  acted  like  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness.  Plistorical 
proofs  of  this  are  furnished  by  the  accounts  of  the  Sabbath- 
breaker  (Num  XV.  32  sqq.),  of  the  rebelh'on  of  the  company  of 
Korah,  and  of  the  murmuring  of  the  whole  congregation 
against  Moses  and  Aaron  after  the  destruction  of  Korah's 
company  (Num.  xvi.  and  xvii.).  In  the  last  two  cases  God 
threatened  that  He  would  destroy  the  whole  congregation  (cf. 
Num.  xvi.  21  and  xvii.  9,  10);  and  on  both  occasions  the 
Lord  drew  back  His  hand  at  the  intercession  of  Moses,  and 
his  actual  intervention  (Num.  xvi.  22  and  xvii.  11  sqq.),  and 
did  not  destroy  the  whole  nation  for  His  name's  sake.  The 
statements  in  vers.  216  and  22  rest  upon  these  facts.  The 
words  of  ver.  23  concerning  the  oath  of  God,  that  He  would 
scatter  the  transgressors  among  the  heathen,  are  also  founded 
upon  the  Pentateuch,  and  not  upon  an  independent  tradition, 
or  any  special  revelation  from  God.  Dispersion  among  the 
heathen  is  threatened  in  Lev.  xxvi.  33  and  Deut.  xxviii.  64, 
and  there  is  no  force  in  Kliefoth's  argument  that  "  these 
threats  do  not  refer  to  the  generation  in  the  wilderness,  but 
to  a  later  age."  For  in  both  chapters  the  blessings  and  curses 
of  the  law  are  set  before  the  people  who  were  then  in  the 
desert ;  and  there  is  not  a  single  word  to  intimate  that  either 


272  THE  PKOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

blessing  or  curse  would  only  be  fulfilled  upon  tlie  generations 
of  later  times.  On  the  contrary,  when  Moses  addressed  to  the 
people  assembled  before  him  his  last  discourse  concerning  the 
renewal  of  the  covenant  (Deut.  xxix.  and  xxx.),  he  called  upon 
them  to  enter  into  the  covenant,  "  which  Jehovah  maketh  with 
thee  this  day  "  (Deut.  xxix.  12),  and  to  keep  all  the  words  of 
this  covenant  and  do  them.  It  is  upon  this  same  discourse,  in 
which  Moses  calls  the  threatenings  of  the  law  nps,  an  oath 
(Deut.  xxix.  13),  that  "  the  lifting  of  the  hand  of  God  to 
swear,"  mentioned  in  ver.  23  of  this  chapter,  is  also  founded. 
Moreover,  it  is  not  stated  in  this  verse  that  God  lifted  His 
hand  to  scatter  among  the  heathen  the  generation  which  had 
grown  up  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  disperse  them  in  the  lands 
before  their  entrance  into  the  land  promised  to  the  fathers ; 
but  simply  that  He  had  lifted  His  hand  in  the  wilderness  to 
threaten  the  people  with  dispersion  among  the  heathen,  without 
in  any  way  defining  the  period  of  dispersion.  In  the  blessings 
and  threatenings  of  the  law  contained  in  Lev.  xxvi.  and 
Deut.  xxviii.-xxx.,  the  nation  is  regarded  as  a  united  whole  ; 
so  that  no  distinction  is  made  between  the  successive  genera- 
tions, for  the  purpose  of  announcing  this  particular  blessing  or 
punishment  to  either  one  or  the  other.  And  Ezekiel  acts  in 
precisely  the  same  way.  It  is  true  that  he  distinguishes  the 
generation  which  came  out  of  Egypt  and  was  sentenced  by 
God  to  die  in  the  wilderness  from  the  sons,  i.e.  the  generation 
which  grew  up  in  the  wilderness ;  but  the  latter,  or  the  sons 
of  those  who  had  fallen,  the  generation  which  was  brought 
into  the  land  of  Canaan,  he  regards  as  one  with  all  the  succes- 
sive generations,  and  embraces  the  whole  under  the  common 
name  of  '■'  fathers  "  to  the  generation  living  in  his  day  ("  your 
fathers  "  ver.  27),  as  we  may  clearly  see  from  the  turn  given 
to  the  sentence  which  describes  the  apostasy  of  those  who  came 
into  the  land  of  Canaan  ('ui  riNT  liy).  In  thus  embracing  the 
generation  which  grew  up  in  the  wilderness  and  was  led  into 
Canaan,  along  with  the  generations  which  followed  and  lived  in 


CHAP.  XX  18-26.  2  t  o 

Canaan,  Ezekiel  adheres  very  closely  to  the  view  prevailing  in 
the  Pentateuch,  where  the  nation  in  all  its  successive  genera- 
tions is  regarded  as  one  united  whole.  The  threat  of  dispersion 
among  the  heathen,  which  the  Lord  uttered  in  the  wilderness  to 
the  sons  of  those  who  were  not  to  see  the  land,  is  also  not 
mentioned  by  Ezekiel  as  one  which  God  designed  to  execute 
upon  the  people  who  were  wandering  in  the  desert  at  the  time. 
For  if  he  had  understood  it  in  this  sense,  he  would  have 
mentioned  its  non-fulfilment  also,  and  would  have  added  a 
'Ul  "'^C'  lypp  i^'y^?3,  as  he  has  done  in  the  case  of  the  previous 
threats  (cf.  vers.  22,  14,  and  9).  But  we  do  not  find  this 
either  in  ver.  2-i  or  ver.  26.  The  omission  of  this  turn  clearly 
shows  that  ver.  2'6  does  not  refer  to  a  punishment  which  God 
designed  to  inflict,  but  did  not  execute  for  His  name's  sake  : 
but  that  the  dispersion  among  the  heathen,  with  which  the 
transgressors  of  His  commandments  were  threatened  by  God 
when  in  the  wilderness,  is  simply  mentioned  as  a  proof  that 
even  in  the  wilderness  the  people,  whom  God  had  determined 
to  lead  into  Canaan,  were  threatened  with  that  very  punish- 
ment which  had  now  actually  commenced,  because  rebellious 
Israel  had  obstinately  resisted  the  commandments  and  rights 
of  its  God. 

Tliese  remarks  are  equally  applicable  to  vers.  25  and  2(5. 
Tjiese  verses  are  not  to  be  restricted  to  the  generation  which 
was  born  in  the  wilderness  and  gathered  to  its  fathers  not  long 
after  its  entrance  into  Canaan,  but  refer  to  their  descendants 
also,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  fathers  of  our  prophet's  contempo- 
raries, who  were  born  and  had  died  in  Canaan.  God  gave 
them  statutes  which  were  not  good,  and  rights  which  did  not 
bring  them  life.  It  is  perfectly  self-evident  that  we  are  not  to 
understand  by  these  statutes  and  rights,  which  were  not  good, 
either  the  Mosaic  commandments  of  the  ceremonial  law,  as 
some  of  the  Fathers  and  earlier  Protestant  commentators  sup- 
posed, or  the  threatenings  contained  in  the  law  ;  so  that  this 
needs   no   elaborate  proof.     The  ceremonial   commandments 

EZEK.  I.  S 


274  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

given   by  God  \Yere  good,  and   had  the  promise  attached  to 
them,  that  obedience  to  them  would  give  hfe;  whilst  the  threats 
of  punishment  contained  in  the  law  are  never  called  D^ipn  and 
D^DQtt'O.     Those  statutes  only  are  called  "  not  good  "  the  fulfil- 
ment of  which  did  not  bring  life  or  blessing  and   salvation. 
The  second  clause  serves  as  an  explanation  of  the  first.     The 
examples  quoted  in  ver.  26  show  what  the  words  really  mean. 
The  defiling  in   their  sacrificial  gifts   (ver.   2G),   for  example, 
consisted  in  their  causing  that  which  opened  the  womb  to  pass 
throu'di,  i.e.  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  first-born.     Drn  "iJ2B"73  T'syn 
points  back  to  Ex.   xiii.   12;  only  niii^p,  which   occurs  in  that 
passage,  is  omitted,  because  the  allusion  is  not  to  the  command- 
ment given  there,  but  to  its  perversion  into   idolatry.      This 
formula  is  used  in  the  book  of    Exodus  {I.e.)  to  denote   the 
dedication  of  the  first-born   to  Jehovah  ;  but    in  ver.  13  this 
limitation  is  introduced,  that  the  first-born  of  man   is  to  be 
redeemed.      i''?yO  signifies  a  dedication  through  fire  (="'"'?i!'!l 
ty'sa,  ver.  31),  and  is  adopted  in  the  book  of  Exodus,  where  it  is 
joined  to  '"•j'^!?,  in  marked  opposition  to  the  Canaanitish  custom 
of  dedicating  children  to  Moloch  by  februation  in  fire  (see  the 
comm.  on  Ex.  xiii.  12).     The  prophet  refers  to  this  Canaanitish 
custom,  and  cites  it  as  a  striking  example  of  the  defilement  of 
the  Israelites  in  their  sacrificial  gifts  {^^^,  to  make  unclean,  not 
to  declare  unclean,  or  treat  as  unclean).     That  this  custom  also 
made  its  way  among  the  Israelites,  is  evident  from  the  repeated 
prohibition  against  offering  children  through  the  fire  to  Moloch 
(Lev.  xviii.   21  and  Deut.  xviii.  10).     When,  therefore,  it  is 
affirmed  with  regard  to  a  statute  so  sternly  prohibited  in  the 
law  of  God,  that  Jehovah  gave  it  to  the  Israelites  in  the  wilder- 
ness, the  word  jOi  (give)  can  only  be  used  in  the  sense  of  a 
judicial  sentence,  and   must  not  be  taken  merely  as  indicat- 
ing divine  permission  ;   in  other  words,  it  is  to  be  understood, 
like  2  Thess.  ii.  11  ("  God  sends  them  strong  delusion  ")   and 
Acts  vii.  42  ("  God  turned,  and  gave  them  up  to  worship  the 
host  of  heaven  "),  in  the  sense  of  hardening,  whereby  whoever 


CHAP.  XX.  27-31.  275 

will  not  renounce  idolatry  is  so  given  up  to  its  power,  that  it 
draws  him  deeper  and  deeper  in.  This  is  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  statement  in  ver.  26  as  the  design  of  God  in  doing 
this :  "  that  I  might  fill  them  with  horror ;  "  i.e.  might  excite 
such  horror  and  amazement  in  their  minds,  that  if  possible  they 
might  be  brought  to  reflect  and  to  return  to  Jehovah  their  God. 
Vers.  27-31.  Israel  committed  these  sins  in  Canaan  also, 
and  to  this  day  has  not  given  them  up  ;  therefore  God  will  not 
allow  the  idolatrous  generation  to  inquire  of  Him. — Ver.  27. 
Therefore  speak  to  the  house  of  Israel,  0  son  of  man,  and  say  to 
them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Still  further'  have  your 
fathers  blasphemed  me  in  this,  loith  the  faithlessness  ichich  they 
have  shoion  toicard  me.  Ver.  28.  When  I  had  brought  them  into 
the  land,  xohich  I  had  lifted  my  hand  to  give  them,  then  they 
looked  out  every  high  hill  and  every  thickly  covered  tree,  and 
offered  their  sacrifices  there,  and  gave  their  irritating  gifts  there, 
and  presented  the  fragrance  of  their  pleasant  odour  there,  and 
poured  out  their  drink-offerings  there.  Ver.  29.  And  I  said  to 
them.  What  height  is  that  to  ichich  ye  go?  And  its  name  is 
called  Height  to  this  day.  Ver.  30.  Therefore  say  to  the  house  of 
Israel,  Tlius  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  What?  Do  ye  defile  your- 
selves in  the  ivay  of  your  fathers ;  and  go  lohoring  after  their 
abominations ;  Ver.  31.  And  defile  yourselves  in  all  your  idols 
to  tins  day,  by  lifting  up  your  gifts,  and  causing  your  sons  to 
pass  through  the  fire ;  and  should  I  let  myself  be  inquired 
of  by  you?  As  I  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
I  ivill  not  let  myself  be  inquired  of  by  you. — The  i?^  in 
ver.  27  is  resumed  in  ver.  30;  and  there  the  answer  given 
by  God  to  the  elders,  who  had  come  to  inquire  of  Him, 
is  first  communicated,  after  an  express  declaration  of  the  fact 
that  Israel  had  continued  its  idolatry  in  the  most  daring 
manner,  even  after  its  entrance  into  Canaan.  But  the  form 
in  which  this  is  done — DNT  liy,  "  still  further  in  this  " — is  to  be 
understood  as  intimating  that  the  conduct  of  the  fathers  of  the 
existing  generation,  and    therefore  not  merely  of  those  w^ho 


276  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

grew  up  in  the  wilderness,  but  also  of  those  who  had  lived  in 
Canaan,  has  already  been  described  in  general  terms  in  the 
preceding  verses,  and  that  what  follows  simply  adds  another 
novel  feature.  But  this  can  only  be  the  case  if  vers.  23-26 
are  taken  in  the  sense  given  above.  DXI  is  an  accusative ;  and 
fl"n3  is  construed  with  the  accusative  both  of  the  person  and 
thin<:r.  The  more  precise  definition  of  nxr  is  not  given  in 
^2  D?j??Dn  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  but  in  the  idolatry  depicted  in 
ver.  28.  ^Vl^  refers  to  the  faithlessness  involved  in  the  breach 
of  the  covenant  and  in  idolatry.  This  is  the  general  descrip- 
tion ;  whilst  the  idolatry  mentioned  in  ver.  28b  constituted  one 
particular  feature,  in  which  the  faithlessness  appeared  in  the 
form  of  blasphemy.  For  the  fact  itself,  namely,  the  worship 
on  high  places,  which  was  practised  on  every  hand,  see  ch. 
vi.  13,  xvi.  24,  25 ;  1  Kings  xiv.  23  ;  2  Kings  xvii.  10.  In 
the  enumeration  of  the  offerings,  there  is  something  striking 
in  the  position  in  which  CDJa"}!?  Dya  stands,  namely,  between 
the  slaughtered  sacrifices  (Q"'D?0  and  the  increase-  and  drink- 
offerings  ;  and  this  is  no  doubt  the  reason  why  the  clause 
'i:i  Dtt'  ^3ri'1  is  omitted  from  the  Cod.  Vat.  and  Alex,  of  the 
LXX. ;  and  even  Hitzig  proposes  to  strike  it  out.  But 
Theodoret  found  this  reading  in  the  Alex.  Version ;  and  Hitzig 
is  wronii  in  affirm  ins  that  |3"ip  is  used  in  connection  with  sacri- 
fices,  meat-offerings,  and  drink-offerings.  The  meat-offerings 
are  not  expressly  named,  for  nin''J  nn  does  not  signify  meat- 
offerings, but  is  used  in  the  law  for  the  odour  of  all  the 
offerings,  both  slaughtered  sacrifices  and  meat-offerings,  even 
though  in  Ezek.  xvi.  19  it  is  applied  to  the  odour  of  the 
bloodless  offerings  alone.  And  in  the  same  way  does  IS^iJ 
embrace  all  the  offerings,  even  the  slain  offerings,  in  Ezek. 
xl.  43,  in  harmony  with  Lev.  i.  2,  ii.  1,  and  other  passages. 
That  it  is  used  in  this  general  signification  here,  is  evident  from 
the  introduction  of  the  word  DJ?|,  irritation  or  provocation  of 
their  gifts,  i.e.  their  gifts  which  provoked  irritation  on  the  part 
of  God,  because  they  were  offered  to  idols.     As  this  sentence 


CHAP.  XX.  27-31.  277 

applies  to  all  tlie  sacrifices  (bloody  and  bloodless),  so  also  does 
the  clause  which  follows,  'l31  tif  ^0''b'Jl,  refer  to  all  the  offerings 
which  were  burned  upon  the  altar,  without  regard  to  the 
material  employed.  Consequently  Ezekiel  mentions  only  slain 
offerings  and  drink-offerings,  and,  by  the  two  clauses  in- 
serted between,  describes  the  offering  of  the  slaughtered  sacri- 
fices as  a  gift  of  irritation  to  God,  and  of  pleasant  fragrance  to 
the  idolatrous  worshippers  who  presented  them.  He  does  not 
mention  the  meat-offerings  separately,  because  they  generally 
formed  an  accompaniment  to  the  slain  offerings,  and  therefore 
were  included  in  these.  But  although  God  had  called  the 
people  to  account  for  this  worship  on  high  places,  they  had  not 
relinquished  it  even  "  to  this  day."  This  is  no  doubt  the 
meaning  of  ver.  29,  which  has  been  interpreted  in  very 
different  ways.  The  context  shows,  in  the  most  conclusive 
manner,  that  n»3n  is  to  be  taken  collectively,  and  that  the  use 
of  the  singular  is  to  be  explained  from  the  antithesis  to  the 
one  divinely  appointed  Holy  Place  in  the  temple,  and  not,  as 
Kinichi  and  Hiivernick  suppose,  from  any  allusion  to  one 
particular  Icimdh  of  peculiar  distinction,  viz.  *'  the  great  high 
place  at  Gibeon."  The  question  ^9?'^  '^^  ^^  ^^^  expressive  of 
contempt  (Hitzig),  but  "  is  founded  upon  the  assumption  that 
they  would  have  to  give  an  account  of  their  doings ;  and  merely 
asks,  What  kind  of  heights  are  those  to  which  you  are  going  ? 
Who  has  directed  you  to  go  thither  with  your  worship  ?  " 
(Kliefoth).  There  is  no  need  to  refute  the  trivial  fancy  of  J. 
D.  Michaelis,  which  has  been  repeated  by  Hitzig,  namely,  that 
Ezekiel  has  taken  no3  as  a  derivative  from  X3  and  no.  Again, 
the  question  does  not  presuppose  a  word  addressed  by  God  to 
Israel,  which  Ezekiel  only  has  handed  down  to  us;  but  is  simply 
a  rhetorical  mode  of  presenting  the  condemnation  by  God  of 
the  worship  of  the  high  places,  to  which  both  the  law  and  the 
earlier  prophets  had  given  utterance.  The  next  clause,  "  and 
their  name  was  called  Height"  (high  place),  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  containing  merely  a  historical  notice  of  the  name 


278  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

given  to  these  idolatrous  places  of  worship ;  but  the  giving  of 
the  name  is  a  proof  of  the  continued  existence  of  the  thing ;  so 
that  the  words  affirm,  that  notwithstanding  the  condemnation 
on  the  part  of  God,  Israel  had  retained  these  high  places, — had 
not  abolished  them  to  this  day. — Vers.  30  and  31  facilitate  the 
transition  from  the  first  part  of  this  word  of  God  to  the  second. 
What  has  already  been  said  in  vers.  5-29  concerning  the 
idolatry  of  the  people,  from  the  time  of  its  election  onwards,  is 
here  expressly  applied  to  the  existing  generation,  and  carries 
with  it  the  declaration  to  them,  that  inasmuch  as  they  are 
defiling  themselves  by  idolatry,  as  their  fathers  did,  Jehovah 
cannot  permit  Himself  to  be  inquired  of  by  them.  The  thought 
is  couched  in  the  form  of  a  question,  to  express  astonishment 
that  those  who  denied  the  Lord,  and  dishonoured  Him  by  their 
idolatry,  should  nevertheless  imagine  that  they  could  obtain 
revelations  from  Him.  The  lifting  up  (nstr,  from  N'f  J)  of  gifts 
signifies  the  offering  of  sacrifices  upon  the  altars  of  the  high 
places.  For  ver.  31&,  compare  ver.  3. — With  this  declaration 
God  assigns  the  reason  for  the  refusal  to  listen  to  idolaters, 
which  had  already  been  given  in  ver.  3.  But  it  does  not  rest 
with  this  refusal.  God  now  proceeds  to  disclose  to  them  the 
thoughts  of  their  own  hearts,  and  announces  to  them  that  He 
will  refine  them  by  severe  judgments,  and  bring  them  thereby 
to  repentance  of  their  sins,  that  He  may  then  gather  them  out 
of  the  dispersion,  and  make  them  partakers  of  the  promised 
salvation  as  a  people  willingly  serving  Him. — In  this  way  do 
vers.  32-44  cast  a  prophetic  glance  over  the  whole  of  the 
future  history  of  Israel. 

Vers.  32-38.  The  judgment  awaiting  Israel  of  purification 
among  the  heathen. — Ver.  32.  Aiid  thatxchich  riseth  up  in  your 
mind  shall  not  come  to  pass,  in  that  ye  say,  We  will  be  like  the 
heathen,  like  the  families  of  the  lands,  to  serve  loood  and  stone. 
Ver.  33.  As  I  live,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  with 
strong  hand  and  tvith  outstretched  arm,  and  with  lorath  poured  out, 
%dll  I  ride  over  you.      Ver.  34.  And  I  icill  bring  you  out  of  the 


CHAP.  XX.  32-38.  279 

nations,  and  gather  you  out  of  the  lands  in  ivhich  ye  have  been 
scattered,  with  strong  hand  and  with  outstretched  arm,  and  xoith 
lorath  poured  out,  Ver.  35.  And  ivill  bring  you  into  the  desert 
of  the  nations,  and  contend  with  you  tliere  face  to  face.  Ver.  36. 
As  ]  contended  with  your  fathers  in  the  desert  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  so  loill  I  contend  ivith  you,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah.  Ver.  37.  And  I  will  cause  you  to  pass  through 
under  the  rod,  and  bring  you  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant. 
Ver.  38.  And  I  will  separate  from  you  the  rebellious,  and  those 
who  are  apostates  from  me ;  out  of  the  land  of  their  sojourning 
will  I  lead  them  out,  but  into  the  land  of  Israel  shall  they  not 
come;  that  ye  may  knoiu  that  I  am  Jehovah. — n^n  by  npyn^  that 
which  rises  up  in  the  spirit,  is  the  thought  that  springs  up  in 
the  mind.  What  this  thought  was  is  shown  in  ver.  326,  viz. 
we  will  be  Hke  the  heathen  in  the  lands  of  the  earth,  to  serve 
wood  and  stone ;  that  is  to  say,  we  will  become  idolaters  like  the 
heathen,  pass  into  heathenism.  This  shall  not  take  place ;  on 
the  contrary,  God  will  rule  over  them  as  King  with  strong 
arm  and  fury.  The  words,  "  with  strong  hand  and  stretched- 
out  arm,"  are  a  standing  expression  in  the  Pentateuch  for  the 
mighty  acts  by  which  Jehovah  liberated  His  people  from  the 
power  of  the  Egyptians,  and  led  them  out  of  Egypt  (cf.  Ex. 
vi.  1,  6;  Deut.  iv.  34,  v.  15,  vii.  19,  etc.),  and  are  connected 
in  Ex.  vi.  6  with  D^iia  D-ipEron^.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  they 
are  connected  with  nsiDC'  nona,  and  are  used  in  ver.  33  with 
reference  to  the  government  of  God  over  Israel,  whilst  in 
ver.  34  they  are  applied  to  the  bringing  out  of  Israel  from  the 
midst  of  the  heathen.  By  the  introduction  of  the  clause  "with 
fury  poured  out,"  the  manifestation  of  the  omnipotence  of  God 
which  Israel  experienced  in  its  dispersion,  and  which  it  was 
still  to  experience  among  the  heathen,  is  described  as  an  ema- 
nation of  the  divine  wrath,  a  severe  and  wrathful  judgment. 
The  leading  and  gathering  of  Israel  out  of  the  nations 
(ver.  34)  is  neither  their  restoration  from  the  existing  captivity 
in  Babylon,  nor  their  future  restoration  to  Canaan  on  the  con- 


280  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

version  of  the  people  who  were  still  hardened,  and  therefore 
rejected  by  God.  The  former  assumption  would  be  decidedly 
at  variance  with  both  ^'^^V^  p  and  ^i^*'3^5n  p^  since  Israel  was 
dispersed  only  throughout  one  land  and  among  one  people  at 
the  time  of  the  Babylonian  captivity.  Moreover,  neither  of  the 
assumptions  is  reconcilable  with  the  context,  more  especially  with 
ver.  35.  According  to  the  context,  this  leading  out  is  an  act  of 
divine  anger,  which  Israel  is  to  feel  in  connection  therewith  ;  and 
this  cannot  be  affirmed  of  either  the  redemption  of  the  people 
out  of  the  captivity  in  Babylon,  or  the  future  gathering  of 
Israel  from  its  dispersion.  According  to  ver.  35,  God  will  con- 
duct those  who  are  brought  out  from  the  nations  and  gathered 
together  out  of  the  lands  into  the  desert  of  the  nations,  and 
contend  with  them  there.  The  "desert  of  the  nations"  is  not 
the  desert  lying  between  Babylonia  and  Palestine,  on  the  coast- 
lands  of  the  Mediterranean,  through  which  the  Israelites  would 
have  to  pass  on  their  way  home  from  Babylon  (Rosenmiiller, 
Hitzig,  and  others).  For  there  is  no  imaginable  reason  why 
this  should  be  called  the  desert  of  the  nations  in  distinction 
from  the  desert  of  Arabia,  which  also  touched  the  borders  of 
several  nations.  The  expression  is  doubtless  a  typical  one,  tlie 
future  guidance  of  Israel  being  depicted  as  a  repetition  of  the 
earlier  guidance  of  the  people  from  Egypt  to  Canaan  ;  as  it 
also  is  in  Hos.  ii.  16.  All  the  separate  features  in  the  descrip- 
tion indicate  this,  more  especially  vers.  36  and  37,  where  it  is 
impossible  to  overlook  the  allusion  to  the  guidance  of  Israel  in 
the  time  of  Moses.  The  more  precise  explanation  of  the  words 
must  depend,  however,  upon  the  sense  in  which  we  are  to 
understand  the  expression,  "  desert  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
Here  also  the  supposition  that  the  Arabian  desert  is  referred 
to,  because  it  touched  the  border  of  Egypt,  does  not  furnish  a 
sufficient  explanation.  It  touched  the  border  of  Canaan  as 
well.  Why  then  did  not  Ezekiel  name  it  after  the  land  of 
Canaan?  Evidently  for  no  other  reason  than  that  the  time 
spent  by  the  Israelites  in  the  Arabian  desert  resembled  their 


CHAP.  XX.  32-38.  281 

sojourn  in  Egypt  much  more  closely  than  their  settlement  in 
Canaan,  because,  while  there,  they  were  still  receiving  their 
training  for  their  entrance  into  Canaan,  and  their  possession 
and  enjoyment  of  its  benefits,  just  as  much  as  in  the  land  of 
Egypt.  And  iu  a  manner  corresponding  to  this,  the  "  desert  of 
the  nations  "  is  a  figurative  expression  applied  to  the  world  of 
nations,  from  whom  they  were  indeed  spiritually  distinct,  whilst 
outwardly  they  were  still  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  had  to 
suffer  from  their  oppression.  Consequently  the  leading  of 
Israel  out  of  the  nations  (ver.  34)  is  not  a  local  and  corporeal 
deliverance  out  of  heathen  lands,  but  a  spiritual  severance  from 
the  heathen  world,  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  absorbed 
into  it  or  become  inseparably  blended  with  the  heathen.  God 
will  accomplish  this  by  means  of  severe  chastisements,  by  con- 
tending with  them  as  He  formerly  contended  with  their  fathers 
in  the  Arabian  desert.  God  contends  with  His  people  when 
He  charges  them  with  their  sin  and  guilt,  not  merely  in  words, 
but  also  with  deeds,  i.e.  through  chastening  and  punishments. 
The  words  "  face  to  face"  point  back  to  Deut.  v.  4 :  "  Jehovah 
talked  with  you  face  to  face  in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of 
the  fire."  Just  as  at  Sinai  the  Lord  talked  directly  with  Israel, 
and  made  known  to  it  the  devouring  fire  of  His  own  holy 
nature,  in  so  terrible  a  manner  that  all  the  people  trembled  and 
entreated  Moses  to  act  the  part  of  a  mediator  between  them, 
promising  at  the  same  time  obedience  to  him  (Ex.  xx,  19) ;  so 
will  the  Lord  make  Himself  known  to  Israel  in  the  desert  of 
the  world  of  nations  with  the  burning  zeal  of  His  ancrer,  that 
it  may  learn  to  fear  Him.  This  contending  is  more  precisely 
defined  in  vers.  37  and  38.  I  will  cause  you  to  pass  through 
under  the  (shepherd's)  rod.  A  shepherd  lets  his  sheep  pass 
through  imder  his  rod  for  the  purpose  of  counting  them,  and  see- 
ing whether  they  are  in  good  condition  or  not  (yid.  Jer.  xxxiii. 
13).  The  figure  is  here  applied  to  God.  Like  a  shepherd, 
He  will  cause  His  flock,  the  Israelites,  to  pass  through  under 
His  rod,  i.e.  take  them  into  His  special  care,  and  bring  them 


282  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

"  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant "  (n"^bO,  not  from  "1D»  [Raschi], 
but  from  "iDX,  for  ri"?.DN»,  a  fetter)  ;  that  is  to  say,  not  "  I  will 
bind  myself  to  you  and  you  to  me  by  a  new  covenant "  (Bochart, 
Ilieroz.  I.  p.  508),  for  this  is  opposed  to  the  context,  but,  as  the 

Syriac  version  has  rendered  it,  "|2.05jlQ13  (in  dlsciplina),   "  the 

discipline  of  the  covenant."      By  this  we  are  not   merely  to 
understand  the  covenant  punishments,  with  which  transgressors 
of  the  law  are  threatened,  as  Hiivernick  does,  but  the  covenant 
promises  must  also  be  included.      For  not  only  the  threats  of 
the  covenant,  but  the  promises  of  the  covenant,  are  bonds  by 
which  God  trains  His  people;  and  i?ij  is  not  only  applied  to 
burdensome  and  crushing  fetters,  but  to  the  bonds  of  love  as 
well  {vid.  Song  of  Sol.  vii.  6).     Kliefoth  understands  by  the 
fetter  of  the  covenant  the  Mosaic  law,  as  being  the  means 
employed  by  God  to  preserve  the  Israelites  from  mixing  with 
the  nations  while  placed  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  to  keep  them 
to  Himself,  and  adds  the  following  explanation, — "this  law, 
throuc^h  which  they  should  have  been  able  to  live,  they  have 
now  to  wear  as  a  fetter,  and  to  feel  the  chastisement  thereof." 
But  however  correct  the  latter  thought  may  be  in  itself,  it  is 
hardly  contained  in  the  words,  "  lead  them  into  the  fetter  (band) 
of  the  law."     Moreover,  although  the  law  did  indeed  preserve 
Israel  from  becoming  absorbed  into  the  world  of  nations,  the 
fact  that  the  Jews  were  bound  to  the  law  did  not  bring  them 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  or  bring  to  pass  the  purging  of 
the  rebellious  from  among  the  people,  to  which  ver.  38  refers. 
All  that  the  law  accomplished  in  this  respect  in  the  case  of 
those  who  lived  among  the  heathen  was  effected  by  its  threaten- 
incrs  and  its  promises,  and  not  by  its  statutes  and  their  faithful 
observance.      This  discipline  will  secure  the  purification  of  the 
people,  by  severing  from  the  nation  the  rebellious  and  apostate. 
God  will  bring  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  their  pilgrimage, 
but  will  not  bring  them  into  the  land  of  Israel.     DniiD  px  is 
the  standing  epithet  applied  in  the  Pentateuch  to  the  land  of 


CHAP.  XX.  39-44.  283 

Canaan,  in  which  the  patriarchs  lived  as  pilgrims,  without 
coming  into  actual  possession  of  the  land  (cf.  Gen.  xvii.  8, 
xxviii.  4,  xxxvi.  7  ;  Ex.  vi.  4).  This  epithet  Ezekiel  has  trans- 
ferred to  the  lands  of  Israel's  exile,  in  which  it  was  to  lead  a 
pilgrim-life  until  it  was  ripe  for  entering  Canaan.  ^''V^'^,  to 
lead  out,  is  used  here  for  clearing  out  by  extermination,  as  the 
following  clause,  "  into  the  land  of  Israel  shall  they  not  come," 
plainly  shows.  The  singular  i^i^^  is  used  distributively  :  not 
one  of  the  rebels  will  enter. 

Vers.  39-44.  The  ultimate  gathering  of  Israel,  and  its  con- 
version to  the  Lord. — Ver.  39.  Ye  then,  0  house  of  Israel,  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Go  ye,  serve  every  one  his  idols  !  but  after- 
wards— truly  ye  ivill  hearken  to  me,  and  no  longer  desecrate  my 
holy  name  icith  your  sacrificial  gifts  and  yo^ir  idols,  Ver.  40.  But 
upon  my  holy  mountain,  upon  the  high  mountain  of  Israel,  is  the 
saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,  there  will  all  the  house  of  Israel 
serve  me,  the  whole  of  it  in  the  land;  there  will  I  accept  them 
gladly  ;  there  loill  I  ask  for  your  heave-offerings  and  the  first- 
fruits  of  your  gifts  in  all  that  ye  make  holy.  Ver.  41.  As  a 
pleasant  odour  will  I  accept  you  gladly,  lohen  I  bring  you  out 
jroin  the  nations,  and  gather  you  out  of  the  lands,  in  which  you 
have  been  scattered,  and  sanctify  myself  in  you  before  the  eyes  of 
the  heathen  nations.  Ver.  42.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah,  lohen  I  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel,  into  the  land 
which  I  lifted  up  my  hand  to  give  to  your  fathers  ;  Ver.  43.  And 
there  ye  will  think  of  your  ways  and  your  deeds,  with  which  ye 
have  defiled  yourselves,  and  will  loathe  yourselves  (lit.  experience 
loathing  before  yourselves)  on  account  of  all  your  evil  deeds 
which  ye  have  performed  ;  Ver.  44.  And  ye  xoill  knoic  that  I  am 
Jehovah,  when  I  deal  with  yuu  for  my  namis  sake,  not  according 
to  your  evil  loays  and  according  to  your  corrupt  deeds,  0  house  of 
Israel,  is  the  saying  of  Jehovah. — After  the  Lord  has  declared  to 
the  people  that  He  will  prevent  its  being  absorbed  into  the  heathen 
world,  and  will  exterminate  the  ungodly  by  severe  judgments,  the 
address  passes  on,  with  the  direction  henceforth  to  serve  idols 


284  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

only,  to  a  prediction  of  theeventual  conversion,  and  the  restoration 
to  Canaan  of  the  purified  nation.  The  direction,  ''  Go  je,  serve 
every  one  his  idols,"  contains,  after  what  precedes  it,  a  power- 
ful appeal  to  repent.  God  thereby  gives  up  the  impenitent  to 
do  whatever  they  will,  having  first  of  all  told  them  that  not 
one  of  them  will  come  into  the  land  of  Canaan.  Their  oppo- 
sition will  not  frustrate  His  plan  of  salvation.  The  words 
which  follow  from  in5<1.  onwards  have  been  interpreted  in  dif- 
ferent ways.  It  is  opposed  to  the  usage  of  the  language  to 
connect  insi  with  ^^^y,  serve  ye  hereafter  also  (De  Wette,  etc.), 
for  1  has  not  the  force  of  the  Latin  €t  =  etiam^  and  still  less 
does  it  signify  "afterwards  just  as  before."  Nor  is  it  allow- 
able to  connect  insi  closely  with  what  follows,  in  the  sense  of 
''  and  hereafter  also,  if  ye  will  hearken  to  me,  profane  ye  my 
name  no  more"  (Rosenmiiller,  I^Iaurer).  For  if  v^nri  were 
used  as  an  imperative,  either  it  would  have  to  stand  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sentence,  or  it  would  be  preceded  by  7X 
instead  of  iib.  ^lareover,  the  antithesis  between  not  being 
willing  to  hear  and  not  profaning  the  name  of  God,  is  imported 
arbitrarily  into  the  text.  The  name  of  the  Lord  is  profaned 
not  only  by  sacrifices  offered  in  external  form  to  Jehovah  and 
in  the  heart  to  idols,  but  also  by  disobedience  to  the  word 
and  commandments  of  God.  It  is  much  better  to  take  inj^l  by 
itself,  and  to  render  the  following  particle,  CX,  as  the  ordinary 
sign  of  an  oath  :  "  but  afterwards  {i.e.  in  the  future)  .  .  .  verily, 
ye  will  hearken  to  me;  "  that  is  to  say,  ye  will  have  been  con- 
verted from  your  idolatry  through  the  severe  judgments  that 
have  fallen  upon  you.  The  ground  for  this  thought  is  intro- 
duced in  ver.  40  by  a  reference  to  the  fact  that  all  Israel  will 
then  serve  the  Lord  upon  His  holy  mountain.  '3  is  not  "  used 
emphatically  before  a  direct  address"  (Hitzig),  but  has  a  causal 
signification.  For  ''^'^  Diip  "ii},  see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xvii.  23. 
In  the  expression  "  all  Israel,"  which  is  rendered  more  emphatic 
by  the  addition  of  n->3,  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  eventual 
termination  of  the  severance  of  the  people  of  God  (compare 


CHAP.  XX.  39-44.  285 

ch.  xxxvli.  22).  Then  will  the  Lord  accept  with  delight  both 
them  and  their  sacrificial  gifts,  nio^iin,  heave-offerings  (see 
the  comm.  on  Ex.  xxv.  2  and  Lev.  ii.  9),  used  here  in  the 
broader  sense  of  all  the  sacrificial  gifts,  along  with  which  the 
gifts  of  first-fruits  are  specially  named.  ni^^'^'^P,  as  applied  to 
holy  offerings  in  the  sense  of  uva9/]/j,ara,  belongs  to  the  later 
usage  of  the  lancruarre.  D3''K'"tp"?D2  consistino;  of  all  your  con- 
secrated  gifts.  ^''^r'!?.*  as  in  Lev.  xxii.  15.  This  promise 
includes  iwplicite  the  bringing  back  of  Israel  from  its  banish- 
ment. This  is  expressly  mentioned  in  ver.  41  ;  but  even  there 
it  is  only  introduced  as  self-evident  in  the  subordinate  clause, 
whereas  the  cheerful  acceptance  of  Israel  on  the  part  of  God 
constitutes  the  leading  thought.  niT'J  rjnn,  as  an  odour  of 
delight  (3,  the  so-called  Beth  essentiue),  will  God  accept  His 
people.  n'rT'J  n''7,  odour  of  satisfaction,  is  the  technical  expres- 
sion for  the  cheerful  (well-pleased)  acceptance  of  the  sacrifice, 
or  rather  of  the  feelings  of  the  worshipper  presenting  the 
sacrifice,  which  ascend  to  God  in  the  sacrificial  odour  (see  the 
comm.  on  Gen.  viii.  21).  The  thought  therefore  is  the  follow- 
ing :  When  God  shall  eventually  gather  His  people  out  of 
their  dispersion.  He  will  accept  them  as  a  sacrifice  well-pleasing 
to  Him,  and  direct  all  His  good  pleasure  towards  them.  ''ri'-^"api^ 
D;:3  does  not  mean,  I  shall  be  sanctified  through  you,  and  is 
not  to  be  explained  in  the  same  sense  as  Lev.  xxii.  32  (Rosen- 
miiller),  for  3  is  not  equivalent  to  ^inn ;  but  it  signifies  "  I  will 
sanctify  myself  on  you,"  as  in  Num.  xx.  13,  Lev.  x.  3,  and 
other  passages,  where  tJ':!p3  is  construed  with  3  pers.  (cf.  Ezek. 
xxviii.  25,  xxxvi.  23,  xxxviii.  16,  xxxix.  27),  in  the  sense  of 
proving  oneself  holy,  mostly  by  judgment,  but  here  through 
having  made  Israel  into  a  holy  nation  by  the  refining  judg- 
ment, and  one  to  which  He  can  therefore  grant  the  promised 
inheritance. — Vers.  42  sqq.  Then  will  Israel  also  recognise  its 
God  in  His  grace,  and  be  ashamed  of  its  former  sins.  For 
ver.  43,  compare  ch.  vi.  9  and  xvi.  61. — With  regard  to  the 
fulfilment,  as  Kliefoth  has  correctly  observed,  "  in  the  predic- 


286  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

tion  contained  in  vers,  32-38,  the  whole  of  the  searching 
judgments,  by  which  God  would  lead  Israel  to  conversion,  are 
summed  up  in  one,  which  includes  not  only  the  Babylonian 
captivity,  the  nearest  and  the  first,  but  the  still  more  remote 
judgment,  namely,  the  present  dispersion ;  for  it  is  only  in  the 
present  dispersion  of  Israel  that  God  has  really  taken  it  into 
the  wilderness  of  the  nations,  just  as  it  was  only  in  the  rejection 
of  Christ  that  its  rebellious  attitude  was  fully  manifested.  And 
as  the  prophecy  of  the  state  of  punishment  combines  in  this 
way  both  the  nearer  and  more  remote  ;  so  are  both  the  nearer 
and  more  distant  combined  in  what  vers.  40  to  44  affirm  with 
regard  to  the  ultimate  fate  of  Israel."  The  gathering  of  Israel 
from  among  the  heathen  will  be  fulfilled  in  its  conversion  to 
Christ,  and  hitherto  it  has  only  taken  place  in  very  small 
beginnings.  The  principal  fulfilment  is  still  to  come,  when 
Israel,  as  a  nation,  shall  be  converted  to  Christ.  With  regard 
to  the  bringing  back  of  the  people  into  "  the  land  of  Israel," 
see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xxxvii.,  where  this  promise  is  more  fully 
expanded. 

CHAP.  XX.  45  TO  CHAP.  XXI.  32  (HEB.  CHAP.  XXI.^).  PRO- 
PHECY OF  THE  BURNING  FOREST  AND  THE  SWORD  OF 
THE  LORD. 

A  fire  kindled  by  the  Lord  will  burn  the  forest  of  the  south 
(ch.  XX.  45-48).  This  figurative  announcement  is  explained 
in  what  follows,  in  order  that  the  divine  threat  may  make  an 
impression  upon  the  people  (ver.  49).  The  Lord  will  draw  His 
sword  from  its  scabbard,  and  cut  off  from  Jerusalem  and  the 
land  of  Israel  both  righteous  and  wicked  (ch.  xxi.  1-17)  ;  that 
is  to  say,   the  king  of  Babylon  will   draw   his  sword   against 

1  In  the  Hebrew  Bible  the  previous  chapter  closes  at  ver.  44,  and 
ch.  xxi.  commences  there.  Keil  has  adhered  to  this  division  of  chapters ; 
but  for  the  sake  of  convenience  we  have  followed  the  arrangement  adopted 
in  the  English  authorized  version. — Tr. 


CHAP.  XX.  45-49.  287 

Jerusalem  and  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  will,  first  of  all,  put  an 
end  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  then  destroy  the  Ammonites 
(vers.  18-32).  The  prophecy  divides  itself  accordingly  into 
three  parts  :  viz.  (1)  the  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah ;  (2)  the  explanation  of  this  prediction  by 
the  threat  that  the  sword  of  the  Lord  will  smite  all  the  inha- 
bitants of  Judah,  which  threat  is  divisible  into  three  sections, 
ch.  xxi.  1-7,  8-13,  and  14-17;  (3)  the  application  of  what  is 
said  with  regard  to  the  sword  to  Nebuchadnezzar's  expedition 
against  Jerusalem  and  the  Ammonites,  which  may  also  be 
divided  into  three  sections, — viz.  (a)  the  general  announcement 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  design  (vers.  18-23)  and  its  execution  ; 
(b)  by  his  expedition  against  Jerusalem,  to  destroy  the  kino-- 
dom  of  Judah  (vers.  24-27)  ;  and  (c)  by  his  expedition  against 
the  Ammonites  (vers.  28-32). — The  first  four  or  five  verses  are 
taken  by  many  in  connection  with  chap.  xx. ;  and  Kliefoth 
still  maintains  that  they  should  be  separated  from  what  follows, 
and  attached  to  that  chapter  as  a  second  word  of  God.  But 
neither  ch.  xx.  49  nor  the  formula  in  ch.  xxi.  1,  '*'  the  word 
of  Jehovah  came  to  me,"  warrants  our  separating  the  parabolic 
prediction  in  ch.  xx.  45-48  from  the  interpretation  in  vers. 
1—17.  And  the  third  pArt  is  also  connected  with  what  precedes, 
so  as  to  form  one  single  discourse,  by  the  allusion  to  the  sword 
in  vers.  19  and  28,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  figure  of  the 
fire  is  resumed  in  vers.  31  and  32.  And  there  is  all  the  less 
ground  for  taking  the  formula,  "  and  the  word  of  Jehovah  came 
to  me,"  as  determining  the  division  of  the  several  portions  in 
this  particular  instance,  from  the  circumstance  that  the  section 
(vers.  1-17)  in  which  it  occurs  both  at  the  commencement 
and  in  the  middle  (vers.  1  and  8),  is  obviously  divided  into  the 
minor  sections  or  turns  by  the  threefold  occurrence  of  the  verb 
N33ni  ("  and  prophesy :  vers.  2,  9,  and  14). 

Chap.  XX.  45-49.  The  burning  forest. — Ver.  45.  Ajid  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying^  Ver.  46.  Son  of  man,  direct 
thy  face  toward  the  south,  and  trickle  down  towards  the  south^ 


288  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

a7id  propliesi/  concerning  the  forest  of  the  field  in  the  south  land ; 
Ver.  47.  And  say  to  the  forest  of  the  south  land,  Hear  the  word 
of  Jehuvah  ;  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  kindle  a 
fire  in  thee,  which  will  consume  in  thee  every  green  tree,  and 
every  dry  tree:  the  blazing  flame  will  not  be  extinguished,  and  all 
faces  from  the  south  to  the  nortlt,  will  be  burned  thereby.  Ver.  48. 
And  alljlesh  shall  see  that  I,  Jehovah,  have  kindled  it :  it  shall  not 
be  extinguished.  Ver.  49.  And  I  said,  Ah,  Ijord  Jehovah  I  they 
say  of  me,  Does  he  not  speak  in  parables  ? — The  prophet  is  to  turn 
his  face  toward  the  south,  and  prophesy  concerning  the  forest 
of  the  field  there,  ^""ipn  is  used  for  prophesying,  as  in  Amos 
vii.  16  and  Mic.  ii.  6,  11.  The  distinction  between  the  three 
epithets  appHed  to  the  south  is  the  following :  t^'^  is  literally 
that  which  lies  on  the  right  hand,  hence  the  south  is  a  particular 
quarter  of  the  heavens;  Ci''"^,  which  only  occurs  in  Ezekiel 
and  Ecclesiastes,  with  the  exception  of  Deut.  xxxiii.  23  and 
Job  xxxvii.  17,  is  derived  from  "i"]"!,  to  shine  or  emit  streams  of 
light,  and  probably  signifies  the  brilliant  quarter ;  3^3,  the  dry, 
parched  land,  is  a  standing  epithet  for  the  southern  district  of 
Palestine  and  the  land  of  Judah  (see  the  comm.  on  Josh, 
xv.  21). — The  forest  of  the  field  in  the  south  is  a  figure 
denoting  the  kingdom  of  Judah  (333  is  in  apposition  to  ^'^)^'\}, 
and  is  appended  to  it  as  a  more  precise  definition).  H'lK'  is  not 
used  here  for  a  field,  as  distinguished  from  a  city  or  a  garden  ; 
but  for  the  fields  in  the  sense  of  country  or  territory,  as  in 
Gen.  xiv.  7  and  xxxii.  3.  In  ver.  47,  3J3n  IV],  forest  of  the 
south  land,  is  the  expression  applied  to  the  same  object  (3331?, 
with  the  article,  is  a  geographical  term  for  the  southern  portion 
of  Palestine).  The  forest  is  a  figure  signifying  the  population, 
or  the  mass  of  people.  Individual  men  are  trees.  The  green 
tree  is  a  figurative  representation  of  the  righteous  man,  and 
the  dry  tree  of  the  ungodly  (ver.  3,  compare  Luke  xxiii.  31). 
The  fire  which  Jehovah  kindles  is  the  fire  of  war.  The  com- 
bination of  the  synonyms  r\^[}T^  ^^^-j  flame  of  the  flaming 
brightness,  serves  to  strengthen  the  expression,  and  is  equiva- 


CHAP.  xzr.  1-7.  289 

lent  to  the  strongest  possible  flame,  the  blazing  fire.  2"';2i-^3j 
all  faces  are  not  human  faces  or  persons,  in  which  case  the 
prophet  would  have  dropped  the  figure ;  but  pdnim  denotes 
generally  the  outside  of  things,  which  is  the  first  to  feel  the 
force  of  the  flame.  "  All  the  faces "  of  the  forest  are  every 
single  thing  in  the  forest,  which  is  caught  at  once  by  the 
flame.  In  ver.  4,  kdl-pdnim  (all  faces)  is  interpreted  by  kol- 
bdsar  (all  flesh).  From  south  to  north,  i.e.  through  the  whole 
length  of  the  land.  From  the  terrible  fierceness  of  the  fire, 
which  cannot  be  extinguished,  every  one  will  know  that  God 
has  kindled  it,  that  it  has  been  sent  in  judgment.  The  words 
of  the  prophet  himself,  in  ch.  xx.  49,  presuppose  that  he  has 
uttered  these  parabolic  words  in  the  hearing  of  the  people,  and 
that  they  have  ridiculed  them  as  obscure  {mdshdl  is  used  here  in 
the  sense  of  obscure  language,  words  difficult  to  understand,  as 
irapa^oXrj  also  is  in  Matt.  xiii.  10).  At  the  same  time,  it  con- 
tains within  itself  a  request  that  they  may  be  explained.  This 
request  is  granted  ;  and  the  simile  is  first  of  all  interpreted  in 
ch.  xxi.  1-7,  and  then  still  further  expanded  in  vers.  8  sqq. 

Chap.  xxi.  1-7.  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  its  disastrous 
effects. — Ver.  1.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying, 
Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  toward  Jerusalem,  and  trickle 
over  the  holy  places,  and  prophesy  over  the  land  of  Israel, 
Ver.  3.  And  say  to  the  land  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
Behold,  I  will  deal  with  thee,  and  will  draw  my  sivord  out  of  its 
scabbard,  and  cut  off  from  thee  the  righteous  and  the  wicked. 
Ver.  4.  Because  I  loill  cut  off  from  thee  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  therefore  shall  my  sword  go  forth  from  its  scabbard 
against  all  flesh  from  south  to  north.  Ver.  5.  And  all  flesh 
shall  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  have  drawn  my  sword  out  of  its 
scabbard:  it  shall  not  return  again.  Ver.  6.  And  thou,  son  of 
man,  sigh !  so  that  the  hips  break ;  and  tcith  bitter  pain  sigh 
before  their  eyes  I  Ver.  7.  And  when  they  say  to  thee,  Where- 
fore dost  thou  sigh  ?  say,  Because  of  a  report  that  it  is  coming ; 
and  every  heart  will  sink,  and  all  hands  become  powerless,  and  every 

EZEK.  I.  T 


290  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

spirit  will  become  dull,  and  all  knees  turn  into  loater :  Behold, 
it  Cometh,  and  ivill  happen,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — 
In  the  preceding  parable,  the  expression  "  forest  of  the  field  in 
the  south,"  or  "  forest  of  the  south-land,"  was  enigmatical. 
This  is  explained  to  signify  Jerusalem  with  its  holy  places 
(D''^I50,  see  comm.  on  ch.  vii.  24),  and  the  land  of  Israel,  i.e. 
tlie  kingdom  of  Judah.  In  accordance  with  this,  the  fire 
kindled  by  the  Lord  is  interpreted  as  being  the  sword  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  true  that  this  is  a  figurative  expression  ;  but  it  is 
commonly  used  for  war,  which  brings  with  it  devastation  and 
death,  and  would  be  generally  intelligible.  The  sword  will  cut 
off  both  righteous  and  wicked.  This  applies  to  the  outer  side 
of  the  judgment,  inasmuch  as  both  good  and  bad  fall  in  war. 
This  is  the  only  aspect  brought  into  prominence  here,  since  the 
great  purpose  was  to  alarm  the  sinners,  who  were  boasting  of 
their  security;  but  the  distinction  between  the  two,  as  described 
in  ch.  ix.  4  sqq.,  is  not  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  no  longer 
existing.  This  sword  will  not  return,  sc.  into  the  scabbard, 
till  it  has  accomplished  the  result  predicted  in  ver.  3  (cf.  2  Sam. 
i.  22  ;  Isa.  Iv.  11).  As  Tremellius  has  aptly  observed  upon  this 
passage,  "  the  last  slaughter  is  contrasted  with  the  former  ones, 
in  which,  after  the  people  had  been  chastened  for  a  time,  the 
sword  was  returned  to  its  scabbard  again."  In  order  to  depict 
the  terrors  of  this  judgment  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  the 
prophet  is  commanded  to  groan  before  their  eyes  in  the  most 
painful  way  possible  (vers.  6  sqq.).  0;'3riO  p?^?,  with  breaking 
of  the  hips,  i.e.  with  pain  sufficient  to  break  the  hips,  the 
seat  of  strength  in  man  (compare  Nah.  ii,  11 ;  Isa.  xxi.  3). 
n^">''i»,  bitterness,  i.e.  bitter  ansjuish.  The  reason  which  he  is 
to  assign  to  the  questioners  for  this  sighing  is  "  on  account  of  the 
report  that  is  coming," — an  antlptosis  for  "  on  account  of  the 
coming  report"  (cf.  Gen.  i.  4,  etc.).  The  report  comes  when 
the  substance  of  it  is  realized.  The  reference  is  to  the  report 
of  the  sword  of  the  Lord, — that  is  to  say,  of  the  approach 
of  the  Chaldeans  to  destroy  Jerusalem  aud  the  kingdom  of 


CHAP.  XXI.  8-17.  291 

Judah.  The  impression  which  this  disclosure  will  make  upon 
the  hearers  will  be  perfectly  paralyzing  (ver.  7b).  All  courage 
and  strength  for  offering  resistance  will  be  crippled  and  broken. 
n^-b  Dpj  (cf.  Nah.  ii.  11)  is  strengthened  by  nf^a  nnna, 
every  spirit  will  become  dull,  so  that  no  one  will  know  what 
counsel  to  give.  'i3l  i^^^^ri  n^3"i3"72  corresponds  to  '^^^Z''?  i^n 
(cf.  ch.  vii.  17).  The  threat  is  strengthened  by  the  words, 
"  beliold,  it  comethj  and  will  take  place."  The  subject  is  WDtJ', 
the  report,  i.e.  the  substance  of  the  report. — This  threat  is  more 
fully  expanded  in  vers.  8-17  ;  vers.  8-13  corresponding  to  vers. 
1-5,  and  vers.  14-17  to  vers.  6,  7. 

Vers.  8-17.  The  sword  is  sharpened  for  slaying. — Ver.  8. 
A7id  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  sayingj  Ver.  9.  Son  of 
marif  prophesy,  and  say,  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  A  sivord,  a  sicord 
sharpened  and  also  polished:  Ver.  10.  That  it  may  effect  a 
slaughter  is  it  sharpened;  that  it  may  flash  is  it  polished:  or 
shall  we  rejoice  (saying),  the  sceptre  of  my  son  despiseth  all 
vjood?  Ver.  11.  But  it  has  been  given  to  be  polished,  to  take  it 
in  the  hand;  it  is  sharpened,  the  sword,  and  it  is  polished,  to 
give  it  into  the  hand  of  the  slayer.  Ver.  12.  Cry  and  howl,  son 
of  man,  for  it  goeth  over  my  people,  it  goeth  over  all  the  princes 
of  Israel :  they  have  fallen  by  the  sword  along  with  my  people : 
therefore  smite  upon  the  thigh.  Ver.  13.  For  the  trial  is  made, 
and  ivhat  if  the  despising  sceptre  shall  not  come  ?  is  the  saying  of 
the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  14.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy 
and  smite  the  hands  together,  and  the  sivord  shall  double  itself 
into  threefold,  the  sword  of  the  pierced :  it  is  the  sword  of  a 
pierced  one,  of  the  great  one,  which  encircles  them.  Ver.  15. 
That  the  heart  may  be  dissolved,  and  stumbling-blocks  may  be 
multiplied,  I  ham  set  the  draioing  of  the  sword  against  all  their 
gates :  Alas !  it  is  made  into  flashing,  drawn  for  slaying. 
Ver.  16.  Gather  thyself  up  to  the  right  hand,  turn  to  the  left, 
xohithersoever  thine  edge  is  intended.  Ver.  17.  And  I  also  loill 
smite  my  hands  together,  and  quiet  my  wrath :  I,  Jehovah,  have 
spoken  it. — The  description  of  the  sword  is  thrown  into  a  lyrical 


292  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

form  (vers.  8-13), — a  kind  of  sword-song,  commemorating  the 
terrible  devastation  to  be  effected  by  the  sword  of  the  Lord. 
The  repetition  of  S^ri  in  ver.  9  is  emphatic,  rnn-.n  is  the  per- 
fect Ilophal  of  Tin,  to  sharpen,  n^^nn  is  the  passive  participle 
of  £210,  to  polish ;  ?'^'p  (ver.  10),  the  participle  Pual^  with  o 
dropped,  and  Dagesh  enplion.  n''n,  a  rare  form  of  the  infinitive 
for  ni-n.  The  polishing  gives  to  the  sword  a  flashing  brilliancy, 
which  renders  the  sharpness  of  its  edge  still  more  terrible. 
The  very  obscure  words,  'ui  b**b'J  ii<,  I  agree  with  Schmieder 
and  Kliefoth  in  regarding  as  a  protest,  interposed  by  the 
prophet  in  the  name  of  the  people  against  the  divine  threat  of 
the  sword  of  vengeance,  on  the  ground  of  the  promises  which 
had  been  given  to  the  tribe  of  Judah.  ix,  or  perhaps ;  intro- 
ducing an  opposite  case,  or  an  exception  to  what  has  been  said. 
The  words  'Ul  ''J2  03t^  are  to  be  taken  as  an  objection,  so  that 
"ibXP  is  to  be  supplied  in  thought  Tlie  objection  is  taken  from 
the  promise  given  in  Jacob's  blessing  to  the  tribe  of  Judah  : 
"the  sceptre  will  not  depart  from  Judah"  (Gen.  xlix.  10). 
^33  DDii*  points  unquestionably  to  this.  ^J3  is  taken  from  ver.  9, 
where  the  patriarch  addresses  Judah,  whom  he  compares  to  a 
young  lion,  as  ^32,  Consequently  the  sceptre  of  my  son  is  the 
command  which  the  patriarch  holds  out  to  view  before  the 
tribe  of  Judah.  This  sceptre  despises  all  wood,  i.e.  every  other 
ruler's  staff,  as  bad  wood.  This  view  is  not  rendered  a 
doubtful  one  by  the  fact  that  I33ti'  is  construed  as  a  feminine 
here,  whereas  it  is  construed  as  a  masculine  in  every  other 
case;  for  this  construction  is  unquestionable  in  ver.  7  (12), 
and  has  many  analogies  in  its  favour.  All  the  other  explana- 
tions that  have  been  proposed  are  hardly  worth  mentioning,  to 
say  nothing  of  refuting,  as  they  amount  to  nothing  more  than 
arbitrary  conjectures ;  whereas  the  assumption  that  the  words 
are  to  be  explained  from  Gen.  xllx.  10  is  naturally  suggested 
by  the  unquestionable  allusion  to  the  prophecy  in  that  passage, 
which  we  find  in  ver.  27  of  the  present  chapter.  !^'5  in  ver.  11 
is  to  be  taken  adversatively,  "  but  he  gave  it  (the  sword)  to  be 


CHAP.  XXI.  8-17.  293 

sharpened.**  Tlie  subject  to  ]^^)  is  not  Jehovah,  but  is  inde- 
finite, "one"  (jnan,  Ang].  they),  although  it  is  actually  God 
who  has  prepared  the  sword  for  the  slaughter  of  Israel.  The 
train  of  thouiiht  is  the  followincr:  Do  not  think  we  have  no 
reason  to  fear  the  sharply-ground  sword  of  Jehovah,  because 
Judah  has  received  the  promise  that  the  sceptre  shall  not 
depart  from  it ;  and  this  promise  will  certainly  be  fulfilled,  and 
Judah  be  victorious  over  every  hostile  power.  The  promise 
will  not  help  you  in  this  instance.  The  sword  is  given  to  be 
ground,  not  that  it  may  be  put  into  the  scabbard,  but  that  it 
may  be  taken  in  the  hand  by  a  slayer,  and  smite  all  the  people 
and  all  its  princes.  In  the  phrase  3"in  rrnmn  X''n,  nin  is  in 
apposition  to  the  subject  X'^n^  and  is  introduced  to  give  emphasis 
to  the  words.  It  is  not  till  ver.  19  that  it  is  stated  who  the 
slayer  is;  but  the  hearers  of  the  prophecy  could  be  in  no 
doubt.  Consequently — this  is  the  connection  with  ver.  12 — 
there  is  no  ground  for  rejoicing  from  a  feeling  of  security  and 
pride,  but  rather  an  occasion  for  painful  lamentation.  This  is 
the  meaning  contained  in  the  command  to  the  prophet  to  cry 
and  howl.  For  the  sword  will  come  upon  the  nation  and  its 
princes.  It  is  the  simplest  rendering  to  take  X"'n  as  referring 
to  iin,  3  ^l^,  to  be  at  a  person,  to  fasten  to  him,  to  come  upon 
him,  as  in  1  Sam.  xxiv.  14;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  17.  ""^.I^P,  not  from 
-113,  but  the  passive  participle  of  "IJ^  in  the  Piial,  to  overthrow, 
cast  down  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  45)  :  "  fallen  by  the  sword  have  they 
(the  princes)  become,  along  with  my  people."  The  perfects 
are  prophetic,  representing  that  which  will  speedily  take  place 
as  having  already  occurred. — Smiting  upon  the  thigh  is  a  sign 
of  alarm  and  horror  (Jer.  xxxi.  19).  |n3,  perfect  Paal,  is 
used  impersonally :  the  trial  is  made.  The  words  allude  to 
the  victories  gained  already  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  have 
furnished  tests  of  the  sharpness  of  his  sword.  The  question 
which  follows  nni  contains  an  aposiopesis :  and  what?  Even 
if  the  despising  sceptre  shall  not  come,  what  will  be  the  case 
then?      I^P^^  ^r^'^)  according  to   ver.   10,  is   the   sceptre  of 


t9t  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Judali,  which  despises  all  other  sceptres  as  bad  wood.  JT;:!^^  in 
this  instance,  is  not  "  to  be,"  in  the  sense  of  to  remain,  but  to 
become,  to  happen,  to  come  (come  to  pass),  to  enter.  The 
meaning  is,  if  the  sceptre  of  Judah  shall  not  display,  or  prove 
itself  to  possess,  the  strength  expected  of  it. — With  ver.  14  the 
address  takes  a  new  start,  for  the  purpose  of  depicting  still 
further  the  operations  of  the  sword.  Smiting  the  hands  together 
(smiting  hand  in  hand)  is  a  gesture  expressive  of  violent  emotion 
(cf.  ch.  vi.  11 ;  Num.  xxiv.  10).  The  sword  is  to  double,  i.e. 
multiply  itself,  into  threefold  (nnc'^i^,  adverbial),  namely,  in  its 
strength,  or  its  edge.  Of  course  this  is  not  to  be  taken  arith- 
metically,  as  it  has  been  by  Hitzig,  but  is  a  bold  paradoxical 
statement  concerning  the  terrible  effect  produced  by  the  sword. 
It  is  not  even  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  three  attacks 
made  at  different  times  by  the  Chaldeans  upon  Jerusalem,  as 
many  of  the  commentators  suppose.  The  sword  is  called 
C'pSn  ann,  sword  of  pierced  ones,  because  it  produces  the 
pierced  or  slain.  The  following  words  are  rendered  by  Hitzig 
and  Kliefoth :  the  great  sword  of  the  slain.  But  apart  from 
the  tautology  which  this  occasions,  the  rendering  can  hardly  be 
defended  on  grammatical  grounds.  For,  in  the  first  place,  we 
cannot  see  why  the  singular  p?^  should  have  been  chosen,  when 
the  expression  was  repeated,  instead  of  the  plural  2v7n;  and 
secondly,  ''Hsn  cannot  be  an  adjective  agreeing  with  ^^n,  for 
3"in  is  a  noun  of  the  feminine  gender,  and  is  construed  here  as 
a  feminine,  as  ri^nhn  clearly  shows.  ''i''3n  is  in  apposition  to 
?>7)  "  sword  of  a  pierced  man,  the  great  one ;  "  and  the  great 
man  pierced  is  the  king,  as  Ewald  admits,  in  agreement  with 
Hengstenberg  and  Iliivernick.  The  words  therefore  affirm 
that  the  sword  will  not  only  slay  the  mass  of  the  people,  but 
pierce  the  king  himself.  (See  also  the  comm.  on  ver.  25.) — 
Ver.  15a  is  not  dependent  upon  what  precedes,  but  introduces 
a  new  thought,  viz.  for  what  purpose  the  sword  is  sharpened. 
God  has  placed  the  flashing  sword  before  all  the  gates  of  the 
Israelites,  in  order  that  (?  iV^^,  pleonastic  for  IV'rP)  the  heart 


CHAP.  XXI.  18-22.  295 

may  dissolve,  the  inhabitants  may  lose  all  their  courage  for 
defence,  and  to  multiply  offendicula,  i.e.  occasions  to  fall  by 
the  sword.  The  air.  Xey.  nniN  signifies  the  rapid  motion  or 
turning  about  of  the  sword  (cf.  Gen.  iii.  24) ;  rax,  related  to 
?IDn,  in  the  Mishna  T]DX.  The  utt.  Xey.  nt^Vp,  fern,  of  t3jJ»,  does 
not  mean  smooth,  i.e.  sharpened,  synonymous  w^Ith  t3"]D,  but, 
according  to  the  Arabic  kx^,  eduxit  e  vagina  gladium,  drawn 
(from  the  scabbard).  In  ver.  16  the  sword  is  addressed,  and 
commanded  to  smite  right  and  left.  ''inNnrij  gather  thyself  up, 
i.e.  turn  with  all  thy  might  toward  the  right  (Tanchum).  To 
the  verb  1»"'b'n  it  is  easy  to  supply  'n^^Si,  from  the  context, 
"  direct  thine  edge  toward  the  left."  njx,  whither,  without  an 
interrogative,  as  in  Josh.  ii.  5  and  Neh.  ii.  16.  ri^''J''^,  from 
W,  intended,  ordered;  not,  directed,  turned.  The  feminine 
form  may  be  accounted  for  from  a  construction  ad  sensum^ 
the  gender  regulating  itself  according  to  the  ^^n  addressed  in 
^^33.  The  command  to  the  sword  is  strengthened  by  the 
explanation  given  by  Jehovah  in  ver.  17,  that  He  also  (like  the 
prophet,  ver.  14)  will  smite  His  hands  together  and  cool  His 
wrath  upon  them  (cf.  ch.  v.  13). 

Vers.  18-22.  The  sword  of  the  king  of  Babylon  will  smite 
Jerusalem,  and  then  the  Ammonites  also. — Ver.  18.  And  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  19.  And  thou,  son 
of  man,  make  to  thyself  tico  ivays,  that  the  sword  of  the  king 
of  Babylon  may  come  by  them ;  out  of  one  land  shall  they  both 
come  forth,  and  draw  a  hand,  at  the  cross  road  of  the  city  do 
thou  draio  it.  Ver.  20.  Make  a  way  that  the  sword  may  come  to 
liabbah  of  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  to  Jiidah  into  fortified  Jeru- 
salem. Ver.  21.  For  the  king  of  Babylon  is  stopping  at  the  cross 
road,  at  the  parting  of  the  two  ivays,  to  practise  divination.  lie  is 
shaking  the  arrows,  inquiring  of  the  teraphim,  looking  at  the  liver. 
Ver.  22.  The  divination  falls  to  his  rigid :  Jerusalem,  to  set  bat- 
tering-rams, to  open  the  mouth  with  a  death-cry,  to  lift  up  the  voice 
with  a  war-cry,  to  set  battering-rams  at  the  gates,  to  heap  up  a  ram- 
part, to  build  siege  towers. — After  the  picture  of  the  terrible  devas- 


296  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

tation  which  the  sword  of  the  Lord  will  produce,  the  last  word 
of  God  in  this  prophecy  answers  the  questions,  in  whose  hand 
Jehovah  will  place  His  sword,  and  whom  it  will  smite.  The 
slayer  into  whose  hand  the  sharpened  sword  is  given  (ver.  11) 
is  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  it  will  smite  not  only  Judah,  but 
the  Ammonites  also.  Jerusalem  and  Judah  will  be  the  first  to 
fall,  and  then  the  arch-enemy  of  the  covenant  nation,  namely 
Ammon,  will  succumb  to  the  strokes  of  the  sword  of  Jehovah, 
in  order  that  the  embittered  enemies  of  the  Lord  and  His 
people  may  learn  that  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  is  not,  as  they 
fancy,  a  proof  of  the  impotence,  but  rather  of  the  omnipotence, 
of  its  God.  In  this  way  does  our  prophecy  expand  into  a 
prediction  of  the  judgment  which  will  fall  upon  the  whole  of 
the  world  in  hostility  to  God.  For  it  is  only  as  the  arch- 
enemies of  the  kingdom  of  God  that  the  Ammonites  come  into 
consideration  here.  The  parallel  between  Israel  and  the  sons 
of  Ammon  is  carried  out  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  constant 
prominence  to  the  distinction  between  them.  Jerusalem  w'ill 
fall,  the  ancient  theocracy  will  be  destroyed  till  he  shall  come 
who  will  restore  the  right  (vers.  26  and  27).  Ammon,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  perish,  and  not  a  trace  be  left  (vers.  31,  32). — 
This  prediction  is  exhibited  to  the  eye  by  means  of  a  sign. 
The  prophet  is  to  make  two  ways,  i.e.  to  prepare  a  sketch 
representing  a  road  leading  from  a  country,  viz.  Babylon,  and 
dividing  at  a  certain  spot  into  two  roads,  one  of  which  leads  to 
Rabbath-Aramon,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Ammonites, 
the  other  to  Judah,  into  Jerusalem.  He  is  to  draw  the  ways 
for  the  coming  (*^^37)  of  the  sword  of  the  king  of  Babylon.  At 
the  fork  of  the  road  he  is  to  engrave  a  hand,  T,  i.e.  an  index. 
S"J3  signifies  in  the  Piel  to  cut  away  (Josh.  xvii.  15,  18),  to  dig 
or  hew  (Ezek.  xxiii.  47),  here  to  engrave  written  characters  in 
hard  material.  The  selection  of  this  word  shows  that  Ezekiel 
was  to  sketch  the  ways  upon  some  hard  material,  probably  a 
brick  or  tile  (of.  eh.  iv.  1).  1J  does  not  mean  locus  spatium,  but 
a  hand,  i.e.  an  index.     T}/].  ^^'"'j  the  beginning  of  the  road,  i.e. 


CHAP.  XXI.  18-22.  297 

the  fork  of  the  road  (ch.  xvi.  25),  is  explained  in  ver.  21,  where 
it  is  called  'H"?.'!]']  2*?,  mother  of  the  road,  inasmuch  as  the  roads 
start  from  the  point  of  separation,  and  ^''Di'nn  '<y^  C"N"i,  begin- 
ning of  the  two  roads.  "^^V  T]i"n,  the  road  to  a  city.  For  Bab- 
hath-Ammon,  which  is  preserved  in  the  ruins  of  Amman,  on  the 
Upper  Jabbok  (^Nalir  Ammdii),  see  the  comm.  on  Deut.  iii.  11. 
The  road  to  Judah  is  still  more  precisely  defined  by  D^^T'li 
nniV3,  into  fortified  Jerusalem,  because  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem 
was  the  purpose  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  expedition.  The  omission 
of  the  article  before  ni^i^fa  may  be  explained  from  the  nature  of 
the  participle,  in  which,  even  in  prose,  the  article  may  be  left 
out  after  a  definite  noun  (cf.  Ewald,  §  335a).  The  drawing  is 
explained  in  vers.  21  and  22.  The  king  of  Babylon  is  halting 
p^y,  to  stand  still,  stop)  to  consult  his  oracles,  and  inquire 
which  of  the  two  roads  he  is  to  take.  DDp  Dbp^  to  take  in  hand, 
or  practise  divination.  In  order  that  he  may  proceed  safely, 
he  avails  himself  of  all  the  means  of  divination  at  his  command. 
He  shakes  the  arrows  (more  strictly,  the  quiver  with  the  arrows). 
On  the  practice  itself  Jerome  writes  as  follows  :  "  tie  consults 
the  oracle  according  to  the  custom  of  his  nation,  putting  his 
arrows  into  a  quiver,  and  mixing  them  together,  with  the  names 
of  individuals  inscribed  or  stamped  upon  them,  to  see  whose 
arrow  will  come  out,  and  which  state  shall  be  first  attacked."  ^ 
He  consults  the  Teraphim,  or  Penates,  worshipped  as  oracular 
deities  and  gods  of  good  fortune  (see  the  comm.  on  Gen.  xxxi.  19 
and  my  Biblical  Archaeology,  §  90).  Nothing  is  known  con- 
cerning the  way  in  which  these  deities  were  consulted  and  gave 
their  oracles.     He  examines  the  liver.      The  practice  of  rjiraro- 

'  The  arrow-lot  (Belomantie)  of  the  ancient  Greeks  (Homer,  II.  iii.  32-i, 
vii.  182,  183)  was  similar  to  this;  also  that  of  the  ancient  Arabs  (vid. 
Pococke,  SpeciiJi.  hist.  Arab.  pp.  327  sqq.,  and  the  passages  from  Nuweiri 
quoted  by  Reiske,  Samml.  einiger  Arab.  Sprichicorter  von  den  Stecken  oder 
Staben,  p.  21).  Another  kind,  in  which  the  lot  was  obtained  by  shooting 
off  the  arrows,  was  common  according  to  the  Fihrist  el  Ulum  of  En-Nedim 
among  the  Hananian  Ssabians  (see  Ghwolsohn,  Ssabier,  ii.  pp.  26  and  119, 
200. 


298  THE  TROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

CKOTTia,  extispicium,  in  which  signs  of  good  or  bad  luck,  of  the 
success  or  failure  of  any  enterprise,  were  obtained  from  the 
peculiar  condition  of  the  liver  of  the  sacrificial  animals,  was  a 
species  of  divination  to  which  great  importance  was  attached 
by  both  the  Babylonians  (vlcL  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  29)  and  the  Romans 
(Cicero,  de  divin.  vi.  13),  and  of  which  traces  were  found,  accord- 
ing to  Barhebr.  Chron.  p.  125,  as  late  as  the  eighth  century 
of  the  Christian  era  among  the  Ssabians  of  Haran. — The 
divination  resulted  in  a  decision  for  Jerusalem,  n^n  SyiTi:  is  not 
to  be  translated  "  in  his  right  hand  was,"  but  "into  his  right 
hand  there  came."  r\\r\  -.  ijivero  (LXX.),  ^^33  (Chald.),  DDi? 
does  not  mean  lot  (Ges.),  but  soothsaying,  divination.  Dv'f^i' 
is  connected  with  this  in  the  form  of  a  noun  in  apposi- 
tion :  the  divination  which  indicated  Jerusalem.  The  risht 
hand  is  the  more  important  of  the  two.  The  meaning  of  the 
words  cannot  be  more  precisely  defined,  because  we  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  kind  of  divination  referred  to ;  even  if  we 
were  to  take  the  words  as  simply  relating  to  the  arrow  in  this 
sense,  that  an  arrow  with  the  inscription  "Jerusalem"  came 
into  his  right  hand,  and  thus  furnished  the  decision,  which  was 
afterwards  confirmed  by  consulting  the  Teraphim  and  examining 
the  liver.  But  the  circumstance  itself,  that  is  to  say,  the  fact 
that  the  divination  coincided  with  the  purpose  of  God,  must 
not  be  taken,  as  Havernick  supposes,  as  suggesting  a  point  of 
contact  between  Hebraism  and  the  soothsaying  of  heathenism, 
which  was  peculiar  to  Ezekiel  or  to  the  time  of  the  captivity. 
All  that  is  proved  by  this  fact  is,  that  even  heathenism  is  subject 
to  the  rule  and  guidance  of  Almighty  God,  and  is  made  subser- 
vient to  the  accomplishment  of  the  plans  of  both  His  kingdom 
and'  His  salvation.  In  the  words,  to  set  battering  rams,  etc., 
the  substance  of  the  oracle  obtained  by  Nebuchadnezzar  is 
more  minutely  given.  It  is  a  double  one,  showing  what  he  is 
to  do:  viz.  (1)  to  set  battering  rams,  i.e.  to  proceed  to  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem,  as  still  further  described  in  the  last  portion  of  the 
verse  (ch.  iv.  2) ;  and  (2)  to  raise  the  war-cry  for  storming  the 


CHAP.  XXI.  23-27.  299 

city,  that  is  to  say,  to  take  it  by  storm.  The  two  clauses  'lJ1  nriap 
and  'l3'>  C^C?  are  synonymous ;  they  are  not  "  pure  tautology," 
however,  as  Ilitzig  affirms,  but  are  chosen  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  greater  emphasis  to  the  thought.  The  expression  ny^2 
creates  some  difficulty,  inasmuch  as  tlie  phrase  "  ut  operiat  os 
in  caede  "  (Vulg.),  to  open  the  mouth  in  murder  or  ruin,  i.e.  to 
put  to  death  or  lay  in  ruins,  is  a  very  striking  one,  and  could 
hardly  be  justified  as  an  "  energetic  expression  for  the  battle- 
cry"  (Hiivernick).  2  does  not  mean  "to,"  and  cannot  indicate 
the  intention,  all  the  less  because  nTi3  is  parallel  to  Wiri?, 
where  nyinn  is  that  in  which  the  raising  of  the  voice  expresses 
itself.  There  is  nothing  left  then  but  to  take  n^*">  in  the  sense 
of  field-  or  war-cry,  and  to  derive  this  meaning  either  from  n^n 
or,  per  metathesin,  from  nny. 

Vers.  23-27.  This  announcement  will  appear  to  the  Judaeans, 
indeed,  to  be  a  deceptive  divination,  but  nevertheless  it  will  be 
verified, — Ver.  23.  And  it  is  like  deceptive  divination  in  their  eyes  ; 
sacred  oaths  are  theirs  (lit.  to  them)  ;  hid  he  brings  the  iniquity  to 
rememh7'ance,  that  they  may  he  taken.  Ver.  24.  Therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  ye  hring  your  iniquity  to  remem- 
hrancCy  in  that  your  offences  are  made  manifest,  so  that  your  sins 
appear  in  all  your  deeds,  because  ye  are  remembered  ye  shall  he 
taken  loith  the  hand.  Ver.  25.  And  thou  pierced  one,  sinner,  prince 
of  Israel,  ivhose  day  is  come  at  the  time  of  the  final  transgression, 
Ver.  26.  2'hus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  The  turban  ivill  be  removed, 
the  crown  taken  off.  This  is  not  this  ;  the  low  will  be  lifted  up,  and 
the  lofty  loivered.  Ver.  27.  Overthrown,  overthrown,  overthroivn 
xcill  I  make  it ;  even  this  shall  not  he,  till  He  cometh,  to  ichom  is 
the  right,  to  Him  do  I  give  it. — In  ver.  23  (28),  Dn?,  which  is  more 
precisely  defined  by  DiTrya^  refers  to  the  Israelites,  i.e.  the 
Judaeans.  This  also  applies  to  the  following  DHP,  which  cannor 
possibly  be  taken  as  referring  to  a  different  subject,  say,  for 
example,  the  Chaldeans.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  sustain  the  rendering  given  in  Gesenius'  Thesaurus 
(s.r.)    to    the   obscure   words   nSv^^  "yf^,  viz.   qui  juramenta 


300  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

jurarunt  eis  (sc.  Chaldaeis),  which  Maurer  has  modified  and 
expounded  thus :  "  they  will  not  fear  these  auguries ;  tliey  will 
swear  oaths  to  them  (the  Chaldeans),  that  is  to  say,  accordinfr 
to  their  usual  custom,  these  truce-hreakers  will  take  fresh  oaths, 
hoping  that  the  Chaldeans  will  be  conciliated  thereby."  More- 
over, the  thought  itself  is  an  unsuitable  one,  inasmuch  as  "  the 
defiant  attitude  of  confidence  with  which  they  looked  such 
awfully  threatening  danger  in  the  face  must  have  had  some 
other  ground  than  a  reliance  upon  false  oaths  and  Chaldean 
credulity"  (Havernick).  The  common  explanation,  wliich 
Rosenmiiller  and  Kliefoth  uphold,  is,  ''  because  the  Chaldeans 
are  sworn  allies,  sworn  confederates  of  theirs;"  or  as  Kliefoth 
explains  it,  "  on  account  of  the  oath  of  fealty  or  vassalage 
sworn  by  Zedekiah  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  they  have  sworn  con- 
federates in  the  Chaldeans,  and  relying  upon  this,  they  are 
confident  that  they  have  no  hostile  attack  to  fear  from  them." 
But  this  is  altogether  untenable,  not  only  because  it  is  perfectly 
arbitrary  to  supply  "  the  Chaldeans,"  but  still  more  for  the 
reason  adduced  by  Maairer.  "  How,"  he  justly  asks,  "  could  the 
Judaeans  despise  these  auguries  because  the  Chaldeans  were 
bound  to  them  by  an  oath  when  they  themselves  had  bi'oken 
faith  1  When  a  treaty  has  been  violated  by  one  party,  is  not 
the  other  released  from  his  oath?"  We  therefore  adopt  the 
same  explanation  as  Havernick  :  "  oaths  of  oaths  are  theirs  (to 
them),  i.e.  the  most  sacred  oaths  are  (made)  to  them,  namely, 
by  God."  They  rely  upon  that  which  God  has  solemnly  sworn 
to  them,  without  considering  upon  what  this  promise  was  con- 
ditional, namely,  upon  a  faithful  observance  on  their  part  of  the 
commandments  of  God.  For  the  fact  itself,  compare  ch.  xx.  42, 
and  such  passages  as  Ps.  cv.  9  sqq.,  etc.  The  form  ''V.y^  by  the 
side  of  riiync'  may  be  explained  in  a  very  simple  way  from  the 
relation  of  the  construct  state,  i.e.  from  the  endeavour  to  secure 
an  obvious  form  for  the  construct  state,  and  cannot  in  any 
case  furnish  a  well-founded  argument  against  the  correct- 
ness of  our  explanation.     As  Ezekiel  uses  D'V"??  ^or  nit'DJ  in  ch. 


CHAP.  XXL  23-27.  301 

xiii.  20,  he  may  also  have  formed  D""!??*^"  (^VT^)  by  the  side  of 
niV3^'._As  they  rely  upon  the  promises  of  God  without  reflect- 
ing upon  their  own  breach  of  covenant,  God  will  bring  their 
sin  to  remembrance  through  His  judgment,  i^^ni  is  Jehovah, 
upon  whose  oaths  they  rely.  |iy  must  not  be  restricted  to 
Zedekiah's  breach  of  covenant,  since  ver.  24  clearly  shows  that 
it  is  the  wrong-doing  of  Judah  generally.  i/'3nn^  in  ver.  24  (29) 
is  also  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  nation,  which  is  to  be 
taken  and  punished  by  the  king  of  Babylon.  For  ver.  24  (29) 
introduces  the  reason  for  the  statement  made  in  the  last  clause 
of  ver.  23  (28).  God  must  put  the  people  in  remembrance  of 
their  iniquity  by  inflicting  punishment,  because  they  have  called 
it  to  remembrance  by  sins  committed  without  any  shame,  and 
thereby  have,  so  to  speak,  compelled  God  to  remember  them, 
and  to  cause  the  sinners  to  be  grasped  by  the  hand  of  the 
slayer.  fiV  i^arn  is  used  in  ver.  24  (*29)  in  a  different  sense 
from  ver.  23  (28),  and  is  therefore  explained  by  'i:i  n)bin2. 
^?3,  which  is  indefinite  in  itself,  points  back  to  J"?.in  T  in  ver. 
11  (16),  and  receives  from  that  its  more  exact  definition. 

With  ver.  25  the  address  turns  to  the  chief  sinner,  the  god- 
less King  Zedekiah,  who  was  bringing  the  judgment  of  destruc- 
tion upon  the  kingdom  by  his  faithless  breach  of  oath.  The 
words  hhn^  Vf},  and  'b'^  N^'^J  are  aspidela,  co-ordinate  to  one 
another.  7^n  does  not  mean  profane  or  infamous  (jSe^rjXe, 
LXX.),  but  simply  pierced,  slain.  This  meaning  is  to  be 
retained  here.  This  is  demanded  not  only  by  the  fixed  usage 
of  the  language,  but  also  by  the  relation  in  which  hhn  stands 
both  to  ver.  14  and  to  D^i'C'i  ^^^^n  in  ver.  29  (34).  It  is  true 
that  Zedekiah  was  not  pierced  by  the  sword  either  at  that  time 
or  afterwards,  but  was  simply  blinded  and  led  in  captivity  to 
Babylon,  where  he  died.  But  all  that  follows  from  this  is,  that 
?7n  is  used  here  in  a  figurative  sense,  given  up  to  the  sword,  i.e. 
to  death ;  and  Zedekiah  is  so  designated  for  the  purpose  of 
announcing  in  a  more  energetic  manner  the  certainty  of  his 
fate.     The  selection  of  the  term  b'?n  is  the  more  natural,  because 


303  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

throughout  the  whole  prophecy  the  description  of  the  judg- 
ment takes  its  character  from  the  figure  of  the  sword  of  Jehovah. 
As  God  does  not  literally  wield  a  sword,  so  ''^n  is  no  proof  of 
actual  slaying  with  the  sword,  ioi^,  his  day,  is  the  day  of  his  de- 
struction (cf.  1  Sam.  xxvi.  10),  or  of  the  judgment  upon  him.  The 
time  of  the  final  trans2;ression  is  not  the  time  when  the  transpires- 
sion  reaches  its  end,  i.e.  its  completion,  but  the  time  when  the 
wickedness  brings  the  end,  i.e.  destruction  (cf.  ch.  xxxv.  5,  and 
for  }'i^  in  this  sense,  ch.  vii.  2,  3).  The  fact  that  the  end,  the 
destruction,  is  come,  i.e.  is  close  at  hand,  is  announced  in  ver.  26 
to  the  prince,  and  in  his  person  to  the  whole  nation.  If  we 
understand  the  connection  in  this  vvay,  which  is  naturally 
suggested  by  ver.  256,  w^e  get  rid  of  the  objection,  which  led 
Kliefoth  to  question  the  fact  that  it  is  the  king  who  is  addressed 
in  ver.  25a,  and  to  take  the  words  as  collective,  "  ye  slaughtered 
sinners,  princes  of  Israel,"  and  to  understand  them  as  referring 
to  the  entire  body  of  rulers,  including  the  priests, — an  explana- 
tion that  is  completely  upset  by  the  words  ^"1''^  .  .  .  nnx  (tliou 
.  .  .  prince),  which  are  so  entirely  opposed  to  the  collective 
view.  Again,  the  remark  that  "  what  follows  in  ver.  26,  viz. 
the  statement  to  be  made  to  the  N'''^^,  has  really  nothing  to  do 
with  him,  since  the  sweeping  away  of  the  priesthood  did  not 
affect  Zedekiah  personally"  (Kliefoth),  is  neither  correct  nor 
conclusive.  For  ver.  26  contains  an  announcement  not  only  of 
the  abrogation  of  the  priesthood,  but  also  of  the  destruction  of 
the  kingdom,  which  did  affect  Zedekiah  both  directly  and  per- 
sonally. Moreover,  we  must  not  isolate  the  king  addressed, 
even  as  an  individual,  from  the  position  which  he  occupied,  or, 
at  any  rate,  which  he  ought  to  have  occupied  as  a  theocratic 
monarch,  so  as  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  abrogation  of  the 
priesthood  did  not  affect  him.  The  priesthood  was  one  of  the 
fundamental  pillars  of  the  theocracy,  the  removal  of  which 
would  necessarily  be  followed  by  the  collapse  of  the  divine 
state,  and  therefore  by  the  destruction  of  the  monarchy. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  abolition  of  the  priesthood  is  mentioned 


CHAP.  XXL  23-27.  303 

first.  The  infinitives  absolute  (not  imperatives)  T'pn  and 
C'ln  are  selected  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  the  truth  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner ;  and  the  verbs  are  synonymous. 
D^"]n,  to  lift  up,  i.e.  not  to  elevate,  but  to  take  away,  to  abolish, 
as  in  Isa.  Ivii.  14;  Dan.  viii.  11.  nwyp  does  not  mean  the 
royal  diadem,  like  T?V'  "^  Isa.  Ixii.  3,  but  the  tiara  of  the  high 
priest,  as  it  does  in  every  instance  in  the  Pentateuch,  from 
which  Ezekiel  has  taken  the  word.  '^^9^'^,  the  king's  crown. 
The  diadem  of  the  priest  and  the  regal  crown  are  the  insignia 
of  the  offices  of  high  priest  and  king ;  and  consequently  their 
removal  is  the  abolition  of  both  high-priesthood  and  monarchy. 
These  words  contain  the  sentence  of  death  upon  the  theocracy, 
of  which  the  Aaronic  priesthood  and  the  Davidic  monarchy 
constituted  the  foundations. — They  predict  not  merely  a  tem- 
porary, but  a  complete  abolition  of  both  offices  and  dignities ; 
and  their  fulfilment  took  place  when  the  kingdom  of  Judah 
was  destroyed  by  the  king  of  Babylon.  The  earthly  sovereignty 
of  the  house  of  David  was  not  restored  again  after  the  captivity ; 
and  the  high-priesthood  of  the  restoration,  like  the  second 
temple,  was  only  a  shadowy  outline  of  the  glory  and  essential 
features  of  the  high-priesthood  of  Aaron.  As  the  ark  with  the 
Shechinah,  or  the  gracious  presence  of  God,  was  wanting  in  the 
temple  of  Zerubbabel ;  so  were  the  Urim  and  Thummim  want- 
ing to  the  high-priesthood,  and  these  were  the  only  means  by 
which  the  high  priest  could  really  carry  out  the  mediation 
between  the  Lord  and  the  people,  nsr  iib  Tail  (this  is  not  this) 
does  not  refer  to  the  tiara  (mitre)  and  crown.  riNT  is  neuter, 
and  therefore  construed  with  the  masculine  ^^'^.  This  (mitre 
and  crown)  will  not  be  this  (n^n  is  prophetic),  i.e.  it  will  not 
continue,  it  will  be  all  over  with  it  (Havernick,  Maurer,  and 
Kliefoth).  To  this  there  is  appended  the  further  thought,  that 
a  general  inversion  of  things  will  take  place.  This  is  the 
meaning  of  the  words — the  low  will  be  lifted  up,  and  the  lofty 
lowered.  •TSiL'  and  ^''^'^V  are  infinitives,  and  are  chosen  in  the 
same  sense  as  in  the  first  hemistich.    The  form  '"^f'?'^'!',  with  n 


304  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

without  the  tone,  is  masculine ;  the  n—  probably  serving  merely 
to  give  greater  fulness  to  the  form,  and  to  make  it  correspond 
more  nearly  to  lii^jr;.^ — This  general  thought  is  expressed  still 
more  definitely  In  ver.  27a.  i^)V,  which  is  repeated  twice  to  give 
greater  emphasis  to  the  thought,  is  a  noun  derived  from  ^)V, 
inversion,  overthrow ;  and  the  suffix  in  '^3n''b'S  points  back  to 
DNT  in  ver.  26  (31).  This,  the  existing  state,  the  high-priest- 
hood and  the  monarchy,  will  I  make  into  destruction,  or  utterly 
overthrow.  But  the  following  DNI  cannot  also  refer  to  the  tiara 
and  crown,  as  Kliefoth  supposes,  on  account  of  the  D3  which 
precedes  it.  This  shows  that  nXT  relates  to  the  thing  last  men- 
tioned. Even  this,  the  overthrow,  shall  have  no  durability ; 
or,  as  Tanch.  has  correctly  expressed  it,  neqiie  haec  conditio  erit 
durahilis.  The  following  N3"^J?  attaches  itself  not  so  much  to 
tliis  last  clause  as  to  the  main  thought :  overthrow  upon  over- 
throw will  ensue.  The  thought  is  this :  "  nowhere  is  there 
rest,  nowhere  security;  all  things  are  in  a  state  of  flux  till  tlie 
coming  of  the  great  Restorer  and  Prince  of  peace  "  (Hengsten- 
berg).  It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  the  words  N3"ny 
tOB'fbn  i^-ntJ'K  contain  an  allusion  to  Gen.  xlix.  10,  Ni3;  ^3  ny 
Tb^\^ ;  and  it  is  only  by  a  false  interpretation  of  tiie  preceding 
clauses,  wrung  from  the  words  by  an  arbitrary  alteration  of 
the  text,  that  Hitzig  is  able  to  set  this  connection  aside.     At 

^  Hitzig  has  given  a  most  preposterous  exposition  of  this  verse.  Taking 
the  words  i^DH  and  D''in  as  antithetical,  in  the  sense  of  removing  and 
exalting  or  sustaining  in  an  exalted  position,  and  regarding  the  clauses  as 
questions  signifying,  "  Shall  the  high-priesthood  be  abolished,  and  the 
real  dignity,  on  the  contrary,  remain  untouched?"  he  finds  the  answer  to 
these  questions  in  the  words  DNT  NP  nxT  (this,  not  this).  They  contain, 
in  his  opinion,  an  aflirmation  of  tlie  former  and  a  negation  of  the  latter. 
But  he  does  not  tell  us  how  riXf  vh  riXT  without  a  verb  can  possibly 
mean,  "  the  former  (the  abrogation  of  the  high-priesthood)  will  take  place, 
but  the  latter  (the  exaltation  of  the  monarchy)  will  not  occur."  And, 
finally,  the  last  clause,  "  the  low  shall  be  lifted  up,"  etc.,  is  said  to  contain 
simply  a  watchword,  which  is  not  for  the  time  being  to  be  followed  by  any 
result.  Such  trifling  needs  no  refutation.  We  simply  ol)serve,  therefore, 
that  there  is  no  ground  for  the  assertion,  that  D''"in  without  }d  cannot 
possibly  signify  to  abolish. 


CHAP.  XXI.  28-32.  305 


as  a 


the  same  time,  tasc'Dn  ib'i^'X  is  of  course  not  to  be  taken 
philological  explanation  of  the  word  nS*^,  but  is  simply  a  theo- 
logical interpretation  of  the  patriarchal  prophecy,  with  direct 
reference  to  the  predicted  destruction  of  the  existing  relations 
in  consequence  of  the  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  the 
leaders  of  the  theocracy  up  to  that  time.  t2^^Bn  is  not  the 
rightful  claim  to  the  mitre  and  crown,  but  right  in  an  objective 
sense,  as  belonging  to  God  (Deut.  i.  17),  and  entrusted  by  God 
to  the  earthly  government  as  His  representative.  He  then,  to 
whom  this  right  belongs,  and  to  whom  God  will  give  it,  is  the 
Messiah,  of  whom  the  prophets  from  the  times  of  David 
onwards  have  prophesied  as  the  founder  and  restorer  of  perfect 
right  on  earth  (cf.  Ps.  Ixxii. ;  Isa.  ix.  6,  xlii.  1 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  5, 
xxxiii.  17).  The  suffix  attached  to  VnriJ  is  not  a  dative,  but  an 
accusative,  referring  to  t2Q^D  (cf.  Ps.  Ixxii.  1).  There  was  no 
necessity  to  mention  the  person  again  to  whom  God  would 
give  the  right,  as  He  had  already  been  designated  in  the  pre- 
vious expression  i?  1??'^. 

Vers.  28-32.  Overthrow  of  the  Ammonites.— Ver.  28.  And 
thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy  and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
concerning  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  concerning  their  scorn,  sword, 
sword,  drawn  to  slay,  polished,  that  it  may  devour,  that  it  may 
flash  !  Ver.  29.  While  they  prophesy  deceit  to  thee,  while  they 
divine  lying  to  thee,  it  shall  lay  thee  by  the  necJcs  of  the  sinners 
slain,  whose  day  cometh  at  the  time  of  the  final  transgression. 
Ver.  30.  Pat  it  in  its  scabbard  again.  At  the  place  where  thou 
toast  created,  in  the  land  of  thy  birth  will  I  judge  thee,  Ver.  31. 
And  pour  out  my  anger  upon  thee,  kindle  the  fire  of  my  wrath 
against  thee,  and  give  thee  into  the  hand  of  foolish  men,  of 
smitlis  of  destruction.  Ver.  32.  Thou  shall  be  for  the  fire  to 
devour  ;  thy  blood  shall  remain  in  the  midst  of  the  land ;  thou 
shalt  be  remembered  no  more  ;  for  I  Jehovah  have  spoken  it. — 
As  Judah  in  Jerusalem  will  fall  by  the  sword  of  the  king  of 
Babylon,  contrary  to  all  expectation ;  so  will  the  Ammonites 
be  punished  for  their  scorn  with  utter  extermination,     nsnn  is 

EZEK.  I.  u 


306  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

scorn  at  the  overthrow  of  Israel  (cf.  ch.  xxv.  3,  G,  and  Zeph. 
ii.  8).  The  sword  is  already  drawn  against  them.  nmnSj 
taken  out  of  the  scabbard,  as  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  14.  n2D?  is  to 
be  connected  with  nmnSj  notwithstanding  the  accents,  and 
7'3np  with  ncno.  This  is  required  by  the  correspondence  of 
the  clauses.  ''''^^  is  regarded  as  a  derivative  of  !"i3  by  Ewald 
and  others,  in  the  sense  of  ad  siistineiidum,  according  to  capa- 
city, i.e.  as  much  as  possible.  But  the  adverbial  rendering  is 
opposed  to  the  context,  and  cannot  be  sustained  from  ch. 
xxiii.  32.  Moreover,  713,  to  contain,  is  applicable  enough  to 
goblets  and  other  vessels,  but  not  to  a  sword.     Hitzig  therefore 

explains  it  from  the  Arabic  J^,  to  blunt  (sc.  the  eyes),  i.e.  to 

blind.  But  this  is  open  to  the  objection  that  the  form  ?"'3n 
points  to  the  verb  Ss  rather  than  b73  ;  and  also  to  a  still  greater 
one, — namely,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Hebrew  usage  to 
suggest  the  use  of  7?2  in  such  a  sense  as  this,  and  even  if  it 
were  used  in  the  sense  of  blunting,  it  would  be  perfectly  arbi- 
trary to  supply  D]'3^y ;  and  lastly,  that  even  the  flashing  of  the 
sword  does  not  suggest  the  idea  of  blinding,  but  is  intended  to 
heighten  the  terror  occasioned  by  the  sharpness  of  the  sword. 
We  therefore  adhere  to  the  derivation  of  ?''3n  from  73X,  and 
regard  it  as  a  defective  form  for  ^''^^\},  like  ^ipri  for  ^lONH 
in  2  Sam.  xix.  14,  ?n^  as  syncopated  form  for  ^[}^\  (Isa.  xiii. 
20),  and  inJ^l  for  Jn^i^l  in  2  Sam.  xx.  9  ;  literally,  to  cause  it 
to  eat  or  devour,  i.e.  to  make  it  fit  for  the  work  of  devouring. 
PI?  ]V^?,  literally,  for  the  sake  of  the  lightning  (flash)  that  shall 
issue  therefrom  (cf.  ver.  10). — In  ver.  29  (34),  riri7  (to  lay, 
or  place)  is  also  dependent  upon  nnins  nnn^  drawn  to  lay 
thee ;  so  that  the  first  half  of  the  verse  is  inserted  as  a 
parenthesis,  either  to  indicate  the  occasion  for  bringing  the 
sword  into  the  land  (Hitzig),  or  to  introduce  an  attendant 
circumstance,  according  to  the  sense  in  which  the  3  in  niina  is 
taken.  The  parenthetical  clause  is  understood  by  most  of  the 
commentators  as  referring  to  deceptive  oracles  of  Ammonitish 


CHAP.  XXI.  28-22.  307 

soothsayers,  which  either  determined  the  policy  of  Ammon,  as 
Hitzig  supposes  (cf.  Jer.  xxvii.  9,  10),  or  inspired  the  Ammon- 
ites with  confidence,  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
Chaldeans.  KHefoth,  on  the  other  hand,  refers  the  words  to 
the  oracles  consulted  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  according  to  ver.  23. 
"  These  oracles,  which  directed  the  king  not  to  march  against 
the  Ammonites,  but  against  Jerusalem,  proved  themselves, 
according  to  ver.  29,  to  be  deceptive  prophesying  to  the  Ammon- 
ites, inasmuch  as  they  also  afterwards  fell  by  the  sword  ;  just  as, 
according  to  ver.  23,  they  proved  themselves  to  be  genuine  so 
far  as  the  Israelites  were  concerned,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
really  the  first  to  be  smitten."  This  view  is  a  very  plausible 
one,  if  it  only  answered  in  any  degree  to  the  words.  But  it  is 
hard  to  believe  that  the  words,  "  while  it  (one)  prophesies  false- 
hood to  thee,"  are  meant  to  be  equivalent  to  "while  its  prophecy 
proves  itself  to  be  false  to  thee."  ]Moreover,  Nebuchadnezzar 
did  not  give  the  Ammonites  any  oracle,  either  false  or  true,  by 
the  circumstance  that  his  divination  at  the  cross-road  led  him 
to  decide  in  favour  of  the  march  to  Jerusalem  ;  for  all  that  he 
did  in  consequence  was  to  postpone  his  designs  upon  the 
Ammonites,  but  not  to  relinquish  them.  We  cannot  under- 
stand the  words  in  any  other  sense,  therefore,  than  as  relating 
to  oracles,  which  the  Ammonites  received  fi'om  soothsayers  of 
their  own. — Hitzig  takes  offence  at  the  expression,  "  that  it 
(the  sword)  may  lay  thee  by  (to)  the  necks  of  the  sinners 
slain,"  because  colla  cannot  stand  for  corpora  decoUata,  and 
consequently  proposes  to  alter  "n^^i^  into  nniX^  to  put  it  (the 
sword)  to  the  necks.  But  by  this  conjectui'e  he  gets  the  not 
less  striking  thought,  that  the  sword  was  to  be  put  to  the  necks 
of  those  already  slain ;  a  thing  which  would  be  perfectly  un- 
meaning, and  is  therefore  not  generally  done.  The  sinners 
slain  are  the  Judaeans  who  have  fallen.  The  words  point 
back  to  ver.  25,  the  second  half  of  which  is  repeated  here, 
and  predict  the  same  fate  to  the  Ammonites.  It  is  easy 
to  supply  3"in  to  •"^■)J'^!!>"^^?  2C'n  :  put  the  sword  into  its  scabbard 


308  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

again.  Tliese  words  can  only  be  addressed  to  the  Ammonites  ; 
not  to  the  Chaldeans,  as  Kliefoth  imagines,  for  the  latter  does 
not  harmonize  in  any  way  with  what  follows,  viz.  in  the  place  of 
thy  birth  will  I  judge  thee.  God  does  not  execute  the  judg- 
ment independently  of  the  Chaldeans,  but  through  the  medium 
of  their  sword.  The  difficulties  occasioned  by  taking  the 
words  as  referring  to  the  Ammonites  are  not  so  great  as  to 
necessitate  an  alteration  of  the  text  (Hitzig),  or  to  call  for  the 
arbitrary  explanation :  put  it  now  or  for  the  present  into  the 
scabbard  (Kliefoth).  The  use  of  the  masculine  ^^'^  (with 
Patach  for  y^^,  as  in  Isa.  xlii.  22),  if  Ammon  is  addressed  by 
the  side  of  the  feminine  ^Hi^^,  may  be  explained  in  a  very  simple 
way,  from  the  fact  that  the  sword  is  carried  by  men,  so  that 
here  the  thought  of  the  people,  the  warriors,  is  predominant, 
and  the  representation  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Ammonites  as  a 
woman  falls  into  the  background.  The  objection  that  the 
suffix  in  ^"ly^  can  only  refer  to  the  sword  (of  the  Chaldean) 
mentioned  in  ver.  28,  is  more  plausible  than  conclusive.  For 
inasmuch  as  the  scabbard  presupposes  a  sword,  and  every  sword 
has  a  scabbard,  the  suffix  may  be  fully  accounted  for  from  the 
thing  itself,  as  the  words,  "  put  the  sword  into  its  scabbard," 
would  lead  any  hearer  to  think  at  once  of  the  sword  of  the 
person  addressed,  without  considering  whether  that  particular 
sword  had  been  mentioned  before  or  not.  The  meaning  of  the 
words  Is  this :  every  attempt  to  defend  thyself  with  the  sword 
and  avert  destruction  will  be  in  vain.  In  thine  own  land  will 
God  judge  thee.  For  ^*ni"i3p,  see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xvi.  3. 
This  judgment  is  still  further  explained  in  ver.  31,  where  the 
figure  of  the  sword  is  dropped,  and  that  of  the  fire  of  the  wrath 
of  God  introduced  in  its  place.  n"'DX  .  .  .  :^•X3,  we  render  :  "  the 
fire  of  my  wrath  I  blow  (kindle)  against  thee,"  after  Isa.  llv.  16, 
and  not  "  with  the  fire  ...  do  I  blow,  or  snort,  against  thee," 
as  others  have  done ;  because  blowing  with  the  fire  is  an  un- 
natural figure,  and  the  interpretation  of  the  words  in  accordance 
with  Isa.  I.e.  is  all  the  more  natural,  that  la  the  closing  words  of 


CHAP.  XXII.  309 

the  verse,  ^l^'^^"»  '''^1^,  the  allusion  to  that  passage  is  indisputable, 
and  it  is  only  from  this  that  the  combination  of  the  two  words 
can  be  accounted  for. — Different  explanations  have  been  given 
of  D^l^s.  Some  render  it  ardentes,  and  in  accordance  with 
Isa.  XXX.  27  :  burning  with  wrath.  But  1^2  is  never  used  in 
this  sense.  Nor  can  the  rendering  "  scorching  men"  (Kliefoth) 
be  sustained,  for  1^3,  to  burn,  only  occurs  in  connection  with 
things  which  are  combustible,  e.g.  fire,  pitch,  coals,  etc.  The 
word  must  be  explained  from  Ps.  xcii.  7,  "  brutish,"  foolish, 
always  bearing  in  mind  that  the  Hebrew  associated  the  idea  of 
godlessness  with  folly,  and  that  cruelty  naturally  follows  in  its 
train. — Ver.  32.  Thus  will  Ammon  perish  through  fire  and 
sword,  and  even  the  memory  of  it  be  obliterated.  For  ver.  32a 
compare  ch.  xv.  4.  The  words,  "  thy  blood  will  be  p.?'^  ^^^? 
in  the  midst  of  the  land,"  can  hardly  be  understood  in  any 
other  sense  than  "  thy  blood  will  flow  over  all  the  land."  For 
the  rendering  proposed  by  Ewald,  "  remain  in  the  midst  of 
the  earth,  without  thy  being  mentioned,"  like  that  given  by 
Kliefoth,  "  thy  blood  will  the  earth  drink,"  does  not  harmonize 
with  ch.  xxiv.  7,  where  n^n  nsina  r\m  is  affirmed  of  blood, 
which  cannot  penetrate  into  the  earth,  or  be  covered  with  dust. 
For  ''"}?W,  see  ch.  xxv.  10.  Ammon  as  the  enemy  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  will  utterly  perish,  leaving  no  trace  behind,  and 
without  any  such  hope  of  restoration  as  that  held  out  in  ver. 
27  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah  or  the  people  of  Israel. 

CHAP.  XXII.   THE  SINS  OF  JERUSALEM  AND  ISRAEL. 

To  the  prediction  of  the  judgment  in  ch.  xxi.  there  is  appended 
another  description  of  the  sins  of  Jerusalem  and  Israel,  by 
which  this  judgment  is  occasioned.  The  chapter  contains 
three  words  of  God,  which  are  connected  together  both  in 
substance  and  design,  viz.  (1)  The  blood-guiltiness  and  idolatry 
of  Jerusalem  accelerate  the  coming  of  the  days  when  the  city 
will  be  an  object  of   scorn    to   all   the  world    (vers.    1-16); 


310  niE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZERIEL. 

(2)  The  house  of  Israel  has  become  dross,  and  is  to  be  melted 
in  the  fire  of  tribulation  (vers.  17-22) ;  (3)  All  ranks  of  the 
kingdom — prophets,  priests,  princes,  and  people — are  thoroughly 
corrupt,  therefore  has  the  judgment  burst  upon  them  (vers. 
23-31). 

Vers.  1-16.  Blood-guiltiness  of  Jerusalem  and  the  burden  of 
its  sins.  Vers.  1—5  contain  the  principal  accusation  relating 
to  bloodshed  and  idolatry;  and  vers.  6-16  a  further  account  of 
tiie  sins  of  the  people  and  their  rulers,  with  a  brief  threatening 
of  punishment. — Ver.  1.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me, 
mying,  Ver.  2.  A  nd  thou,  son  of  man,  wilt  thou  judge  ?  xoilt  thou 
judge  the  city  of  blood-guiltiness  ?  then  shoiv  it  all  its  abominations, 
Ver.  3.  And  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  City,  which  sheddeth 
blood  in  the  midst  of  it,  that  her  time  may  come,  and  maketh  idols 
ivithin  itself  for  defilement.  Ver.  4.  Through  thy  blood  ichich 
thou  hast  shed  hast  thou  made  thyself  guilty,  and  through  thine 
idols  which  thou  hast  made  hast  thou  defied  thyself,  and  hast  draivn 
thy  days  near,  and  hast  come  to  thy  years  ;  therefore  1  make  thee  a 
scorn  to  the  nations,  and  ridicule  to  all  lands.  Ver.  5.  Those  near 
and  those  far  off  from  thee  shall  ridicule  thee  as  defiled  in  name, 
rich  in  confusion. — The  expression  'iJI  '^JSK'nn  proves  this  ad- 
dress to  be  a  continuation  of  the  reproof  of  Israel's  sins,  which 
commenced  in  ch.  xx.  4.  The  epithet  city  of  blood-guiltiness, 
as  in  ch.  xxiv.  6,  9  (compare  Nah.  ill.  1),  is  explained  in  ver.  3. 
The  apodosis  commences  with  i^^y"liiT!,  and  is  continued  in  ver.  3 
(rnoxi).  nriy  NUp,  that  her  time,  i.e.  her  time  of  punishment, 
may  come :  ^^V,  like  iDV  in  ch.  xxi.  30.  ^'^^'V\  is  not  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  infinitive  Ni37,  but  of  the  participle  J^3-?b'. 
'Ivy,  of  which  different  renderings  have  been  given,  does  not 
mean  "  over  itself,"  i.e.  as  a  burden  with  which  it  has  laden  itself 
(Iliivernick)  ;  still  less  "for  itself"  (Hitzig),  a  meaning  which  ^V 
never  has,  but  literally  "  upon,"  i.e.  in  itself,  covering  the  city 
with  it,  as  it  were.  ''^^liPJiil,  thou  hast  brought  near,  brought  on 
thy  days,  that  is  to  say,  the  days  of  judgment,  and  hast  come 
to,  arrived  at  thy  years,  sc.  the  years  of  visitation  and  punish- 


CHAP.  XXII.  6-12.  311 

nient  (cf.  Jer.  xl.  23).  This  meaning  is  readily  supplied  by 
the  context.  QtJ'n  nxDD  defiled,  unclean  with  regard  to  the 
name,  i.e.  having  forfeited  the  name  of  a  holy  city  through 
capital  crimes  and  other  sinful  abominations,  nainp  is  internal 
confusion,  both  moral  and  religious,  as  in  Amos  iii.  9  (cf.  Ps. 
Iv.  10-12). 

In  vers.  6-12  there  follows  an  enumeration  of  a  multitude  of 
sins  which  had  been  committed  in  Jerusalem. — Ver.  6.  Behold, 
the  princes  of  Israel  are  every  07ie,  according  to  his  arm^  in  thee 
to  shed  blood.  Ver.  7.  Father  and  mother  they  despise  in  thee ; 
toicard  the  fottiyner  they  act  violently  in  the  midst  of  thee  ;  orphans 
and  widows  they  oppress  in  thee.  Ver.  8.  Thou  despisest  my 
holy  things,  and  desecratest  my  Sabbaths.  Ver.  9.  Slanderers  are 
in  thee  to  shed  blood,  and  they  eat  upon  the  mountains  in  thee; 
they  practise  lewdness  in  thee.  Ver.  10.  They  uncover  the  father  s 
nakedness  in  thee;  they  ravish  the  defiled  in  her  uncleanness  in 
thee.  Ver.  11.  And  one  committeth  abomination  icith  his  neigh- 
bour s  wife,  and  another  defleth  his  daughter-in-law  by  incest, 
and  the  third  ravisheth  his  sister,  his  father''s  daughter  in  thee. 
Ver.  12.  They  take  gifts  in  thee  to  shed  blood;  interest  and 
usury  thou  takest,  and  overreachest  thy  neighbours  icith  violence, 
and  thou  forgettest  me,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — 
By  the  repetition  of  the  refrain,  to  shed  blood  (vers.  6,  9, 
and  12),  the  enumeration  is  divided  into  three  groups  of  sins, 
which  are  placed  in  the  category  of  blood-guiltiness  by  the  fact 
that  they  are  preceded  by  this  sentence  and  the  repetition  of 
it  after  the  form  of  a  refrain.  The  first  group  (vers.  6-8) 
embraces  sins  which  are  committed  in  daring  opposition  to  all 
the  laws  of  morality.  By  the  princes  of  Israel  we  are  to 
understand  primarily  the  profligate  kings,  who  caused  innocent 
})ersons  to  be  put  to  death,  such,  for  example,  as  Jehoiakim 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  4),  Manasseh  (2  Kings  xxi.  16),  and  others. 
The  words  vn  STsh  B'>*  are  rendered  by  Hitzig  and  Kliefoth, 
they  were  ready  to  help  one  another ;  and  in  support  of  the  ren- 
dering they  appeal  to  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  9.     But  in  that  case  SVhf?  ^'^ 


312  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

would  Stand  for  C^>'  V'-\f?,  or  rather  for  \i^'i6  yiiT  tr^N,— a  substitu- 
tion which  cannot  be  sustained.  Nor  can  they  be  taken  in  the 
sense  proposed  by  Havernick,  every  one  relying  upon  his  arm, 
i.e.  looking  to  physical  force  alone,  but  simply  every  one 
according  to  his  arm,  i.e.  according  to  his  strength  or  violence, 
are  they  in  thee.  In  this  case  Vn  does  not  require  anything  to 
be  supplied,  any  more  than  in  the  similar  combination  in  ver.  9. 
Followed  by  IV^p  with  an  infinitive,  it  means  to  be  there  with 
the  intention  of  doing  anything,  or  making  an  attempt,  i.e.  to 
direct  his  efforts  to  a  certain  end.  In  ver.  7  it  is  not  the 
princes  who  are  the  subject,  but  the  ungodly  in  general.  l?i?n  is 
the  opposite  of  133  (Ex.  xx.  12).  In  the  reproofs  which  follow, 
compare  Ex.  xxii.  20  sqq. ;  Lev.  xix.  13;  Deut.  xxiv.  14sqq. 
With  insolence  and  violence  toward  men  there  is  associated  con- 
tempt of  all  that  is  holy.  For  ver.  86,  see  ch.  xx.  13. — In  the 
second  group,  vers.  9-11,  in  addition  to  slander  and  idolatry, 
the  crimes  of  lewdness  and  incest  are  the  principal  sins  for 
which  the  people  are  reproved ;  and  here  the  allusion  to  Lev. 
xviii.  and  xix.  is  very  obvious.  The  reproof  of  slander  also 
points  back  to  the  prohibition  in  Lev.  xix.  16.  Slander  to 
shed  blood,  refers  to  malicious  charges  and  false  testimony  in  a 
court  of  justice  {vid.  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  11).  For  eating  upon 
the  mountains,  see  ch.  xviii.  6.  The  practice  of  zimmdh  is 
more  specifically  described  in  vers.  10  and  11.  For  the  thing 
itself,  compare  Lev.  xviii.  7,  8,  xix.  15  and  9.  The  threefold 
K^'N  in  ver.  11  does  not  mean  every  one,  but  one,  another,  and 
the  third,  as  the  correlative  injn  shows. — The  third  group, 
ver.  12,  is  composed  of  sins  of  covetousness.  For  the  first 
clause,  compare  the  prohibition  in  Ex.  xxiii.  2 ;  for  the  second, 
ch.  xviii.  8, 13.  The  reproof  finishes  with  forgetfulness  of  God, 
which  is  closely  allied  to  covetousness. 

Vers.  13-16.  The  Lord  is  enraged  at  such  abominable  doings. 
He  will  interfere,  and  put  an  end  to  them  by  scattering  Judah 
among  the  heathen. — Ver.  13.  Andy  behold^  I  smite  mrj  hand 
because  of  thy  gain  ivhich  thou  hast  made,  and  over  thy  blood- 


CHAP.  XXII.  17-22.  313 

guiltiness  which  is  in  the  midst  of  thee.  Ver.  14.  Will  thy  heart 
indeed  stand  jfirm,  or  will  thy  hands  he  strong  for  the  day  when  I 
shall  deal  with  thee  ?  1  Jehovah  have  spoken  it^  and  also  do  it. 
Ver.  15.  7  will  scatter  thee  among  the  nations,  and  disperse  thee 
in  the  lands,  and  will  utterly  remove  thine  uncleanness  from  thee. 
Ver.  16.  And  thou  wilt  be  desecrated  through  thyself  before  the  eyes 
of  the  nations,  and  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. — Ver.  13  is  closely 
connected  with  the  preceding  verse.  This  serves  to  explain  the 
fact  that  the  only  sins  mentioned  as  exciting  the  wrath  of  God 
are  covetousness  and  blood-guiltiness.  ^3  nan^  as  2  Kings 
xi.  12  clearly  shows,  is  a  contracted  expression  for  ^3  ^'y^_ 
f)3  7K  (ch.  xxi.  19),  and  the  smiting  of  the  hands  together  is  a 
gesture  indicative  of  wrathful  indignation.  For  the  form  "^^"n, 
contracted  from  ^J^\  see  the  comm.  on  ch.xvi.  45. — As  ver.  13 
leads  on  to  the  threatening  of  judgment,  so  does  ver.  14  point 
in  anticipation  to  the  terrible  nature  of  the  judgment  itself. 
The  question,  "  will  thy  heart  stand  firm?"  involves  a  warninof 
against  security.  "loy  is  the  opposite  of  D03  (cf.  ch.  xxi.  12), 
as  standing  forms  the  antithesis  to  passing  away  (cf.  Ps.  cii.  27). 
l]nis  nb'J?,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  59  and  vii.  27.  The  Lord  will  scatter 
them  (cf.  ch.  xii.  15,  xx.  23),  and  remove  the  uncleanness  of  sin, 
namely,  by  purifying  the  people  in  exile  (cf.  Isa.  iv.  4).  Dnn, 
from  Q^n,  to  cause  to  cease,  with  jp,  to  take  completely  away. 
ri^nJ,  Niphal  of  hhn^  connected  with  D^iJ  V.''J^^,  as  in  ch.  xx.  9, 
not  from  -'nj,  as  many  of  the  commentators  who  follow  the  Sep- 
tuagint  and  Vulgate  suppose.  '^3,  not  in  te,  in  thyself,  but  through 
thee,  i.e.  through  thy  sinful  conduct  and  its  consequences. 

Vers.  17-22.  Refining  of  Israel  in  the  furnace  of  besieged 
Jerusalem. — Ver.  17.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  say- 
ing, Ver.  18.  Son  of  man,  the  house  of  Israel  has  become  to  me 
as  dross  ;  they  are  all  brass,  and  tin,  and  iron,  and  lead  in  the 
furnace;  dross  of  silver  have  they  become.  Ver.  19.  Therefore 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  ye  have  all  become  dross, 
therefore,  behold,  I  gather  you  together  in  Jerusalem.  Ver.  20.  As 
men  gather  together  silver,  and  brass,  and  iron,  and  lead,  and  tin 


314  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

into  the  furnace,  to  blow  the  fire  upon  it  for  melting^  so  loill  I 
gather  (you)  together  in  my  anger  and  my  wrath,  and  put  you  in 
and  melt  you.  Ver.  21.  And  I  will  collect  you  together,  and  blow 
the  fire  of  my  wrath  upon  you,  that  ye  may  be  melted  therein. 
Ver,  22.  As  silver  is  melted  in  the  furnace,  so  shall  ye  be  melted 
ilierein  (viz.  in  Jerusalem),  and  shall  learn  that  I  Jehovah 
have  poured  out  my  wrath  upon  you. — Tliis  second  word  of  God 
rests  no  doubt  upon  the  figure  in  ver.  15^,  of  the  uncleanness 
or  dirt  of  sin  ;  but  it  is  not  an  exposition  of  the  removal  of  the 
dirt,  as  predicted  there.  For  that  was  to  be  effected  through 
tlie  dispersion  of  Israel  among  the  nations,  whereas  the  word  of 
God,  from  ver.  17  onwards,  represents  the  siege  awaiting  Jeru- 
salem as  a  melting  process,  through  which  God  will  separate 
the  silver  ore  contained  in  Israel  from  the  baser  metals  mingled 
with  it.  In  ver.  18  it  commences  with  a  description  of  the 
existing  condition  of  Israel.  It  has  turned  to  dross,  vn  is 
clearly  a  perfect,  and  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  prophetical  future, 
as  Kliefoth  proposes.  Such  a  rendering  is  not  only  precluded 
by  the  clause  'til  rirn  ]Vl  in  ver.  19,  but  could  only  be  made  to 
yield  an  admissible  sense  by  taking  the  middle  clause  of  the 
verse,  "  all  of  them  brass  and  tin,"  etc.,  as  a  statement  of  what 
Israel  had  become,  or  as  a  preterite  in  opposition  to  all  the  rules 
of  Hebrew  syntax,  inasmuch  as  this  clause  merely  furnishes 
an  explanation  of  3«Wn.  jiD,  which  only  occurs  here,  for 
rp  signifies  dross,  not  smelting-ore  (Kliefoth),  literally,  rece- 
danea,  the  baser  ingredients  which  are  mixed  with  the  silver, 
and  separated  from  it  by  smelting.  This  is  the  meaning  here, 
where  it  is  directly  afterwards  interpreted  as  consisting  of 
brass,  tin,  iron,  and  lead,  and  then  still  further  defined  as  D''3p 
fip3,  dross  of  silver,  i.e.  brass,  tin,  iron,  and  lead,  with  a  mixture 
of  silver.  Because  Israel  had  turned  into  silver-dross  of  this 
kind,  the  Lord  would  gather  it  together  in  Jerusalem,  to  smelt 
it  there  as  in  a  smelting  furnace;  just  as  men  gather  together 
brass,  iron,  lead,  and  tin  in  a  furnace  to  smelt  them,  or  rather 
to  separate  the  silver  contained  therein.     *lp3  nvap^  literally,  a 


CHAP.  XXII.  23-31.  315 

collection  of  silver,  etc.,  for  "  like  a  collection."  The  3  simil.  is 
probably  omitted  for  the  sake  of  euphony,  to  avoid  the  discord 
occasioned  by  prefixing  it  to  ri>'3i?.  Ezekiel  mentions  the  silver 
as  well,  because  there  is  some  silver  contained  in  the  brass, 
iron,  etc.,  or  the  dross  is  silver-dross,  ^wn^  nomen  verbale,  from 
^n^  in  the  Hipliil,  smelting  ;  literally,  as  the  smelting  of  silver 
takes  place  in  the  furnace.  The  smelting  is  treated  here  simply 
as  a  figurative  representation  of  punishment,  and  consequently 
the  result  of  the  smelting,  namely,  the  refining  of  the  silver  by 
the  removal  of  the  baser  ingredients,  is  not  referred  to  any 
further,  as  is  the  case  in  Isa.  i.  22,  25;  Jer.  vi.  27-30;  Mai. 
iii.  2,  3.  This  smelting  process  was  experienced  by  Israel  in 
the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans. 

Vers.  23-31.  The  corrupt  state  of  all  classes  in  the  kingdom 
is  the  immediate  cause  of  its  destruction. — Ver.  23.  And  the 
tvord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  24.  Son  of  man,  say 
to  it,  Thou  art  a  land  which  is  not  shined  upon,  nor  rained  upon 
in  the  day  of  anger.  Ver.  25.  Conspiracy  of  its  prophets  is 
within  it ;  like  a  roaring  lion,  which  rends  in  pieces  the  prey,  they 
devour  soids,  take  possessions  and  money ;  they  multiply  its 
widows  within  it.  Ver.  26.  Its  priests  violate  my  law  and  pro- 
fane my  holy  things  ;  they  make  no  distinction  between  holy  and 
unholy,  and  do  not  teach  the  difference  betiveen  clean  and  unclean, 
and  they  hide  their  eyes  from  my  Sabbaths,  and  1  am  profaned 
among  them.  Ver.  27.  Its  princes  in  the  midst  of  it  are  like 
tvolves,  which  rend  prey  in  pieces,  that  they  may  shed  blood, 
destroy  souls,  to  acquire  gain.  Ver,  28.  And  its  prophets  plaster 
it  with  cement,  seeing  ivhat  is  worthless,  and  divining  lies  for 
them,  saying,  "  Urns  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah^^  when  Jehovah  hath 
not  spoken.  Ver.  29.  The  common  people  offer  violence  and 
commit  theft ;  they  crush  the  wretched  and  the  poor,  and  oppress 
the  foreigner  against  rigid.  Ver.  30.  /  seek  among  them  for  a 
man  who  might  build  a  tcall  and  step  into  the  breach  before  me 
on  behalf  of  the  land,  that  I  might  not  destroy  it,  but  I  find  none. 
Ver.  31.   Therefore  I  pour  out  my  anger  upon  them;  I  destroy 


31G  THE  PROPnECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

them  in  the  fire  of  my  wrath,  J  give  their  way  upon  their 
head,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  —  To  show  the 
necessity  for  the  predicted  judgment  still  more  clearly,  in 
the  third  word  of  God  contained  in  this  chapter  a  descrip- 
tion is  given  of  the  spread  of  deep  corruption  among  all 
classes  of  the  people,  and  the  impossibility  of  saving  the  king- 
dom is  plainly  shown.  The  words  n?""iOS,  "  say  unto  her,"  are 
taken  by  most  of  the  commentators  as  referring  to  Jerusalem, 
the  abominations  of  which  the  prophet  is  commanded  to  declare. 
But  although  the  clause,  *'  thou  art  a  land,"  etc.  (ver.  24),  could 
unquestionably  be  made  to  harmonize  with  this,  yet  the  words 
of  ver.  30,  "  I  sought  for  a  man  who  might  stand  in  the  gap 
before  Jehovah  for  the  land,"  indicate  most  unquestionably  that 
this  word  of  God  is  directed  against  the  land  of  Judah,  and 
consequently  yO  must  be  taken  as  referring  to  p.^  which 
follows,  the  pronoun  in  this  case  being  placed  before  the  noun 
to  which  it  refers,  as  in  Num.  xxiv.  17.  Any  allusion  to  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  would  therefore  be  somewhat  out  of  place, 
inasmuch  as  in  the  preceding  word  of  God  the  object  referred 
to  was  not  the  city,  but  the  house  of  Israel,  or  the  nation 
generally,  from  which  a  transition  is  here  made  to  the  land,  or 
the  kingdom  of  Judah.  The  meaning  of  ver.  24  is  a  disputed 
question,  t^''^  •TJ'^^^  Np^  which  is  rendered  r]  ov  /Spe^^ofjiivT)  in 
the  Sept.,  is  taken  by  most  of  the  expositors  to  mean,  "  it  is  not 
cleansed,"  the  form  nnnbp  being  correctly  rendered  as  a  parti- 
ciple Pual  of  in^.  But  this  rendering  does  not  furnish  any 
appropriate  sense,  unless  the  following  words  '"^^V?  ^^  are  taken 
as  a  threat :  there  shall  not  be  rain,  or  it  shall  not  be  rained 
upon  in  the  day  of  wrath.  But  this  view  is  hardly  reconcilable 
with  the  form  of  the  word,  i^^fp,  according  to  the  Masoretic 
pointing  with  Mappik  in  the  n,  is  evidently  meant  to  be  taken 
as  a  noun  Dy'a  =  Dk:'3.  In  that  case,  if  the  words  were  intended 
to  contain  a  threat,  n'^ri^  ought  not  to  be  omitted.  But  without 
a  verb  the  words  contain  a  statement  in  harmony  with  what 
precedes.      We  regard  the   Chetib  HD'J'J  as  the  perfect  Pual 


CHAP.  XXII.  23-31.  317 

nDty3.  And  let  it  not  be  objected  to  this  that  the  Pual  of  this 
verb  is  not  met  with  elsewhere,  for  the  form  of  the  noun  D^'3 
with  the  u  sound  does  not  occur  anywhere  else.  As  a  perfect 
Pualj  ncE'J  N7  is  a  simple  continuation  of  the  participial  clause 
^'''?  •"'"^C'^P  ^i  containing  like  this  an  affirmation,  and  cannot 
possibly  be  taken  as  a  threat  or  prediction.  But  "  not 
cleansed "  and  "  not  rained  upon  "  do  not  agree  together,  as 
rain  is  not  a  means  of  purification  according  to  the  Hebrew 
idea.  It  is  true  that  in  the  law  the  withdrawal  or  suspension 
of  rain  is  threatened  as  a  punishment  from  God,  and  the  pour- 
ing out  of  rain  is  promised  as  a  theocratical  blessing.  But  even 
if  the  words  are  taken  in  a  tropical  sense,  as  denoting  a  with- 
drawal of  the  blessings  of  divine  grace,  they  will  not  harmonize 
with  the  other  clause,  "  not  cleansed."  We  therefore  take 
nnnbp  in  the  sense  of  "  shined  upon  by  the  light,"  or  provided 
with  brightness;  a  meaning  which  is  sustained  by  Ex.  xxiv.  10, 
where  tohar  occurs  in  the  sense  of  splendour,  and  by  the 
kindred  word  tzohar,  light.  In  this  way  we  obtain  the  suitable 
thought,  land  which  has  neither  sunlight  nor  rain  in  the  day  of 
wrath,  i.e.  does  not  enjoy  a  single  trace  of  the  divine  blessing, 
but  is  given  up  to  the  curse  of  barrenness.  The  reason  for  this 
threat  is  given  in  vers.  25  sqq.,  where  a  picture  is  drawn  of  the 
moral  corruption  of  all  ranks;  viz.  of  the  prophets  (ver.  25), 
the  priests  (ver.  26),  the  princes  (ver.  27),  and  the  common 
people  (ver.  29).  There  is  something  very  striking  in  the 
allusion  to  the  prophets  in  ver.  25,  not  so  much  because  they  are 
mentioned  again  in  ver.  28, — for  this  may  be  accounted  for  on 
the  ground  that  in  the  latter  passage  they  are  simply  introduced 
as  false  advisers  of  the  princes, — as  on  account  of  the  statement 
made  concerning  them  in  ver.  25,  namely,  that,  like  lions  tear- 
ing their  prey,  they  devour  souls,  etc. ;  a  description  which 
is  not  given  either  in  chap.  xiii.  or  elsewhere.  Hitzig  there- 
fore proposes  to  alter  n''K"'33  Into  n^^''^'^,  after  the  rendering 
a(})7]jovfMevoi  given  by  the  LXX.  This  alteration  of  the 
text,  which  confines  itself  to  a  single  letter,  is  rendered  very 


318  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

plausible  by  the  fact  that  almost  the  same  is  affirmed  of  the 
persons  mentioned  in  ver.  25  as  of  the  princes  in  ver.  27,  and 
that  in  the  passage  in  Zephaniah  (iii.  3,  4),  which  is  so  similar 
to  the  one  before  us,  that  Ezekiel  appears  to  have  had  it  in  his 
mind,  the  princes  (v'"'']^*)  and  the  judges  (n^psb')  are  called  the 
prophets  and  the  priests.     The  CN^bO  here  would  correspond  to 
the  D'lf  of   Zephaniah,  and  the  D'l^  to  the  D'^DCb'.     According 
to  ver.  6,  the  D''S''r3  would  indicate  primarily  the  members  of 
the  royal    family,  possibly  including  the  chief  officers  of  the 
crown ;  and  the  C")^  (ver.  27)  would  be  the  heads  of  tribes, 
of  families,  and  of  fathers'  houses,  in  whose  hands  the  national 
administration  of  jqstice  principally  lay  (cf.  Ex.  xviii.  19sqq. ; 
Deut.  i.  13-18;  and  my  Bill.  Archdol.  ii.  §  149).     I  therefore 
prefer  this  conjecture,  or  correction,  to  the  Masoretic  reading, 
although  the  latter  is  supported  by  ancient  witnesses,  such  as  the 
Chaldee  with  its  rendering  i*'^"^??,  scribes,  and  the  version  of 
Jerome.     For  the  statement  which  the  verse  contains  is  not 
applicable  to  prophets,  and  the  best  explanation  given  of  the 
Masoretic  text — namely,  that  by  Michaelis,  "  they  have  made 
a  compact  with  one  another  as  to  what  kind  of  teaching  they 
would  or  would  not  give ;  and  in  order  that  their  authority 
may  continue  undisturbed,  they  persecute  even  to  blood  those 
who  do  not  act  with  them,  or  obey  them,  but  rather  contradict" 
—does  not  do  justice  to  the  words,  but  weakens  their  sense.     ">*t;'p 
is  not  a  predicate  to  '3J,  "  they  are  {i.e.  form)  a  conspiracy  ; " 
but  '2:  is  a  genitive.     At  the  same  time,  there  is  no  necessity 
to  take  IK'P  in  the  sense  of  "  company,"  a  rendering  which 
cannot  be  sustained.     The  fact  that  in  what  follows,  where  the 
comparison  to  lions  is  introduced,  the  WH'^li  (D^N^bj)   are  the 
subject,  simply  proves  that  in  the  first  clause  also  these  men 
actually  form  the  prominent  idea.     There  is  no  ground  for  sup- 
plying ^^^  to  'w  '1X3  (they  are  like,  etc.)  ;  but  the  simile  is  to 
be  linked  on  to  the  following  clause.     1^3«  t^•D3  is  to  be  explained 
from  the  comparison  to  a  lion,  which  devours  the  prey  that  it 
has  captured  in  its  blood,  in  which  is  the  soul,  or  nephesh  (Gen. 


CHAP.  XXII.  23-31.  319 

ix.  4 ;  Lev.  xvli.  11  sqq.).  The  thought  is  this:  in  their  insa- 
tiable greed  for  riches  they  sacrifice  men  and  put  thera  to  death, 
and  thereby  multiply  the  number  of  victims  (for  the  fact,  see 
chap.  xix.  5,  7).  What  is  stated  in  ver.  26  concerning  the 
priests  is  simply  a  further  expansion  of  Zeph.  iii.  4,  where  the 
first  two  clauses  occur  word  for  word ;  for  ^"Jp  in  Zephaniah  is 
really  equivalent  to  ''^'}P,  holy  things  and  deeds.  The  desecra- 
tion of  the  holy  things  consisted  in  the  fact  that  they  made  no 
distinction  between  sacred  and  profane,  clean  and  unclean. 
For  the  fact,  compare  Lev.  x.  10,  11.  Their  covering  their 
eyes  from  the  Sabbaths  showed  itself  in  their  permitting  the 
Sabbaths  to  be  desecrated  by  the  people,  without  offering  any 
opposition  (cf.  Jer.  xvii.  27). — The  comparison  of  the  rulers 
(sdrim)  to  ravening  wolves  is  taken  from  Zeph.  iii.  3.  For  the 
following  clause,  compare  ver.  12  and  ch.  xiii.  10.  Destroying 
souls  to  acquire  gain  is  perfectly  applicable  to  unjust  judges, 
inasmuch  as,  according  to  Ex.  xviii.  21,  the  judges  were  to  hate 
W?.  All  that  is  affirmed  in  ver.  28  of  the  conduct  of  the  false 
prophets  is  repeated  for  the  most  part  verhatim  from  ch.  xiii. 
10,  9,  and  7.  By  D[i^,  which  points  back  to  the  three  classes 
of  men  already  mentioned,  and  not  merely  to  the  sdriin,  the 
prophets  are  represented  as  helpers  of  those  who  support  the 
ungodly  in  their  wicked  ways,  by  oracles  which  assured  them 
of  prosperity.  P.^^"  ^^  {ver.  29),  as  distinguished  from  the 
spiritual  and  secular  rulers  of  the  nation,  signifies  the  common 
people.  With  reference  to  their  sins  and  wickedness,  see 
ch.  xviii.  7,  12,  18  ;  and  for  the  command  against  oppressing 
the  poor  and  foreigners,  compare  Ex.  xxii.  20,  21  ;  Deut. 
xxiv.  17. — The  corruption  is  so  universal,  that  not  a  man  is  to 
be  found  who  could  enter  into  the  gap  as  a  righteous  man,  or 
avert  the  judgment  of  destruction  by  his  intercession.  Dnp 
refers  not  merely  to  the  prophets,  who  did  not  enter  into  the 
gap  according  to  ch.  xiii.  5,  but  to  all  the  classes  previously 
mentioned.  At  the  same  time,  it  does  not  follow  from  this,  that 
entering  into  the  gap  by  means  of  intercession  cannot  be  the 


320  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

thing  intended,  as  Hitzig  supposes.     The  expression  ^y3  '•Jsp 

Y'}.^'}  clearly  refers  to  intercession.     This  is  apparent  from  the 

simple  fact  that,  as  Hitzig  himself  observes,  the  intercession  of 

Abraham  for  Sodom  (Gen.  xviii.  13  sqq.)  was  floating  before 

the  mind  of  Ezekiel,  since  the  concluding  words  of  the  verse 

contain  an  obvious  allusion  to  Gen.  xviii.  28.     Because  the 

Lord  does  not  find  a  single  righteous  man,  who  might  intercede 

for  the  land,  He  pours  out  His  anger  upon  it,  to  destroy  the 

inhabitants  thereof.      With    reference   to   the    fact    and   the 

separate  words  employed,  compare  ch.  xxi.  36,  vii.  4,  ix.  10, 

xi.  21,  and  xvi.  43.     It  does  not  follow  from  the  word  ^SKW, 

that  Ezekiel  "  is  speaking  after  the  catastrophe"  (Hitzig).     For 

although  "^^"^i^]  expresses  the  consequence  of  Jehovah's  seeking 

a  righteous  man  and  not  finding  one,  it  by  no  means  follows 

from  the  occurrence  of  the  preterite  ''^X^'9      •  ^^^^  '^^'^'^)  is 

also  a  preterite.     'H^'^^J  is  simply   connected  with  ^\?.'^^)  as  a 

consequence ;  and  in  both  verbs  the   Vav  consec.  expresses  the 

sequence  of  thought,  and  not  of  time.     The  seeking,  therefore, 

with  the  result  of  not  having  found,  cannot  be  understood  in  a 

chronological  sense,  i.e.  as  an  event  belonging  to  the  past,  for 

the  simple  reason  that  the  preceding  words  do  not  record  the 

chronological  order  of  events.     It  merely  depicts  the  existing 

moral  condition  of  the  people,  and  ver.  30  sums  up  the  result 

of  the  description  in  the  thought  that  there  was  no  one  to  be 

found  who  could  enter  in  the  gap  before  God.     Consequently 

we  cannot  determine  from  the  imperfect  with  Vav  consec.  either 

the  time  of  the  seeking  and  not  finding,  or  that  of  the  pouring 

out  of  the  wrath. 


CHAP.  XXIII.    OHOLAH  AND  OHOLIBAH,  THE  HARLOTS 
SAMARIA  AND  JERUSALEM. 

Samaria  and  Jerusalem,  as  the  capitals  and  representatives 
of  the  two  kingdoms  Israel  and  Judah,  are  two  sisters,  who 
have  practised  whoredom  from  the  days  of  Egypt  onwards 


CHAP.  XXIII.  1-4.  321 

(vers.  2-4).  Samaria  has  carried  on  this  whoredom  with 
Assyria  and  Egypt,  and  has  been  given  up  by  God  into  the 
power  of  the  Assyrians  as  a  consequent  punishment  (vers.  5-10). 
But  Jerusalem,  instead  of  allowing  this  to  serve  as  a  warning, 
committed  fornication  still  more  grievously  with  Assyria  and 
the  Chaldeans,  and,  last  of  all,  with  Egypt  again  (vers.  11-21). 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  Lord  will  permit  the  Chaldeans  to 
make  war  upon  them,  and  to  plunder  and  put  them  to  shame, 
so  that,  as  a  punishment  for  their  whoredom  and  their  for£fet- 
fulness  of  God,  they  may,  in  the  fullest  measure,  experience 
Samaria's  fate  (vers.  22-35).  In  conclusion,  both  kingdoms 
are  shown  once  more,  and  in  still  severer  terms,  the  guilt  of 
their  idolatry  (vers.  36-44),  whilst  the  infliction  of  the  punish- 
ment for  both  adultery  and  murder  is  foretold  (vers.  45-49). 

In  its  general  character,  therefore,  this  word  of  God  is  co- 
ordinate with  the  two  preceding  ones  in  ch.  xxi.  and  xxii., 
setting  forth  once  more  in  a  comprehensive  way  the  sins  and 
the  punishment  of  Israel.  But  this  is  done  in  the  form  of  an 
allegory,  which  closely  resembles  in  its  general  features  the 
allegorical  description  in  ch.  xvi. ;  though,  in  the  particular 
details,  it  possesses  a  character  peculiarly  its  own,  not  only  in 
certain  original  turns  and  figures,  but  still  more  in  the  arranore- 
ment  and  execution  of  the  whole.  The  allegory  in  ch.  xvi. 
depicts  the  attitude  of  Israel  towards  the  Lord  in  the  past,  the 
present,  and  the  future ;  but  in  the  chapter  before  us,  the  guilt 
and  punishment  of  Israel  stand  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture 
throughout,  so  that  a  parallel  is  drawn  between  Jerusalem  and 
Samaria,  to  show  that  the  punishment  of  destruction,  which 
Samaria  has  brought  upon  itself  through  its  adulterous  inter- 
course with  the  heathen,  will  inevitably  fall  upon  Jerusalem 
and  Judah  also. 

Vers.  1-4.  The  sisters  Oholah  and  Oholibah. — Ver.  1.  And 
the  loord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying^  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man 
two  loomen,  daughters  of  one  mother  were  they,  Ver.  3.  They 
committed  whoredom  in  Egypt,  in  their  youth  they  committed 

EZEK.  I.  X 


322  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

whoredom  ;  there  ivere  their  breasts  pressed,  and  there  men 
handled  their  virgin  bosom.  Ver.  4.  Their  names  are  Oholah, 
the  greater,  and  OhoUbah  her  sister ;  and  they  became  mine,  and 
bare  sons  and  daughters.  But  their  names  are:  Samaria  is 
Oholah,  and  Jerusalem  is  OhoUbah.  —  The  name  '"^^.n^  ^^ 
formed  from  J^^  v^X,  "  my  tent  in  her ; "  and,  accordingly, 
ri/inx  is  to  be  derived  from  '^^^^,  "  her  tent,"  and  not  to  be 
regarded  as  an  abbreviation  of  nil  nSnx,  "  her  tent  in  her,"  as 
Hitzig  and  Kliefoth  maintain.  There  is  no  ground  for  this 
assumption,  as  "  her  tent,"  in  contrast  with  "  my  tent  in  her," 
expresses  the  thought  with  sufficient  clearness,  that  she  had  a 
tent  of  her  own,  and  the  place  where  her  tent  was  does  not 
come  into  consideration.  The  "tent"  is  the  sanctuary:  both 
tabernacle  and  temple.  These  names  characterize  the  two 
kincrdoms  according  to  their  attitude  toward  the  Lord.  Jeru- 
salem  had  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah ;  Samaria,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  her  own  sanctuary,  i.e.  one  invented  by  herself. 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem,  as  the  historical  names  of  the  two 
kingdoms,  represent  Israel  of  the  ten  tribes  and  Judah. 
Oholah  and  Oholibah  are  daughters  of  one  mother,  because 
they  were  the  two  halves  of  the  one  Israel ;  and  they  are 
called  women,  because  Jehovah  had  married  them  (ver.  4). 
Oholah  is  called  •^^i"'?'?,  the  great,  i.e.  greater  sister  (not  the 
elder,  see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xvi.  46)  :  because  ten  tribes,  the 
greater  portion  of  Israel,  belonged  to  Samaria,  whereas  Judah 
had  only  two  tribes.  They  committed  whoredom  even  in 
Egypt  in  their  youth,  for  even  in  Egypt  the  Israelites  defiled 
themselves  with  Egyptian  idolatry  (see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xx.  7). 
^yo,  to  press,  to  crush  :  the  Fual  is  used  here  to  denote  lewd 
handling.  In  a  similar  manner  the  Piel  nti'j?  is  used  to  signify 
tractare,  contrectare  mammas,  in  an  obscene  sense. 

Vers.  5-10.  Samaria's  whoredom  and  punishment. — Ver.  5. 
And  Oholibah  played  the  harlot  under  me,  and  burned  towards 
her  lovers,  even  as  far  as  Assyria,  standing  near ;  Ver.  6. 
Clothed  in  purple,  governors  and  officers,  all  of  them  choice  men 


CHAP.  SXIII.  5-10.  323 

of  good  deportment,  horsemen  riding  upon  horses.  Ver.  7.  And 
she  directed  her  whoredom  toivard  them,  to  the  choke  of  the  sons 
of  Assyria  all  of  them,  and  icith  all  towards  whom  she  burned, 
loith  all  their  idols  she  defied  herself.  Ver.  8.  Also  her  whoredom 
from  Egypt  she  did  not  give  up ;  for  they  had  lain  icith  her  in  her 
youthy  and  they  had  handled  her  virgin  bosom,  and  had  poured 
out  their  lust  upon  her.  Ver.  9.  Therefore  I  have  given  her  into 
the  hand  of  her  lovers,  into  the  hand  of  the  sons  of  Assyria,  toivards 
ivhom  she  teas  inflamed.  Ver.  10.  They  uncovered  her  nakedness, 
took  away  her  sons  and  her  daughters,  and  slew  her  loith  the 
sword,  so  that  she  became  a  legend  among  the  zvomen,  and  executed 
judgments  upon  her. — Coquetting  and  whoring  with  Assyria 
and  Egypt  denote  religious  and  political  leaning  towards  and 
connection  with  these  nations  and  kingdoms,  including  idolatry 
and  the  formation  of  alliances  with  them,  as  in  chap.  xvi.  ""Jl^nri 
is  to  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  HC^'^N  nnn  (ch.  xvi.  32). 
3iy,  which  only  occurs  in  Ezekiel  and  once  in  Jeremiah,  denotes 
the  eager  desire  kindled  by  passionate  love  towards  any  one. 
By  the  words  l^tJ'X"?^  the  lovers  are  more  precisely  defined. 
caiip  without  an  article  is  not  an  adjective,  belonging  to 
n''3nso,  but  in  apposition,  which  is  continued  in  the  next  verse. 
In  these  appositions  the  particular  features,  which  excited  the 
ardent  passion  towards  the  lovers,  are  pointed  out.  3i"i|5  is  not 
to  be  taken  in  an  outward  or  local  sense,  but  as  signifying 
inward  or  spiritual  nearness  :  standing  near,  equivalent  to 
inwardly  related,  as  in  Ps.  xxxviii.  12  ;  Job  xix.  14.  The 
description  given  of  the  Assyrians  in  ver.  6  contains  the  thought 
that  Israel,  dazzled  by  Assyria's  splendour,  and  overpowered  by 
the  might  of  that  kingdom,  had  been  drawn  into  intercourse 
with  the  Assyrians,  which  led  her  astray  into  idolatry.  The 
predicate,  clothed  in  purple,  points  to  the  splendour  and  glory 
of  this  imperial  power ;  the  other  predicates,  to  the  magnitude 
of  its  military  force.  2"'iijp!i  nins  are  rulers  of  higher  and  lower 
grades  (cf.  Jer.  li.  57).  "  Here  the  expression  is  a  general 
one,  signifying  the  different  classes  of  office-bearers  in  the 


324  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

kingdom"  (Havernick).  With  regard  to  nns^  see  my  comm. 
on  Hag.  i.  1 ;  and  for  i^D,  see  Delitzsch  on  Isa.  xli.  25.  "  Rid- 
ing upon  horses"  is  added  to  QV"J3  to  denote  the  noblest 
horsemen,  in  contrast  to  riders  upon  asses  and  camels  (  cf. 
Isa.  xxi.  7).  In  ver.  lb  ^\}yS^r^^^  is  in  apposition  to  "^r'^.  ''^? 
nnJl^j  and  defines  more  precisely  the  instigation  to  pollution  : 
with  all  towards  whom  she  burned  in  love,  namely,  with  all  their 
(the  lovers')  idols.  The  thought  is  as  follows :  it  was  not 
merely  through  her  intercourse  with  the  Assyrians  that  Israel 
defiled  herself,  but  also  through  their  idols.  At  the  same  time, 
Samaria  did  not  give  up  the  idolatry  which  it  had  derived  from 
Enypt.  It  was  from  Egypt  that  the  worship  of  God  under  the 
image  of  the  golden  calves  had  been  imported.  The  words  are 
much  too  strong  for  us  to  understand  them  as  relating  simply 
to  political  intercourse,  as  Hitzig  has  done.  We  have  already 
observed  at  ch.  xx.  7,  that  even  in  Egypt  itself  the  Israelites 
had  defiled  themselves  with  Egyptian  idolatry,  as  is  also  stated 
in  ver.  8b. — Vers.  9,  10.  As  a  punishment  for  this,  God  gave 
Samaria  into  the  power  of  the  Assyrians,  so  that  they  executed 
judgment  upon  the  harlot.  In  ver.  10b  the  prophecy  passes 
from  the  figure  to  the  fact.  The  uncoverincr  of  the  nakedness 
consisted  in  the  transportation  of  the  sons  and  daughters,  i.e. 
the  population  of  Samaria,  into  exile  by  the  Assyrians,  who  slew 
the  woman  herself  with  the  sword  ;  in  other  words,  destroyed 
the  kinrrdom  of  Samaria.     Thus  did  Samaria  become  a  name 

n 

for  women  ;  that  is  to  say,  her  name  was  circulated  among 
the  nations,  her  fate  became  an  object  of  conversation  and 
ridicule  to  the  nations,  not  "  a  nickname  for  the  nations,"  as 
Havernick  supposes  {vid.  ch.  xxxvi.  3).  Cpi^t',  a  later  form  for 
D^DDB'  (cf.  ch.  xvi.  41). 

Vers.  11-21.  Whoredom  of  Judah. — Ver.  11.  And  her  sister 
OJiolibah  saio  it,  and  carried  on  her  coquetry  still  more  xcantonly 
than  she  had  done,  and  her  xohoredom  more  than  the  whoredom  of 
her  sister,  Ver.  12.  She  was  injiamed  with  lust  towards  the  sons 
cf  Asshurj  governors  and    ojicers,    standing   near,  clothed  in 


CHAP.  XXllI.  11-21.  325 

perfect  heaiity,  horsemen  riding  upon  horses,  choice  men  of  good 
deportment.  Ver.  13.  And  I  saw  that  she  had  defiled  herself; 
they  both  ivent  one  way.  Ver.  14.  And  she  carried  her  ivltoredom 
still  further;  she  saio  men  engraved  upon  the  wall,  figures  of 
Chaldeans  engraved  ivith  red  ochre,  Ver.  15.  Girded  about  the 
hips  with  girdles,  ivith  overhanging  caps  upon  their  heads,  all  of 
them  knights  in  appearance,  resembling  the  sons  of  Babel,  the 
land  of  ivhose  birth  is  Chaldea  :  Ver.  16.  And  she  luas  infiamed. 
with  lust  toward  them,  when  her  eyes  saw  them,  and  sent  messen- 
gers to  them  to  Chaldea.  Ver,  17.  Then  the  sons  of  Babylon 
came  to  her  to  the  bed  of  love,  and  defiled  her  xoith  their  ichore- 
dom;  and  wlien  she  had  defiled  herself  with  them,  her  soul  tore 
itself  aicay  from  them.  Ver.  18.  And  when  she  uncovered  her 
whoredom,  and  uncovered  her  nakedness,  my  soul  tore  itself  away 
from  her,  as  my  soul  had  torn  itself  away  from  her  sister. 
Ver.  19.  And  she  increased  her  ichoredom,  so  that  she  remem- 
bered the  days  of  her  youth,  when  she  played  the  harlot  in 
the  land  of  Egypt.  Ver.  20.  And  she  burned  toward  their 
paramours,  icho  have  members  like  asses  and  heat  like  horses. 
Ver.  21.  Thou  lookest  after  the  lewdness  of  thy  youth,  ichen 
they  of  Egypt  handled  thy  bosom  because  of  thy  virgin  breasts. — 
The  train  of  thought  in  these  verses  is  the  following  : — Judah 
went  much  further  than  Samaria.  It  not  only  indulged  in 
sinful  intercourse  with  Assyria,  which  led  on  to  idolatry  as  the 
latter  had  done,  but  it  also  allowed  itself  to  be  led  astray  by 
the  splendour  of  Chaldea,  to  form  alliances  with  that  imperial 
power,  and  to  defile  itself  with  her  idolatry.  And  when  it 
became  tired  of  the  Chaldeans,  it  formed  impure  connections 
with  the  Egyptians,  as  it  had  done  once  before  during  its 
sojourn  in  Egypt.  The  description  of  the  Assyrians  in  ver.  12 
coincides  with  that  in  vers.  5  and  6,  except  that  some  of  the 
predicates  are  placed  in  a  different  order,  and  -'i^^D  ''t^'n7  is 
substituted  for  J^??0  ''?f9- •  "^^'^  former  expression,  which  occurs 
again  in  eh.  xxxviii.  4,  must  really  mean  the  same  as  npan  '2^. 
But  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  ^1?^^  signifies  purple,  as 


326  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Hitzis;  maintains.     The  true  meaning  is  perfection  ;  and  when 
used  of  tlie  clothing,  it  signifies  perfect  beauty.    The  Septuagint 
rendering,  evirapvcpa,  with  a  beautiful  border, — more  especially 
a  variegated  one, — merely  expresses  the  sense,  but  not  the 
actual  meaning  of  ''i^'^p.     The  Chaldee  rendering  is  103  ''*C'37, 
2')erfecte  induli. — There  is  great  obscurity  in  the  statement  in 
ver.  14  as  to  the  way  in  which  Judah  was  seduced  to  cultivate 
intercourse  with  the  Chaldeans.      She  saw  men  engraved  or 
drawn  upon  the  wall  (ni^TO,  a  participle  Fual  of  Pi^n^  engraved 
work,  or  sculpture).     These  figures  were  pictures  of  Chaldeans, 
engraved  (drawn)   with  iii'C',  red  ochre,  a  bright-red  colour. 
^^ijrij  an  adjective  form  "^i^n,  wearing  a  girdle.     D^^^p,  coloured 
cloth,  from  7?9)  ^^   colour;   here,   according  to  the  context, 
variegated   head -bands   or  turbans.      n^iD?   ^^^^    overhanging, 
used  here  of  the  cap.      The  reference  is  to  the  tiarae  tinctae 
(Vulgate),  the  lofty  turbans  or  caps,  as  they  are  to  be  seen 
upon  the  monuments  of  ancient  Nineveh.     ^'^^"'^'^\  not  chariot- 
warriors,  but  knights  :  "  tristatae^  the  name  of  the  second  grade 
after  the  regal  dignity"    (Jerome.     See  the  comm.  on  Ex. 
xiv.  7  and  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8).     The  description  of  these  engrav- 
ino-s  answers  perfectly  to  the  sculptures  upon  the  inner  walls  of 
the  Assyrian  palaces  in  the  monuments  of  Nimrud,  Khorsabad, 
and  Kouyunjik   (see  Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains^  and 
Vaux,  Nineveh  and  Persepolis).     The  pictures  of  the  Chaldeans 
are  not  mythological  figures  (Hiivernick),  but  sculptures  depict- 
in(T  war-scenes,  triumphal  processions  of  Chaldean  rulers  and 
warriors,  with  which  the  Assyrian  palaces  were  adorned.     We 
have  not  to  look  for  these  sculptures  in  Jerusalem  or  Palestine. 
This  cannot  be  inferred  from  ch.  viii.  10,  as  Hiivernick  sup- 
poses ;  nor  established  by  Ilitzig's  argument,  that  the  woman 
must  have  been  in  circumstances  to  see  such  pictures.     The 
intercourse  between  Palestine  and  Nineveh,  which  was  carried 
on   even   in    Jonah's   time,   was   quite  sufficient  to  render  it 
possible  for  the  pictures  to  be  seen.     When  Israelites  travelled 
to  Nineveh,  and  saw  the  palaces  there,  they  could  easily  make 


CHAP,  xxiir.  11-21.  327 

the  people  acquainted  with  the  glory  of  Nineveh  by  the 
accounts  they  would  give  on  their  return.  It  is  no  reply  to 
this,  to  state  that  the  woman  does  not  send  ambassadors  till 
afterwards  (ver.  16),  as  Hitzig  argues;  for  Judah  sent  am- 
bassadors to  Chaldea  not  to  view  the  glories  of  Assyria,  but  to 
form  alliances  with  the  Chaldeans,  or  to  sue  for  their  favour. 
Such  an  embassy,  for  example,  was  sent  to  Babylon  by  Zede- 
kiah  (Jer.  xxix.  3);  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  ver.  166 
Ezekiel  has  this  in  his  mind.  Others  may  have  preceded  this, 
concerning  which  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  are  just 
as  silent  as  they  are  concerning  that  of  Zedekiah.  The  thought 
in  these  verses  is  therefore  the  following : — The  acquaintance 
made  by  Israel  (Judah)  with  the  imperial  splendour  of  the 
Chaldeans,  as  exhibited  in  the  sculptures  of  their  palaces, 
incited  Judah  to  cultivate  political  and  mercantile  intercourse 
with  this  imperial  power,  which  led  to  its  becoming  entangled 
in  the  heathen  ways  and  idolatry  of  the  Chaldeans.  The 
Chaldeans  themselves  came  and  laid  the  foundation  for  an  in- 
tercourse which  led  to  the  pollution  of  Judah  with  heathenism, 
and  afterwards  filled  it  with  disgust,  because  it  was  brouo-ht 
thereby  into  dependence  upon  the  Chaldeans.  The  conse- 
quence of  all  this  was,  that  the  Lord  became  tired  of  Judah 
(vers.  17,  18).  For  instead  of  returning  to  the  Lord,  Judah 
turned  to  the  other  power  of  the  world,  namely,  to  Egypt ;  and 
in  the  time  of  Zedekiah  renewed  its  ancient  coquetry  with  that 
nation  (vers.  19-21  compared  with  ver.  8).  The  form  nnayrii 
in  ver.  20,  which  the  Keri  also  gives  in  ver.  18,  has  taken  ah  as 
a  feminine  termination  (not  the  cohortative  o/i),  like  nann  in 
Prov.  i.  20,  viii.  1  {vid.  Delitzsch,  On  Johj  pp.  117  and  268). 
W'm^^  are  scoria  mascida  here  (Kimchi), — a  drastically  sarcastic 
epithet  applied  to  the  sdrisim,  the  eunuchs,  or  courtiers.  The 
figurative  epithet  answers  to  the  licentious  character  of  the 
Egyptian  idolatry.  The  sexual  heat  both  of  horses  and  asses 
is  referred  to  by  Aristotle,  Hist.  anim.  vi.  22,  and  Columella, 
de  re  rust.  vi.   27;  and  that  of  the  horse  has  already  been 


328  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

applied  to  the  idolatry  of  the  people  by  Jeremiah  (vid.  Jer. 
V,  8).  "i^'?,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  26.  1i?3  (ver.  21),  to  look  about  for 
anything,  i.e.  to  search  for  it ;  not  to  miss  it,  as  Havernick 
imagines. 

Vers.  22-35.  Punishment  of  the  harlot  Jerusalem. — "Ver.  22. 
Therefore^  Oholibah,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I 
raise  up  thy  lovers  against  thee,  from  whom  thy  soul  has  torn 
itself  away,  and  cause  them  to  come  upon  thee  from  every  side ; 
Ver.  23.  The  sons  of  Babel,  and  all  the  Chaldeans,  rulers,  lords, 
and  nobles,  all  the  sons  of  Assyria  icith  them:  chosen  men  of 
graceful  deportment,  governors  and  oj/icers  together,  knights  and 
counsellors,  all  riding  upon  horses.  Ver.  24.  And  they  will 
come  upon  thee  loilh  weapons,  chariots,  and  wheels,  and  ivith  a 
host  of  peoples ;  target  and  shield  and  helmet  will  they  direct 
against  thee  round  about :  and  I  commit  to  them  the  judgment, 
that  they  may  judge  thee  according  to  their  rights.  Ver.  25. 
And  I  direct  my  jealousy  against  thee,  so  that  they  shall  deal 
with  thee  in  wrath  :  nose  and  ears  will  they  cut  of  from  thee ; 
and  thy  last  one  shall  fall  by  the  sioord  :  they  will  take  thy  soiis 
and  thy  daughters ;  and  thy  last  one  will  be  consumed  by  fire. 
Ver.  26.  They  toill  strip  off  thy  clothes  from  thee,  and  take  thy 
splendid  jeioellery.  Ver.  27.  I  will  abolish  thy  lewdness  from 
thee,  and  thy  ivhoredom  from  the  land  of  Egypt :  that  thou  may  est 
no  more  lift  thine  eyes  to  them,  and  no  longer  remember  Egypt. 
Ver.  28.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  give  t/tee 
into  the  hand  of  those  ichom  thou  hatest,  into  the  hand  of  those 
from  whom  thy  soul  has  torn  itself  away  :  Ver.  29.  And  they 
shall  deal  loith  thee  in  hatred,  and  take  all  thy  gain,  and  leave 
thee  naked  and  bare ;  that  thy  whorish  shame  may  be  wicovered, 
and  thy  lewdness  and  thy  whoredom.  Ver.  30.  This  shall 
happen  to  thee,  because  thou  goest  whoring  after  the  nations,  and 
on  account  of  thy  defiling  thyself  with  their  idols.  Ver.  31.  In 
the  way  of  thy  sister  hast  thou  walked;  therefore  I  give  her  cup 
into  thy  hand.  Ver.  32.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  The  cup 
of  thy  sister  thou  shalt  drink,  the  deep  and  broad  one;  it  icill 


CHAP.  XXIII.  22-S5.  329 

he  for  laughter  and  for  derision,  because  it  contains  so  much. 
Ver.  33.  Thou  wilt  become  full  of  drunkenness  and  misery :  a  cup 
of  desolation  and  devastation  is  the  cup  of  thy  sister  Samaria. 
Ver.  34.  Thou  loilt  drink  it  up  and  drain  it,  and  gnaw  its  frag- 
ments, and  tear  thy  breasts  (thereiuith)  ;  for  I  have  spoken  it,  is  the 
saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Ver.  35.  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thou  hast  forgotten  me,  and  hast  cast  me 
behind  thy  back,  thou  shalt  also  bear  thy  lewdness  and  thy  lohore- 
dom. — As  Jerusalem  has  given  herself  up  to  whoredom,  like 
her  sister  Samaria,  she  shall  also  share  her  sister's  fate.  The 
paramours,  of  whom  she  has  become  tired,  God  will  bring 
against  her  as  enemies.  The  Chaldeans  will  come  with  all 
their  might,  and  execute  the  judgment  of  destruction  upon 
her. — For  the  purpose  of  depicting  their  great  and  powerful 
forces,  Ezekiel  enumerates  in  vers.  23  and  24  the  peoples  and 
their  military  equipment :  viz.  the  sons  of  Babel,  i.e.  the 
inhabitants  of  Babylonia,  the  Chaldeans, — the  ruling  people  of 
the  empire  at  that  time, — and  all  the  sons  of  Asshur,  i.e.  the 
inhabitants  of  the  eastern  portions  of  the  empire,  the  former 
rulers  of  the  world.  There  is  some  obscurity  in  the  words 
yipl  J^ic'l  1ip3,  which  the  older  theologians  have  almost  unani- 
mously taken  to  be  the  names  of  different  tribes  in  the 
Chaldean  empire.  Ewald  also  adopts  this  view,  but  it  is 
certainly  incorrect ;  for  the  words  are  in  apposition  to  D'^'nb'S-priij 
as  the  omission  of  the  copula  1  before  "lipB  is  sufficient  to  show. 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  VV^  is  used,  in  Isa.  xxxii.  5 
and  Job  xxxiv.  19,  in  the  sense  of  the  man  of  high  rank,  dis- 
tinguished for  his  prosperity,  which  is  quite  in  harmony  with 
the  passage  before  us.  Consequently  nipS  is  not  to  be  taken  in 
the  sense  of  visitation  or  punishment,  after  Jer.  1.  21 ;  but  the 
meaning  is  to  be  sought  in  the  verb  *ip3,  to  exercise  super- 
vision, or  lead ;  and  the  abstract  oversight  is  used  for  overseer, 
or  ruler,  as  an  equivalent  to  T'pQ.  Lastly,  according  to 
Rabbins,  the  Vulgate,  and  others,  V'ip  signifies  princes,  or 
nobles.     The  predicates  in  ver.  236  are  repeated  from  vers.  6 


330  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

and  12,  and  D'Siii?  alone  is  added.  This  is  a  word  taken  from 
the  Pentateucli,  where  the  heads  of  the  tribes  and  families,  as 
being  members  of  the  council  of  the  whole  congregation  of 
Israel,  are  called  '^'}V.'^  "'*?''"'i?  or  ^J;iJ^  ''^''"'i?,  persons  called  or 
summoned  to  the  meeting  (Num.  i.  16,  xvi.  2).  As  Michaelis 
has  aptly  observed,  "  he  describes  them  sarcastically  in  the  very 
same  way  in  which  he  had  previously  described  those  upon 
whom  she  doted." — There  is  a  difficulty  iu  explaining  the  an. 
Xey.  iVHj — for  which  many  aiss.  read  I^'H, — as  regards  not  only 
its  meaning,  but  its  position  in  the  sentence.  The  fact  that  it 
is  associated  with  ?3?J^  33t  would  seem  to  indicate  that  l^n  is 
also  either  an  implement  of  war  or  some  kind  of  weapon.  At 
the  same  time,  the  words  cannot  be  the  subject  to  ^5^21 ;  but  as 
the  expression  D''!3y  Pnpai,  which  follows,  clearly  shows,  they 
simply  contain  a  subordinate  definition  of  the  manner  in  whicli, 
or  the  things  with  which,  the  peoples  mentioned  in  vers.  23,  24 
will  come,  while  they  are  governed  by  the  verb  in  the  freest 
way.  The  attempts  which  Ewald  and  Hitzig  have  made  to 
remove  the  difficulty,  by  means  of  conjectures,  are  forced  and 
extremely  improbable.  Dn\^?r  ''^O?,  I  give  up  to  them  (not,  I 
place  before  them) ;  V.?r  I^J?  as  in  1  Kings  viii.  40,  to  deliver  up, 
or  give  a  thing  into  a  person's  hand  or  power,  ''^pp  is  used  in 
this  sense  in  Gen.  xiii.  9  and  xxiv.  51. — In  vers.  25,  26,  the 
execution  of  the  judgment  is  depicted  in  detail.  The  words, 
"  they  take  away  thy  nose  and  ears,"  are  not  to  be  interpreted, 
as  the  earlier  expositors  suppose,  from  the  custom  prevalent 
among  the  Egyptians  and  other  nations  of  cutting  off  the  nose 
of  an  adulteress ;  but  depict,  by  one  particular  exnmple,  the 
mutilation  of  prisoners  captured  by  their  enemies,  nnnx  :  not 
posterity,  which  by  no  means  suits  the  last  clause  of  the  verse, 
and  cannot  be  defended  from  the  usage  of  the  language  (see 
the  comm.  on  Amos  iv.  2) ;  but  the  last,  according  to  the  figure 
employed  in  the  first  clause,  the  trunk;  or,  following  the 
second  clause,  the  last  thing  remaining  in  Jerusalem,  after  the 
taking  away  of  the  sons  and  daughters,  i.e.  after  the  slaying 


CHAP.  XXIII.  22-35.  331 

and  the  deportation  of  the  inhabitants, — viz.  the  empty  houses. 
For  ver.  26,  compare  ch.  xvi.  39. — In  ver.  27,  "from  the  land 
of  Egypt"  is  not  equivalent  to  "dating  from  Egypt;"  for 
according  to  the  parallel  ^^p,  from  thee,  this  definition  does  not 
belong  to  ^^T,  "  thy  whoredom,"  but  to  ''^^'y^,  "  I  cause  thy 
whoredom  to  cease  from  Egypt"  (Hitzig). — For  ver.  28a, 
compare  ch.  xvi.  37 ;  for  ver.  28h,  vid.  ver.  17  above ;  and  for 
ver.  29,  see  vers.  25  and  26,  and  ch.  xvi.  39. — Ver.  31  looks 
back  to  ver.  13;  and  ver.  31  &  is  still  further  expanded  in 
vers.  32-34.  Judah  shall  drink  the  cup  of  the  wrathful 
judgment  of  God,  as  Samaria  has  done.  For  the  figure  of  the 
cup,  compare  Isa.  li.  17  and  Jer.  xxv.  15.  This  cup  is  described 
in  ver.  32  as  deep  and  wide,  i.e.  very  capacious,  so  that  whoever 
exhausts  all  its  contents  must  be  thoroughly  intoxicated.  n^Tin 
is  the  third  person  ;  but  the  subject  is  '^2"ip,  and  not  DID.  The 
greatness  or  breadth  of  the  cup  will  be  a  subject  of  laughter 
and  ridicule.  It  is  very  arbitrary  to  supply  "  to  thee"  so  as  to 
read :  will  be  for  laughter  and  ridicule  to  thee,  which  does  not 
even  yield  a  suitable  meaning,  since  it  is  not  Judah  but  the 
nations  who  laugh  at  the  cup.  Others  regard  i^^J}^  as  the 
second  person,  thou  wilt  become ;  but  apart  from  the  anomaly 
in  the  gender,  as  the  masculine  would  stand  for  the  feminine, 
Hitzig  has  adduced  the  forcible  objection,  that  according  to 
this  view  the  words  would  not  only  anticipate  the  explanation 
given  of  the  figure  in  the  next  verse,  but  would  announce  the 
consequences  of  the  pvi  piS?'  mentioned  there.  Hitzig  there- 
fore proposes  to  erase  the  words  from  "''nn  to  3P?=i  as  a  gloss, 
and  to  alter  n3"ip  into  n3")D :  which  contains  much,  is  very 
capacious.  But  there  is  not  sufficient  reason  to  warrant  such 
critical  violence  as  this.  Although  the  form  •''^IP  is  air.  Xey., 
it  is  not  to  be  rejected  as  a  nomen  subst.;  and  if  we  take 
^''sn^  i^^y?,  the  magnitude  to  hold,  as  the  subject  of  the 
sentence,  it  contains  a  still  further  description  of  the  cup, 
which  does  not  anticipate  what  follows,  even  though  the  cup 
will  be  an  object  of  laughter  and  ridicule,  not  so  much  for  its 


332  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

size,  as  because  of  its  being  destined  to  be  drunk  completely 
empty.  In  ver.  33  the  figure  and  the  fact  are  combined, — 
fi3),  lamentation,  misery,  being  added  to  li"^3^,  drunkenness, 
and  the  cup  being  designated  a  cup  of  devastation.  The 
figure  of  drinking  is  expanded  in  the  boldest  manner  in  ver.  34 
into  the  gnawing  of  the  fragments  of  the  cup,  and  the  tearing 
of  the  breasts  with  the  fragments. — In  ver.  35  the  picture  of 
the  judgment  is  closed  with  a  repetition  of  the  description  of 
the  nation's  guilt.  For  ver.  356,  compare  ch.  xvi.  52  and  58. 
Vers.  36-49.  Another  summary  of  the  sins  and  punishment 
of  the  two  women. — Ver.  36.  And  Jehovah  said  to  me,  Son  of 
man,  unit  thou  judge  Oholah  and  Oholibah,  then  shoiv  them  their 
abominations ;  Ver.  37.  For  they  have  committed  adultery,  and 
blood  is  in  their  hands ;  and  they  have  committed  adultery  icith 
their  idols ;  and  their  sons  also  ivhom  they  bare  to  me  they  have 
caused  to  pass  through  to  them  to  be  devoured.  Ver.  38.  Yea 
more,  they  have  done  this  to  me ;  they  have  defiled  my  sanctuary 
the  same  day,  and  have  desecrated  my  Sabbaths.  Ver.  39.  When 
they  slaughtered  their  sons  to  their  idols,  they  came  into  my 
sanctuary  the  same  day  to  desecrate  it;  and,  behold,  they  have 
acted  thus  in  the  midst  of  my  house.  Ver.  40.  Yea,  they  have 
even  sent  to  men  coming  from  afar ;  to  them  was  a  message  sent, 
and,  behold,  they  came,  for  lohom  thou  didst  bathe  thyself,  jmint 
thine  eyes,  and  put  07i  ornaments,  Ver.  41.  And  didst  seat  thy- 
self upon  a  splendid  cushion,  and  a  table  teas  spread  before  them, 
thou  didst  lay  thereon  my  incense  and  my  oil.  Ver.  42.  And  the 
loud  noise  became  still  thereat,  and  to  the  men  out  of  the  multitude 
there  were  brought  topers  out  of  the  desert,  and  they  'put  armlets 
upon  their  hands,  and  glorious  croions  upon  their  heads.  Ver.  43. 
Then  I  said  to  her  who  was  debilitated  for  adultery,  Noiv  icill 
her  whoredom  itself  go  whoring,  Ver.  44.  And  they  will  go  in  to 
her  as  they  go  in  to  a  ichore ;  so  did  they  go  in  to  Oholah  and 
Oholibah,  the  lewd  women.  Ver.  45.  But  righteous  men,  these 
shall  judge  them  according  to  the  judgment  of  adulteresses  and 
according  to  the  judgment  of  murderesses ;  for  they  are  adulter- 


CHAP.  XXIII.  3C-49.  333 

esses,  and  there  is  blood  in  their  hands.  Ver.  46.  Foj'  thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  I  loill  bring  up  against  them  an  assembly, 
and  deliver  them  up  for  maltreating  and  for  booty.  Ver.  47. 
And  the  assembly  shall  stone  them,  and  cut  them  in  pieces  loith 
their  swords  ;  their  sons  and  their  daughters  shall  they  kill,  and  burn 
their  houses  with  fire.  Ver.  48.  Thus  will  I  eradicate  lewdness 
from  the  land,  that  all  loomen  may  take  learning  and  not  practise 
lewdness  like  you.  Ver.  49.  And  they  shall  bring  your  lev)dness 
upon  you,  and  ye  shall  bear  the  sins  of  your  idols,  and  shall  learn 
that  I  am  the  Lord  Jehovah. — The  introductory  words  'iJI  tsis^'rin 
point  back  not  only  to  ch.  xxii.  2,  but  also  to  ch.  xx.  4,  and  show 
that  this  section  is  really  a  summary  of  the  contents  of  the  whole 
group  (ch.  XX.  23).  The  actual  subject-matter  of  these  verses 
is  closely  connected  with  ver.  16,  more  especially  in  the  desig- 
nation of  the  sins  as  adultery  and  bloodshed  (compare  vers.  37 
and  45  with  ch.  xvi.  38).  ''^"nx  5|X3,  to  commit  adultery  with 
the  idols,  whereby  the  idols  are  placed  on  a  par  with  Jehovah 
as  the  husband  of  Israel  (compare  Jer.  iii.  8  and  ii.  27).  For 
the  Moloch-worship  in  ver.  olb,  compare  ch.  xvi.  20,  21,  and 
ch.  XX.  31.  The  desecration  of  the  sanctuary  (ver.  38a)  is  more 
minutely  defined  in  ver.  39.  ^'^'^^  Di'3  in  ver.  38,  which  has 
so  offended  the  LXX.  and  Hitzig  that  it  is  omitted  by  the 
former,  while  the  latter  proposes  to  strike  it  out  as  a  gloss,  is 
added  for  the  purpose  of  designating  the  profanation  of  the 
sanctuary  as  contemporaneous  with  the  Moloch-worship  of 
ver.  37^,  as  is  evident  from  ver.  39.  For  the  fact  itself,  com- 
pare 2  Kings  xxi.  4,  5,  7.  The  desecration  of  the  Sabbaths,  as 
in  ch.  XX.  13,  16.  For  ver.  39a,  compare  ch.  xvi.  21.  The 
words  are  not  to  be  understood  as  signifying  that  they  sacrificed 
children  to  Moloch  in  the  temple,  but  simply  that  immediately 
after  they  had  sacrificed  children  to  Moloch,  they  went  into  the 
temple  of  Jehovah,  that  there  they  might  worship  Jehovah  also, 
and  thus  placed  Jehovah  upon  a  par  with  Moloch.  This  was 
a  profanation  (pfj})  of  His  sanctuary. 

In  vers.  40-44  the  allusion  is  not  to  actual  idolatry,  but  to 


ZM  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZE KIEL. 

the  ungodly  alliance  into  which  Juduh  had  entered  with 
Chaldea.  Judah  sent  ambassadors  to  Clialdea,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  receiving  the  Chaldeans,  adorned  herself  as  a  woman 
would  do  for  the  reception  of  her  paramours.  She  seated  her- 
self upon  a  splendid  divan,  and  in  front  of  this  there  was  a 
table  spread,  upon  which  stood  the  incense  and  the  oil  that  she 
ought  to  have  offered  to  Jehovah.  This  is  the  explanation 
which  Kliefoth  has  correctly  given  of  vers.  40  and  41.  The 
emphatic  ''3  ^1X1  in  ver.  40  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  refer- 
ence is  to  a  new  crime  deserving  of  punishment.  This  cannot 
be  idolatry,  because  the  worship  of  Moloch  has  already  been 
mentioned  in  vers.  38  and  39  as  the  worst  of  all  the  idolatrous 
abominations.  Moreover,  sending  for  (or  to)  men  who  come 
from  afar  does  not  apply  to  idolatry  in  the  literal  sense  of  the 
word ;  for  men  to  whom  the  harlot  sent  messengers  to  invite 
them  to  come  to  her  could  not  be  idols  for  which  she  sent  to  a 
distant  land.  The  allusion  is  rather  to  Assyrians  or  Chaldeans, 
and,  according  to  ver.  42,  it  is  the  former  who  are  referred  to 
here  (compare  Isa.  xxxix.  3).  There  is  no  force  in  Hitzig's 
objection,  namely,  that  the  one  woman  sent  to  these,  and  that 
their  being  sent  for  and  coming  have  already  been  disposed  of 
in  ver.  16.  For  the  singulars  in  the  last  clause  of  ver.  40  show 
that  even  here  only  one  woman  is  said  to  have  sent  for  the  men. 
Again,  n3n^L"n  might  even  be  the  third  person  singular,  as  this 
form  does  sometimes  take  the  termination  nj  (vid.  Ewald,  §  191c, 
and  Ges.  §  47,  Anm.  3).  At  the  same  time,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  fact  that  the  sending  to  Chaldea  has  already  been  men- 
tioned in  ver.  16  to  preclude  another  allusion  to  the  same 
circumstance  from  a  different  point  of  view.  The  woman 
adorned  herself  that  she  might  secure  the  favour  of  the  men 
for  whom  she  had  sent.  ^n3  is  the  Arabic  J^v^,  to  paint  the 
eyes  with  stibium  (Jcohol).  For  the  fact  itself,  see  the  remarks 
on  2  Kings  ix.  30.  She  then  seated  herself  upon  a  cushion 
(not  lay  down  upon  a  bed ;  for  SB'J  does  not  mean  to  lie  down), 
and  in  front  of  this  there  was  a  table,  spread  with  different 


CHAP.  XXIII.  OG-49,  335 

kinds  of  food,  upon  which  she  placed  incense  and  oil.  The 
suffix  to  rT'Pj;  refers  to  inpti*,  and  is  to  be  taken  as  a  neuter, 
which  suits  the  table  as  a  thing,  whilst  \^T^  generally  takes  the 
termination  ni  in  the  plural.  In  ver.  41,  Evvald  and  Hiivernick 
detect  a  description  of  the  lectisternia  and  of  the  licentious 
worship  of  the  Babylonian  Mylitta.  But  neither  the  sitting 
(ar^)  upon  a  cushion  (divan),  nor  the  position  taken  by  the 
woman  behind  the  table,  harmonizes  with  this.  As  Hitzig  has 
correctly  observed,  "  if  she  has  taken  her  seat  upon  a  cushion, 
and  has  a  table  spread  before  her,  she  evidently  intends  to  dine, 
and  that  with  the  men  for  whom  she  has  adorned  herself.  The 
oil  is  meant  for  anointing  at  meal-time  (Amos  vi.  6 ;  Prov. 
xxi.  17;  cf.  Ps.  xxiii.  5),  and  the  incense  for  burning."  "My 
incense  and  my  oil "  are  the  incense  and  oil  given  to  her  by 
God,  which  she  ought  to  have  devoted  to  His  service,  but  had 
squandered  upon  herself  and  her  foreign  friends  (cf.  ch.  xvi.  18  : 
Hos.  ii.  10).  The  oil,  as  the  produce  of  the  land  of  Palestine, 
was  the  gift  of  Jehovah ;  and  although  incense  was  not  a  pro- 
duction of  Palestine,  yet  as  the  money  with  which  Judah 
purchased  it,  or  the  goods  bartered  for  it,  were  the  gifts  of 
God,  Jehovah  could  also  call  it  His  incense.  Ver.  42  is  very 
obscure.  Such  renderings  of  the  first  clause  as  et  vox  multi- 
tudinis  exultantis  in  ea  (Vulg.),  and  "  the  voice  of  a  careless 
multitude  within  her"  (Havernick),  can  hardly  be  sustained. 
In  every  other  passage  in  which  lion  ^ip  occurs,  it  does  not  sig- 
nify the  voice  of  a  multitude,  but  a  loud  tumult ;  compare  Isa. 
xiii.  4,  xxxiii.  3,  Dan.  x.  6,  and  1  Sam.  iv.  14,  where  iiC'J\}  ''ip 
is  used  as  synonymous  with  nj^i'jrn  ?ip.  Even  in  cases  where 
f^^^  is  used  for  a  multitude,  it  denotes  a  noisy,  boisterous, 
tumultuous  crowd.  Consequently  v^  cannot  be  taken  as  an 
adjective  connected  with  iicn^  because  a  quiet  tumult  is  a  con- 
tradiction, and  "0^  does  not  mean  either  exultans  or  recklessly 
breaking  loose  (Havernick),  but  simply  living  in  quiet,  peace- 
ful and  contented,  v^  must  therefore  be  the  predicate  to 
i10n  7ip;  the  sound  of  the  tumult  or  the  loud  noise  was  (or 


336  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

became)  quiet,  still.  1^3,  thereat  (neuter,  like  '"^3,  thereby,  Gen. 
xxiv.  14).  The  words  which  follow,  'Ul  D^Ji?  ?^\  are  not  to 
be  taken  with  the  preceding  clause,  as  the  connection  would 
yield  no  sense.  They  belong  to  what  follows.  D■^^5  ^^^  2''*^'^^ 
can  only  be  the  men  who  came  from  afar  (ver.  40).  In  addi- 
tion to  these,  there  were  brought,  i.e.  induced  to  come,  topers 
from  the  desert.  The  Chetih  D^J^niD  is  no  doubt  a  participle  of 
t<2D^  drinkers,  topers ;  and  the  Hophal  Q'X3^D  is  chosen  instead 
of  the  Kal  2''X3,  for  the  sake  of  the  paronomasia,  with  D''xniD. 
The  former,  therefore,  can  only  be  the  Assyrians  (i^tl^X  ""Ja, 
vers.  5  and  7),  the  latter  (the  topers)  the  Chaldeans  (^'^n  ""^nj 
ver.  15).  The  epithet  drinkers  is  a  very  appropriate  one  for 
the  sons  of  Babylon  ;  as  Curtius  (ver.  1)  describes  the  Baby- 
lonians as  maxime  in  mnxim  et  quae  ehrietatem  sequuntur  effusi. 
The  phrase  "from  the  desert"  cannot  indicate  the  home  of 
these  men,  although  "53*1'?^  corresponds  to  pn""|>^  in  ver.  40,  but 
simply  the  place  from  which  they  came  to  Judah,  namely,  from 
the  desert  of  Syria  and  Arabia,  which  separated  Palestine  from 
Babylon.  These  peoples  decorated  the  arms  of  the  harlots 
with  clasps,  and  their  heads  with  splendid  wreaths  (crowns). 
The  plural  suffixes  indicate  that  the  words  apply  to  both  women, 
and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  they  are  both  named  in 
ver.  44.  The  subject  to  -l^ri'i  is  not  merely  the  2"'sniD,  but  also 
the  pni'?P  D""?'^^.  in  ver.  40.  The  thought  is  simply  that  Samaria 
and  Judah  had  attained  to  wealth  and  earthly  glory  through 
their  intercourse  with  these  nations ;  the  very  gifts  with  which, 
according  to  ch.  xvi.  11  sqq.,  Jehovah  Himself  had  adorned 
His  people.  The  meaning  of  the  verse,  therefore,  when  taken 
in  its  connection,  appears  to  be  the  following : — When  the 
Assyrians  began  to  form  alliances  with  Israel,  quiet  was  the 
immediate  result.  The  Chaldeans  were  afterwards  added  to 
these,  so  that  through  their  adulterous  intercourse  with  both 
these  nations  Israel  and  Judah  acquired  both  wealth  and  glory. 
The  sentence  which  God  pronounced  upon  this  conduct  was, 
that  Judah  had  sunk  so  deeply  into  adultery  that  it  would  be 


CHAP.  XXIII.  8G-49.  337 

impossible  for  it  ever  to  desist  from  the  sin.  This  is  the  ^Yay 
in  which  we  understand  ver.  43,  connecting  CSXJ  TV27  with 
*icxi :  "  I  said  concerning  her  who  was  debilitated  with  whore- 
dom." n73,  feminine  of  n?2,  used  up,  worn  out ;  see,  for 
example,  Josh.  ix.  4,  5,  where  it  is  appHed  to  clothes ;  here  it 
is  transferred  to  persons  decayed,  debihtated,  in  which  sense 
the  verb  occurs  in  Gen.  xviii.  12.  Q''??;^?,  which  is  co-ordinated 
with  ""173,  does  not  indicate  the  means  by  which  the  strength 
has  been  exhausted,  but  is  an  accusative  of  direction  or  refer- 
ence, debilitated  with  regard  to  adultery,  so  as  no  longer  to  be 
capable  of  practising  it.^  In  the  next  clause  'iJ^  njr  ny,  ^^"^^JT^l 
is  the  subject  to  n^r,  and  the  Chetib  is  correct,  the  Keri  being 
erroneous,  and  the  result  of  false  exposition.  If  irmjin  were 
the  object  to  HiJr,  so  that  the  woman  would  be  the  subject,  we 
should  have  the  feminine  n:rn.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
nTn^rn  is  the  subject,  there  is  no  necessity  for  this,  whether  we 
regard  the  word  as  a  plural,  from  D'^niiTH,  or  take  it  as  a  singular, 
as  Ewald  (§  259a)  has  done,  inasmuch  as  in  either  case  it  is 
still  an  abstract,  which  might  easily  be  preceded  by  the  verb  in 
the  masculine  form.  N^"^J  gives  greater  force,  not  only  to  the 
suffix,  but  also  to  the  noun — and  that  even  she  (her  whoredom). 
The  sin  of  whoredom  is  personified,  or  regarded  as  CJi^T  r\r\ 
(Hos.  iv.  12),  as  a  propensity  to  whoredom,  which  continues  in 
all  its  force  after  the  capacity  of  the  woman  herself  is  gone. — 
Ver.  44  contains  the  result  of  the  foregoing  description  of  the 
adulterous  conduct  of  the  two  women,  and  this  is  followed  in 
vers.  45  sqq.  by  an  account  of  the  attitude  assumed  by  God,  and 
the  punishment  of  the  sinful  women,  '^i^'lj  ^^'i^h  an  indefinite 
subject,  they  (nian,  one)  went  to  her.     yf?^.,  the  one  woman, 

^  The  proposal  of  Ewald  to  take  D"'2S3  TDlh  as  an  independent  clause, 
"  adultery  to  the  devil,"  cannot  be  defended  by  the  usage  of  the  language ; 
and  that  of  Hitzig,  "  the  Avithered  hag  practises  adultery,'"  is  an  unnatural 
invention,  inasmuch  as  p,  if  taken  as  nota  datici,  would  give  this  meaning : 
the  hag  has  (possesses)  adultery  as  her  property — and  there  is  nothiug  to 
indicate  that  it  should  be  taken  as  a  question. 

EZEK.  I.  Y 


338  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Oholibah.  It  is  only  in  the  apodosis  that  what  has  to  be  said 
is  extended  to  both  women.  This  is  the  only  interpretation 
of  ver.  44  which  does  justice  both  to  the  verb  ^*i3>1  (imperfect 
with  Vav  consec.  as  the  historical  tense)  and  the  perfect  'IJ^S. 
The  plural  W^  does  not  occur  anywhere  else.  Hitzig  would 
therefore  alter  it  into  the  singular,  as  "  unheard  of,"  and  con- 
fine the  attribute  to  Oholibah,  who  is  the  only  one  mentioned 
in  the  first  clause  of  the  verse,  and  also  in  vers.  43,  40,  and  41. 
The  judgment  upon  the  two  sisters  is  to  be  executed  by  right- 
eous men  (ver.  45).  The  Chaldeans  are  not  designated  as 
righteous  in  contrast  to  the  Israelites,  but  as  the  instruments  of 
tlie  punitive  righteousness  of  God  in  this  particular  instance, 
executing  just  judgment  upon  the  sinners  for  adultery  and  blood- 
shed (yid.  ch.  xvi.  38).  The  infinitives  iVV}}  and  pni  in  ver.  46 
stand  for  the  third  person  future.  For  other  points,  compare  the 
commentary  on  ch.  xvi.  40  and  41.  The  formula  niyp  |n3  is 
derived  from  Deut.  xxviii.  25,  and  has  been  explained  in  the 
exposition  of  that  passage.  i<i3i  is  the  inf.  abs.  Piel.  For  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  see  the  comm.  on  ch.  xxi.  24.  From  this 
judgment  all  women,  i.e.  all  nations,  are  to  take  warning  to 
desist  from  idolatry.  liDI!?  is  a  mixed  form,  compounded  of 
the  Niphal  and  Hithpael,  for  ^iis^^n,  like  IS??  in  Deut.  xxi.  8 
(see  the  comm.  in  loc). — For  ver.  49,  vid.  ch.  xvi.  58. — The 
punishment  is  announced  to  both  the  women,  Israel  and  Judah, 
as  still  in  the  future,  although  Oholah  (Samaria)  had  been 
overtaken  by  the  judgment  a  considerable  time  before.  The 
explanation  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  allegory  itself,  in  which 
both  kingdoms  are  represented  as  being  sisters  of  one  mother ; 
and  it  may  also  be  defended  on  the  ground  that  the  approach- 
ing destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  kingdom  of  Judah  affected 
the  remnants  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  which  were  still 
to  be  found  in  Palestine ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  the  judg- 
ment was  not  restricted  to  the  destruction  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
but  also  embraced  the  later  judgments  which  fell  upon  the 
entire  nation. 


CHAP.  XXIV.  1,  2.  339 

CHAP.   XXIV.    PREDICTION    OF   THE    DESTPvUCTION    OF 
JERUSALEM  BOTH  IN  PARABLE  AND  BY  SIGN. 

On  the  day  on  which  the  king  of  Babylon  commenced  the 
siege  and  blockade  of  Jerusalem,  this  event  was  revealed  by 
God  to  Ezekiel  on  the  Chaboras  (vers.  1  and  2)  ;  and  he  was 
commanded  to  predict  to  the  people  through  the  medium  of  a 
parable  the  fate  of  the  city  and  its  inhabitants  (vers.  3-14).  God 
then  foretold  to  him  the  death  of  his  own  wife,  and  commanded 
him  to  show  no  si^n  of  mournino;  on  account  of  it.  His  wife 
died  the  following  evening,  and  he  did  as  he  vv^as  commanded. 
When  he  was  asked  by  the  people  the  reason  of  this,  he  ex- 
plained to  them,  that  what  he  was  doing  was  symbolical  of 
the  way  in  which  they  were  to  act  when  Jerusalem  fell  (vers. 
15-24).  The  fall  would  be  announced  to  the  prophet  by  a 
fu'ntive,  and  then  he  would  no  loncrer  remain  mute,  but  would 
speak  to  the  people  again  (vers.  25-27). — Apart,  therefore,  from 
the  last  three  verses,  this  chapter  contains  two  words  of  God,  the 
first  of  which  unfolds  in  a  parable  the  approaching  calamities, 
and  the  result  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans 
(vers.  1-14) ;  whilst  the  second  typifies  by  means  of  a  sign  the 
pain  and  mourning  of  Israel,  namely,  of  the  exiles  at  the 
destruction  of  the  city  with  its  sanctuary  and  its  inhabitants. 
These  two  words  of  God,  being  connected  together  by  their 
contents,  were  addressed  to  the  prophet  on  the  same  day,  and 
that,  as  the  introduction  (vers.  1  and  2)  expressly  observes,  the 
day  on  which  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  king  of  Babylon 
began. 

Ver.  1.  And  the  icord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me  in  the  ninth 
year,  in  the  tenth  month,  on  the  tenth  of  the  month,  saying, 
Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  ivrite  for  thyself  the  name  of  the  day, 
this  same  day !  The  king  of  Babylon  has  fallen  upon  Jeru- 
salem this  same  day. — The  date  given,  namely,  the  tenth  day 
of  the  tenth  month  of  the  ninth  year  after  the  carrying  away 
of  Jehoiachin  (ch.  i.  2),  or  what  is  the  same   thing,  of  the 


340  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

reign  of  Zedekiali,  who  was  appointed  king  in  Lis  stead,  is 
mentioned  in  Jer.  Hi.  4,  xxxix.  1,  and  2  Kings  xxv.  1,  as  the 
day  on  wliich  Nebuchadnezzar,  blockaded  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
by  throwing  up  a  rampart ;  and  after  the  captivity  this  day  was 
still  kept  as  a  fast-day  in  consequence  (Zech.  viii.  19).  What 
was  tlius  taking  place  at  Jerusalem  was  revealed  to  Ezekiel  on 
the  Chaboras  the  very  same  day ;  and  he  was  instructed  to 
announce  it  to  the  exiles,  "  that  they  and  the  besieged  might 
learn  both  from  the  time  and  the  result,  that  the  destruction  of 
the  city  was  not  to  be  ascribed  to  chance  or  to  the  power  of  the 
Babylonians,  but  to  the  will  of  Him  who  had  long  ago  foretold 
that,  on  account  of  the  wickedness  of  the  inhabitants,  the  city 
would  be  burned  with  fire ;  and  that  Ezekiel  was  a  true  prophet, 
because  even  when  in  Babylon,  which  was  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance, he  had  known  and  had  publicly  announced  the  state  of 
Jerusalem."  The  detinite  character  of  this  prediction  cannot 
be  changed  into  a  vaticinium  post  eventum,  either  by  arbitrary 
explanations  of  the  words,  or  by  tlie  unfounded  hypothesis 
proposed  by  Hitzig,  that  the  day  was  not  set  down  in  this  de- 
finite form  till  after  the  event. — Writing  the  name  of  the  day 
is  equivalent  to  making  a  note  of  the  day.  The  reason  for  this 
is  given  in  ver.  2h,  namely,  because  Nebuchadnezzar  had  fallen 
upon  Jerusalem  on  that  very  day.  '^'rD  signifies  to  support, 
hold  up  (his  hand)  ;  and  hence  both  here  and  in  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  8 
the  meaning  to  press  violently  upon  anything.  The  rendering 
"  to  draw  near,"  which  has  been  forced  upon  the  word  from 
the  Syriac  (Ges.,  Winer,  and  others),  cannot  be  sustained. 

Vers.  3-14.  Payable  of  the  Pot  with  the  Boiling 
Pieces. — Ver.  3.  And  relate  a  parable  to  the  rebellious  house, 
and  say  to  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Set  on  the  pot,  set 
on  and  also  j^our  tvater  into  it.  Ver.  4.  Gather  its  pieces  of 
fle&h  into  it,  all  the  good  pieces,  haunch  and  shoulder,  Jill  it  loith 
choice  bones.  Ver.  5.  Take  the  choice  of  the  floch,  and  also  a 
pile  of  icood  underneath  for  the  bones ;  make  it  boil  well,  also 


CHAP.  XXIV.  S-14.  341 

cooh  its  bones  therein.  Ver.  6.  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Woe!  0  city  of  murders  !  0  pot  in  ichich  is  riisf^  and 
u'hose  rust  doth  not  depart  from  it;  ptVce  hy  piece  fetch  it  out, 
the  lot  hath  not  fallen  upon  it.  Ver.  7.  For  her  blood  is  in  the 
midst  of  her ;  she  hath  placed  it  upon  the  naked  rock  ;  she  hath 
not  poured  it  upon  the  ground,  that  they  might  cover  it  icith  dust. 
Ver.  8.  To  bring  up  fury,  to  take  vengeance,  I  have  made  her 
blood  come  upon  the  naked  rock,  that  it  might  not  be  covered. 
Ver.  9.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Woe  to  the  city 
of  murders  I  I  also  tcill  make  the  pile  of  ivood  great.  Ver.  10. 
Heap  %ip  the  icood,  stir  the  fire,  do  the  flesh  thoroughly,  make  the 
broth  boil,  that  the  bones  may  also  be  cooked  away.  Ver.  11. 
And  set  it  empty  upon  the  coals  thereof,  that  its  brass  may 
become  hot  and  gloioing,  that  the  uncleanness  thereof  may  melt 
within  it,  its  rust  pass  away.  Ver.  12.  He  hath  exhausted  the 
pains,  and  her  great  rust  doth  not  go  from  her ;  into  the  fire  with 
her  mist!  Ver.  13.  Li  thine  uncleanness  is  abomination;  be- 
cause I  have  cleansed  thee,  and  thou  hast  not  become  clean,  thou 
loilt  no  more  become  clean  from  thy  uncleanness,  till  I  quiet  my 
fury  xiponthee.  Ver.  14.  /  Jehovah  have  spoken  it;  it  cometh, 
and  I  icill  do  it;  I  will  not  cease,  nor  spare,  nor  let  it  repent  me. 
According  to  thy  ways,  and  according  to  thy  deeds,  shall  they 
judge  thee,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, 

The  contents  of  these  verses  are  called  ^'f'o,  a  proverb  or  par- 
able ;  and  Ezekiel  is  to  communicate  them  to  the  refractory 
generation.  It  follows  from  this  that  the  ensuing  act,  which 
the  prophet  is  commanded  to  perform,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
a  symbolical  act  which  he  really  carried  out,  but  that  the  act 
forms  the  substance  of  the  mdshCd,  in  other  words,  beloncrs  to 
the  parable  itself.  Consequently  the  interpretation  of  the 
parable  in  vers.  10  sqq.  is  clothed  in  the  form  of  a  thincr 
actually  done.  The  pot  with  the  pieces  of  flesh  and  the  bones, 
which  are  to  be  boiled  in  it  and  boiled  away,  represents  Jeru- 
salem with  its  inhabitants.  The  fire,  with  which  they  are 
boiled,  is  the  fire  of  war,  and  the  setting  of  the  pot  upon  the 


342  THE  PBOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

fire  is  the  commencement  of  the  siege,  by  which  tlie  popula- 
tion of  the  city  is  to  be  boiled  away  like  the  flesh  and  bones  in 
a  pot.  n?y'  is  used,  as  in  2  Kings  iv.  38,  to  signify  the  setting 
of  a  pot  by  or  upon  tlie  fire.  'iJI  ^35< :  put  in  its  pieces  all 
to(Tetlier.  O"*"'"???  '^^^  pieces  of  flesh,  i.e.  the  pieces  belonging  to 
the  cooking-pot.  These  are  defined  still  more  minutely  as  the 
best  of  the  pieces  of  flesh,  and  of  these  the  thigh  (haunch)  and 
shoulder  are  mentioned  as  the  most  important  pieces,  to  which 
the  choicest  of  the  bones  are  to  be  added.  This  is  rendered 
still  more  emphatic  by  the  further  instruction  to  take  the  choice 
of  the  flock  in  addition  to  these.  The  choicest  pieces  of  flesh 
and  the  pieces  of  bone  denote  the  strongest  and  ablest  portion 
of  the  population  of  the  city.  To  boil  these  pieces  away,  more 
especially  the  bones,  a  large  fire  is  requisite.  This  is  indicated 
by  the  words,  "  and  also  a  pile  of  wood  underneath  for  the 
bones."  "in  in  ver.  5,  for  which  nn^o  is  substituted  in 
ver.  9,  signifies  a  pile  of  wood,  and  occurs  in  this  sense  in 
Isa.  XXX.  33,  from  "m,  to  lay  round,  to  arrange,  pile  up. 
D^ovyn  "in  cannot  mean  a  heap  of  bones,  on  account  of  the 
article,  but  simply  a  pile  of  wood  for  the  (previously  mentioned) 
bones,  namely,  for  the  purpose  of  boiling  them  away.  If  we 
pay  attention  to  the  article,  we  shall  see  that  the  supposition 
that  Ezekiel  was  to  place  a  heap  of  bones  under  the  pot,  and  the 
alteration  proposed  by  Bottcher,  Ewald,  and  Hitzig  of  D"'PVJ{n 
into  Ci'Vy,  are  alike  untenable.  Even  if  "in  in  itself  does  not 
mean  a  pile  of  wood,  but  simply  strues,  an  irregular  heap,  the 
fact  that  it  is  wood  which  is  piled  up  is  appai'ent  enough  from 
the  context.  If  Ci''Oyyn  had  grown  out  of  D"'>*y  through  a 
corruption  of  the  text,  under  the  influence  of  the  preceding 
D'Diy,  it  would  not  have  had  an  article  prefixed.  Hitzig  also 
proposes  to  alter  n^nrn  into  i^'nrii,  though  without  any  necessity. 
The  fact  that  D'H^n  does  not  occur  again  proves  nothing  at  all. 
The  noun  is  added  to  the  verb  to  intensify  its  force,  and  is 
plurale  taut,  in  the  sense  of  boiling.  'l31  ^i'^'^-Da  is  dependent 
upon  the  previous  clause  Da  taking  the  place  of  the  copula- 


CHAP.  XXIV.  3-14.  343 

live  1.     On  ^'^%  to  be  cooked,  thoroughly  done,  see  the  comm. 
on  Ex.  xii.  9. 

In  vers.  6-8  the  interpretation  of  the  parable  is  given,  and 
that  in  two  trains  of  thought  introduced  by  I??  (vers.  6  and  9). 
The  reason  for  commencing  with  I?^,  therefore,  may  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  in  the  parable  contained  in  vers.  3  sqq.,  or 
more  correctly  in  the  blockade  of  Jerusalem,  which  furnished 
the  occasion  for  the  parable,  the  judgment  about  to  burst  upon 
Jerusalem  is  plainly  indicated.  The  train  of  thought  is  the 
following: — Because  the  judgment  upon  Jerusalem  is  now  about 
to  commence,  therefore  woe  to  her,  for  her  blood-guiltiness  is 
so  great  that  she  must  be  destroyed.  But  the  punishment 
answering  to  the  magnitude  of  the  guilt  is  so  distributed  in  the 
two  strophes,  vers.  6-8  and  vers.  9-13,  that  the  first  strophe 
treats  of  the  punishment  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem ;  the 
second,  of  the  punishment  of  the  city  itself.  To  account  for  the 
latter  feature,  there  is  a  circumstance  introduced  which  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  parable  itself,  namely,  the  rust  upon  the  pot, 
and  the  figure  of  the  pot  is  thereby  appropriately  extended. 
Moreover,  in  the  explanation  of  the  parable  the  figure  and  the 
fact  pass  repeatedly  the  one  into  the  other.  Because  Jeru- 
salem is  a  city  of  murders,  it  resembles  a  pot  on  which  there 
are  spots  of  rust  that  cannot  be  removed.  Ver.  Qb  is  difficult, 
and  has  been  expounded  in  various  ways.  The  7  before  the 
twofold  n''nn3  is,  no  doubt,  to  be  taken  distributively :  accord- 
ing to  its  several  pieces,  i.e.  piece  by  piece,  bring  it  out.  But 
the  suffix  attached  to  nx^in  cannot  be  taken  as  referring  to 
Tp,  as  Kliefoth  proposes,  for  this  does  not  yield  a  suitable 
meaning.  One  would  not  say  :  bring  out  the  pot  by  its  pieces 
of  flesh,  when  nothing  more  is  meant  than  the  bringing  of  the 
pieces  of  flesh  out  of  the  pot.  And  this  difficulty  is  not 
removed  by  giving  to  ^''^in  the  meaning  to  reach  hither.  For, 
apart  from  the  fact  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  usage  of  the 
language  to  sustain  the  meaning,  reach  it  hither  for  the  purpose 
of  setting  it  upon  the  fire,  one  would  not  say :  reach  hither 


344  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

the  pot  according  to  its  several  pieces  of  flesh,  piece  by  piece, 
when  all  that  was  meant  was,  bring  liither  the  pot  filled 
with  pieces  of  flesli.  The  suffix  to  ns^Vin  refers  to  the  city 
p'V),  i'C.  to  its  population,  "  to  which  the  blood-guiltiness 
really  adhered,  and  not  to  its  collection  of  houses"  (Ilitzio-). 
It  is  only  in  appearance  also  that  the  suffix  to  9''nri3  refers  to 
the  pot;  actually  it  refers  to  the  city,  i.e.  to  the  whole  of  its 
population,  the  different  individuals  in  which  are  the  separate 
pieces  of  flesh.  The  meaning  of  the  instructions  therefore  is 
by  no  means  doubtful :  the  whole  of  the  population  to  be  found 
in  Jerusalem  is  to  be  brought  out,  and  that  without  any  excep- 
tion, inasmuch  as  the  lot,  which  would  fall  upon  one  and  not 
upon  another,  will  not  be  cast  upon  her.  There  is  no  necessity 
to  seek  for  any  causal  connection  between  the  reference  to  the 
rust  upon  the  pot  and  the  bringing  out  of  the  pieces  of  flesh 
that  are  cooking  within  it,  and  to  take  the  words  as  signifying 
that  all  the  pieces,  which  had  been  rendered  useless  by  the  rust 
upon  the  pot,  were  to  be  taken  out  and  thrown  away  (Haver- 
nick)  ;  but  through  the  allusion  to  the  rust  the  interpretation 
already  passes  beyond  the  limits  of  the  figure.  The  pieces  of 
flesh  are  to  be  brought  out,  after  they  have  been  thoroughly 
boiled,  to  empty  the  pot,  that  it  may  then  be  set  upon  the  fire 
again,  to  burn  out  the  rust  adhering  to  it  (ver.  11).  There  is 
no  force  in  Kliefoth's  objection,  that  this  exposition  does  not 
agree  with  the  context,  inasmuch  as,  "  according  to  the  last 
clause  of  ver.  5  and  vers.  10  and  11,  the  pieces  of  flesh  and 
even  the  bones  are  not  to  be  taken  out,  but  to  be  boiled  away 
by  a  strong  fire;  and  the  pot  is  to  become  empty  not  by  the 
fact  that  the  pieces  of  flesh  are  taken  out  and  thrown  away, 
but  by  the  pieces  being  thoroughly  boiled  away,  first  to  broth 
and  then  to  nothing."  For  "  boiling  away  to  nothing"  is  not 
found  in  the  text,  but  simply  that  even  the  bones  are  to  be 
thoroughly  done,  so  as  to  turn  into  the  softness  of  jelly. — So 
far  as  the  fact  is  concerned,  we  cannot  follow  the  majority  of 
commentators,  who  suppose  that  the  reference  is  simply  to  the 


CHAP.  XXIV.  S-14.  o-i5 

carrying  away  of  the  inhabitants  into  exile.  Bringing  the 
pieces  of  flesh  out  of  the  pot,  denotes  the  sweeping  away  of  the 
inhabitants  from  the  city,  whether  by  death  (vid.  ch.  xi.  7)  or 
by  their  being  carried  away  captive.  The  city  is  to  be  emptied 
of  men  in  consequence  of  its  being  blockaded  by  the  king  of 
Babylon.  The  reason  of  this  is  given  in  vers.  7  and  8,  where 
the  guilt  of  Jerusalem  is  depicted.  The  city  has  shed  blood, 
which  is  not  covered  with  earth,  but  has  been  left  uncovered, 
like  blood  poured  out  upon  a  hard  rock,  which  the  stone  cannot 
absorb,  and  which  cries  to  God  for  vengeance,  because  it  is  un- 
covered (cf.  Gen.  iv.  10  ;  Job  xvi.  18;  and  Isa.  xxvi.  21).  The 
thought  is  this :  she  has  sinned  in  an  insolent  and  shameless 
manner,  and  has  done  nothing  to  cover  her  sin,  has  shown  no 
sign  of  repentance  or  atonement,  by  which  she  might  have 
got  rid  of  her  sin.  This  has  all  been  ordered  by  God.  He 
has  caused  the  blood  that  was  shed  to  fall  upon  a  bare  rock, 
that  it  might  lie  uncovered,  and  He  might  be  able  to  execute 
vengeance  for  the  crime. 

The  second  turn  in  the  address  (ver.  9)  commences  in  just 
the  same  manner  as  the  first  in  ver.  6,  and  proceeds  with  a 
further  picture  of  the  execution  of  punishment.  To  avent^e 
the  guilt,  God  will  make  the  pile  of  wood  large,  and  stir  up  a 
fierce  fire.  The  development  of  this  thought  is  given  in  ver.  10 
in  the  form  of  a  command  addressed  to  the  prophet,  to  put 
much  wood  underneath,  and  to  kindle  a  fire,  so  that  both  flesh 
and  bones  may  boil  away.  Dririj  from  D^ri,  to  finish,  complete  ; 
with  "lt^'3,  to  cook  thoroughly.  There  are  differences  of  opinion 
as  to  the  true  meaning  of  nni^"}^n  rii^nn  •  but  the  rendering  some- 
times given  to  ni^"i,  namely,  to  spice,  is  at  all  events  unsuitable, 
and  cannot  be  sustained  by  the  usage  of  the  language.  It  Is 
true  that  in  Ex.  xxx.  25  sqq.  the  verb  ni^n  is  used  for  the  pre- 
paration of  the  anointing  oil,  but  it  is  not  the  mixing  of  the 
different  ingredients  that  is  referred  to,  but  in  all  probability 
the  thorough  boiling  of  the  spices,  for  the  purpose  of  extracting 
their  essence,  so  that  "  thorough  boiling  "  is  no  doubt  the  true 


346  TCE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

meaning  of  the  word.  In  Job  xli.  23  (31),  ^'^\P^  is  the 
boiling  unguent-pot.  ^"^^^  is  a  cohortative  Hiphil,  from  iin,  to 
become  red-hot,  to  be  consumed. — Ver.  11.  When  the  flesh 
and  bones  liave  thus  been  thoroughly  boiled,  the  pot  is  to  be 
placed  upon  the  coals  empty,  that  the  rust  upon  it  may  be 
burned  away  by  the  heat.  The  emptying  of  the  pot  or  kettle 
by  pouring  out  the  flesh,  which  has  been  boiled  to  broth,  is 
passed  over  as  self-evident.  The  uncleanness  of  the  pot  is  the 
rust  upon  it.  ^^^  is  an  Aramaean  form  for  DF.n  =  Driri. 
Michaelis  has  given  the  true  explanation  of  the  words  :  "  civi- 
bus  caesis  etiam  urhs  consumetur "  (when  the  inhabitants  are 
slain,  the  city  itself  will  be  destroyed).^ — In  vers.  12  sqq.  the 
reason  is  given,  which  rendered  it  necessary  to  inflict  this 
exterminating  judgment.  In  ver.  12  the  address  still  keeps  to 
the  figure,  but  in  ver.  13  it  passes  over  to  the  actual  fact.  It 
(the  pot)  has  exhausted  the  pains  (Q"'^^'!!,  air.  Xej.),  namely,  as 
ver.  13  clearly  shows,  the  pains,  or  wearisome  exertions,  to  make 
it  clean  by  milder  means,  and  not  (as  Hitzig  erroneously  infers 
from  the  following  clause)  to  eat  away  the  rust  by  such 
extreme  heat.  ^^?\},  third  pers.  Hiphil  of  ns?,  is  the  earlier 
form,  which  fell  into  almost  entire  disuse  in  later  times  (vid. 

1  Hitzig  discovers  a  Hysterovproteron  in  this  description,  because  the 
cleaning  of  the  pot  ought  to  have  preceded  the  cooking  of  the  flesh  in  it, 
and  not  to  have  come  afterwards,  and  also  because,  so  far  as  the  actual 
fact  is  concerned,  the  rust  of  sin  adhered  to  the  people  of  the  city,  and  not 
to  the  city  itself  as  a  collection  of  houses.  But  neither  of  these  objections 
is  sufficient  to  prove  what  Hitzig  wants  to  establish,  namely,  that  the 
untenable  character  of  the  description  shows  that  it  is  not  really  a  prophecy  ; 
nor  is  there  any  force  in  them.  It  is  true  that  if  one  intended  to  boil 
flesh  in  a  pot  for  the  purpose  of  eating,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  would 
be  to  cleah  the  pot  itself.  But  this  is  not  the  object  in  the  present  instance. 
The  flesh  was  simply  to  be  thoroughly  boiled,  that  it  might  be  destroyed 
and  thrown  away,  and  there  was  no  necessity  to  clean  the  pot  for  this 
purpose.  And  so  far  as  the  second  objection  is  concerned,  the  defilement 
of  sin  does  no  doubt  adhere  to  man,  though  not,  as  Hitzig  assumes,  to  man 
alone.  According  to  the  Old  Testament  view,  it  extends  to  things  as  well 
{vid.  Lev.  xviii.  25,  xxvii.  28).  Thus  leprosy,  for  example,  did  not  pollute 
men  only,  but  clothes  and  houses  also.  And  for  the  same  reason  judg- 
ments were  not  restricted  to  men,  but  also  fell  upon  cities  and  lands. 


CHAP.  XXIV.  15-21  3i7 

Ges.  §  75,  Anm.  1).  The  last  words  of  ver.  11,  I  agree  with 
Hitzig,  Havernick,  and  others,  in  taking  as  an  exclamation. 
Because  the  pot  has  exhausted  all  the  efforts  made  to  cleanse 
it,  its  rust  is  to  go  into  the  fire.  In  ver.  13  Jerusalem  is 
addressed,  and  nsr  is  not  a  genitive  belonging  to  TjrisODB,  "  on 
account  of  thy  licentious  uncleanness"  (Ewald  and  Hitzig), 
but  a  predicate,  "  in  thine  uncleanness  is  (there  lies)  nET,  i.e. 
an  abomination  deserving  of  death"  (see  Lev.  xviii.  17  and 
XX.  14,  where  the  fleshly  sins,  which  are  designated  as  zimmdh, 
are  ordered  to  be  punished  with  death).  The  cleansings  which 
God  had  attempted,  but  without  Jerusalem  becoming  clean, 
consisted  in  the  endeavour,  which  preceded  the  Chaldean  Judg- 
ment of  destruction,  to  convert  the  people  from  their  sinful 
ways,  partly  by  threats  and  promises  communicated  through 
the  prophets  (vid.  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15),  and  partly  by  means  of 
chastisements.  For  n»n  ry^T\^  see  ch.  v.  13.  In  ver.  14  there 
is  a  summary  of  the  wdiole,  which  brings  the  threat  to  a 
close. 

Vers.  15-24.  The  Sign  of  silent  Sorrow  concerning 
THE  Destruction  of  Jerusalem. — Ver.  15.  And  the  loord 
of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  16.  Son  of  man,  behold,  I 
take  from  thee  thine  eyes  delight  hy  a  stroke,  and  thou  shall  not 
m,ourn  nor  loeep,  and  no  tear  shall  come  from  thee.  Ver.  17. 
Sigh  in  silence ;  lamentation  for  the  dead  thou  shall  not  make ; 
bind  thy  head-attire  upon  thee,  and  put  thy  shoes  upon  thy  feet, 
and  do  not  cover  thy  beard,  and  eat  not  the  bread  of  men. 
Ver.  18.  And  I  spake  to  the  people  in  the  morning,  and  in  the 
evening  my  wife  died,  and  I  did  in  the  morning  as  I  teas  com- 
manded. Ver.  19.  Then  the  people  said  to  me,  Wilt  thou  not 
show  us  ivhat  this  signifies  to  us  that  thou  doest  so  ?  Ver.  20. 
Aiid  I  said  to  them,  The  ivord  of  Jehovah  has  come  to  me,  saying, 
Ver.  21.  Say  to  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Behold,  I  will  prof ane  my  sanctuary,  the  pride  of  your  strength, 
the  delight  of  your  eyes,  and  the  desire  of  your  soul ;  and  your 


343  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

sons  and  your  daughters,  ichoni  ye  have  I'ft,  ivill  fall  hy  the 
sioord.  Ver.  22.  TheJi  ivill  ye  do  as  I  have  done,  ye  loill  not 
cover  the  heard,  nor  eat  the  bread  of  men ;  Ver.  23.  And  ye  will 
have  your  head-attire  upon  your  heads,  and  your  shoes  upon  your 
feet;  ye  will  not  mourn  nor  weep,  hut  ivill  pine  away  in  your 
inicjuity,  and  shjh  one  toward  another.  Ver.  24.  Thus  will 
Ezekiel  he  a  sign  to  you ;  as  he  hath  done  ivill  ye  do  ;  ivhen 
it  cometh,  ye  will  know  that  I  the  Lord  am  Jehovah. — From 
the  statements  in  ver.  18,  to  the  effect  tliat  tlie  propliet 
spoke  to  the  people  in  the  morning,  and  then  in  the  evening 
his  wife  died,  and  then  again  in  the  (following)  morning, 
according  to  the  command  of  God,  he  manifested  no  grief,  and 
in  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  the  people  explained  to  them  the 
meaning  of  what  he  did,  it  is  evident  that  the  word  of  God 
contained  in  this  section  came  to  him  on  the  same  day  as  the 
preceding  one,  namely,  on  the  day  of  the  blockade  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  for  what  he  said  to  the  people  on  the  morning  of  this 
day  (ver.  18)  is  the  prophecy  contained  in  vers.  3-14.  Imme- 
diately after  He  had  made  this  revelation  to  him,  God  also 
announced  to  him  the  approaching  death  of  his  wife,  together 
with  the  significance  which  this  event  would  have  to  the  people 
generall}'.  The  delight  of  the  eyes  (ver.  IG)  is  his  wife 
(ver.  18)  nS3?D3  by  a  stroke,  i.e.  by  a  sudden  death  inflicted  by 
God  {vid.  Num.  xiv.  37,  xvii.  13).  On  the  occurrence  of  her 
death,  he  is  neither  to  allow  of  any  loud  lamentings,  nor  to 
manifest  any  sign  of  grief,  but  simply  to  sigh  in  silence.  D^ri'j 
/>3N  does  not  stand  for  CHD  73X,  but  the  words  are  both  accu- 
satives. The  literal  rendering  would  be :  the  dead  shalt  thou 
not  make  an  object  of  mourning,  i.e.  thou  shalt  not  have  any 
mourning  for  the  dead,  as  Storr  {Ohservv.  p.  19)  has  correctly 
explained  the  words.  On  occasions  of  mourning  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  uncover  the  head  and  strew  ashes  upon  it  (Isa.  Ixi.  3), 
to  go  barefoot  (2  Sam.  xv.  30;  Isa.  xx.  2),  and  to  cover  the 
beard,  that  is  to  say,  the  lower  part  of  the  face  as  far  as  the  nose 
(Mic.  iii.  7).     Ezekiel  is  not  to  do  any  of  these  things,  but 


CHAP.  XXIV.  15-24.  349 

to  arrange  liis  head-attire  ("|^^2,  the  head-attire  generally,  or 
turban,  vid.  ver.  23  and  Isa.  Ixi.  3,  and  not  specially  that  of  the 
priests,  which  is  called  nyzisn  i-ix|  in  Ex.  xxxix.  28),  and  to 
put  on  his  shoes,  and  also  to  eat  no  mourning  bread.  C^U'jS  UiV 
does  not  mean  pa^iis  miserorum^  cibus  lugentlum^  in  wliich  case 
D"'l:'JX  would  be  equivalent  to  C''"J']Xj  but  bread  of  men,  i.e.  of 
the  people,  that  is  to  say,  according  to  the  context,  bread  which 
the  people  were  accustomed  to  send  to  the  house  of  mourning 
in  cases  of  death,  to  manifest  their  sympathy  and  to  console 
and  refresh  the  mourners, — a  custom  which  gave  rise  in  the 
course  of  time  to  that  of  formal  funeral  meals.  These  are  not 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament :  but  the  sendinfj  of  bread  or 
food  to  the  house  of  mourning  is  clearly  referred  to  in  Deut. 
xxvi.  14,  Hos.  ix.  4,  and  Jer.  xvi.  7  (see  also  2  Sam.  iii.  35). — 
When  Ezekiel  thus  abstained  from  all  lamentation  and  outward 
sign  of  mourning  on  the  death  of  his  dearest  one,  the  people 
conjectured  that  such  striking  conduct  must  have  some  signi- 
ficance, and  asked  him  what  it  was  that  he  intended  to  show 
thereby.  He  then  announced  to  them  the  word  of  God  (vers. 
20—24).  As  his  dearest  one,  his  wdfe,  had  been  taken  from  him, 
so  should  its  dearest  object,  the  holy  temple,  be  taken  from  the 
nation  by  destruction,  and  their  children  by  the  sword.  When 
this  occurred,  then  would  they  act  as  he  was  doing  now ;  they 
Avould  not  mourn  and  weep,  but  simply  in  their  gloomy  sorrow 
sigh  in  silence  on  account  of  their  sins,  and  groan  one  toward 
another.  The  profanation  (>}}})  of  the  sanctuary  is  effected 
through  its  destruction  (cf.  ch.  vii.  24).  To  show  the  magnitude 
of  the  loss,  the  worth  of  the  temple  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation 
is  dwelt  upon  in  the  following  clauses.  CjDiy  |i5<2  is  taken  from 
Lev.  xxvi.  19.  The  temple  is  called  the  pride  of  your  strength, 
because  Israel  based  its  might  and  strength  upon  it  as  the  scene 
of  the  gracious  presence  of  God,  living  in  the  hope  that  the 
Lord  would  not  give  up  His  sanctuary  to  the  heathen  to  be 
destroyed,  but  would  defend  the  temple,  and  therewith  Jeru- 
salem and  its  inhabitants  also  (cf.  Jer.  vii.  4).      D3l"'S3  h)2n'q^ 


350  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZIIKIEL. 

the  desire  or  longing  of  the  soul  (from  -'On,  in  Arabic,  desiderio 
ferri  ad  aliquam  rem).  The  sons  and  daughters  of  the  people 
are  the  relatives  and  countrymen  whom  the  exiles  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  behind  in  Canaan. — The  explanation  of  this 
lamentation  and  mourning  on  account  of  the  destruction  of  the 
sanctuary  and  death  of  their  relations,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
antithesis :  '1^3  DriJDOJi,  ye  will  pine  or  languish  away  in  your 
iniquities  (compare  ch.  iv.  17  and  Lev.  xxvi.  39).  Conse- 
quently we  have  not  to  imagine  either  "  stolid  indifference  " 
(Eichhorn  and  Hitzig),  or  "  stolid  impenitence"  (Ewald),  but 
overwhelming  grief,  for  which  there  were  no  tears,  no  lamenta- 
tion, but  only  deep  inward  sighing  on  account  of  the  sins  which 
had  occasioned  so  terrible  a  calamity.  ^\}'^,  lit.  to  utter  a  deep 
growl,  like  the  bears  (Isa.  lix.  11)  ;  here  to  sigh  or  utter  a  deep 
groan.  "One  toward  another,"  i.e.  manifesting  the  grief  to 
one  another  by  deep  sighs ;  not  "  full  of  murmuring  and  seek- 
ing the  sin  which  occasioned  the  calamity  in  others  rather  than 
in  themselves,"  as  Hitzig  supposes.  The  latter  exposition  is 
entirely  at  variance  with  the  context.  This  grief,  which  con- 
sumes the  bodily  strength,  leads  to  a  clear  perception  of  the 
sin,  and  also  to  true  repentance,  and  through  penitence  and 
atonement  to  regeneration  and  newness  of  life.  And  thus  will 
they  attain  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Lord  through  the  catastrophe 
which  bursts  upon  them  (cf.  Lev.  xxvi.  40sqq.).  For  ^P)^^  a 
sign,  see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  iv.  21. 

Vers.  25-27.  Sequel  of  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem 
,  TO  the  Prophet  himself. — Ver.  25.  And  thou,  son  of  man^ 
behold,  in  the  day  ichen  I  take  from  them  their  might,  their 
glorious  joy,  the  delight  of  their  eyes  and  the  desire  of  their  soul, 
their  sons  and  their  daughters,  Ver.  26.  In  that  day  tvill  a 
fugitive  come  to  thee,  to  tell  it  to  thine  ears.  Ver.  27.  In 
that  day  will  thy  mouth  he  opened  loith  the  fugitive,  and  thou 
tvilt  speak,  and  no  longer  be  mute ;  and  thus  shalt  thou  be  a 
sign    to    them  that    they   may   knoio  that   I  am   Jehovah. — As 


CHAP.  XXIV.  25-27.  351 

the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  would  exert  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  future  history  of  the  exiles  on  the  Chaboras,  and 
be  followed  by  most  important  results,  so  was  it  also  to  be  a 
turning-point  for  the  prophet  himself  in  the  execution  of  his 
calling.  Hiivernick  has  thus  correctly  explained  the  connection 
between  these  closing  verses  and  what  precedes,  as  indicated  by 
nriX"!  in  ver.  25.  As  Ezekiel  up  to  this  time  was  to  speak  to 
the  people  only  when  the  Lord  gave  him  a  word  for  them,  and 
at  other  times  was  to  remain  silent  and  dumb  (ch.  iii.  26  and 
27) ;  from  the  day  on  which  a  messenger  should  come  to  bring 
him  the  tidings  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple, 
he  was  to  open  his  mouth,  and  not  continue  dumb  any  longer. 
The  execution  of  this  word  of  God  is  related  in  ch.  xxxiii.  21,  22. 
The  words,  "  when  I  take  from  them  their  strength,"  etc.,  are 
to  be  understood  in  accordance  with  ver.  21.  Consequently 
Djyo  is  the  sanctuary,  wdiich  was  taken  from  the  Israelites 
through  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  predicates  which 
follow  down  to  D"fS3  xc'O  refer  to  the  temple  (cf.  ver.  21). 
K'SJ  NtJ'Dj  an  object  toward  which  the  soul  lifts  itself  up 
(Nb'J)j  i.e.  for  which  it  cherishes  a  desire  or  longing;  hence 
synonymous  with  ^P},  ''P'?'?  in  ver.  21.  The  sons  and  daughters 
are  attached  aavvBeTco<;.  i^'^^\}  Oi'3  (in  that  day),  in  ver.  26, 
which  resumes  the  words  'l^l  ''^np  Di"'3  (in  the  day  when  I  take 
etc.)  in  ver.  25,  is  not  the  day  of  the  destruction  of  the  temple, 
but  generally  the  time  of  this  event,  or  more  precisely,  the  day 
on  which  the  tidings  would  reach  the  prophet,  t^^sn^  with  the 
generic  article,  a  fugitive  (vid.  Gen.  xiv.  13).  D^^'^^  n^V^i:''rp^  to 
cause  the  ears  to  hear  (it),  i.e.  to  relate  it,  namely  to  the  bodily 
ears  of  the  prophet,  whereas  he  had  already  heard  it  in  spirit 
from  God.  riiyoC'n,  a  verbal  noun,  used  instead  of  the  infini- 
tive Hiphil.  to^snTiXj  with  the  escaped  one,  i.e.  at  the  same 
time  "  with  the  mouth  of  the  fugitive"  (Hitzig).  ris  expresses 
association,  or  so  far  as  the  fact  is  concerned,  simultaneousness. 
The  words,  "  then  wilt  thou  speak,  and  no  longer  be  dumb,"  do 
not  imply  that  it  was  only  from  that  time  forward  that  Ezekiel 


352  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

was  to  keep  silence,  but  point  back  to  ch.  ill.  20  and  27,  where 
silence  is  imposed  upon  him,  with  the  exceptions  mentioned 
there,  from  the  very  commencement  of  his  ministry ;  and  in 
comparison  with  that  passage,  simply  involve  iwplicite  the 
thought  that  the  silence  imposed  upon  him  then  was  to  be 
observed  in  the  strictest  manner  from  the  present  time  until 
the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  when 
his  mouth  would  be  opened  once  more.  Through  the  "  words 
of  God"  that  were  given  to  His  prophet  (ch.  iv.-xxiv.),  the 
Lord  had  now  said  to  the  people  of  Israel  all  that  He  had  to 
say  concerning  the  approaching  catastrophe  for  them  to  con- 
sider and  lay  to  heart,  that  they  might  be  brought  to  acknow- 
ledge their  sin,  and  turn  with  sorrow  and  repentance  to  their 
God.  Therefore  was  Ezekiel  from  this  time  forward  to  keep 
perfect  silence  toward  Israel,  and  to  let  God  the  Lord  speak 
by  His  acts  and  the  execution  of  His  threatening  words.  It 
was  not  till  after  the  judgment  had  commenced  that  his  mouth 
was  to  be  opened  again  for  still  further  announcements  {vid. 
ch.  xxxiii.  22). — Ezekiel  was  tliereby  to  become  a  sign  to  the 
Israelites.  These  words  have  a  somewhat  different  meaning  in 
ver.  27  from  that  which  they  have  in  ver.  24.  There,  Ezekiel, 
by  the  way  in  which  he  behaved  at  the  death  of  his  wife,  was 
to  be  a  sign  to  the  people  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  to 
act  when  the  judgment  should  fall  upon  Jerusalem ;  whereas 
here  (ver.  27),  riair:)^  refers  to  Ihe  whole  of  the  ministry  of  the 
prophet,  his  silence  hitherto,  and  that  which  he  was  still  to 
observe,  as  well  as  his  future  words.  Through  both  of  these 
he  was  to  exhibit  himself  to  his  countrymen  as  a  man  whose 
silence,  speech,  and  action  were  alike  marvellous  and  full  of 
meanincT  to  them,  and  all  designed  to  lead  them  to  the  know- 
led'TC  of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  their  salvation. 


CHAP.  XXV.-XXXII.  353 


Chap.  XXV.-XXXIL— PEEDICTIONS  OF  JUDGMENT 
UPON  THE  HEATHEN  NATIONS. 

While  the  prophet's  mouth  was  to  be  mute  to  Israel,  the 
Lord  directed  him  to  speak  against  the  heathen  nations,  and  to 
foretell  to  them  the  judgment  of  destruction,  that  they  might 
not  be  lifted  up  by  tlie  fall  of  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God, 
but  might  recognise  in  the  judgment  upon  Israel  a  work  of  the 
omnipotence  and  righteousness  of  the  Lord,  the  Judge  of  the 
whole  earth.  There  are  seven  heathen  nations  whose  destruc- 
tion Ezekiel  foretells  in  this  section  of  his  book,  viz.  (1)  Ammon  ; 
(2)  Moab  ;  (3)  Edom  ;  (4)  the  Philistines  (ch.  x.xv.)  ;  (5)  Tyre , 
(6)  Sidon  (ch,  xxvi.-xxviii.) ;  and  (7)  Egypt  (ch.  xxix.-xxxii.). 
These  prophecies  are  divided  into  thirteen  words  of  God  by  the 
introductory  formula,  "The  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,"  the 
utterances  against  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  and  the  Philistines, 
being  all  comprehended  in  one  word  of  God ;  whereas  there  are 
four  separate  words  of  God  directed  against  Tyre,  one  against 
Sidon,  and  seven  against  Egypt.  In  the  seven  nations  and 
the  seven  words  of  God  directed  against  Egypt  we  cannot  fail 
to  discover  an  allusion  to  the  symbolical  significance  of  the 
number.  Sidon,  which  had  lost  its  commanding  position  and 
become  dependent  upon  Tyre  long  before  the  time  of  Ezekiel, 
is  evidently  selected  for  a  special  word  of  God  only  for  the 
purpose  of  making  up  the  number  seven.  And  in  order  to 
make  it  the  more  apparent  that  the  number  has  been  chosen 
on  account  of  its  significance,  Ezekiel  divides  his  announcement 
of  the  judgment  upon  the  seventh  people  into  seven  words  of 
God.  On  the  basis  of  Gen.  i.,  seven  is  the  number  denoting 
the  completion  of  the  works  of  God.  When,  therefore,  Ezekiel 
selects  seven  nations  and  utters  seven  words  of  God  concerning 
the  principal  nation,  namely  Egypt,  he  evidently  intends  to 
indicate  thereby  that  the  judgment  predicted  will  be  executed 
and  completed  upon  the  heathen  world  and  its  peoples  through 

EZEK.  I.  Z 


354  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

the  word  and  acts  of  God. — The  predictions  of  judgment  upon 
these  seven  heathen  nations  are  divisible,  accordingly,  into  two 
groups.  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  Philistia,  Tyre,  and  Sidon 
form  one  group,  while  the  second  treats  of  Egypt  alone.  This 
is  certainly  the  way  in  which  the  cycle  of  these  prophecies  is 
to  be  divided  rather  than  the  plan  ordinarily  adopted,  according 
to  which  the  nations  included  in  ch.  xxv.,  as  representatives  of 
the  one  phase  of  the  world-power,  are  placed  in  contrast  with 
the  other  phase  of  heathenism  represented  by  Tyre,  Sidon,  and 
Egypt.  The  latter  is  the  opinion  entertained  by  Hiivernick, 
for  example,  with  regard  to  the  "  beautiful  and  symmetrical 
arrangement "  of  these  prophecies.  "  First  of  all,"  says  he, 
"  the  prophet  shows  in  one  series  of  nations  how  the  idea  of  the 
judgment  of  God  was  realized  in  the  case  of  those  nations 
which  rose  up  in  direct  and  open  hostility  to  the  theocracy, 
and  thereby  represented  the  might  of  heathenism  as  turned 
away  from  God  and  engaged  in  downright  rebellion  against  Him 
(ch.  xxv.).  The  prophecies  concerning  Tyre  and  Sidon  con- 
template heathenism  in  a  second  aspect  (ch.  xxvi.-xxviii.).  lu 
Tyre  we  have  an  exhibition  of  pride  or  carnal  security,  which 
looks  away  from  God,  and  plunges  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
sin  and  worthlessness  of  the  natural  life.  Both  aspects  are 
then  finally  combined  in  Egypt,  that  ancient  foe  of  the  cove- 
nant nation,  which  had  grown  into  a  world-power,  and  while 
displaying  in  this  capacity  unbending  arrogance  and  pride,  was 
now,  like  all  the  rest,  about  to  be  hurled  down  from  the  summit 
of  its  ancient  glory  into  a  bottomless  deep."  But  this  inter- 
pretation is,  in  more  than  one  respect,  manifestly  at  variance 
with  the  substance  of  the  prophecies.  This  applies,  in  the  first 
place,  to  the  antithesis  which  is  said  to  exist  between  the  nations 
threatened  in  ch.  xxv.  on  the  one  hand,  and  Tyre  and  Sidon 
on  the  other.  In  the  case  of  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  and  the 
Philistines,  for  example,  the  sins  mentioned  as  those  for  which 
they  would  be  overthrown  by  the  judgment  are  their  malicious 
delight  at  the  fall  of  Israel,  and  their  revengeful,  hostile  beha- 


CHAP.  XXV.-XXXII.  355 

viour  towards  the  covenant  nation  (cli.  xxv.  3,  8,  12,  15). 
And  in  the  same  way,  according  to  ch.  xxvi.  2,  Tyre  had 
involved  itself  in  guilt  by  giving  utterance  to  its  delight  at  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which  inspired  the  hope  that  every- 
thing would  now  flow  into  its  own  store.  On  the  other  hand, 
nothing  is  said  in  the  case  of  Pharaoh  and  Egypt  about  mali- 
cious pleasure,  or  hostility,  or  enmity  towards  Israel  or  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  but  Pharaoh  has  rendered  himself  guilty  by 
saying :  the  Nile  is  mine,  I  have  made  it  for  myself ;  and  by  the 
fact  that  Egypt  had  become  a  staff  of  reed  to  the  house  of  Israel, 
which  broke  when  they  sought  to  lean  upon  it  (ch.  xxix.  3,  6,  7). 
According  to  these  obvious  explanations,  Ezekiel  reckoned  Tyre 
and  Sidon  among  the  nations  that  were  inimically  disposed 
towards  Israel,  even  though  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians was  dictated  by  different  motives  from  those  of  Edom 
and  the  other  nations  mentioned  in  ch.  xxv.;  and  the  heathen 
nations  are  arranged  in  two  groups,  and  not  in  three.  This  is 
estabhshed  beyond  all  doubt,  when  we  observe  that  each  of  these 
two  groups  terminates  with  a  promise  for  Israel.  To  the  threat 
of  judgment  uttered  against  Sidon  there  is  appended  the  pro- 
mise :  and  there  shall  be  no  more  for  Israel  a  malicious  briar 
and  smarting  thorn  from  all  that  are  round  about  them  who 
despise  them ;  and  when  the  Lord  shall  gather  Israel  from  its 
dispersion,  then  will  He  cause  it  to  dwell  safely  and  prosper- 
ously in  His  land,  inasmuch  as  He  will  execute  judgment  upon 
all  round  about  them  who  despise  them  (ch.  xxviii.  24—26). 
And  the  prediction  of  judgment  upon  Egypt  in  the  last  pro- 
phecy uttered  concerning  this  land,  in  the  twenty-seventh  year 
of  the  captivity  (ch.  xxix.  17),  closes  in  a  similar  manner,  with 
the  promise  that  at  the  time  when  the  Lord  gives  Egypt  as 
spoil  to  the  king  of  Babylon,  He  will  cause  a  horn  to  grow  to 
the  house  of  Israel  (ch.  xxix.  21).  The  fact  that  these  two 
prophecies  correspond  to  each  other  would  not  have  been  over- 
looked by  the  commentators  if  the  prophecy  concerning  Egypt, 
which  was  really  the  last  in  order  of  time,  had  been  placed  in 


356  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

its  proper  chronological  position  in  the  book  of  Ezekiel,  namely, 
at  the  close  of  the  ^vorcls  of  God  directed  against  that  land. 

The  date  of  the  great  mass  of  these  propliecies  falls  within 
the  period  of  the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans,  that 
is  to  say,  in  the  interval  between  ch.  xxiv.  and  cli.  xxxiii.,  as 
the  chronological  data  in  the  headings  plainly  affirm.     Tlie  first 
-word  concerning  Tyre  is  from  the  eleventh  year  of  the  captivity 
of  Jehoiachin  (ch.  xxvi.  1).     Of  the  prophecies  against  Egypt, 
the  one  in  ch.  xxix.  1-16  dates  from  the  tenth  month  of  the 
tenth  year;  that  in  ch.  xxx.  20-26,  from  the  first  month  of  the 
eleventh  year;  that  in  clu  xxxi.,  from  the  third  month  of  the 
same  year;  the  two  in  ch.  xxxii.  1  sqq.  and  17  sqq,,  from  the 
twelfth  month  of  the  twelfth  year;  and  lastly,  the  brief  utter- 
ance in  ch.  xxix.  17-21,  from  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  the 
captivity.     There  are  no  chronological  data   attached  to   the 
others.     But  the  short,  threatening  words   against   the   Am- 
monites, Moabites,  Edomites,  and  Philistines  in  ch.  xxv.  belong 
to  the  time  immediately  succeeding  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  since 
they  presuppose  its  having  occurred.     The  second  and  third 
utterances  concerning  Tyre  in  clu  xxvii.  and  ch,  xxviii.  1-19, 
as  well  as  that  concerning  Sidon  in  ch.  xxviii.  20  sqq.,  are  closely 
connected,  so  far  as  their  contents  are  concerned,  with  the  first 
word  of  God  against  Tyre  belonging  to  the  eleventh  year  of 
the  captivity.     And  lastly,   the   threatening  word  concerning 
Eiiypt  in  ch.  xxx.   1-19,   to  -which  no  definite  chronological 
data  are  attached,  appears  to  stand  nearer  in  point  of  time  to 
ch.   xxix.  1-16   than   to  ch.  xxix.  17—21. — Consequently  the 
arrangement  is  based  upon  the  subject-matter  of  the  prophecies, 
and  the  chronological  sequence  is  kept  subordinate  to  this,  or 
rather  to  the  comparative  importance  of  the  several  nations  in 
relation  to  the  theocracy- 
I       These   prophecies   evidently   rest    upon   the   predictions   of 
the  earlier  prophets  against  the  same  nations,  so  far  as  their 
contents  are  concerned  ;   and  in    the   threats  directed  against 
Tyre  and  Egypt,  more  especially,  many  of  the  thoughts  con- 


cnAP.  xxv.-xxxii.  357 

tallied  in  the  propliecies  of  Isaiah  (Isa.  xxlii.  and  xix.)  are 
reproduced  and  expanded.  But  notwithstanding  this  resting 
upon  the  utterances  of  earlier  prophets,  Ezekiel's  prophecy 
against  the  lieathen  nations  is  distinguished  in  a  characteristic 
manner  from  that  of  the  other  prophets,  by  the  fact  that  he 
does  not  say  a  word  about  the  prospect  of  these  nations  bein<T 
ultimately  pardoned,  or  of  the  remnant  of  them  being  converted 
to  the  Lord,  but  stops  with  the  announcement  of  the  utter 
desti'uction  of  the  earthly  and  temporal  condition  of  all  these 
kingdoms  and  nations.  The  prophecy  concerning  Egypt  in 
ch.  xxix.  13—16,  to  the  effect  that  after  forty  years  of  chastise- 
ment God  will  turn  its  captivity,  and  gather  it  together  again, 
is  only  an  apparent  and  not  a  real  exception  to  this;  for  this 
turning  of  the  judgment  is  not  to  bring  about  a  restoration  of 
Egypt  to  its  former  might  and  greatness  or  its  glorification  in 
the  future  ;  but,  according  to  vers.  14  sqq.,  is  simply  to  restore 
a  lowly  and  impotent  kingdom,  which  will  offer  no  inducement 
to  Israel  to  rely  upon  its  strength.  Through  this  promise, 
therefore,  the  threat  of  complete  destruction  is  only  somewhat 
modified,  but  by  no  means  withdrawn.  The  only  thing  which 
Ezekiel  positively  holds  out  to  view  before  the  seven  heathen 
nations  is,  that  in  consequence  of  the  judgment  falling  upon  them, 
they  w^ill  learn  that  God  is  Jehovah,  or  the  Lord.  This  formula 
regularly  returns  in  the  case  of  all  the  nations  [vid.  ch.  xxv.  5, 
7,  11,  17,  xxvi.  6,  xxviii.  22,  23,  xxix.  6,  9,  xxx.  8,  19,  25,  26, 
xxxii.  15)  ;  and  we  might  take  it  to  mean,  that  through  the 
judgment  of  their  destruction  in  a  temporal  respect,  these 
nations  will  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  God  of  salvation. 
And  with  this  interpretation  it  would  contain  a  slight  allusion 
to  the  salvation,  which  will  flourish  in  consequence  of  and  after 
the  judgment,  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  escaped  destruc- 
tion. If,  however,  we  consider,  on  the  one  hand,  that  in  the 
case  of  Edom  (ch.  xxv.  14)  the  formula  takes  a  harsher  form, 
namely,  not  that  they  shall  know  Jehovah,  but  that  they  shall 
experience  His  vengeance;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 


358  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

mighty  Tyre  is  repeatedly  threatened  with  destrnction,  even 
eternal  extinction  (ch.  xxvi.  20,  21,  xxvii.  3G,  xxviii.  19),  and 
that  the  whole  cycle  of  these  prophecies  closes  with  a  funeral- 
dirge  on  the  descent  of  all  the  heathen  nations  into  Sheol 
(ch.  xxxii.  17-32), — we  shall  see  that  the  formula  in  question 
cannot  be  taken  in  the  sense  indicated  above,  as  Kliefoth  main- 
tains, but  must  be  understood  as  signifying  that  these  nations 
will  discern  in  their  destruction  the  punitive  righteousness  of 
God,  so  that  it  presents  no  prospect  of  future  salvation,  but 
simply  increases  the  force  of  the  threat.  There  is  nothing  in 
this  distinction,  however,  to  establish  a  discrepancy  between 
Ezekiel  and  the  earlier  prophets ;  for  Ezekiel  simply  fixes  his 
eye  upon  the  judgment,  which  will  fall  upon  the  heathen 
nations,  partly  on  account  of  their  hostile  attitude  towards  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  partly  on  account  of  their  deification  of 
their  own  might,  and  is  silent  as  to  the  salvation  which  will 
accrue  even  to  them  out  of  the  judgment  itself,  but  without  in 
the  least  degree  denying  it.  The  reason  for  his  doing  this  is 
not  that  the  contemplation  of  the  particular  features,  which 
form  the  details  of  the  immediate  fulfilment,  has  led  him  to 
avert  his  eye  from  the  more  comprehensive  survey  of  the  entire 
future ;  ^  but  that  the  proclamation  of  the  spread  of  salvation 
among  the  heathen  lay  outside  the  limits  of  the  calling  which 
he  had  received  from  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  prophetic  mis- 
sion of  Ezekiel  was  restricted  to  the  remnant  of  the  covenant 
nation,  which  was  carried  into  exile,  and  scattered  among  the 
heathen.     To  this  remnant  he  was  to  foretell  the  destruction 

^  Drechsler  (in  his  commentary  on  Isa.  xxiii.)  has  given  tlie  following 
explanation  of  the  distinction  to  be  observed  between  the  prophecies  of 
Isaiah  and  those  of  Ezekiel  concerning  Tyre, — namely,  that  in  the  case  of 
Isaiah  tlie  spirit  of  prophecy  invests  its  utterances  with  the  character  of 
totality,  in  accordance  with  the  position  assigned  to  this  prophet  at  the 
entrance  upon  a  new  era  of  the  world,  embracing  the  entire  future  even 
to  the  remotest  times,  and  sketching  with  grand  simplicity  the  ground- 
plan  and  outline  of  the  whole  ;  whereas  in  the  case  of  the  later  prophets, 
such  as  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  who  were  living  in  the  midst  of  the  historical 
execution,  the  survey  of  the  whole  gives  place  to  the  contemplation  of 


CHAP.  XXV -XXXI I.  359 

of  the  kingdom  of  Judali,  and  after  the  occurrence  of  that 
catastrophe  the  preservation  and  eventual  restoration  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  a  renewed  and  glorified  form.  With  this 
commission,  which  he  had  received  from  the  Lord,  there  was 
associated,  it  is  true,  the  announcement  of  judgment  upon  the 
heathen,  inasmuch  as  such  an  announcement  was  well  fitted  to 
preserve  from  despair  the  Israelites,  who  were  pining  under  the 
oppression  of  the  heathen,  and  to  revive  the  hope  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise  held  out  before  the  penitent  of  their  future 
redemption  from  their  state  of  misery  and  restoration  to  the 
position  of  the  people  of  God.  But  this  would  not  apply  to 
the  prophecies  of  the  reception  of  the  heathen  into  the  renovated 
kingdom  of  God,  as  they  contained  no  special  element  of  con- 
solation to  the  covenant  people  in  their  depression. 

In  connection  with  this  we  have  the  equally  striking  circum- 
stance, that  Ezekiel  does  not  mention  Babylon  among  the 
heathen  nations.  This  may  also  be  explained,  not  merely  from 
the  predominance  of  the  idea  of  the  judgment  upon  Israel  and 
Jerusalem,  which  the  Chaldeans  were  to  execute  as  "  righteous 
men"  (ch.  xxiii.  45),  so  that  they  only  came  before  him  as 
such  righteous  men,  and  not  as  a  world-power  also  (Kliefoth), 
but  chiefly  from  the  fact  that,  for  the  reason  described  above, 
Ezekiel's  prophecy  of  the  judgment  upon  the  heathen  is  re- 
stricted to  those  nations  which  had  hitherto  cherished  and 
displayed  either  enmity  or  false  friendship  toward  Israel,  and 
the  Chaldeans  were  not  then  reckoned  among  the  number. — 
For  the  further  development  of  the  prophecy  concerning  the 
future  of  the  whole  heathen  world,  the  Lord  had  called  the 

particular  features  belonging  to  the  details  of  the  immediate  fulfilment. 
But  tliis  explanation  is  not  satisfactory,  inasmuch  as  Jeremiah,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  he  lived  in  the  midst  of  the  execution  of  the  judg- 
ment, foretold  the  turning  of  judgment  into  salvation  at  least  in  the  case 
of  some  of  the  heathen  nations.  For  example,  in  ch.  xlviii.  47  he  prophesies 
to  the  Moabites,  and  in  ch.  xlix.  6  to  the  Ammonites,  that  in  the  future 
time  Jehovah  •will  turn  their  captivity ;  and  in  ch.  xlvi.  26  he  says,  con- 
cerning Egypt,  that  after  the  judgment  it  will  be  inhabited  as  in  the  days 
of  old. 


360  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

propliet  Daniel  at  the  same  time  as  Ezckiel,  and  assigned  him 
his  post  at  the  seat  of  the  existing  heathen  imperial  power. 


CHAP.  XXV.   AGAINST  AMMON,  MOAB,  EDOM,  AND  THE 
PHILISTINES. 

The  prophecies,  comprehended  in  the  heading  (ver.  1)  in  one 
"  word  of  the  Lord,"  against  Ammon  (vers.  1-7),  !Moab  (ters. 
8-11),  Edom  (vers.  12-14),  and  the  Philistines  (vers.  15-17), 
those  four  border-nations  of  Israel,  are  very  concise,  the  judg- 
ment of  destruction  being  foretold  to  them,  in  a  few  forcible 
lines,  partly  on  account  of  their  scorn  at  the  fall  of  the  people 
and  kingdom  of  God,  and  partly  because  of  actual  hostility 
manifested  toward  them.  The  date  of  these  utterances  is  not 
given  in  the  heading ;  but  in  vers.  3,  6,  and  8  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  is  presupposed  as  having  already  occurred,  so 
that  they  cannot  have  been  delivered  till  after  this  catastrophe. 

Vers.  1-7.  Against  the  Ammonites. — Ver.  1.  And  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  direct 
thy  face  towards  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  prophesy  against  them, 
Ver.  3.  And  say  to  the  sons  of  Ammon,  Hear  ye  the  loord  of 
the  Lord  Jehovah!  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thou 
sayest,  Aha!  concerning  my  sanctuary^  that  it  is  jjrofaned;  and 
concerning  the  land  of  Israel,  that  it  is  laid  waste ;  and  concern- 
ing the  house  of  Judah,  that  they  have  gone  into  captivity  ; 
Ver.  4.  Therefore,  behold,  I  loill  give  tliee  to  the  sons  of  tlie  east 
for  a  possession,  that  they  may  pitch  their  tent-villages  in  thee, 
and  erect  their  dicellings  in  thee  ;  they  shall  eat  thy  fruits,  and 
they  shall  drink  thy  jnillc.  Ver.  5.  And  Rahhah  icill  I  make 
a  camel-ground,  and  tlie  sons  of  Ammon  a  resting-place  for 
jlochs;  and  ye  shall  know  tliat  I  am  Jehovah.  Ver.  6.  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jcliovah,  Because  thou  hast  clapped  thy  hand,  and 
stamped  with  thy  foot,  and  hast  rejoiced  in  soid  loith  all  thy  con- 
tempt concerning  the  house  of  Israel,  Ver.  7.  Therefore,  behold,  I 


CHAP.  XXV.  1-7.  361 

loill  stretch  out  my  hand  against  (hee,  and  give  thee  to  the  nations  for 
booty,  and  cut  thee  off  from  the  peoples,and  exterminate  thee  from  the 
lands  ;  Iioill  destroy  thee,  that  thou  mayst  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. 
— In  ch.  xxi.  28  sqq.,  when  predicting  the  expedition  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar against  Jerusalem,  Ezekiel  had  ah'eady  foretold  the 
destruction  of  the  Ammonites,  so  that  these  verses  are  simply  a 
resumption  and  confirmation  of  the  earlier  prophecy.  In  the 
passage  referred  to,  Ezekiel,  like  Zephaniah  before  him  (Zeph. 
ii.  8,  10),  mentions  their  reviling  of  the  people  of  God  as  the 
sin  for  which  they  are  to  be  punished  with  destruction.  This 
reviling,  in  which  their  hatred  of  the  divine  calling  of  Israel 
found  vent,  was  the  radical  sin  of  Amnion.  On  the  occasion 
of  Judah's  fall,  it  rose  even  to  contemptuous  and  malicious  joy 
at  the  profanation  of  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple  (a  comparison  with  ch.  xxi  v.  21  will  show 
that  this  is  the  sense  in  which  PnJ  is  to  be  understood),  at  the 
devastation  of  the  land  of  Israel,  and  at  the  captivity  of  Judah, 
— in  other  words,  at  the  destruction  of  the  religious  and  political 
existence  of  Israel  as  the  people  of  God.  The  profanation  of 
the  sanctuary  is  mentioned  first,  to  intimate  that  the  hostility 
to  Israel,  manifested  by  the  Ammonites  on  every  occasion  that 
presented  itself  (for  proofs,  see  the  comm.  on  Zeph.  ii.  8),  had 
its  roots  not  so  much  in  national  antipathies,  as  in  antacronism 
to  the  sacred  calling  of  Israel.  As  a  punishment  for  this,  they 
are  not  only  to  lose  their  land  (vers.  4  and  5),  but  to  be  cut  off 
from  the  number  of  the  nations  (vers.  6  and  7).  The  Lord 
will  give  up  their  land,  with  its  productions,  for  a  possession  to 
the  sons  of  the  east,  i.e.,  according  to  Gen.  xxv.  13-18,  to  the 
Arabs,  the  Bedouins  (for  Q"3i^  "'23,  see  the  comm.  on  Judg.  vi.  3 
and  Job  i.  3).  The  Piel  ^^U'"',  although  only  occurring  here,  is 
not  to  be  rejected  as  critically  suspicious,  and  to  be  changed 
into  Kal,  as  Hitzig  proposes.  The  Kal  would  be  unsuitable 
because  the  subject  of  the  sentence  can  only  be  D"ip  ""paj  and 
not  Dn^nh^p;  and  yS'l  in  the  Kal  has  an  intransitive  sense. 
For  nirpj  tent-villages  of  nomads,  see  the  comm.  on  Gen. 


3G2  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

XXV.  16.  ^"'?rr'?,  dwellings,  are  the  separate  tents  of  the 
shepherds.  In  the  last  clauses  of  ver.  4,  nan  is  repeated  for  the 
sake  of  emphasis ;  and  Hitzig's  opinion,  that  the  first  n^n  corre- 
sponds to  the  subject  in  the  clause  'lJi  ^^i^'l,  the  second  to  that 
in  ^^nji,  is  to  be  rejected  as  a  marvellous  flight  of  imagination, 
which  approaches  absurdity  in  the  assertion  that  p^!!'^  ^l? 
signifies  the  folds,  i.e.  the  animals,  of  the  land.  Along  with 
the  fruit  of  the  land,  i.e.  the  produce  of  the  soil,  milk  is  also 
mentioned  as  a  production  of  pastoral  life,  and  the  principal 
food  of  nomads.  On  the  wealth  of  the  Ammonites  in  flocks 
and  herds,  see  Judg.  vi.  5.  The  words  are  addressed  to 
Ammon,  as  a  land  or  kingdom,  and  hence  the  feminine  suffix. 
The  capital  will  also  share  the  fate  of  the  land.  Rahhah  (see 
the  comm.  on  Deut.  iii.  11)  will  become  a  camel-ground,  a 
waste  spot  where  camels  lie  down  and  feed.  This  has  been 
almost  literally  fulfilled.  The  ruins  of  Amman  are  deserted  by 
men,  and  Seetzen  found  Arabs  with  their  camels  not  far  off 
{vid.  von  Raumer,  Palestine,  p.  268).  In  the  parallel  clause,  the 
sons  of  Amnion,  i.e.  the  Ammonites,  are  mentioned  instead  of 
their  land. — In  vers.  6  and  7,  the  Lord  announces  to  the 
nation  of  the  Ammonites  the  destruction  that  awaits  them,  and 
reiterates  with  still  stronger  emphasis  the  sin  which  occasioned 
it,  namely,  the  malicious  delight  they  had  manifested  at  Israel's 
fall.  ^pXk?'"b33  is  strengthened  by  t'2:3  :  with  all  thy  contempt 
in  the  soul,  i.e.  with  all  the  contempt  which  thy  soul  could 
cherish.  In  ver.  7  the  arr.  Xe<y.  J3p  occasions  some  difficulty. 
The  Keri  has  substituted  np,  for  booty  to  the  nations  (cf.  ch. 
xxvi.  5) ;  and  all  the  ancient  versions  have  adopted  this.  Con- 
sequently i?  might  be  a  copyist's  error  for  I?;  and  in  support 
of  this  the  circumstance  might  be  adduced,  that  in  ch.  xlvii.  13, 
where  na  stands  for  HT^  we  have  unquestionably  a  substitution 
of  i  for  T.  But  if  the  Chelib  D  be  correct,  the  word  is  to  be 
explained — as  it  has  been  by  Benfey  (Vie  Montasnamen,  p.  194) 
and  Gildemeister  (in  Lassen's  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Kunde  des 
Morgenlandes,  iv.  1,  p.  213  sqq.) — from  the  Sanscrit  hhdga, 


CHAP.  XXV.  8-11.  363 

pars,  portio,  and  has  passed  into  the  Semitic  languages  from 

the  Aryan,  like  the  Syriac  Li^^?  ^sca,  which  P.  Boetticher 

(Horae  aram.  p.  21)  has  correctly  traced  to  the  Sanscrit  hhaj, 
coquere. — The  executors  of  the  judgment  are  not  named ;  for 
the  threat  that  God  will  give  up  the  land  of  the  Ammonites  to 
the  Bedouins  for  their  possession,  does  not  imply  that  they  are 
to  exterminate  the  Ammonites.  On  the  contrary,  a  comparison 
of  this  passage  with  Amos  i.  13-15  and  Jer.  xlix.  1-5,  where 
the  Ammonites  are  threatened  not  only  with  the  devastation  of 
their  land,  but  also  with  transportation  into  exile,  will  show 
that  the  Chaldeans  are  to  be  thought  of  as  executing  the 
judgment.      (See  the  comm.  on  ver.  11.) 

Vers.  8-11.  Against  the  Moabites. — Ver.  8.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jeliovah,  Because  Moah,  like  Seir,  saith,  Behold,  like 
all  other  nations  is  the  house  of  Judah :  Ver.  9.  Therefore, 
behold,  I  icill  open  the  shoulder  of  Moah  from  the  cities,  from  its 
cities  even  to  the  last,  the  ornament  of  the  land,  Beth-hayeshimoth, 
Baal-meon,  and  as  far  as  Kiryaihaim,  Ver.  10.  To  the  sons  of 
the  east,  together  loith  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  will  give  it  for  a 
p>ossession,  that  the  sons  of  Ammon  may  no  more  he  remem- 
bered among  the  nations.  Ver.  11.  Ujyoii  Moah  xvill  1  execute 
judgments;  and  they  shall  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. — Moab  has 
become  guilty  of  the  same  sin  against  Judah,  the  people  of 
God,  as  Ammon,  namely,  of  misunderstanding  and  despising 
the  divine  election  of  Israel.  Ammon  gave  expression  to  this, 
when  Judah  was  overthrown,  in  the  malicious  assertion  that 
the  house  of  Judah  was  like  all  the  heathen  nations, — that 
is  to  say,  had  no  pre-eminence  over  them,  and  shared  the  same 
fate  as  they.  There  is  something  remarkable  in  the  allusion  to 
Seir,  i.e.  Edom,  in  connection  with  Moab,  inasmuch  as  no 
reference  is  made  to  it  in  the  threat  contained  in  vers.  9-11 ; 
and  in  vers.  12,  13,  there  follows  a  separate  prediction  con- 
cerning Edom.     Hitzig  therefore  proposes  to  follow  the  example 


364  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZCKIEL. 

of  the  LXX.,  and  erase  it  from  the  text  as  a  gloss,  but  without 

beiD£c  able  in  the  smallest  degree  to  show  in  what  way  it  is 

probable  that  such  a  gloss  could  have  found  admission  into  an 

obviously   unsuitable   place.      Seir   is   mentioned   along   with 

Moab  to  mark  the  feeling  expressed  in  the  words  of  Moab  as 

springing,  like  the  enmity  of  Edom  towards  Israel,  from  hatred 

and  envy  of  the  spiritual  birthright  of  Israel,  i.e.  of  its  peculiar 

prerogatives  in  sacred  history.    As  a  punishment  for  this,  Moab 

was  to  be  given  up,  like  Amnion,  to  the  Bedouins  for  their 

possession,  and  the  people  of  the  Moabites  were  to  disappear 

from  the  number  of  the  nations.     Vers.  9  and  10  form  one 

period,  Dli?  ■*?.??  in  ver.  10  being  governed  by  nnb  in  ver.  9. 

The  shoulder  of  Moab  is  the  side  of  the  Moabitish  land.      In 

the  application  of  the  word  1^3  to  lands  or  provinces,  regard  is 

had  to  the  position  of  the  shoulder  in  relation  to  the  whole 

body,  but  without  reference  to  the  elevation  of  the  district. 

We  find  an  analogy  to  this  in  the  use  of  ^ins  in  connection  with 

the  sides  of  a  building.     In  'ii1  D'''}V'!!"?,  the  i?  cannot  be  taken, 

in  a  privative  sense,  for  rivnrp ;  for  neither  the  article  2^")yn,  nor 

the  more  emphatic  I^Vi^p  "l''"]^^?  allows  this;  but  jt?  indicates  the 

direction,  "  from  the  cities  onwards,"  "  from  its  cities  onwards, 

reckoning  to  the  very  last," — that  is  to  say,  in  its  whole  extent. 

in^'i^p,  as  in  Isa.  Ivi.  11,  Gen.  xix.  4,  etc.     This  tract  of  land  is 

first  of  all  designated  as  a  glorious  land,  with  reference  to  its 

worth  as  a  possession  on  account  of  the  excellence  of  its  soil 

for  the  rearing  of  cattle  (see  the  comni.  on  Num.  xxxii.  4),  and 

then  defined  with  geographical  minuteness  by  the  introduction 

of  the  names  of  some  of  its  cities.      Detli-IIayesldmotli,  i.e. 

house  of  wastes  (see  the  comm.  on  Num.  xxii.  1),  has  probably 

been  preserved  in   the  ruins  of   Siialme,  which  F.  de  Saulcy 

discovered  on  the  north-eastern  border  of  the  Dead  Sea,  a  little 

farther  inland   {vid.   Voyage  en  terre  sainte,  Paris  1865,  t.  i. 

p.  315).     Baal-Meon, — when  written  fully,   Bcth-Baal-Meon 

(Josh.  xiii.  17), — contracted  into  Beth-Meon  in  Jer.  xlviii,  23, 

is  to  be  sought  for  to  the  south-east  of  this,  in  the  ruins  of 


cnAP.  XXV.  8-11.  365 

Myun,  three-quarters  of  an  hour's  journey  to  the  south  of 
Heshbon  (see  the  comm.  on  Num.  xxxii.  38).  Kiryathaim 
was  still  farther  south,  probably  on  the  site  of  the  ruins  of  El 
Teym  (see  the  coinni.  on  Gen.  xiv.  5  and  Num.  xxxii.  37). 
The  CJietih  nonnp  is  based  upon  the  form  Cinn*),  a  secondary 
form  of  D:n;")i?,  like  \rp\^  a  secondary  form  of  pni,  in  2  Kings 
vi.  13.  The  cities  named  were  situated  to  the  north  of  the 
Arnon,  in  that  portion  of  the  Moabitish  land  which  had  been 
taken  from  tlie  Moabites  by  the  Amorites  before  the  entrance 
of  the  Israelites  into  Canaan  (Num.  xxi.  13,  26),  and  was 
given  to  the  tribe  of  Reuben  for  its  inheritance  after  the  defeat 
of  the  Amoritish  kings  by  the  Israelites;  and  then,  still  later, 
when  the  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  were  carried  into  captivity 
by  the  Assyrians,  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Moabites 
again,  as  is  evident  from  Isa.  xv.  and  xvi.,  and  Jer.  xlviii.  1,  23, 
where  these  cities  are  mentioned  once  more  amono-  the  cities  of 
the  Moabites.  This  will  explain  not  only  the  namino-  of  this 
particular  district  of  the  Moabitish  country,  but  the  definition, 
"  from  its  cities."  For  the  fact  upon  which  the  stress  is  laid 
in  the  passage  before  us  is,  that  the  land  in  question  rightfully 
belonged  to  the  Israelites,  according  to  Num.  xxxii.  37  38, 
xxxiii.  49,  Josh.  xii.  2,  3,  xiii.  20,  21,  and  that  it  was  there- 
fore unlawfully  usurped  by  the  Moabites  after  the  deportation 
of  the  trans-Jordanic  tribes;  and  the  thought  is  this,  that  the 
judgment  would  burst  upon  Moab  from  this  land  and  these 
cities,  and  they  would  thereby  be  destroyed  (Htivernick  and 
Kliefoth).  lisr'.^S  ^V,  not  "  over  the  sons  of  Amnion,"  but  "in 
addition  to  the  sons  of  Ammon."  They,  that  is  to  say,  their 
land,  liad  already  been  promised  to  the  sons  of  the  east  (ver.  4). 
In  addition  to  this,  they  are  now  to  receive  Moab  for  their 
possession  (Hitzig  and  Kliefoth).  Thus  will  the  Lord  execute 
judgments  upon  Moab.  Ver.  11  sums  up  what  is  affirmed 
concerning  Moab  in  vers.  9  and  10,  in  the  one  idea  of  the 
judgments  of  God  upon  this  people.— The  execution  of  these 
judgments  commenced  with  the  subjugation  of  the  Ammonites 


366  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

and  Moabltes  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  five  years  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  {vid.  Josephus,  A7itt.  x.  9.  7,  and  ^I.  von 
Niebuhr,  Gesch.  Assurs,  etc.,  p.  215).  Nevertheless  the 
Ammonites  continued  to  exist  as  a  nation  for  a  long  time  after 
the  captivity,  so  that  Judas  the  INIaccabaean  waged  war  against 
them  (1  Mucc.  v.  6,  30-43)  ;  and  even  Justin  Martyr  speaks 
of  ^ AfifiavLTOiv  vvv  TToKv  ttXtJ^o?  (^Dial.  Tri/ph.  p.  272). — But 
Origen  includes  their  land  in  the  general  name  of  Arabia  (lib.  i. 
in  Job).  The  name  of  the  Moabites  appears  to  have  become 
extinct  at  a  much  earlier  period.  After  the  captivity,  it  is 
only  in  Ezra  ix.  1,  Neh.  xiii.  1,  and  Dan.  xi.  41,  that  we  find 
any  notice  of  them  as  a  people.  Their  land  is  mentioned  by 
Josephus  in  the  Antiq.  xiii.  14.  2,  and  xv.  4,  and  in  the  Dell. 
Jud.  iii.  3.  3. — A  further  fulfilment  by  the  Messianic  judgment, 
which  is  referred  to  in  Zeph.  ii.  10,  is  not  indicated  in  these 
words  of  Ezekiel ;  but  judging  from  the  prophecy  concerning 
the  Edomites  (see  the  comm.  on  ver.  14),  it  is  not  to  be 
excluded. 

Vers.  12-14.  Against  the  Edomites. — Ver.  12.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  Edom  acteth  revenrjefally  toivards 
the  house  of  Judah^  and  hath  been  very  guilty  in  avenijing  itself 
upon  them,  Ver.  13.  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  T^ord  Jehovah,  I 
ivill  stretch  out  my  hand  over  Edom,  and  cut  off  man  and  beast 
from  it,  and  make  it  a  desert  from  Teman,  and  unto  Dedan 
they  shall  fall  hy  the  sivord.  Ver.  14.  And  I  ivill  inflict 
my  vengeance  upon  Edom  by  the  hand  of  my  people  Israel, 
that  they  may  do  to  Edom  according  to  my  anger  and  my 
icrath ;  and  they  shall  experience  my  vengeance,  is  the  saying 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — AVhilst  the  Ammonites  and  the  Moabites 
are  charged  with  nothing  more  than  malicious  pleasure  at  the 
fall  of  Israel,  and  disregard  of  its  divine  calling,  the  Edomites 
are  reproached  with  revengeful  acts  of  hostility  towards  the 
house  of  Judah,  and  threatened  with  extermination  in  con- 
sequence.    The  nib'J?,  doing  or  acting  of  Edom,  is  more  pre- 


CHAP.  XXV.  12-14.  367 

cisely  defined  as  'lJ1  0ipJ3,  i.e.  as  consisting  in  the  taking  of 
vengeance,  and  designated  as  very  guilty,  CiD'X  lO^'X'.  nby, 
followed  by  3  with  an  infinitive,  as  in  ch.  xvii.  17.  Edom  had 
sought  every  opportunity  of  acting  thus  revengefully  towards 
Israel  {vid.  Obad.  vers.  11  sqq, ;  Amos  i.  11),  so  that  in 
ch.  XXXV.  5  Ezekiel  speaks  of  the  "eternal  enmity"  of  Edom 
against  Israel.  For  this  reason  we  must  not  restrict  the 
reproach  in  ver.  12  to  particular  outbreaks  of  this  revenge  at 
the  time  of  the  devastation  and  destruction  of  Judah  by  the 
Chaldeans,  of  which  the  Psalmist  complains  in  Ps.  cxxxvii.,  and 
for  which  he  invokes  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  Edom.  Man 
and  beast  are  to  be  cut  off  from  Edom  in  consequence,  and  the 
land  to  become  a  desert  from  Teman  to  Dedan.  These  names 
denote  not  cities,  but  districts.  Teman  is  the  southern  portion 
of  Idumaea  (see  the  comm.  on  Amos  i.  12);  and  Dedan  is 
therefore  the  northern  district.  Dedan  is  probably  not  the 
Cushite  tribe  mentioned  in  Gen.  x.  7,  but  the  tribe  of  the  same 
name  which  sprang  from  the  sons  of  Abraham  by  Keturah 
(Gen.  XXV.  3),  and  which  is  also  mentioned  in  Jer.  xlix.  8  in 
connection  with  Edom.  ninT  has  n  local  with  Seghol  instead 
of  Kametz,  probably  on  account  of  the  preceding  a  (vid.  Ewald, 
§  216c).  There  is  no  necessity  to  connect  J9"'^P  with  the 
following  clause,  as  Hitzig  and  Kliefoth  have  done,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  accents.  The  two  geographical  names,  which  are 
used  as  a  periphrasis  for  Idumaea  as  a  whole,  are  distributed 
equally  through  the  parallelismiis  memhrorum  between  the  two 
clauses  of  the  sentence,  so  that  they  belong  to  both  clauses,  so 
far  as  the  sense  is  concerned.  Edom  is  to  become  a  desert 
from  Teman  to  Dedan,  and  its  inhabitants  from  Teman  to 
Dedan  are  to  fall  by  the  sword.  This  judgment  of  vengeance 
will  be  executed  by  God  through  His  people  Israel.  The  fulfil- 
ment of  this  threat,  no  doubt,  commenced  with  the  subjugation 
of  the  Edomites  by  the  Maccabees ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  limited 
to  that  event,  as  Rosenmiiller,  Kliefoth,  and  others  suppose, 
although  the  foundation  was  thereby  laid  for  the  disappearance 


368  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  the  national  existence  of  Edom.  For  it  is  impossible  with 
this  limitation  to  do  justice  to  the  emphatic  expression,  "  my 
peojjle  Israel."  On  the  ground,  therefore,  of  the  prophecies  in 
Amos  ix.  12  and  Obad.  vers.  17  sqq.,  that  the  people  of  God 
are  to  take  possession  of  Edom,  when  the  fallen  tabernacle  of 
David  is  raised  up  again,  i.e.  in  the  Messianic  times,  which 
prophecies  point  back  to  that  of  Balaam  in  Num.  xxiv.  18,  and 
have  their  roots,  as  this  also  lias,  in  the  promise  of  God  con- 
cernins;  the  twin  sons  of  Isaac,  "  the  elder  shall  serve  the 
younger"  (Gen.  xxv.  23),  we  must  seek  for  the  complete 
fulfilment  in  the  victories  of  the  people  of  God  over  all  their 
foes,  among  whom  Edom  from  time  immemorial  had  taken  the 
leading  place,  at  the  time  when  the  kingdom  of  God  is  per- 
fected. For  even  here  Edom  is  not  introduced  merely  as  a 
single  nation  that  was  peculiarly  hostile  to  Judah,  but  also  as 
a  type  of  the  implacable  enmity  of  the  heathen  world  towards 
the  people  and  kingdom  of  God,  as  in  ch.  xxxv.,  Isa.  xxxiv.  63, 
etc.  The  vengeance,  answering  to  the  anger  and  wrath  of 
Jehovah,  which  Israel,  as  the  people  of  Gud,  is  to  execute 
upon  Edom,  consists  not  merely  in  the  annihilation  of  the 
national  existence  of  Edom,  which  John  Hyrcanus  carried  into 
effect  by  compelling  the  subjugated  Edomites  to  adopt  circum- 
cision (see  the  comm.  on  Num.  xxiv.  18),  but  chiefly  in  the 
wrathful  judgment  which  Israel  will  execute  in  the  person  of 
Christ  upon  the  arch-enemy  of  the  kingdom  of  God  by  its 
complete  extinction. 

Vers.  15-17.  Against  the  Philistines. — Ver.  15.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  the  Philistines  act  ivith  revenge, 
and  avenge  themselves  %vit]i  contempt  in  the  soul  to  destroy  in 
everlasting  enmity,  Ver.  16.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Behold,  J  will  stretch  out  my  hand  over  the  I^hilistines, 
and  cut  ojf  the  Cretans^  and  destroy  the  remnant  hy  the  sea- 
shore.  Ver.  17.  And  I  icill  execute  great  vengeance  upon 
them  through  chastisements  of  icrath,  and  they  shall  hnow  that 


CHAP.  XXV.  15-17.  3G9 

/  am  Jeliovah,  lohen  I  bring  viy  vengeance  upon  them.  — 
The  Philistines  resembled  the  Edomites  and  Ammonites  in 
their  disposition  towards  the  covenant  nation,  the  former  in 
their  thirst  for  revenge,  the  latter  in  their  malicious  rejoicing 
at  Israel's  fall.  For  this  reason  tliey  had  already  been  classed 
by  Isaiah  (xi.  14)  with  Edom,  Moab,  and  Amnion  as  enemies, 
who  would  be  successfully  attacked  and  overcome  by  Israel, 
when  the  Lord  had  gathered  it  again  from  its  dispersion.  In 
the  description  of  its  sin  towards  Israel  we  have  a  combination 
of  elements  taken  from  the  conduct  of  Edom  and  Amnion 
(vers.  12  and  6).  They  execute  revenge  with  contempt  in  the 
soul  ("C'DJn  DXi^*,  as  in  ver.  6),  with  the  intention  to  destroy 
(ir'nt^'Dp)  Israel ;  and  this  revenge  springs  from  eternal,  never- 
ending  hostility.  The  Lord  will  cut  off  the  whole  of  the 
people  of  the  Philistines  for  this.  Q"'J]'?3,  Cretans,  originally  a 
branch  of  the  Philistian  people,  settled  in  the  south-west  of 
Canaan.  The  name  is  used  by  Ezekiel  for  the  people,  as  it 
had  already  been  by  Zephauiah  (ii.  5),  for  the  sake  of  the 
paronomasia  with  ''^l^n.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  involved 
in  obscurity,  as  the  current  derivation  from  Creta  rests  upon  a 
very  doubtful  combination  (cf.  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  QQ  and  99  sqq.). 
By  the  "  remnant  of  the  sea-coast,"  i.e.  the  remnant  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  other  words, 
of  the  Philistines,  the  destruction  of  which  had  already  been 
predicted  by  Amos  (i.  8),  Isaiah  (xiv.  30),  and  Jeremiah 
(xlvii,4),  we  are  to  understand  the  whole  nation  to  the  very 
last  man,  all  that  was  still  left  of  the  Philistines  (see  the  comm. 
on  Amos  i.  8). — The  execution  of  the  vengeance  threatened  by 
God  began  in  the  Chaldean  period,  in  which  Gaza  was  attacked 
by  Pharaoh,  and,  judging  from  Jer.  xlvii.,  the  whole  of  Philistia 
was  laid  waste  by  the  Chaldeans  (see  the  fuller  comments  on 
this  in  the  exposition  of  Jer.  xlvii.).  But  the  ultimate  fulfil- 
ment will  take  place  in  the  case  of  Philistia  also,  throuo-h  the 
Messianic  judgment,  in  the  manner  described  in  the  commen- 
tary on  Zeph.  ii.  10. 

EZEK.  I.  2    A 


370  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 


CHAP.  XXVI.-XXVIII.— AGAINST  TYRE  AXD  SIDON. 

The  greater  portion  of  these  three  chapters  is  occupied  with 
the  propliecy  concerning  Tyre,  whicii  extends  from  ch.  xxvi.  1 
to  ch.  xxviii.  19.  The  prophecy  against  Sidon  is  limited  to 
ch.  xxviii.  20-26.  The  reason  for  this  is,  that  the  grandeur 
and  importance  of  Phoenicia  were  concentrated  at  that  time  in 
the  power  and  rule  of  Tyre,  to  wiiich  Sidon  had  been  obliged 
to  relinquish  the  hegemony,  which  it  had  formerly  possessed 
over  Phoenicia.  The  prophecy  against  Tyre  consists  of  four 
words  of  God,  of  which  the  first  (ch.  xxvi.)  contains  the  threat 
of  destruction  to  the  city  and  state  of  Tyre ;  the  second 
(ch..  xxvii.),  a  lamentation  over  this  destruction;  the  third 
(ch.  xxviii.  1-10),  the  threat  against  the  king  of  Tyre;  the 
fourth  (ch.  xxviii.  11-19),  a  lamentation  over  his  fall. 

CHAP.  XXVI.    THE  FALL  OF  TYRE. 

In  four  sections,  commencing  with  the  formula,  "  thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  Tyre,  the  mistress  of  the  sea,  is  threatened  with 
destruction.  In  the  first  strophe  (vers.  2-6)  there  is  a  general 
threat  of  its  destruction  by  a  host  of  nations.  In  the  second 
(vers.  7-14),  the  enemy  is  mentioned  by  name,  and  designated 
as  a  powerful  one  ;  and  the  conquest  and  destruction  emanating 
from  him  are  circumstantially  described.  In  the  third  (vers. 
15-18),  the  impression  which  this  event  would  produce  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  and  coast-lands  is  depicted.  And 
in  the  fourth  (vers.  19-21),  the  threat  is  repeated  in  an  energetic 
manner,  and  the  prophecy  is  thereby  rounded  off. 

This  word  of  God  bears  in  the  introduction  the  date  of  its 
delivery  to  the  prophet  and  enunciation  by  him. — Ver.  1.  Jt 
came  to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  on  the  first  of  the  month,  that 
the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying. — The  eleventh  year  of 
the  exile  of  Jehoiachin  was  the  year  of  the  conquest  and  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  (Jer.  lii.  6,  12),  the  occurrence  of  which 


CHAP.  XXVI.  2-6.  371 

is  presupposed  in  ver.  2  also.  There  is  something  striking  in  the 
omission  of  the  number  of  the  month  both  here  and  in  ch.  xxxii. 
17,  as  the  day  of  the  month  is  given.  The  attempt  to  discover 
in  the  words  ^'}pd  "^^^^  an  indication  of  the  number  of  the 
month,  by  understanding  ^"[np  as  signifying  the  first  month  of  the 
year:  "on  the  first  as  regards  the  month,"  equivalent  to,  "in 
the  first  month,  on  the  first  day  of  it"  (LXX.,  Luther,  Kliefoth, 
and  others),  is  as  forced  and  untenable  as  the  notion  that  that 
particular  month  is  intended  which  had  peculiar  significance 
for  Ezekiel,  namely,  the  month  in  which  Jerusalem  was  con- 
quered and  destroyed.  The  first  explanation  is  proved  to  be 
erroneous  by  ver.  2,  where  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which 
occurred  in  the  fifth  month  of  the  year  named,  is  assumed  to 
have  already  happened.  The  second  view  is  open  to  the  objec- 
tion that  tlie  conquest  of  Jerusalem  happened  in  the  fourth 
month,  and  the  destruction  in  the  fifth  (Jer.  lii.  6  and  12)  ;  and 
it  cannot  be  affirmed  that  the  conquest  was  of  less  importance  to 
Ezekiel  than  the  destruction.  We  cannot  escape  the  conclu- 
sion, therefore,  that  the  number  of  the  month  has  been  dropped 
through  a  corruption  of  the  text,  which  has  occurred  in  copying ; 
but  in  that  case  we  must  give  up  all  hope  of  being  able  to  de- 
termine what  the  month  really  was.  The  conjecture  offered 
by  Evvald  and  Hitzig,  that  one  of  the  last  months  of  the  year 
is  intended,  because  Ezekiel  could  not  have  known  before  then 
what  impression  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  had  made  upon 
Tyre,  stands  or  falls  with  the  naturalistic  view  entertained  by 
these  writers  with  regard  to  prophecy. 

Vers.  2—6.  Tyre  shall  be  broken  and  utterly  destroyed. — 
Ver.  2.  Son  of  man^  because  Ti/re  saith  concerning  Jerusalem, 
"  Aha,  the  door  of  the  nations  is  broken ;  it  tuimeth  to  me ;  I 
shall  become  full;  she  is  laid  icaste ;"  Ver.  3.  Therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah^  Behold,  I  will  come  upon  thee,  0 
Tyre,  and  will  bring  up  against  thee  many  nations,  as  the  sea 
bringing  up  its  waves.  Ver.  4.  They  will  destroy  the  loalls 
of  Tyre,  and  throw  down  her  toivers ;  and  I  icill  sweep  away 


372  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Iter  dust  from  her,  and  make  her  a  hare  rock.  Ver.  5.  She  shall 
become  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
for  I  have  spoken  it,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  ;  and  she 
shall  become  booty  for  the  nations.  Ver.  6.  And  her  daughters 
which  are  in  the  land  shall  be  slain  with  the  sicord;  and 
they  shall  learn  that  I  am  Jehovah. — Tyi;e,  as  iu  the  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah  (ch.  xxiii.),  is  not  tlie  city  of  that  name  upon 
the  mainlandj  rj  rrrdXaL  Tvpa  or  TIa\aiTvpo<;,  Old  Tyre,  which 
was  taken  by  Shahnaneser  and  destroyed  by  Alexander  (as 
Perizon.,  Marsh,  Vitringa,  J.  D.  !Michaelis,  and  Eichhorn 
supposed),  but  Insular  Tyre,  which  was  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  farther  north,  and  only  1200  paces  from  the  land,  being 
built  upon  a  small  island,  and  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a 
strait  of  no  great  depth  {vid.  Movers,  Phoenizier,  II.  p.  288 
sqq.).  This  Insular  Tyre  had  successfully  resisted  the  Assy- 
rians (Josephus,  Anit.  ix.  14.  2),  and  was  at  that  time  the 
market  of  the  nations ;  and  in  Ezekiel's  day  it  had  reached  the 
summit  of  its  greatness  as  mistress  of  the  sea  and  the  centre  of 
the  commerce  of  the  world.  That  it  is  against  this  Tyre  that 
our  prophecy  is  chiefly  directed,  is  evident  from  vers.  5  and  14, 
according  to  which  Tyre  is  to  become  a  bare  rock  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea,  and  from  the  allusion  to  the  daughter  cities,  "T^'kp?,  in 
the  field,  i.e.  on  the  mainland  (in  ver.  6),  as  contrasted  with 
the  position  occupied  by  Tyre  upon  a  rocky  island  in  the  sea ; 
and,  lastly,  from  the  description  given  in  ch.  xxvii.  of  the  mari- 
time trade  of  Tyre  with  all  nations,  to  which  Old  Tyre  never 
attained,  inasmuch  as  it  possessed  no  harbour  (vid.  Movers, 
I.e.  p.  17G).  This  may  easily  be  reconciled  with  such  passages 
as  vers.  6,  8,  and  ch.  xxvii.,  xxviii.,  in  which  reference  is  also 
made  to  the  continental  Tyre,  and  the  conquest  of  Tyre  is 
depicted  as  the  conquest  of  a  land-city  (see  the  exposition  of 
these  verses). — The  threat  against  Tyre  commences,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  nations  threatened  in  ch.  xxv.,  with  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  its  sin.  Tyre  ^ave  expression  to  its  joy  at  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem,  because  it  hoped  to  derive  profit  therefrom  through 


CHAP.  XXVI.  2-C.  373 

the  extension  of  its  commerce  and  increase  of  its  wealth. 
Different  explanations  have  been  given  of  the  meaning  of  the 
words  put  into  the  mouth  of  Tyre.  "  The  door  of  the  nations 
is  broken  in  pieces."  The  plural  ninpT  indicates  the  folding 
doors  which  formed  the  gate,  and  are  mentioned  in  its  stead. 
Jerusalem  is  the  door  of  the  nations,  and  is  so  called  according 
to  the  current  opinion  of  expositors,  because  it  was  the  centre  of 
the  commerce  of  the  nations,  i.e.  as  a  place  of  trade.  But 
nothing  is  known  to  warrant  the  idea  that  Jerusalem  was  ever 
able  to  enter  into  rivalry  with  Tyre  as  a  commercial  city.  The 
importance  of  Jerusalem  with  regard  to  other  nations  was  to 
be  found,  not  in  its  commerce,  nor  in  the  favourable  situation 
which  it  occupied  for  trade,  in  support  of  which  Hiivernick 
refers  to  Herodotus,  iii.  5,  and  Hitzig  to  Ezekiel  xxiii.  40,  41, 
but  in  its  sanctuary,  or  the  sacred  calling  which  it  had  received 
for  the  whole  world  of  nations.  Kliefoth  has  therefore  decided 
in  favour  of  the  following  view:  That  Jerusalem  is  called  a 
gate  of  the  nations,  not  because  it  had  hitherto  been  open  to 
the  nations  for  free  and  manifold  intercourse,  but  for  the  very 
opposite  reason,  namely,  because  the  gate  of  Jerusalem  had 
hitherto  been  closed  and  barred  against  the  nations,  but  was 
now  broken  in  pieces  through  the  destruction  of  the  city,  and 
thereby  opened  to  the  nations.  Consequently  the  nations,  and 
notably  Tyre,  would  be  able  to  enter  now ;  and  from  this  fact 
the  Tyrians  hoped  to  derive  advantage,  so  far  as  their  com- 
mercial interests  were  concerned.  But  this  view  is  not  in 
harmony  with  the  text.  Although  a  gate  is  opened  by  being 
broken  in  pieces,  and  one  may  force  an  entrance  into  a  house 
by  breaking  the  door  (Gen.  xix.  9),  yet  the  expression  "  door  of 
the  nations "  cannot  signify  a  door  which  bars  all  entrance  on 
the  part  of  the  nations,  inasmuch  as  doors  and  gates  are  not 
made  to  secure  houses  and  cities  against  the  forcible  entrance 
of  men  and  nations,  but  to  render  it  possible  for  them  to  go  out 
and  in.  Moreover,  the  supposition  that  "  door  of  the  nations" 
is  equivalent  to  shutting  against  the  nations,  is  not  in  harmony 


374  THE  PBOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

with  the  words  v?>*  "^203  wliich  follow.     The  expression  "  it  has 
turned  to  me,"  or  it  is  turned  to  me,  has  no  meaning  unless  it 
signifies  that  through  the  breaking  of  the  door  the  stream  of  the 
nations  would,  turn  away  from  Jerusalem  to  Tyre,  and  there- 
fore that  hitherto  the  nations  had  turned  to  Jerusalem.     n2D3 
is  the  3d  pers.  perf.  Niplial  of  33D,  for  "^303,  formed  after  the 
analogy  of  003^  etc.     The  missing  subject  to  naps  is  to  be  found 
ad  sensum  in  D'tp^'n  ninp"i.     It  is  not  the  door  itself,  but  the 
entrance  and  streaming  in  of  the  nations,  which  had  previously 
been  directed  towards  Jerusalem,  and  would  now  turn  to  Tyre. 
There  is  no  necessity,  therefore,  for  Hitzig's  conjecture,  that 
nx^?3X  should  be  altered  into  ^^^t?,  and  the  latter  taken  as  the 
subject.     Consequently  we  must  understand  the  words  of  the 
Tyrians  as  signifying  that  tliey  liad  regarded  the  drawing  of 
the  nations  to  Jerusalem,  i.e.  the  force  of   attraction  which 
Jerusalem  had  hitherto  exerted  upon  the  nations,  as  the  seat  of 
the  divine  revelation  of  mercy,  or  of  the  law  and  judgment  of 
the  Lord,  as  interfering  with  their  endeavour  to  draw  all  nations 
to  themselves  and  gain  them  over  to  their  purposes,  and  that 
they  rejoiced  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Jbecause  they 
hoped  that  henceforth  they  would  be  able  to  attract  the  nations 
to  themselves   and  enrich   themselves  with   their   possessions. 
This  does  not  require  that  we  should  accredit  the  Tyrians  with 
any  such  insight  into  the  spiritual  calling  of  Jerusalem  as  would 
lie  beyond  their  heathen  point  of  view.     The  simple  circum- 
stance, that  the  position  occupied  by  Jerusalem  iu  relation  to 
the  world  apparently  interfered  with  the  mercantile  interests  of 
the  Tyrians,  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  excite  a  malignant 
pleasure  at  the  fall  of  the  city  of  God,  as  the  worship  of  God 
and  the  worship  of  Mammon  are  irreconcilably  opposed.     The 
source  from  which  the  envy  and  the  enmity  manifesting  itself 
in  this  malicious  pleasure  took  their  rise,  is  indicated  in  the  last 
words:   "I  shall  fill  myself,   she  (Jerusalem)   is  laid  waste," 
which  Jerome  has  correctly  linked  together  tinis :    quia  ilia 
deserta  est,  idcirco  ego  implehor.     ^5^'f^',  to  be  filled  with  mer- 


CHAP.  XXVI.  7-14.  375 

cliandise  and  wealth,  as  in  ch.  xxvii.  25.      On  account  of  this 
disposition  toward  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  led  Tyre  to 
expect  an  increase  of  power  and  wealth  from  its  destruction, 
the  Lord  God  would  smite  it  with  ruin  and  annihilation,     "'^^n 
Tl'^y,  behold,  I  will  come  upon  thee,  as  in  ch.  xiii.  8  ;  Jer.  1.  31 , 
Nah.  iii.  5.     God  will  lead  a  powerful  army  against  Tyre,  which 
shall  destroy  its  walls  and  towers.     Instead  of  the  army,  "  many 
rations"  are  mentioned,  because  Tyre  is   hoping  to   attract 
more  nations  to  itself  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.     This  hope  is  to  be  fulfilled,  though  in  a  different 
sense  from  that  which  Tyre  intended.     The  comparison  of  the 
advancing  army  to  the  advancing  waves  of  the  sea  is  very 
significant  when  the  situation  of  Tyre  is  considered.     D*^  is  the 
subject  to  ni^yniij  and  the  Hiphil  is  construed  with  f  instead  of 
the  accusative  (compare  Ewald,  §  292c  with  §  277g).     Accord- 
to  Arrian,  ii.  18.  3,  and  Curtius,  iv.  2.  9,  12,  and  3.  13,  Insular 
Tyre  was  fortified  all  round  with  lofty  walls  and  towers,  which 
were  certainly  in  existence  as  early  as  Nebuchadnezzar's  time. 
Even  the  dust  of  the  demolished  buildings  ('^"^SV)  God  would 
sweep  away  ("'J}''???,  cltt.  Xey.,  with  a  play  upon  innK^),  so  that 
the  city,  i.e.  the  site  on  which  it  had  stood,  would  become  a 
bare  and  barren  rock  (V?p  C"''?V»  as  in  ch.  xxiv.  7),  a  place  where 
fishermen  would  spread  out  their  nets  to  dry.     "  Her  daughters  " 
also,  that  is  to  say,  the  towns  dependent  upon  Tyre,  "  on  the 
field,"  i.e.  the  open  country, — in  other  words,  their  inhabitants, 
— would  be  slain  with  the  sword. 

In  vers.  7-14  the  threat  is  carried  still  further. — Ver.  7.  For 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold^  I  loill  bring  against  Tyre 
Nebuchadnezzar^  the  hing  of  Babylon^  from  the  nortli,  the  king 
of  kings,  loith  horses,  and  chariots,  and  horsemen,  and  a  multitude 
of  much  people.  Ver.  8.  Thy  daughters  in  the  field  he  will  slay 
wiili  the  sioord,  and  he  tvill  erect  siege-towers  against  thee,  and 
throw  up  a  rampart  against  thee,  and  set  up  shields  against  thee, 
Ver.  9.  And  direct  his  hattering-rams  against  thy  walls,  and 
throw  down  thy  towers  with  his  swords.     Ver.  10.  Frotn  the 


376  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

multitude  of  his  horses  their  dust  ivill  cover  thee  ;  from  the  noise 
of  the  horsemen,  wheels,  and  chariots,  thy  walls  will  shake  when 
he  shall  enter  into  thy  gates,  as  they  enter  a  city  broken  open. 
Ver.  11.  With  the  hoofs  of  his  horses  he  will  tread  down  all  thy 
streets ;  thy  people  he  loill  slay  loith  the  sxcord,  and  thy  rilorions 
pillars  will  fall  to  the  ground.  Ver.  12.  They  will  make  booty 
of  thy  possessions,  and  plunder  thy  merchandise,  destroy  thy  loalls, 
and  throw  down  thy  splendid  mansions,  and  sink  thy  stones,  thy 
xoood,  and  thy  dust  in  the  icater.  Ver.  13.  /  will  put  an  end 
to  the  sound  of  thy  songs,  and  the  music  of  thy  liavps  shall  be 
heard  no  more.  Ver.  14.  /  will  make  thee  a  bare  rock;  thou 
shalt  be  a  p)lace  for  the  spreading  of  nets,  and  be  built  no 
more ;  for  1  Jehovah  have  spoken  it,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah. — Nebuchadnezzar,  the  great  king  of  Babylon, 
— this  is  the  meaning  of  the  rhetorical  description  in  these 
verses, — will  come  with  a  powerful  army  (ver.  7),  smite  with 
the  sword  the  inland  cities  dependent  upon  Tyre  (ver.  8,  com- 
pare ver.  6),  then  commence  the  siege  of  Tyre,  destroy  its 
walls  and  towers  (vers.  86  and  9),  enter  with  his  army  the  city 
in  which  breaches  have  been  made,  put  the  inhabitants  to  death 
(vers.  10  and  11),  plunder  the  treasures,  destroy  walls  and  build- 
ings, and  cast  the  ruins  into  the  sea  (ver.  12).  Nebuchadrezzar, 
or  Nebuchadnezzar  (for  the  name  see  the  comm.  on  2  Kings 
xxiv.  1),  is  called  king  of  kings,  as  the  supreme  ruler  of  the 
Babylonian  empire,  because  the  kings  of  conquered  provinces 
and  lands  were  subject  to  him  as  vassals  (see  the  comm.  on 
Isa.  X.  8).  His  army  consists  of  war-chariots,  and  cavalry,  and 
a  great  multitude  of  infantry.  2ycj?l  ^ni?  are  co-ordinate,  so 
far  as  the  rhetorical  style  is  concerned;  but  in  reality  syoV  is 
subordinate  to  ''^i^,  as  in  ch.  xxiii.  21,  inasmuch  as  the  '''^i^  con- 
sisted of  3"J'2y.  On  the  siege-works  mentioned  in  ver.  86,  see 
the  comm.  on  ch.  iv.  2.  "^^y  D'^pn  signifies  the  construction  of 
a  roof  with  shields,  by  which  the  besiegers  were  accustomed  to 
defend  themselves  from  the  missiles  of  the  defenders  of  the 
city  wall  while  pursuing  their  labours.      Herodotus  repeatedly 


CHAP.  XXVI.  7-14.  377 

mentions  such  shield-roofs  as  used  by  the  Persians  (ix.  61.  99, 
102),  though,  according  to  Layard,  they  are  uot  to  be  found 
upon  the  Assyrian  monuments  (see  the  comm.  on  Nah.  ii.  6). 
There  is  no  doubt  that  i^3p^  ''no  signifies  the  battering-ram, 
called  13  in  ch.  xxi.  27,  though  the  meaning  of  the  words  is 
disputed,  '•np,  literally,  thrusting  or  smiting,  vip,  from  ?3'P,  to 
be  pointed  either  i'?3p  or  i^^p^  (the  form  i?3p^  adopted  by  v.  d. 
Hooght  and  J.  H.  Michaelis  is  opposed  to  the  grammatical 
rules),  has  been  explained  by  Gesenius  and  others  as  signifying 
res  opposita,  that  which  is  opposite ;  hence  l^ap  "Ti^D,  the  thrust- 
ing or  demolishing  of  that  which  stands  opposite.  In  the 
opinion  of  others,  P3p  is  an  instrument  employed  in  besieging ; 
but  there  is  nothing  in  the  usage  of  the  language  to  sustain 
either  this  explanation  or  that  adopted  by  Havernick,  "destruc- 
tion of  his  defence."  1''^U')n,  his  swords,  used  figuratively  for 
his  weapons  or  instruments  of  war,  "his  irons,"  as  Ewald  has 
very  aptly  rendered  it.  The  description  in  ver.  10  is  hyper- 
bolical. The  number  of  horses  is  so  great,  that  on  their 
entering  the  city  they  cover  it  with  dust,  and  the  walls  shake 
with  the  noise  of  the  horsemen  and  chariots.  '30  "T'y  ''Xnp3, 
literally,  as  the  marchings  into  a  broken  city,  i.e.  a  city  taken  by 
storm,  generally  are.  The  simile  may  be  explained  from  the 
peculiar  situation  of  Insular  Tyre.  It  means  that  the  enemy 
will  enter  it  as  they  march  into  a  land-fortress  into  which  a 
breach  has  been  made  by  force.  The  words  presuppose  that 
the  besieger  has  made  a  road  to  the  city  by  throwing  up  an 
embankment  or  dam.  "^^V  nusfD,  the  memorial  pillars  of  thy 
might,  and  the  pillars  dedicated  to  Baal,  two  of  which  are 
mentioned  by  Herodotus  (ii.  44)  as  standing  in  the  temple  of 
Hercules  at  Tyre,  one  of  gold,  the  other  of  emerald  ;  not  images 
of  gods,  but  pillars,  as  symbols  of  Baal.  These  sink  or  fall  to 
the  ground  before  the  overwhelming  might  of  the  foe  (compare 
Isa.  xlvi.  1,  xxi.  9,  and  1  Sam.  v.  3).  After  the  slaughter  of 
the  inhabitants  and  the  fall  of  the  gods,  the  plunderino-  of  the 
treasures  begins,  and  then  follows  the  destruction  of  the  city. 


378  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

•Tion  '<r\3  are  not  pleasure-houses  ("  pleasure-towers,  or  garden- 
houses  of  the  wealthy  merchants,"  as  Ewald  supposes),  for  there 
was  not  space  enough  upon  the  island  for  gardens  (Strabo,  xvi. 
2.  23),  but  the  lofty,  magnificent  houses  of  the  city,  the  palaces 
mentioned  in  Isa.  xxiii.  13.  Yea,  the  whole  city  shall  be 
destroyed,  and  that  so  completely  that  they  will  sweep  stones, 
wood,  and  rubbish  into  the  sea. — Thus  will  the  Lord  put  an 
end  to  the  exultation  and  rejoicing  in  Tyre  (ver.  13 ;  compare 
Isa.  xiv.  11  and  Amos  v.  23). — The  picture  of  the  destruction  of 
this  powerful  city  closes  with  the  repetition  of  the  thought  from 
ver.  5,  that  Tyre  shall  be  turned  into  a  bare  rock,  and  shall 
never  be  built  again. 

Vers.  15-18.  The  tidings  of  the  destruction  of  Tyre  will 
produce  great  commotion  in  all  her  colonies  and  the  islands 
connected  with  her. — Ver.  15.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to 
Tyre,  Will  not  the  islands  tremble  at  the  noise  of  thy  fall,  at  the 
groaning  of  the  tcounded,  at  the  slaughter  in  the  midst  of  thee  ? 
Ver.  IG.  And  all  the  princes  of  the  sea  will  come  doion  from 
their  thrones,  and  will  lay  aside  their  robes  and  take  off  their 
embroidered  clothes,  and  dress  themselves  in  terrors,  sit  upon  the 
earth,  and  they  tuill  tremble  every  moment,  and  be  astonished  at 
thee.  Ver.  17.  They  will  raise  a  lamentation  for  thee,  and  say 
to  thee :  How  hast  thou  perished,  thou  who  wast  inhabited  from 
out  of  the  sea,  thou  renowned  city,  she  who  was  mighty  upon  the 
sea,  she  and  her  inhabitants,  tvho  inspired  all  her  inhabitants  ivith 
fear  of  her  !  Ver.  18.  Now  do  the  islands  tremble  on  the  day 
of  thy  fall,  and  the  islands  vn  the  sea  are  confounded  at  thy 
departure. — ^"^.^  nonne,  has  the  force  of  a  direct  affirmation. 
n73D  ?ip,  the  noise  of  the  fall,  stands  for  the  tidings  of  the 
noise,  since  the  noise  itself  could  not  be  heard  upon  the  islands. 
The  fall  takes  place,  as  is  added  for  the  purpose  of  depicting 
the  terrible  nature  of  the  event,  at  or  amidst  the  groaning  of 
the  wounded,  and  the  slaughter  in  the  midst  of  thee.  J"?.i^3  is 
the  infinitive  Niphal,  with  the  accent  drawn  back  on  account  of 
the  following  Milel,  and  should  be  pointed  J^n?.      The  word 


CHAP.  XXVI.  15-18.  o  i  y 

C^Vj  islands,  is  frequently  used  so  as  to  embrace  the  coast  lands 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  we  have  therefore  to  understand  it 
here  as  applied  to  the  Phoenician  colonies  on  the  islands  and 
coasts  of  that  sea.  The  "  princes  of  the  sea  "  are  not  kings  of 
the  islands,  but,  according  to  Isa.  xxiii.  8,  the  merchants  pre- 
siding over  the  colonies  of  Tyre,  who  resembled  princes.  riisp3^ 
not  royal  thrones,  but  chairs,  as  in  1  Sam.  iv.  13,  etc.  The 
picture  of  their  mourning  recalls  the  description  in  Jonah  iii.  6  ; 
it  is  not  derived  from  that  passage,  however,  but  is  an  indepen- 
dent description  of  the  mourning  customs  which  commonly 
prevailed  among  princes.  The  antithesis  introduced  is  a  very 
striking  one  :  clothing  themselves  in  terrors,  putting  on  terrors 
in  the  place  of  the  robes  of  state  which  they  have  laid  aside 
(see  the  similar  trope  in  ch.  vii.  27).  The  thought  is  rendered 
still  more  forcible  by  the  closing  sentences  of  the  verse  :  they 
tremble  D''V^"}?j  by  moments,  i.e.  as  the  moments  return, — 
actually,  therefore,  "  every  moment "  {vid.  Isa.  xxvii.  3). — In 
the  lamentation  which  they  raise  (ver.  17),  they  give  pro- 
minence to  the  alarming  revolution  of  all  things,  occasioned  by 
the  fact  that  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  once  so  renowned,  has 
now  become  an  object  of  horror  and  alarm.  ti''Bl'0  nzC'ii, 
inhabited  from  the  seas.  This  is  not  to  be  taken  as  equivalent 
to  "as  far  as  the  seas,"  in  the  sense  of,  whose  inhabitants 
spread  over  the  seas  and  settle  there,  as  Gesenius  (^Thes.)  and 
Hiivernick  suppose ;  for  being  inhabited  is  the  very  opposite  of 
sending  the  inhabitants  abroad.  If  I??  were  to  be  taken  in  the 
geographical  sense  of  direction  or  locality,  the  meaning  of  the 
expression  could  only  be,  whose  inhabitants  spring  from  the 
seas,  or  have  migrated  thither  from  all  seas ;  but  this  would 
not  apply  to  the  population  of  Tyre,  which  did  not  consist  of 
men  of  all  nations  under  heaven.  Hitzig  has  given  the  correct 
interpretation,  namely,  from  the  sea,  or  out  of  the  seas,  which 
had  as  it  were  ascended  as  an  inhabited  city  out  of  the  bosom 
of  the  sea.  It  is  not  easy  to  explain  the  last  clause  of  ver.  17 : 
who  inspired  all  her  inhabitants  with  their  terror,  or  with  terror 


380  THE  mOPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  them  (of  themselves)  ;  for  if  the  relative  iti'N  is  taken  in 
connection  with  the  preceding  H''?^',  the  thought  arises  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Tyre  inspired  her  inhabitants,  i.e.  themselves, 
with  their  terror,  or  terror  of  themselves.  Kimchi,  Eosen- 
miiller,  Ewald,  Kliefoth,  and  others,  have  therefore  proposed 
to  take  the  suffix  in  the  second  rr'ac'i''  as  referrintj  to  D'n  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  sea,  i.e.  all  her  colonies.  But  this  is  open  to 
the  objection,  that  not  only  is  DJ  of  the  masculine  gender,  but 
it  is  extremely  harsh  to  take  the  same  suffix  attached  to  the  two 
n"'3K'^  as  referring  to  different  subjects.  We  must  therefore 
take  the  relative  "IK'X  and  the  suffix  in  DTT'nn  as  both  referrinji 
to  \}''^P'')  ^^<}  :  the  city  with  its  population  inspired  all  its  several 
inhabitants  with  fear  of  itself.  This  is  not  to  be  understood, 
however,  as  signifying  that  the  inhabitants  of  Tyre  kept  one 
another  in  a  state  of  terror  and  alarm ;  but  that  the  city  with 
its  population,  through  its  power  upon  the  sea,  inspired  all  the 
several  inhabitants  with  fear  of  this  its  might,  inasmuch  as  the 
distinction  of  the  city  and  its  population  was  reflected  upon 
every  individual  citizen.  This  explanation  of  the  words  is  con- 
firmed by  the  parallel  passages  in  ch.  xxxii.  24  and  26. — This 
city  had  come  to  so  appalling  an  end,  that  all  the  islands 
trembled  thereat.  The  two  hemistichs  in  ver.  18  are  synony- 
mous, and  the  thought  returns  by  way  of  conclusion  to  ver.  15. 
r*X  has  the  Aramaean  form  of  the  plural,  which  is  sometimes 
met  with  even  in  the  earlier  poetry  (t-u?.  Ewald,  §  177a).  nsv, 
departure,  i.e.  destruction. 

Vers.  19-21.  Thus  will  Tyre,  covered  by  the  waves  of  the 
sea,  sink  into  the  region  of  the  dead,  and  vanish  for  ever  from 
the  earth, — Ver.  19.  For  tJius  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  When  I 
make  thee  a  desolate  city,  like  the  cities  which  are  no  longer  in- 
habited, when  I  cause  the  deep  to  rise  over  thee,  so  that  the  many 
waters  cover  thee,  Ver.  20.  /  cast  thee  down  to  those  who  have 
gone  into  the  grave,  to  the  people  of  olden  time,  and  cause  thee  to 
dwell  in  the  land  of  the  lower  regions,  in  the  ruins  from  the  olden 
time,  loith  those  who  have  gone  into  the  grave,  that  thou  mayest  he 


CHAP.  XXVI.  19-21.  881 

no  longer  inhaMteJ,  and  I  create  that  which  is  glorious  in  the 
land  of  the  living.     Ver.  21.  /  make  thee  a  terror^  and  thou 
art   no  more;  they  will  seek   thee,   and  find  thee  no  more  for 
ever,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — Not  only  will  ruin 
and  desolation  come  upon  Tyre,  but  it  will  sink  for  ever  into 
the  region  of  the    dead.      In    this  concluding    thought    the 
whole  threat  is  summed  up.    The  infinitive  clauses  of  ver.  19 
recapitulate  the  leading  thoughts  of  the  previous  strophes,  for 
the  purpose  of  appending  the  closing  thought  of  banishment  to 
the  under-world.      By  the  rising  of  the  deep  we  are  to  under- 
stand, according  to  ver.  12,  that  the  city  in   its  ruins  will  be 
sunk  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.     "ii3  "''i-ii'',  those  who  go  down 
into  the  pit  or  grave,  are  the  dead.     They  are  described  still 
further  as  oHy  nv,  not  "  those  who  are  sleeping  the  long  sleep 
of  death,"  or  the  generation  of  old  whom  all  must  join ;  but  the 
people  of  the  "old  world"  before  the  flood  (2  Pet.  ii.  5),  who 
were  buried  by  the  waters  of  the  flood,  in  accordance  with 
Job  xxii.  15,  where  a?)]}  denotes  the  generations  of  the  primeval 
world,   and   after  the  analogy  of  the  use  of  D^iJ?  oy  in  Isa. 
xliv.   7,  to  describe  the  human   race   as  existing  from  time 
immemorial.     In  harmony  with  this,  D^iyo  ^^^"JP  are  the  ruins 
of  the  primeval  world  wdiich  perished  in  the  flood.     As  D^iy  Dy 
adds  emphasis  to  the  idea  of  in  niv,  so  also  does  D^iyo  ni2nn3 
to  that  of  rii'rinn  ps.     Tyre  shall  not  only  descend  to  the  dead 
in  Sheol,  but  be  thrust  down  to  the  people  of  the  dead,  who 
were  sunk  into  the  depths  of  the  earth  by  the  waters  of  the 
flood,  and   shall  there   receive   its   everlasting   dwelling-place 
among  the  ruins  of  the  primeval  world  which  was  destroyed  by 
the  flood,  beside  that  godless  race  of   the   olden   time.      pX 
ni'rinn,  land  of  the  lowest  places  (cf.  ch.  xxxii.  18,  24),  is  a 
periphrasis  for  Sheol,  the  region  of  the  dead  (compare  Eph. 
iv.  9,  "  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ").     On  'iJI  ^ny  ^ririJl  Hitzig 
has  observed  with  perfect  correctness :  "  If  we  retain  the  point- 
ing as  the  first  person,  with  which  the  place  assigned  to  the 
Athnach   (*)  coincides,  we  must  at  any  rate  not  ren-ard  the 


382  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

clause  as  still  dependent  .upon  iV^r',  and  the  force  of  the  iih  as 
continued.  We  should  then  have  to  take  the  clause  as  inde- 
pendent and  affirmative,  as  the  accentuators  and  the  Targum 
have  done."  But  as  this  would  give  rise  to  a  discrepancy 
between  the  two  halves  of  the  verse,  Hitzig  proposes  to  alter  ""iiiri: 
into  the  second  person  ^nri31,  so  that  the  clause  would  still  be 
governed  by  N''  lypp.  But  the  want  of  agreement  between  the 
two  halves  of  the  verse  does  not  warrant  an  alteration  of  the 
text,  especially  if  it  lead  to  nothing  better  than  the  forced 
rendering  adopted  by  Hitzig,  "  and  thou  no  longer  shinest  with 
glory  in  the  land  of  the  living,"  which  there  is  nothing  in  the 
language  to  justify.  And  even  the  explanation  proposed  by 
Hiivernick  and  Kliefoth,  "  that  I  no  longer  produce  anything 
glorious  from  thee  (Tyre)  in  the  land  of  the  living,"  is  open  to 
this  objection,  that  "  from  thee"  is  arbitrarily  interpolated  into 
the  text;  and  if  this  were  what  Ezekiel  meant,  he  would  either 
have  added  "H^  or  written  ^""JiiriJ.  Moreover,  the  change  of 
person  is  a  sufficient  objection  to  our  taking  ""rinj  as  dependent 
upon  tyi??,  and  supplying  N?.  ^^^^I  is  evidently  a  simple  con- 
tinuation of  ^''^?*^'i'^\  And  nothing  but  the  weightiest  objec- 
tions should  lead  us  to  give  up  a  view  which  so  naturally 
suggests  itself.  But  no  such  objections  exist.  Neither  the 
want  of  harmony  between  the  two  halves  of  the  verse,  nor  the 
context, — according  to  which  Tyre  and  its  destruction  are 
referred  to  both  before  and  immediately  after, — forces  us  to 
the  adoption  of  explanations  at  variance  with  the  simple  mean- 
ing of  the  words.  We  therefore  adhere  to  the  natural  inter- 
pretation of  the  words,  "  and  I  set  (establish)  glory  in  the  land 
of  the  living ; "  and  understand  by  the  land  of  the  living,  not 
the  theocracy  especially,  but  the  earth,  in  contrast  to  the  region 
of  the  dead.  The  words  contain  the  general  thought,  that  on 
and  after  the  overthrow  of  the  glory  of  the  ungodly  power  of 
the  world.  He  will  create  that  which  is  glorious  on  the  earth 
to  endure  for  ever ;  and  this  He  really  does  by  the  establishing 
of  His  kiogdom. — Tyre,  on  the  contrary,  shall  become,  through 


CHAP.  XXVII.  1-11.  383 

its  fate,  an  object  of  terror,  or  an  example  of  sudden  destruc- 
tion, and  pass  away  with  all  its  glory,  not  leaving  a  trace 
behind.  For  ver.  21b,  compare  Isa.  xli.  12  and  Ps.  xxxvii.  36. 
"•ll'ipanij  imperf.  Pual,  has  Chateph-patach  between  the  two  u,  to 
indicate  empliatically  that  the  syllable  is  only  a  very  loosely 
closed  one  (yid.  Ewald,  §  315,  p.  95). 

CHAP.  XXVII.  LAMENTATION  OVER  THE  FALL  OF  TYRE. 

The  lamentation  commences  with  a  picture  of  the  glory  of 
the  city  of  Tyre,  its  situation,  its  architectural  beauty,  its  mili- 
tary strength  and  defences  (vers.  3-11),  and  its  wide-spread 
commercial  relations  (vers.  12-25);  and  then  passes  into  mourn- 
ful lamentation  over  the  ruin  of  all  this  glory  (vers.  26-36). 

Vers.  1-11.  Introduction  and  description  of  the  glory  and 
might  of  Tyre. — Ver.  1.  And  the  icord  of  JeliovaU  came  to  me, 
saying,  Ver.  2.  And  do  thou,  0  son  of  man,  raise  a  lamentation 
over  Tyre,  Ver.  3.  And  say  to  Tyre,  Thou  loho  dioellest  at  the 
approaches  of  the  sea,  jnerchant  of  the  nations  to  many  islands, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Tyre,  thou  sayest,  I  am  perfect  in 
beauty.  Ver.  4.  In  the  heart  of  the  seas  is  thy  territory  ;  thy 
builders  have  made  thy  beauty  perfect.  Ver.  5.  Out  of  cypresses 
of  Senir  they  built  all  double-plank-icorJc  for  thee ;  they  took  cedars 
of  Lebanon  to  make  a  mast  npon  thee.  Ver.  6.  They  made  thine 
oars  of  oaks  of  Bashan,  thy  benches  they  made  of  ivory  set  in  box 
from  the  islands  of  the  Chittaeans.  Ver.  7.  Byssus  in  em- 
broidery from  Egypt  was  thy  sail,  to  serve  thee  for  a  banner  ; 
blue  and  red  purple  from  the  islands  ofElishah  teas  thine  awning. 
Ver.  8.  The  inhabitants  of  Sidon  and  Arvad  loere  thy  rowers  ; 
thy  skilful  men,  0  Tyre,  ivere  in  thee,  they  luere  thy  sailoi^s. 
Ver.  9.  The  elders  of  Gebal  and  its  skilful  men  ivere  loith  thee  to 
repair  thy  leaks  ;  all  the  ship)s  of  the  sea  and  their  mariners  ivere 
in  thee  to  barter  thy  goods.  Ver.  10.  Persian  and  Lydian  and 
Libyan  ivere  in  thine  army,  thy  men  of  ivar ;  shield  and  helmet  they 
hung  up  in  thee;  they  gave  brilliancy  to  thee.     Ver.  11.  The  sons 


384  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  Arvad  and  thine  army  icere  upon  tliy  walls  round  about,  and 
brave  men  loere  upon  thy  towers ;  they  hung  up  their  shields 
upon  thy  walls  round  about ;  they  have  made  thy  beauty  perfect. — 
The  lamentation  commences  with  an  address  to  Tyre,  in  which 
its  favourable  situation  for  purposes  of  trade,  and  the  perfect 
beauty  of  which  she  was  conscious,  are  placed  in  the  fore- 
ground (ver.  3).  Tyre  is  sitting,  or  dwelling,  at  the  approaches 
of  the  sea.  D^  nxUD,  approaches  or  entrances  of  the  sea,  are 
harbours  into  which  ships  sail  and  from  which  they  depart,  just 
as  i''i'n  J<i2p,  the  gate  of  the  city,  is  both  entrance  and  exit. 
This  description  does  not  point  to  the  city  on  the  mainland,  or 
Old  Tyre,  but  answers  exactly  to  Insular  Tyre  with  its  two 
harbours.^  '''^?'^\  with  the  connecting  ?',  which  is  apparently 
confounded  here  after  the  Aramaean  fashion  with  the  %  of  the 
feminine  pronoun,  and  has  therefore  been  marked  by  the 
!Masora  as  superfluous  {vid.  Ewald,  §  2116).  The  combination 
of  ri?3"i  with  'i  Q''^^5  7X  may  be  accounted  for  from  the  primary 
meaning  of  ^T\i  to  travel  about  as  a  merchant :  thou  who  didst 
go  to  the  nations  on  many  shores  to  carry  on  thy  trade.  Tyre 
itself  considers  that  she  is  perfect  in  her  beauty,  partly  on 
account  of  her  strong  position  in  the  sea,  and  partly  because  of 
her  splendid  edifices.^     In  the  description  which  follows  of  this 

^  Insular  Tyre  possessed  two  harbours,  a  northern  one  called  the 
Sidouian,  because  it  was  on  the  Sidonian  side,  and  one  on  the  opposite  or 
south-eastern  side,  which  was  called  the  Egyptian  harbour  from  the  direc- 
tion iu  which  it  pointed.  The  Sidoiiian  was  the  more  celebrated  of  the 
two,  and  consisted  of  an  inner  harbour,  situated  within  the  wall  of  the  city, 
and  an  outer  one,  formed  by  a  row  of  rocks,  svhich  lay  at  a  distance  of 
about  three  hundred  paces  to  the  north-west  of  the  island,  and  ran  parallel 
to  the  opposite  coast  of  the  mainland,  so  as  to  form  a  roadstead  in  which 
shijis  could  anchor  {vid.  Arriau,  ii.  20  ;  Strabo,  xvi.  2.  2;)).  Tliis  northern 
harbour  is  still  held  by  the  city  of  Nh/-,  whereas  the  Egyptian  harbour  with 
the  south-eastern  portion  of  the  island  has  been  buried  by  the  sand  driven 
against  the  coasts  by  the  south  winds,  so  that  even  the  writers  of  the 
Middle  Ages  make  no  allusion  to  it.  (See  Movers,  Phmxzier,  II.  1, 
pp.  214  sqq.) 

''■  Curtius,  iv.  2  :  Tyrus  et  claritats  ct  magitUudlne  ante  omues  urbcs  Syriae 
Phocnicesqne  mcmorahilis.     (Cf.  Strabo,  xvi.  2.  22.) 


CHAP.  XXVil.  1-11.  3S5 

beauty  and  gloiy,  from  ver.  4  onwards,  Tyre  is  depicted 
allegorically  as  a  beautiful  ship,  splendidly  built  and  equipped 
throughout,  and  its  destruction  is  afterwards  represented  as  a 
shipwreck  occasioned  by  the  east  wind  (vers.  26  sqq.).^  The 
words,  "  in  the  heart  of  the  seas  is  thy  territory  "  (ver.  4a),  are 
equally  applicable  to  the  city  of  Tyre  and  to  a  ship,  the  build- 
ing of  which  is  described  in  what  follows.  The  comparison  of 
Tyre  to  a  ship  was  very  naturally  suggested  by  the  situation  of 
the  city  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  completely  surrounded  by 
water.  As  a  ship,  it  must  of  necessity  be  built  of  wood.  The 
shipbuilders  selected  the  finest  kinds  of  wood  for  the  purpose ; 
cypresses  of  Antilibanus  for  double  planks,  which  formed  the 
sides  of  the  vessel,  and  cedar  of  Lebanon  for  the  mast.  S'lw, 
according  to  Dent.  iii.  9,  was  the  Amoritish  name  of  Hermon 
or  Antilibanus,  whereas  the  Sidonians  called  it  Sirion.  On  the 
other  hand,  S'nir  occurs  in  1  Chron.  v.  23,  and  Sh^nir  in  Sono- 
of  Sol.  iv.  8,  in  connection  with  Hermon,  where  they  are  used 
to  denote  separate  portions  of  Antilibanus.  Ezekiel  evidently 
uses  S>enir  as  a  foreign  name,  which  had  been  retained  to  his 
own  time,  whereas  Sirion  had  possibly  become  obsolete,  as  the 
names  had  both  the  same  meaning  (see  the  comm.  on  Deut. 
iii.  9).  The  naming  of  the  places  from  which  the  several 
materials  were  obtained  for  the  fitting  out  of  the  ship,  serve  to 
heighten  the  glory  of  its  construction  and  give  an  ideal  charac- 
ter to  the  picture.  All  lands  have  contributed  their  produc- 
tions to  complete  the  glory  and  might  of  Tyre.  Cypress-wood 
was  frequently  used  by  the  ancients  for  buildings  and  (accord- 
ing to  Virgil,  Georg.  ii.  443)  also  for  ships,  because  it  was 

1  Jerome  recognised  this  allegory,  and  has  explained  it  correctly  as 
follows:  "  He  (the  prophet)  speaks  rpoTriKug,  as  though  addressing  a  ship, 
and  points  out  its  beauty  and  the  abundance  of  everything.  Then,  after 
having  depicted  all  its  supplies,  he  announces  that  a  storm  will  rise,  and 
the  south  wind  (mister)  will  blow,  by  which  great  waves  will  be  gathered 
up,  and  the  vessel  will  be  wrecked.  In  all  this  he  is  referring  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  city  by  King  Nabuchodonosor, "  etc.  Easchi  and  others 
give  the  same  explanation. 

EZEK.  T.  2    B 


386  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

exempt  from  the  attacks  of  worms,  and  was  almost  imperishable, 
and  yet  very  lii:;ht  (Theophr.  Hist,  plant,  v.  8  ;  Plinii  Hist.  nat. 
xvi.  79).  D^nri^,  a  dual  form,  like  D";nbn  in  2  Kings  xxv.  4, 
Isa.  xxii.  11,  double-planks,  used  for  the  two  side-walls  of  the 
ship.  For  oars  they  chose  oaks  of  Bash  an  (pSUD  as  well  as 
tiitro  in  ver.  29  from  \2W,  to  row),  and  the  rowing  benches  (or 
deck)  were  of  ivory  inlaid  in  box.  tJ'^P  is  used  in  Ex.  xxvi. 
15  sqq.  for  the  boards  or  planks  of  the  wooden  walls  of  the 
tabernacle  ;  here  it  is  employed  in  a  collective  sense,  either  for 
the  rowing  benches,  of  which  there  were  at  least  two,  and 
sometimes  three  rows  in  a  vessel,  one  above  another,  or  more 
properly,  for  the  deck  of  the  vessel  (Kitzig).  This  was  made 
of  shen,  or  ivory,  inlaid  in  wood.  The  ivory  is  mentioned  first 
as  the  most  valuable  material  of  the  K'jP,  the  object  being 
to  picture  the  ship  as  possessing  all  possible  splendour.  The 
expression  CiU'XTia  occasions  some  difficulty,  partly  on  account 
of  the  use  of  the  word  02,  and  partly  in  connection  with  the 
meaning  of  2"'"}ti'>?,  although  so  much  may  be  inferred  from  the 
context,  that  the  allusion  is  to  some  kind  of  wood  inlaid  with 
ivory,  and  the  custom  of  inlaying  wood  with  ivory  for  the 
purpose  of  decoration  is  attested  by  Virgil,  Aeii.  x.  137  : 

"  Vel  quale  per  artem 
Iiicliisum  buxo,  aut  Oricia  terehintho 
Lucet  ehur.^^ 

But  the  use  of  riz  does  not  harmonize  with  the  relation  of  the 
wood  to  the  ivory  inserted  in  wood;  nor  can  it  be  defended  by 
the  fact  that  in  Lam.  iii.  3  an  arrow  is  designated  "  the  son  of 
the  quiver."  According  to  this  analogy,  the  ivory  ought  to 
have  been  called  the  son  of  the  Ashurim,  because  the  ivory  is 
inserted  in  the  wood,  and  not  the  wood  in  the  ivory .^  We  must 
therefore  adopt  the  solution  proposed  by  R.  Salomo  and  others, 
— namely,  that  the  Masoretic  division  of  D^"i:^S~n3  into  two 
words  is  founded  upon  a  mistake,  and  that  it  should  be  read  as 

^  The  Targiim  has  paraphrased  it  in  this  way  :  J^C'MD  pyna'J'Nl  PET 
^'■jl  "C'2,  >-e.  planks  of  box  or  pine  inlaid  with  ivory. 


CHAP.  XXVII.  1-11.  387 

one  word  D"'nu'xn3j  ivory  in  D''"!U'xrij  i.e.  either  sherbin-cedar 
(according  to  more  recent  expositors),  or  box-wood,  for  which 
Bochart  {Phal.  III.  5)  has  decided.  The  fact  that  in  Isa. 
Ix.  13  the  iiD'xn  is  mentioned  among  the  trees  growing  upon 
Lebanon,  whereas  here  the  Q^")if'J>'il  are  described  as  coming 
from  the  islands  of  the  0>ri3,  does  not  furnish  a  decisive  argu- 
ment to  the  contrary.  AVe  cannot  determine  with  certainty 
wliat  species  of  tree  is  referred  to,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be 
affirmed  that  the  tree  grew  upon  Lebanon  alone,  and  not  upon 
the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  D''ii3  are  the  Ktrtet?,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  port  of  Kinov  in  Cyprus  ;  then  the  Cyprians 
generally ;  and  here,  as  in  Jer.  ii.  10,  where  D'^^X  of  the 
D^'na  are  mentioned,  in  a  still  broader  sense,  inhabitants  of 
Cyprus  and  other  islands  and  coast-lands  of  the  Mediterranean. 
In  1  Mace.  i.  1  and  viii.  5,  even  Macedonia  is  reckoned  as 
belonging  to  the  7^  XeTreieL/u,  or  KnUav.  Consequently  the 
place  from  which  the  2^1t^'5<Jii  were  brought  does  not  furnish 
any  conclusive  proof  that  the  Cyprian  pine  is  referred  to, 
although  this  was  frequently  used  for  ship-building.  There  is 
just  as  much  ground  for  thinking  of  the  box,  as  Bochart  does, 
and  we  may  appeal  in  support  of  this  to  the  fact  that,  according 
to  Theophrastus,  there  is  no  place  in  which  it  grows  more 
vigorously  than  on  the  island  of  Corsica.  In  any  case,  Ezekiel 
mentions  it  as  a  very  valuable  kind  of  wood ;  though  we  can- 
not determine  with  certainty  to  what  wood  he  refers,  either 
from  the  place  where  it  grew  or  from  the  accounts  of  the 
ancients  concerning  the  kinds  of  wood  that  ship-builders  used. 
The  reason  for  this,  how^ever,  is  a  very  simple  one, — namely, 
that  the  whole  description  has  an  ideal  character,  and,  as  Hitzig 
has  correctly  observed,  "  the  application  of  the  several  kinds 
of  wood  to  the  different  parts  of  the  ship  is  evidently  only 
poetical." 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  materials  of  which,  according 
to  ver.  7,  the  sails  and  awning  of  the  ship  were  made.  Byssus 
in  party-coloured  work  ('^'^'I?'!;  see  comm.  on  Ex.  xxvi.  36),  i.e. 


388  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

woven  In  mixed  colours,  probably  not  merely  in  stripes,  but 
woven  with  figures  and  flowers.^  "  From  Egypt ;"  the  byssus- 
weaving  of  Egypt  was  celebrated  in  antiquity,  so  that  byssus- 
linen  formed  one  of  the  principal  articles  of  export  (vid.  Movers, 
ut  supra,  pp.  317  sqq.).  ^"^Sipj  literally,  spreading  out,  evidently 
signifies  the  sail,  which  we  expect  to  find  mentioned  here,  and 
with  which  the  following  clause,  "  to  serve  thee  for  a  banner," 
can  be  reconciled,  inasmuch  as  it  may  be  assumed  either  that 
the  sails  also  served  for  a  banner,  because  the  ships  had  no 
actual  flag,  like  those  in  Wilkinson's  engraving,  or  that 
the  flag  (Dp)  being  also  extended  is  included  under  the  term 
cyisrp  (Hitzig).  The  covering  of  the  ship,  i.e.  the  awning  which 
was  put  up  above  the  deck  for  protection  from  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  consisted  of  purple  (J^^?'!'  and  i^?"?^,  see  the  comm.  on  Ex. 
XXV.  4)  from  the  islands  oi  Elishah,  i.e.  of  the  Grecian  Pelopon- 
nesus, which  naturally  suggests  the  Laconian  purple  so  highly 
valued  in  antiquity  on  account  of  its  splendid  colour  (Plin. 
Hist.  nat.  ix.  36,  xxi.  8).  The  account  of  the  building  of  the 
ship  is  followed  by  the  manning,  and  the  attention  paid  to  its 
condition.  The  words  of  ver.  8a  may  be  taken  as  referring 
quite  as  much  to  the  ship  as  to  the  city,  which  was  in  possession 
of  ships,  and  is  mentioned  by  name  in  ver.  Sb.  The  reference 
to  the  Sidonians  and  Arvad,  i.e.  to  the  inhabitants  of  Aradus,  a 
rocky  island  to  the  north  of  Tripolis,  as  rowers,  is  not  at  variance 
with  the  latter ;  since  there  is  no  need  to  understand  by  the 
rowers  either  slaves  or  servants  employed  to  row,  and  the 
Tyrians  certainly  drew  their  rowers  from  the  whole  of  the 
Phoenician  population,  whereas  the  chief  men  in  command  of 

'  See  Wilkinson,  Manners  and  Customs,  III.  PI.  xvi.,  where  engravings  are 
given  of  Egyptian  state-ships  with  embroidered  sails.  On  one  ship  a  large 
square  sail  is  displayed  in  purple-red  and  purple-blue  checks,  surrounded 
by  a  gold  border.  The  vessel  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra  in  the  battle  of 
Actium  had  also  purple  sails  ;  and  in  this  case  the  purple  sails  were  the 
sign  of  the  admiral's  ship,  just  as  in  Ezekiel  they  serve  as  a  mark  of  dis- 
tinction (d:).  See  Movers,  II.  3,  p.  165,  where  the  accounts  of  ancient 
writers  concerning  such  state-ships  are  collected  together. 


CHAP.  XXVII.  1-11.  389 

the  ships,  the  captain  and  pilot  (Cpnn),  were  no  doubt  as  a 
rule  citizens  of  Tyre.  The  introduction  of  the  inhabitants  of  * 
Gehal,  i.e.  the  Byllos  of  the  Greeks,  the  present  Jehail,  between 
Tripolis  and  Berytus  (see  the  comm.  on  Josh.  xiii.  5),  who  were 
noted  even  in  Solomon's  time  as  skilful  architects  (1  Kings 
V.  32),  as  repairers  of  the  leak,  decidedly  favours  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  idea  of  the  ship  is  still  kept  in  the  foreground  ; 
and  by  the  naming  of  those  who  took  charge  of  the  piloting 
and  condition  of  the  vessel,  the  thought  is  expressed  that  all 
the  cities  of  Phoenicia  assisted  to  maintain  the  might  and  glory 
of  Tyre,  since  Tyre  was  supreme  in  Phoenicia.  It  is  not  till 
ver.  96  that  the  allegory  falls  into  the  background.  Tyre  now 
appears  no  longer  as  a  ship,  but  as  a  maritime  city,  into  whicli 
all  the  ships  of  the  sea  sail,  to  carry  on  and  improve  her  com- 
merce.— Vers.  10,  11.  Tyre  had  also  made  the  best  provision 
for  its  defence.  It  maintained  an  army  of  mercenary  troops 
from  foreign  countries  to  protect  its  colonies  and  extend  its 
settlements,  and  entrusted  the  guarding  of  the  walls  of  the  city 
to  fighting  men  of  Phoenicia.  The  hired  troops  specially 
named  in  ver.  10  are  Pliaras,  Lud,  and  Phut.  DlS  is  no  doubt 
an  African  tribe,  in  Coptic  Phaiat,  the  Libyans  of  the  ancients, 
who  had  spread  themselves  over  the  whole  of  North  Africa  as 
far  as  Mauretania  (see  the  comm.  on  Gen.  x.  6).  1^7  is  not 
the  Semitic  people  of  that  name,  the  Lydians  (Gen.  x.  22), 
but  here,  as  in  ch.  xxx.  5,  Isa.  Ixvi.  19,  and  Jer.  xlvi.  9,  the 
Hamitic  people  of  D''1v  (Gen.  x.  13),  probably  a  general  name 
for  the  whole  of  the  Moorish  tribes,  since  l6  (ch.  xxx.  5) 
and  D^l^''  (Jer.  xliv.  9)  are  mentioned  in  connection  with 
£213  as  auxiliaries  in  the  Egyptian  army.  There  is  something 
striking  in  the  reference  to  D"]3,  the  Persians.  Havernick 
points  to  the  early  intercourse  carried  on  by  the  Phoenicians 
with  Persia  through  the  Persian  Gulf,  through  which  the 
former  would  no  doubt  be  able  to  obtain  mercenary  soldiers, 
for  which  it  was  a  general  rule  to  select  tribes  as  remote  as 
possible.     Hitzig  objects  to  this,  on  the  ground  that  there  is  no 


390  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

proof  that  this  intercourse  with  Persia  through  the  Persian 
Gulf  was  carried  on  in  Ezekiel's  time,  and  that  even  if  it  were, 
it  does  not  follow  that  there  were  any  Persian  mercenaries. 
He  therefore  proposes  to  understand  by  ma,  Persians  who  had 
settled  in  Africa  in  the  olden  time.  But  this  settlement  can- 
not be  inferred  with  sufficient  certainty  either  froum  Sallust, 
Jug.  c.  18,  or  from  the  occurrence  of  the  African  MuKat  of 
Herodotus,  iv.  175,  along  with  the  Asiatic  (Ptol.  vi.  7.  14), 
to  take  it  as  an  explanation  of  D"i3.  If  we  compare  ch. 
xxxviii.  5,  where  Paras  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  Cush 
and  PImt,  Gomer  and  Togarmah,  as  auxiliaries  in  the  army  of 
Gog^  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Asiatic  Persians  are  intended 
there.  And  we  have  to  take  the  word  in  the  same  sense  here  ; 
for  Hitzifj's  objections  consist  of  pure  conjectures  which  have  no 
conclusive  force.  Ezekiel  evidently  intends  to  give  the  names 
of  tribes  from  the  far-off  east,  west,  and  south,  who  were 
enlisted  as  mercenaries  in  the  military  service  of  T3  re.  Hang- 
ing the  shields  and  helmets  in  the  cirv,  to  ornament  its  walls, 
appears  to  have  been  a  Phoenician  custom,  which  Solomon  also 
introduced  into  Judah  (1  Kings  x.  16,  17;  Song  of  Sol.  iv.  4), 
and  which  is  mentioned  again  in  the  times  of  the  ^Maccabees 
(1  Mace.  iv.  57). — A  distinction  is  drawn  in  ver.  11  between 
the  mercenary  troops  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  A  radians, 
and  ^^^Hj  thine  army,  the  military  corps  consisting  of  Tyrlans, 
on  the  other.  The  latter  appear  upon  the  walls  of  Tyre, 
because  native  troops  were  employed  to  watch  and  defend  the 
city,  whilst  the  mercenaries  had  to  march  into  the  field.  The  air. 
Xey.  Ci'l'Sa  (Gammddim)  signifies  brave  men,  as  Rocdiger  has 
conclusively  shown  from  the  Syrian  usage,  in  his  Addenda  to 
Gesenius'  T/ies.  p.  70  seq.  It  is  therefore  an  epitheton  of  the 
native  troops  of  Tyre. — With  the  words,  "  they  (the  troops)  com- 
pleted thy  beauty,"  the  picture  of  the  glory  of  Tyre  is  rounded 
off,  returning  to  its  starting-point  in  vers.  4  and  5. 

Vers.  12-25.  Tliis  is  followed  by  a  description  of  the  com- 
merce of  Tyre  with  all  nations,  who  delivered  their  productions 


CHAP.  XXVII.  12-25.  391 

in  the  market  of  this  metropolis  of  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
and  received  the  wares  and  manufactures  of  this  city  in  return. 
— Ver.  12.  Tarshish  traded  with  thee  for  the  multitude  of  goods 
of  all  hinds ;  ivith  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  they  paid  for  thy 
sales.  Ver.  13.  Juvan,  Tubal,  and  Meshech,  they  loere  thy  mer- 
chants ;  ivith  souls  of  men  and  brazen  vessels  they  made  thy 
barter.  Ver.  14.  From  the  house  of  Togarmah  they  paid  horses, 
riding-horses,  and  mules  for  thy  sales.  Ver.  15.  The  sons  of 
Dedan  were  thy  merchants  ;  many  islands  were  at  thy  hand  for 
commerce  ;  ivory  horns  and  ebony  they  brought  thee  in  payment, 
Ver.  16.  Aram  traded  with  thee  for  the  multitude  of  thy  produc- 
tions;  ivith  carbuncle,  red  purple,  and  embroidery,  and  byssus, 
and  corals,  and  rubies  they  paid  for  thy  sales.  Ver.  17.  Judah 
and  the  land  of  Israel,  they  were  thy  merchants;  with  wheat  of 
Minnith  and  confectionery,  and  honey  and  oil,  and  balsam  they 
made  thy  barter.  Ver.  18.  Damascus  traded  ivith  thee  in  the 
multitude  of  thy  productions,  for  the  multitude  of  goods  of  all 
kinds,  with  loine  of  Chelbon  and  white  wool.  Ver.  19.  Vedan 
and  Javan  from  Uzal  gave  wrought  iron  for  thy  sales  ;  cassia 
and  calamus  were  for  thy  barter.  Ver.  20.  Vedan  was  thy  mer- 
chant in  cloths  spread  for  riding.  Ver.  21.  Arabia  and  all  the 
princes  of  Kedar,  they  were  at  thy  hand  for  commerce;  lambs 
and  rams  and  he-goats,  in  these  they  traded  with  thee.  Ver.  22. 
The  mercliants  of  Sheba  and  Ragmali,  they  were  thy  merchants ; 
with  all  kinds  of  costly  spices  and  with  all  kinds  of  precious 
stones  and  gold  they  paid  for  thy  sales.  Ver.  23.  Haran,  and 
Canneh,  and  Eden,  the  merchants  of  Sheba,  Asshur,  Chilmad, 
were  thy  mercliants  ;  Ver.  24.  They  were  thy  merchants  in 
splendid  clothes,  in  purple  and  embroidered  robes,  and  in 
treasures  of  twisted  yarn,  in  wound  and  strong  cords  for  thy 
wares.  Ver.  25.  The  ships  of  larshish  were  thy  caravans,  thy 
trade,  and  thou  wast  filled  and  glorious  in  the  heart  of  the 
seas. — The  enumeration  of  the  different  peoples,  lands,  and 
cities,  which  carried  on  trade  with  Tyre,  commences  with 
Tarshish   (Tartessus)  in  the  extreme   west,  then  turns  to  the 


392  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

north,  passes  through  the  different  lands  of  Anterior  Asia  and 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  remotest  north-east,  and  ends  by 
mentioning  Tarshish  again,  to  round  off  the  list.  Bat  the 
lands  and  peoples,  which  are  mentioned  in  vers.  5-11  as 
furnishing  produce  and  manufactures  for  the  building  of  Tyre, 
viz.  Egypt  and  the  tribes  of  Northern  Africa,  are  left  out. — To 
avoid  wearisome  uniformity  in  the  enumeration,  Ezekiel  has 
used  interchangeably  the  synonymous  words  which  the  language 
possessed  for  trade,  besides  endeavouring  to  give  life  to  the 
description  by  a  variety  of  turns  of  expression.  Thus  'nr'1'!'^ 
(vers.  12,  16,  18),  ^'pno  (ver.  21),  and  TJT  nnhtp  (ver.  15),  or 
T}.1  '''}.^^  (ver.  21),  are  interchanged  with  ?Iv3'"i  (vers.  13,  15, 
17,  22,  24),  ■qn!'?!  (vers.  20,  23),  and  ^rb^y  (ver.  24) ;  and, 
again,  T?i^lV  i"?  (vers.  12,  14,  22)  or  ^l^inTya  im  (vers.  IG, 
19)  with  ^?^J?o  inj  (vers.  13,  17),  and  n^^i7  ^?"iJ?03  (ver.  19),  and 
Tlisr'S  n^K'n  (ver.  15).  The  words  inb,  participle  of  "ino,  and 
73^,  from  ?3^,  signify  merchants,  traders,  who  travel  through 
different  lands  for  purposes  of  trade.  ^'}^^,  literally,  the 
female  trader  ;  and  i^y^P,  literally,  trade  ;  then  used  as  abstract 
for  concrete,  the  tradesman  or  merchant.  ?3'"i,  the  travelling 
n)erchant. — J^^9"'j  ^^^  female  trader,  a  city  carrying  on  trade. 
^??'V?,  trade  or  a  place  of  trade,  a  commercial  town.  Q^i^Ty 
(pluralet.)  does  not  mean  a  place  of  trade,  market,  and  profits 
(Gesenius  and  others)  ;  but  according  to  its  derivation  from 
3Ty,  to  leave,  relinquish,  literally,  leaving  or  giving  up,  and  as 
Gusset,  has  correctly  explained  it,  "  that  which  you  leave  with 
another  in  the  place  of  something  else  which  he  has  given  up 
to  you."  Evvald,  in  accordance  with  this  explanation,  has 
adopted  the  very  appropriate  rendering  Absatz,  or  sale.  1^3 
i]^3i3Ty,  with  3,  or  with  a  double  accusative,  literally,  to  make 
thy  sale  with  something,  i.e.  to  pay  or  to  give,  i.e.  pay,  some- 
thing as  an  equivalent  for  the  sale ;  '3Ty3  jrij,  to  give  something 
for  the  sale,  or  the  goods  to  be  sold,  ^nyo,  barter,  goods 
bartered  with  inj,  to  give  bartered  goods,  or  carry  on  trade  by 
barter. 


CHAP.  XXVII.  12-25.  893 

The  following  are  the  countries  and  peoples  enumerated : — 
C'^ann^  the  Tyrian  colony  of  Tarshish  or  Tariessus,  in  Hispaiiia 
Baetica,  which  was  celebrated  for  its  wealth  in  silver  (Jer. 
X.  9),  and,  according  to  the  passage  before  us,  also  supplied 
iron,  tin,  and  lead  (vid.  Plin.  Hist.  nat.  iii.  3  (4),  xxxiii.  6  (31), 
xxxiv.  14  (41)  ;  Diod.  Sic.  v.  38).  Further  particulars  con- 
cerning Tarshish  are  to  be  found  in  Movers,  Phoeniz.  II.  2, 
pp.  588  sqq.,  and  II.  3,  p.  2>Q.—Javan,  i.e.  Jania,  Greece  or 
Greeks. — Tubal  and  Meshech  are  the  Tibareni  and  Moschi  of 
the  ancients  between  the  Black  and  Caspian  Seas  (see  the 
comm.  on  Gen.  x.  2).  They  supplied  souls  of  men,  i.e.  slaves, 
and  things  in  brass.  The  slave  trade  was  carried  on  most 
vigorously  by  the  lonians  and  Greeks  (see  Joel  iv.  6,  from 
which  we  learn  that  the  Phoenicians  sold  prisoners  of  war  to 
them) ;  and  both  Greeks  and  Eomans  drew  their  largest  sup- 
lies  and  the  best  slaves  from  the  Pontus  (for  proofs  of  this,  see 
Movers,  II.  3,  pp.  81  seq.).  It  is  probable  that  the  principal 
supplies  of  brazen  articles  were  furnished  by  the  Tibareni  and 
Moschi,  as  the  Colchian  mountains  still  contain  an  inexhaustible 
quantity  of  copper.  In  Greece,  copper  was  found  and  wrought 
in  Euhoea  alone  ;  and  the  only  other  rich  mines  were  in  Cyprus 
{vid.  Movers,  II.  3,  pp.  66,  67). — Ver.  14.  «  From  the  house 
of  Togarmah  they  paid,"  i.e.  they  of  the  house  of  Tocrarmah 
paid.  Togarmah  is  one  of  the  names  of  the  Armenians  (see 
the  comm.  on  Gen.  x.  3)  ;  and  Strabo  (XI.  14.  9)  mentions  the 
wealth  of  Armenia  in  horses,  whilst  that  in  asses  is  attested  by 
Herodotus  (i.  194),  so  that  we  may  safely  infer  that  mules 
were  also  bred  there.— Ver.  15.  The  sons  of  Dedan,  or  the 
Dedanites,  are,  no  doubt,  the  Dedanites  mentioned  in  Gen.  x.  7 
as  descendants  of  Cush,  who  conducted  the  carrying  trade 
between  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Tyre,  and  whose  caravans  are 
mentioned  in  Isa.  xxi.  13.  Their  relation  to  the  Semitic 
Dedanites,  who  are  evidently  intended  in  ver.  20,  and  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Dedan  mentioned  in  connection  with  Edom  in 
ch.  sxv.  13  and  Jer.  xlix.  8,  is  involved  in  obscurity  (see  the 


394  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

comm.  on  Gen.  x.  7).  The  combination  with  D'^^n  D''>N  and  the 
articles  of  commerce  which  they  brought  to  Tyre,  point  to  a 
people  of  southern  Arabia  settled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Persian  Gulf.  The  many  D''|'X  are  the  islands  and  coasts  of 
Arabia  on  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Erythraean  Sea.^  T]T  niriD, 
the  commerce  of  thy  hand,  i.e.  as  abst7\  pro  concr,,  those  who 
were  ready  to  thy  hand  as  merchants.  \^  riij"}!?,  ivory  horns. 
This  is  the  term  applied  to  the  elephants'  tusks  (slien)  on 
account  of  their  shape  and  resemblance  to  horns,  just  as  Pliny 
{Hist.  nat.  xviii.  1)  also  speaks  of  coriiua  elephanti,  although  he 
says,  in  viii.  3  (4),  that  an  elephant's  weapons,  which  Juba  calls 
cormiaj  are  more  correctly  to  be  called  denies.^  The  air.  \ey. 
D"':2inj  Keri  ^''^r'^,  signifies  e/Sevo'i,  hebenum,  ebony.  The 
ancients  obtained  both  productions  partly  from  India,  partly 
from  Ethiopia  (Plin.  xii.  4  (8)).  According  to  Dioscor.  i.  130, 
the  Ethiopian  ebony  was  preferred  to  the  Indian.  "iS^l'S  y^^, 
to  return  payment  (see  the  comm.  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  10). — In  ver.  1(5, 
J.  D.  Michaelis,  Ewald,  Hitzig,  and  others  read  DIX  for  D^X, 
after  the  LXX.  and  Pesh.,  because  Aram  did  not  lie  in  the  road 
from  Dedan  and  the  D"'>N  to  Israel  (ver.  17),  and  it  is  not  till 
ver.  18  that  Ezekiel  reaches  Aram.  Moreover,  the  corruption 
P"iK  for  DHN  could  arise  all  the  more  readily  from  the  simple 
fact  that  the  defective  form  DIN  only  occurs  in  Ezekiel  (xxv.  14), 
and  is  altogether  an  extraordinary  one.  These  reasons  are  un- 
doubtedly worthy  of  consideration  ;  still  they  are  not  conclusive, 
since  the  enumeration  does  not  follow  a  strictly  geographical 

>  Movers  (II.  3,  pp.  303  sqq.)  adduces  still  further  evidence  in  addition 
to  that  given  above,  namely,  that  "  unquestionable  traces  of  the  ancient 
name  have  been  preserved  in  the  region  in  which  the  ancient  Dedanites 
are  represented  as  living,  partly  on  the  coast  in  the  names  Allana,  Attene, 
which  have  been  modified  according  to  well-known  laws, — the  former,  a 
comiQcrcial  town  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  visited  by  Roman  naerchants  (Plin. 
vi.  32,  §  147)  ;  the  latter,  a  tract  of  country  opposite  to  the  island  of  Tylos 
(Plin.  I.e.  §  49), — and  partly  in  the  islands  of  the  Persian  Gulf  "  (p.  304). 

2  The  Ethiopians  also  call  ivory  Kama  nage,  i.e.  co7-7iu  elephanti,  and 
suppose  that  it  is  from  horns,  and  not  from  tusks,  that  ivory  comes  (vid. 
Iliob  Ludolph,  Hist.  Aeth.  I.  c.  10) 


CHAP.  XXVII.  12-25.  395 

order,  inasmuch  as  Damascus  is  followed  in  vers.  19  sqq.  by 
many  of  the  tribes  of  Southern  Arabia,  so  that  Aram  might 
stand,  as  Haveniick  supposes,  for  Mesopotamian  Aram,  for 
which  the  articles  mentioned  in  ver.  16  would  be  quite  as 
suitable  as  for  EJom,  whose  chief  city  Petra  was  an  important 
place  of  commerce  and  eniporium  for  goods.  T.^J?*?  ^^j  the 
multitude  of  thy  works,  thy  manufactures.  Of  the  articles  of 
commerce  delivered  by  D"^5:5.,  the  red  purple,  embroidery,  and 
J*13  (the  Aramaean  name  for  byssus,  which  appears,  according 
to  Movers,  to  have  originally  denoted  a  species  of  cotton), 
favour  Aram,  particularly  Babylonia,  rather  than  Edom.  For 
the  woven  fabrics  of  Babylonia  were  celebrated  from  the 
earliest  times  (vid.  Movers,  II.  3,  pp.  260  sqq.) ;  and  Babylon 
was  also  the  oldest  and  most  important  market  for  precious 
stones  (vid.  Movers,  p.  266).  ^^j  is  the  carbuncle  (see  the 
comm.  on  Ex.  xxviii.  18).  "'S*!?,  probably  the  ruby ;  in  any 
case,  a  precious  stone  of  brilliant  splendour  (vid.  Isa.  liv.  12). 
ni?:)X"ij  corals  or  pearls  (vid.  Delitzsch  on  Job  xxviii.  18). — Judah 
(ver.  17)  delivered  to  Tyre  wheat  of  Minnith,  i.e.  according  to 
Judg.  xi.  33,  an  Ammonitish  place,  situated,  according  to  the 
Onomast.,  four  Roman  miles  from  Heshbon  in  the  direction  of 
Philadelphia.  That  Ammonitis  abounded  in  wheat,  is  evident 
from  2  Chron.  xxvii.  5,  although  the  land  of  Israel  also  sup- 
plied the  Tyrians  with  wheat  (1  Kings  v.  25).  The  meaning  of 
the  dir.  Xey.  333  cannot  be  definitely  ascertained.  The  render- 
ing confectionery  is  founded  upon  the  Aramaean  p3S),  deliciari, 
and  the  Chaldee  translation,  ^vip^  i.e.  KoXla,  according  to  Hesy- 
chius,  TO,  e/c  fjueXtTO'i  rpwydXia,  or  sweetmeats  made  from  honey. 
Jerome  renders  it  balsamum,  after  the  /xvpcov  of  the  LXX. ; 
and  in  Hitzig's  opinion,  Pannaga  (literally,  a  snake)  is  a  name 
used  in  Sanscrit  for  a  sweet-scented  wood,  which  was  employed 
in  medicine  as  a  cooling  and  strengthening  drug  (?).  Honey 
(from  bees)  and  oil  are  well-known  productions  of  Palestine. 
'i>*  is  balsam  ;  whether  resina  or  the  true  balsam  grown  in 
gardens  about  Jericho  (opohalsamion)^  it  is  impossible  to  decide 


396  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

(see my  Bill.  Archdol.  I.  p.  38,  and  Movers,  II.  3,  pp.  220  sqq.). 
Damascus  supplied  Tyre  with  wine  of  Chelbon.  psj'n  still 
exists  in  the  village  of  Helbon,  a  place  with  many  ruins,  three 
hours  and  a  half  to  the  north  of  Damascus,  in  the  midst  of  a 
valley  of  the  same  name,  which  is  planted  with  vines  wherever 
it  is  practicable,  from  whose  grapes  the  best  and  most  costly 
wine  of  the  country  is  made  (yid.  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches). 
Even  in  ancient  times  this  wine  was  so  celebrated,  that,  accord- 
ing to  Posidonius  (in  Atlien.  Deipnos.  i.  22),  the  kings  of 
Persia  drank  only  Chalybonian  wine  from  Damascus  (vid. 
Strabo,  XV.  3.  22).  iny  i^y,  wool  of  dazzling  whiteness ;  or, 
according  to  others,  wool  of  Zachar,  for  which  the  Septuagint 
has  epLa  ck  MlXtitov,  Milesian  wool.^ — Ver.  19.  Various  expla- 
nations have  been  given  of  the  first  three  words.  T}]  is  not  to  be 
altered  into  p"n,  as  it  has  been  by  Ewald,  both  arbitrarily  and 
unsuitably  with  ver.  20  immediately  following ;  nor  is  it  to  be 
rendered  "  and  Dan.'^  It  is  a  decisive  objection  to  this,  that 
throughout  the  whole  enumeration  not  a  single  land  or  people 
is  introduced  with  the  copula  i.  Vedan,  which  may  be  com- 
pared with  the  Vaheb  of  Num.  xxi.  14,  a  place  also  mentioned 
only  once,  is  the  name  of  a  tribe  and  tract  of  land  not  men- 
jtioned  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament.  Movers  (p.  302) 
conjectures  that  it  is  the  celebrated  city  of  Adeii  (^;Ar). 
Javan  is  also  the  name  of  an  Arabian  place  or  tribe ;  and, 
according  to  a  notice  in  the  Kamus,  it  is  a  place  in  Yemen. 
Tuch  (Genesis,  p.  210)  supposes  it  to  be  a  Greek  (Ionian) 
settlement,  the  founders  of  which  had  been  led  by  their  enter- 
prising spirit  to  cross  the  land  of  Egypt  into  Southern  Arabia. 
For  the  purpose  of  distinguishing  this  Arabian  Javan  from 
Greece  itself,  or  in  order  to  define  it  more  precisely,  7W0  is 

1  According  to  Movers  (II.  3,  p.  269),  nnv  is  the  Sicharia  of  Aethicus 
(Cosm.  §  108)  :  Sicharia  regio,  quae  postea  Nabathaea,  nuncvpatur,  sil- 
vestris  valde,  ubi  Ismaelilae  eminnx, — an  earlier  name  for  the  land  of  the 
Nabathaeans,  who  dwelt  in  olden  time  between  Palestine  and  the 
Euphrates,  and  were  celebrated  for  their  wealth  in  flocks  of  sheep. 


CHAP.  XXVII.  12-25.  397 

appended,  which  all  the  older  translators  have  taken  to  be  a 
proper  name.  According  to  the  Masoretic  pointing  ^f  ^9>  *^® 
word  is,  no  doubt,  to  be  regarded  as  a  participle  Paal  of  i'l^,  in 
the  sense  of  spun,  from  h\^,  to  spin.  But  apart  from  the  fact 
that  it  would  be  a  surprising  thing  to  find  spun  goods  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  trade  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  the 
explanation  itself  could  not  be  sustained  from  the  usage  of  the 
lanffuao-e  ;  for  there  is  nothing  in  the  dialects  to  confirm  the 
idea  that  brx  is  a  softened  form  of  bw-,  inasmuch  as  they  have 
all  b^V  (Aram.)  and  Jji  (Arab.),  and  the  Talmudic  ^TN*,  texere^ 
occurs  first  of  all  in  the  Gemara,  and  may  possibly  have  been 
derived  in  the  first  instance  from  the  Rabbinical  rendering  of 
our  !?nso  by  "spun."  Even  the  fact  that  the  word  is  written 
with  Shurek  is  against  this  explanation  rather  than  in  its  favour ; 
and  in  all  probability  its  origin  is  to  be  traced  to  the  simple 
circumstance,  that  in  vers.  12,  14,  16  the  articles  of  commerce 
are  always  mentioned  before  ^l^UTy  =i3ri3,  and  in  this  verse  they 
would  appear  to  be  omitted  altogether,  unless  they  are  covered 
by  the  word  ^nxo.  But  we  can  very  properly  take  the  follow- 
ing words  niry  ^na  as  the  object  of  the  first  hemistich,  since 
the  Masoretic  accentuation  is  founded  upon  the  idea  that  7nso 
is  to  be  taken  as  the  object  here.  We  therefore  regard  ?nNO  as 
the  only  admissible  pointing,  and  take  ?r\i^  as  a  proper  name, 
as  in  Gen.  x.  27  :  "  from  Uzal,"  the  ancient  name  of  Sanaa, 
the  subsequent  capital  of  Yemen.  The  productions  mentioned 
bear  this  out.  Forged  or  wrought  iron,  by  which  Tuch  (I.e. 
p.  260)  supposes  that  sword-blades  from  Yemen  are  chiefly 
intended,  which  were  celebrated  among  the  Arabs  as  much  as 
the  Indian.  Cassia  and  calamus  (see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  xxx. 
23  and  24),  two  Indian  productions,  as  Yemen  traded  with 
India  from  the  very  earliest  times. — Dedan  (ver.  20)  is  the 
inland  people  of  that  name,  living  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Edora  (cf.  ch.  XXV.  13;  see  the  comm.  on  ver.  15).  They 
furnished  ti'Sh  njli,  tapetes  sfraguli,  cloths  for  spreading  out, 
most  likely  costly  riding-cloths,  like  the  middim  of  Judg.  v.  10. 


398  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

3'^V  and  y}\>,  represent  the  nomad  tribes  of  Central  Arabia,  the 

Bedouins.     For  3"]^  is  never  used  in  the  Old  Testament  for  the 

whole  of  Arabia  ;   but,  according  to  its  derivation  from  •"■^"JV,  a 

steppe  or  desert,  simply  for  the  tribes  living  as  nomads  in  the 

desert  (as   in  Isa.  xiii.  20 ;  Jer.  iii.  2 ;   cf.  Ewald,   Grammat. 

Arab.  I.  p.  5).     Kedar,  descended  from  Ishmael,  an  Arabian 

nomad  tribe,  living  in  the  desert  between  Arabia  Petraea  and 

Babylonia,  the  Cedrei  of  Pliny  (see  the  comm.  on  Gen.  xxv.  13). 

They  supplied  lambs,  rams,  and  he-goats,  from  the  abundance 

of  their  flocks,  in  return  for  the  goods  obtained  from  Tyre. — 

Ver.  22.  Next  to  these  the  merchants  of  Sheha  and  Rarjmah 

{p^V'))  are  mentioned.     They  were  Arabs  of  Cushite  descent 

(Gen.  X.  7)  in  south-eastern  Arabia  {Oman)  ;  for  "^^Vl,  'Pey/xa, 

was  in  the  modern  province  of  Oman  in  the  bay  of  the  same 

name  in  the  Persian  Gulf.     Their  goods  were  all  kinds  of 

spices,  precious  stones,  and  gold,  in  which  southern   Arabia 

abounded.     0?r*^'<'3  t^N"),  the  chief  or  best  of  all  perfumes  (on 

this  use  of  tj/xi,  see  the  comm.  on  Ex.  xxx.  23 ;  Song  of  Sol. 

iv.  14),  is  most  likely  the  genuine  balsam,  which  grew  in  Yemen 

{Arabia  felix),  according  to  Diod.  Sic.  iii.  45,  along  with  other 

costly  spices,  and  grows  there  still ;  for  Forskal  found  a  shrub 

between  Mecca  and  Medina,  called  Abu  sham,  which  he  believed 

to  be  the  true  balsam,  and  of  which  he  has  given  a  botanical 

account  in  his  Flora  Aeg.  pp.  79,  80  (as  Amyris  opobalsamum), 

as  well  as  of  two  other  kinds.     Precious  stones,  viz.  onyx-stones, 

rubies.  ao;ates,  and  cornelians,  are  still  found  in  the  mountains 

of  Hadramaut ;  and  in  Yemen  also  jaspers,  crystals,  and  many 

good  rubies  (yid.  Niebuhr,  Descript.  p.  125,  and  Seetzen  in 

Zach's  Monatl.  Corresp.  xix.  p.  339).    And,  lastly,  the  wealth  of 

Yemen  in  gold  is  too  strongly  attested  by  ancient  writers  to  be 

called  in  question  (cf.  Bochart,  Fhal.  II.  28),  although  this 

precious   metal  is  not  found  there  now. — In  vers.  23,  24  the 

trade  with  Mesopotamia  is  mentioned.     J^^n^  the  Carrhae  of  the 

Romans    in  north-western   Mesopotamia   (see   the   comm.   on 

Gen,  xi.  31),  was  situated  at  the  crossing  of  the  caravan-roads 


CHAP.  XXVII.  12-25.  399 

wliicli  intersect  Mesopotamia ;  for  it  was  at  this  point  that  the 
two  caravan  routes  from  Babylonia  and  the  Delta  of  the 
Persian  Gulf  joined  the  old  military  and  commercial  road  to 
Canaan  (Movers,  p.  247).  The  eastern  route  ran  along  the 
Tigris,  where  Calneh,  the  later  Ktesiphon,  was  the  most  im- 
portant commercial  city.  It  is  here  called  n33  (Canneh),  con- 
tracted from  njps  (see  the  comm.  on  Gen.  x.  10;  Amos  vi.  2). 
The  western  route  ran  along  the  Euphrates,  past  the  cities 
mentioned  in  ver.  23i.  H?^  is  not  the  Syrian,  but  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  Eden  (2  Kings  xix.  12  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  12),  the  situation 
of  which  has  not  yet  been  determined,  though  Movers  (p.  257) 
has  sought  for  it  in  the  Delta  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris. 
The  singular  circumstance  that  the  merchants  of  Sheba  should 
be  mentioned  in  connection  with  localities  in  Mesopotamia, 
w^hich  has  given  rise  both  to  arbitrary  alterations  of  the  text 
and  to  various  forced  explanations,  has  been  explained  by 
Movers  (p.  247  compared  with  p.  139)  from  a  notice  of  Juba 
in  Pliny's  Hist.  nat.  xii.  17  (40),  namely,  that  the  Sabaeans, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  spice  country,  came  with  their  goods 
from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  Carrhae,  where  they  held  their 
yearly  markets,  and  from  which  they  were  accustomed  to 
proceed  to  Gabba  (Gabala  in  Phoenicia)  and  Palestinian  Syria. 
Consequently  the  merchants  of  Sabaea  are  mentioned  as  those 
who  carried  on  the  trade  between  Mesopotamia  and  Tyre,  and 
are  not  unsuitably  placed  in  the  centre  of  those  locaHties  which 
formed  the  most  important  seats  of  trade  on  the  two  great 
commercial  roads  of  Mesopotamia.  Asshiir  and  Chilmad,  as 
we  have  already  observed,  were  on  the  western  road  which  ran 
along  the  Euphrates.  *1»?3  has  already  been  discovered  by 
Bochart  (Phal.  I.  18)  in  the  Charmande  of  Xenophon  (Anab. 
i.  5.  10),  and  Sophaenetus  (see  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Xapfiavhrj),  a 
large  and  wealthy  city  in  a  desert  region  "  beyond  the  river 
Euphrates."  The  Asshur  mentioned  along  with  Chilmad,  in  the 
midst  of  purely  commercial  cities,  cannot  be  the  land  of  Assyria, 
bat  must  be  the  emporium  Sitra  (Movers,  p.  252),  the  present 


400  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Essuriehy  which  stands  upon  the  bank  on  tliis  side  of  the 
Euphrates  above  Thapsacus  and  on  the  caravan  route,  which 
runs  from  Palmyra  past  Rusapha  (Rezeph,  Isa.  xxxvii.  12  ; 
2  KintTsxix.  12)  to  Nicephorium  or  Rakka,  then  in  a  northerly 
direction  to  Haran,  and  bending  southwards,  runs  along  the 
bank  of  the  river  in  the  direction  of  Chilmad  or  Charmande 
(Ritter,  ErJk.  XI.  pp.  1081  sqq.).  The  articles  of  commerce 
from  these  emporia,  which  were  brought  to  Tyre  by  Sabaean 
caravans,  consisted  of  C''^^3D,  literally,  articles  of  perfect  beauty, 
either  state-dresses  (cf.  "p^^p,  ch.  xxiii.  12  and  xxxiv.  4),  or 
more  generally,  costly  works  of  art  (Havernick).  The  omis- 
sion of  the  copula  1  before  ''^'^^^^  is  decisive  in  favour  of  the 
former,  as  we  may  infer  from  this  that  7J3  is  intended  as 
an  explanatory  apposition  to  C^^?)?.  nDip"ii  n^an  ^pi?3,  cloaks 
(Di^a  connected  with  ')(kafivs.)  of  hyacinth-purple  and  embroi- 
dery, for  which  Babylonia  was  celebrated  (for  proofs  of  this, 
see  Movers,  pp.  258  sqq.).  The  words  which  follow  cannot  be 
explained  with  certainty.  All  that  is  evident  is,  that  Ci^ana 
'isi  'an  is  appended  to  Ci''pii^  7?n  without  a  copula,  as  'iil  ^^v33 
is  to  C^^^DIi  in  the  first  hemistich,  and  therefore,  like  the  latter, 
is  intended  as  an  explanatory  apposition.  Dyan  does  not  mean 
either  cloths  or  threads,  but  lines  or  cords.  Cp'^n  signifies 
literally  bound  or  wound  up ;  probably  twisted,  i.e.  formed 
of  several  threads  wound  together  or  spun ;  and  2''^^.,  firm, 

compact,  from  \J\,  to  be  drawn  together.      Consequently  733 

'Ul  n"'pii3  can  hardly  have  any  other  meaning  than  treasures  of 
spun  yarns,  i.e.  the  most  valuable  yarns  formed  of  different 
threads.  For  "  treasures  "  is  the  only  meaning  which  can  be 
assi<nied  to  0^33  with  any  certainty  on  philological  grounds,  and 
D'niia,    from    D"!3,    A^y,  contorsit,   is  either   yarn   spun    from 

several  or  various  threads,  or  cloth  woven  from  such  threads. 
But  the  latter  would  not  harmonize  with  I3'f>3n.  Movers  (II.  3, 
pp.  263  sqq.)  adopts  a  similar  conclusion,  and  adduces  evi- 
dence   that   silk   yarn,    bombyx,    and    cotton    came   to    Tyre 


CHAP.  XXVII.  26-36.  401 

tlirougli  tlie  Mesopotamian  trade,  and  were  there  dyed  in  the 
splendid  Tyrian  purples,  and  woven  into  cloths,  or  brought  for 
sale  with  the  dyeing  complete.  All  the  other  explanations 
which  have  been  given  of  these  difficult  words  are  arbitrary 
and  untenable  ;  not  only  the  Rabbinical  rendering  of  D''??i"iii  ''TJ3, 
viz.  chests  of  damask,  but  that  of  Ewald,  "  pockets  of  damask," 
and  that  proposed  by  Hartmann,  Havernick,  and  others,  viz. 
girdles  of  various  colours,  ^wvai  (XKKoraL  In  ver.  25  the  de- 
scription is  rounded  off  with  a  notice  of  the  lever  of  this  world- 
wide trade,  nh^'  cannot  mean  "  walls  "  in  this  instance,  as  in 
Jer.  V.  10,  and  like  nhVk^  in  Job  xxiv.  11,  because  the  ships, 
through  which  Tyre  became  so  rich,  could  not  be  called  walls. 
The  word  signifies  "  caravans,"  after  '\W  =jLj  (Isa.  Ivii.  9), 
corresponding  to  the  Aramaean  i^yj^.  ^?"jy'?  might  be  regarded 
as  an  accusative  of  more  precise  definition :  caravans,  with  re- 
gard to  (for)  thy  bartering  trade.  At  the  same  time  it  is  more 
rhetorical  to  take  "ilTl^p  as  a  second  predicate :  they  were  thy 
trade,  i.e.  the  carriers  of  thy  trade.  What  the  caravans  were 
for  the  emporia  of  trade  on  the  mainland,  the  ships  of  Tarshish 
were  for  Tyre,  and  these  on  the  largest  sea-going  ships  are 
mentioned  instar  omnium.  By  means  of  these  vessels  Tyre 
was  filled  with  goods,  and  rendered  weighty  (1???),  i.e.  rich 
and  glorious. — But  a  tempest  from  the  east  would  destroy 
Tyre  with  all  its  glory. 

Vers.  26-36.  Destruction  of  Tyre. — Ver.  26.  Thi/  roicers 
brought  thee  into  great  loaters :  the  east  ivind  broke  thee  up  in  the 
heart  of  the  seas.  Ver.  27.  Thy  riches  and  thy  sales,  thy  bar- 
tering wares,  thy  seamen  and  thy  sailors,  the  repairers  of  thy  leaks 
and  the  traders  in  thy  wares,  and  all  thy  fighting  men  in  thee, 
together  loith  all  the  midtitude  of  people  in  thee,  fell  into  the  heart 
of  the  seas  in  the  day  of  thy  fall.  Ver.  28.  At  the  noise  of  the 
cry  of  thy  sailors  the  places  tremble.  Ver.  29.  And  out  of  their 
ships  come  all  the  oarsmen,  seamen,  all  the  sailors  of  the  sea; 
they  come  upon  the  land,  Ver.  30.  And  make  their  voice  heard 
over  thee,  and  cry  bitterly,  and  p^it  dust  upon  their  heads,  and 

EZEK.  I.  2  C 


402  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

cover  themselves  with  ashes ;  Ver.  31.  A7id  shave  themselves  bald 
on  thy  account,  and  gird  on  sackcloth,  and  weep  for  thee  in  anguish 
of  soul  a  bitter  ivailing.  Ver.  32.  They  raise  over  thee  in  their 
grief  a  lamentation,  and  lament  over  thee:  Wlio  is  like  Tyre! 
like  the  destroyed  one  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  !  Ver.  33.  When 
thy  sales  came  forth  out  of  the  seas,  thou  didst  satisfy  many 
nations ;  with  the  abundance  of  thy  goods  and  thy  ivares  thou 
didst  enrich  kings  of  the  earth.  Ver.  34.  Noio  that  thou  art 
wrecked  away  from  the  seas  in  the  depths  of  the  water,  thy 
wares  and  all  thy  company  are  fallen  in  thee.  Ver.  35.  All 
the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  are  amazed  at  thee,  and  their 
kings  shudder  greatly ;  their  faces  quiver.  Ver.  36.  The  traders 
among  the  nations  hiss  over  thee ;  thou  hast  become  a  terror, 
and  art  gone  for  ever. — The  allusion  to  the  ships  of  Tarshish, 
to  which  Tyre  was  indebted  for  its  glory,  serves  as  an 
introduction  to  a  renewal  in  ver.  26  of  the  allegory  of 
vers.  5— 9a  ;  Tyre  is  a  ship,  which  is  wrecked  by  the  east  wind 
(cf.  Ps.  xlviii.  8).  In  Palestine  (Arabia  and  Syria)  the  east 
wind  is  characterized  by  continued  gusts ;  and  if  it  rises  into  a 
tempest,  it  generally  causes  great  damage  on  account  of  the 
violence  of  the  gusts  (see  Wetzstein  in  Delitzsch's  commentary 
on  Job  xxvii.  1).  Like  a  ship  broken  in  pieces  by  the  storm, 
Tyre  with  all  its  glory  sinks  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  The 
repetition  of  D^'?!  3^3  in  vers.  26  and  27  forms  an  effective 
contrast  to  ver.  25 ;  just  as  the  enumeration  of  all  the  posses- 
sions of  Tyre,  which  fall  with  the  ship  into  the  heart  of  the  sea, 
does  to  the  wealth  and  glory  in  ver.  25b.  Tiiey  who  manned 
the  ship  also  perish  with  the  cargo, — "  the  seamen,"  i.e.  sailors, 
rowers,  repairers  of  leaks  (calkers),  also  the  merchants  on 
board,  and  the  fighting  men  who  defended  the  ship  and  its 
goods  against  pirates, — the  whole  qdhdl,  or  gathering  of  people, 
in  the  ship.  The  difficult  expression  rpr\\>-7^2  can  only  be  taken 
as  an  explanatory  apposition  to  ^3  "iB'N :  all  the  men  who  are  in 
thee,  namely,  in  the  multitude  of  people  in  thee.  Ver.  28. 
When  the  vessel  is  wrecked,  the  managers  of  the  ship  raise 


CHAP.  XXVII,  26-36.  403 

such  a  cry  that  the  migresTiolh  tremble,  tnjo  is  used  in  Num. 
XXXV.  2  for  the  precincts  around  the  Levitical  cities,  which 
were  set  apart  as  pasture  ground  for  the  flocks;  and  in  Ezek. 
xlv.  2,  xlviii.  17,  for  the  ground  surrounding  the  holy  city. 
Consequently  Hi'j'njD  cannot  mean  the  suburbs  of  Tyre  in  the 
passage  before  us,  but  must  signify  the  open  places  on  the 
mainland  belonging  to  Tyre,  i.e.  the  whole  of  its  territory,  with 
the  fields  and  villages  contained  therein.  The  rendering  "fleet," 
which  Evvald  follows  the  Vulgate  in  adopting,  has  nothing  to 
support  it. — Vers.  29  sqq.  The  ruin  of  this  wealthy  and  power- 
ful metropolis  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  produces  the 
greatest  consternation  among  all  who  sail  upon  the  sea,  so  that 
they  forsake  their  ships,  as  if  they  were  no  longer  safe  in  them, 
and  leaving  them  for  the  land,  bewail  the  fall  of  Tyre  with 
deepest  lamentation.  y''Pt^'^  with  ?ip^,  as  in  Ps.  xxvi.  7  ;  1  Chron. 
XV.  19,  etc.  For  the  purpose  of  depicting  the  lamentation  as 
great  and  bitter  in  the  extreme,  Ezekiel  groups  together  all  the 
things  that  were  generally  done  under  such  circumstances,  viz. 
covering  the  head  with  dust  (cf.  Josh.  vii.  6;  1  Sam.  iv.  12; 
and  Job  ii.  12)  and  ashes  (ti'^'SH'?,  to  strew,  or  cover  oneself, 
not  to  roll  oneself :  see  the  comm.  on  Mic.  i.  10) ;  shaving  a 
bald  place  (see  ch.  vii.  18  and  the  comm.  on  Mic.  i.  16)  ; 
putting  on  sackcloth ;  loud,  bitter  weeping  (K'S3  "ic^a,  as  in  Job 
vii.  11  and  x.  1)  ;  and  singing  a  mournful  dirge  (vers.  32  sqq.). 
Dn''33,  in  lamento  eorum ;  "'J  contracted  from  ''H?  (Jer.  ix.  17, 18 ; 
cf.  ""n,  ch.  ii.  10).  The  reading  adopted  by  the  LXX.,  Theodot.,' 
Syr.,  and  eleven  Codd.  (on\3ii)  is  unsuitable,  as  there  is  no 
allusion  to  sons,  but  the  seamen  themselves  raise  the  lamenta- 
tion. The  correction  proposed  by  Hitzig,  Q^fpii,  is  altogether 
inappropriate.  The  exclamation.  Who  is  like  Tyre!  is  more 
precisely  defined  by  ^^7??  ''ke  the  destroyed  one  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea.  HQ"!,  participle  Pual,  with  the  JD  dropt,  as  in  2  Kings 
ii.  10,  etc.  {yid.  Ges.  §  52.  2,  Anm.  0).  It  is  quite  superfluous 
to  assume  that  there  was  a  noun  I'l^'n  signifying  destruction. 
'3Ty  ns>3  has  been  aptly  explained  by  Hitzig :  "  inasmuch  as 


404  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

thy  wares  sprang  out  of  the  sea,  like  the  plants  and  field-fruits 
out  of  the  soil"  (the  selection  of  the  word  ^V2,^<}  also  suggested 
this  simile);  "not  as  being  manufactured  at  Tyre,  and  there- 
fore in  the  sea,  but  because  the  sea  floated  the  goods  to  land 
for  the  people  in  the  ships,  and  they  satisfied  the  desire  of  the 
purchasers."  Tyre  satisfied  peoples  and  enriched  kings  witii 
its  wares,  not  only  by  purchasing  from  them  and  paying  for 
their  productions  with  money  or  barter,  but  also  by  the  fact 
tliat  the  Tyrians  gave  a  still  higher  value  to  the  raw  material 
by  the  labour  which  they  bestowed  upon  them.  "^I'^in  in  the 
plural  is  only  met  with  here. — Ver.  34.  But  now  Tyre  with  its 
treasures  and  its  inhabitants  has  sunk  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
The  antithesis  in  which  ver.  34  really  stands  to  ver.  33  does 
not  warrant  our  altering  Tn^'C'i  ny  into  Jp.'^^^  ^V,  as  Ewald  and 
Hitzig  propose,  or  adopting  a  different  division  of  the  second 
hemistich,  ri^  is  an  adverbial  accusative,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  57 : 
"  at  the  time  of  the  broken  one  away  from  the  seas  into  the 
depth  of  the  waters,  thy  wares  and  thy  people  have  fallen,  i.e. 
perished."  Hia'^'J  W,  temiDore  quo  fracta  es.  ^'^l^  ^"l^f^  is 
intentionally  selected  as  an  antithesis  to  DVli^tt  ^9'^'^^  "^  ch. 
xxvi.  17. — Ver.  35.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  and  their 
kings,  i.e.  the  inhabitants  of  the  (coast  of  the)  Mediterranean 
and  its  islands,  will  be  thrown  into  consternation  at  the  fall  of 
Tyre ;  and  (ver.  36)  the  merchants  among  the  nations,  i.e.  the 
foreign  nations,  the  rivals  of  Tyre  in  trade,  will  hiss  thereat; 
in  other  words,  give  utterance  to  malicious  joy.  DOK',  to  be 
laid  waste,  or  thrown  into  perturbation  with  terror  and  amaze- 
ment. D'';JQ  Dyn,  to  tremble  or  quiver  in  the  face,  i.e.  to  tremble 
so  much  that  the  terror  shows  itself  in  the  countenance. — In 
ver.  36^>>  Ezekiel  brings  the  lamentation  to  a  close  in  a  similar 
manner  to  the  threat  contained  in  ch.  xxvi.  (vid.  ch.  xxvi.  21). 


CHAP,  zxv;  I.  1-10.  405 

CHAP.  XXVITI.  1-19.   AGAINST  THE  rr.INCE  OF  TYRE. 

As  the  city  of  Tyre  was  first  of  all  threatened  with  destruction 
(eh.  xxvi.),  and  then  her  fall  was  confirmed  by  a  lamentation 
(eh.  xxvii.),  so  here  the  prince  of  Tyre  is  first  of  all  forewarned 
of  his  approaching  death  (vers.  1-10),  and  then  a  lamentation 
is  composed  thereon  (vers.  11-19). 

Vers.  1-10.  Fall  of  the  Prince  of  Tyre. — Ver.  1.  And 
the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  sayitig,  Yer.  2.  Son  of  man,  say 
to  the  prince  of  Tyre,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thy 
heart  has  lifted  itself  up,  and  thou  say  est,  "  J  am  a  God,  I  sit  upon 
a  seat  of  Gods,  irt  the  heart  of  the  seas,^^  when  thou  art  a  man 
and  not  God,  and  cherishest  a  mind  like  a  God's  mind,  Ver.  3. 
Behold,  thou  art  loiser  than  Daniel;  nothing  secret  is  obscure  to 
thee ;  Ver.  4.  Through  thy  wisdom  and  thy  understanding  hast 
thou  acquired  might,  and  put  gold  and  silver  in  thy  treasuries ; 
Ver.  5.  Through  the  greatness  of  thy  wisdom  hast  thou  increased 
thy  might  by  thy  trade,  and  thy  heart  has  lifted  itself  up  on  account 
of  thy  might,  Ver.  6.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Because  thou  cherishest  a  mind  like  a  God^s  mind,  Ver.  7.  There- 
fore, behold,  I  will  bring  foreigners  upon  thee,  violent  men  of  the 
nations ;  they  loill  draio  their  swords  against  the  beauty  of  thy 
wisdom,  and  pollute  thy  splendour.  Ver.  8.  They  will  cast  thee 
down  into  the  pit,  that  thou  mayest  die  the  death  of  the  slain  in  the 
heart  of  the  seas.  Ver.  9.  Wilt  thou  indeed  say,  I  am  a  God,  in 
the  face  of  him  that  slayeth  thee,  when  thou  art  a  man  and  not  God 
in  the  hand  of  him  that  killeth  thee  ?  Ver.  10.  Thozt  ivilt  die  the 
death  of  the  uncircumcised  at  the  hand  of  foreigners ;  for  I  have 
spoken  it,  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — This  threat  of  judg- 
ment follows  in  general  the  same  course  as  those  addressed  to 
other  nations  (compare  especially  ch.  xxv.),  namely,  that  the  sin  is 
mentioned  first  (vers.  2-5),  and  then  the  punishment  consequent 
upon  the  sin  (vers.  6-10).  In  ver.  12  ^?0  is  used  instead  of 
T'JJ,  dux.     In  the  use  of  the  term  I^JJ  to  designate  the  king, 


406  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Kliefotli  detects  an  indication  of  the  peculiar  position  occupied 
by  the  prince  in  the  commercial  state  of  Tyre,  which  had  been 
reared  upon  municipal  foundations;  inasmuch  as  he  was  not 
so  much  a  monarch,  comparable  to  the  rulers  of  Babylon  or  to 
the  Pharaohs,  as  the  head  of  the  great  mercantile  aristocracy. 
This  is  in  harmony  with  the  use  of  the  word  ^*33  for  the  prince 
of  Israel,  David  for  example,  whom  God  chose  and  anointed 
to  be  the  ndg'id  over  His  people ;  in  other  words,  to  be  the  leader 
of  the  tribes,  who  also  formed  an  independent  commonwealth 
(vid.  1  Sam.  xiii.  14;  2  Sam.  vii.  8,  etc.).  The  pride  of  the 
prince  of  Tyre  is  described  in  ver.  2  as  consisting  in  the  fact 
that  he  regarded  himself  as  a  God,  and  his  seat  in  the  island  of 
Tyre  as  a  God's  seat.  He  calls  his  seat  ^^^f.  3*^'iD,  not  "  be- 
cause his  capital  stood  out  from  the  sea,  like  the  palace  of  God 
from  the  ocean  of  heaven"  (Ps.  civ.  3),  as  Hitzig  supposes; 
for,  apart  from  any  other  ground,  this  does  not  suit  the  subse- 
quent description  of  his  seat  as  God's  mountain  (ver.  16),  and 
God's  holy  mountain  (ver.  14).  The  God's  seat  and  God's 
mountain  are  not  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Tyre,  but  Tyre  as 
u  state,  and  that  not  because  of  its  firm  position  upon  a  rocky 
island,  but  as  a  holy  island  {a<yLa  vijo-oq,  as  Tyre  is  called  in 
Sanchun.  ed.  Orelli,  p.  36),  the  founding  of  which  has  been 
glorified  by  myths  (vid.  Movers,  Flioenizier,  I.  pp.  637  sqq.). 
The  words  which  Ezekiel  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  king  of 
Tyre  may  be  explained,  as  Kliefoth  has  well  expressed  it, 
"  from  the  notion  lying  at  the  foundation  of  all  natural  reli- 
iiions,  according  to  which  every  state,  as  the  production  of  its 
physical  factors  and  bases  personified  as  the  native  deities  of 
house  and  state,  is  regarded  as  a  work  and  sanctuary  of  the 
gods."  In  Tyre  especially  the  national  and  political  develop- 
ment went  hand  in  hand  with  the  spread  and  propagation  of  its 
religion.  "  The  Tyrian  state  was  the  production  and  seat  of 
its  gods.  He,  the  prince  of  Tyre,  presided  over  this  divine 
creation  and  divine  seat ;  therefore  he,  the  prince,  was  himself 
a  god,  a  manifestation  of  the  deity,  having  its  work  and  home 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  1-10.  407 

in  the  state  of  Tyre."  All  heatlien  rulers  looked  upon  them- 
selves in  this  light ;  so  that  the  king  of  Babylon  is  addressed  in 
a  similar  manner  in  Isa.  xiv.  13,  14.  This  self-deification  is 
shown  to  be  a  delusion  in  ver.  2b ;  He  who  is  only  a  man  makes 
his  heart  like  a  God's  heart,  i.e.  cherishes  the  same  thought  as 
the  Gods.  3?,  the  heart,  as  the  seat  of  the  thoughts  and  imagi- 
nations, is  named  instead  of  the  disposition.  This  is  carried  out 
still  further  in  vers.  3-5  by  a  description  of  the  various  sources 
from  which  this  imagination  sprang.  He  cherishes  a  God's 
mind,  because  he  attributes  to  himself  superhuman  wisdom, 
through  which  he  has  created  the  greatness,  and  might,  and 
wealth  of  Tyre.  The  words,  ''  behold,  thou  art  wiser,"  etc. 
(ver.  3),  are  not  to  be  taken  as  a  question,  "  art  thou  indeed 
wiser?"  as  they  have  been  by  the  LXX.,  Syriac,  and  others; 
nor  are  they  ironical,  as  Havernick  supposes ;  but  they  are  to  be 
taken  literally,  namely,  inasmuch  as  the  prince  of  Tyre  waf; 
serious  in  attributing  to  himself  supernatural  and  divine  wisdom. 
Thou  art,  i.e.  thou  regardest  thyself  as  being,  wiser  than  Daniel. 
No  hidden  thing  is  obscure  to  thee  (2'?V>  ^  later  word  akin  to 
the  Aramaean,  "  to  be  obscure").  The  comparison  with  Daniel 
refers  to  the  fact  that  Daniel  surpassed  all  the  magi  and  wise 
men  of  Babylon  in  wisdom  through  his  ability  to  interpret 
dreams,  since  God  gave  him  an  insight  into  the  nature  and 
development  of  the  power  of  the  world,  such  as  no  human 
sagacity  could  have  secured.  The  wisdom  of  the  prince  of 
Tyre,  on  the  other  hand,  consisted  in  the  cleverness  of  the 
children  of  this  world,  which  knows  how  to  get  possession  of  all 
the  good  things  of  the  earth.  Through  such  wisdom  as  this 
had  the  Tyrian  prince  acquired  power  and  riches.  '?\n^  might, 
possessions  in  the  broader  sense  ;  not  merely  riches,  but  the  whole 
of  the  might  of  the  commercial  state  of  Tyre,  which  was  founded 
upon  riches  and  treasures  got  by  trade.  In  ver.  5  ^n^p"i3  is 
in  apposition  to  l^onn  nha,  and  is  introduced  as  explanatory. 
The  fulness  of  its  wisdom  showed  itself  in  its  commerce  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  conducted  it,  whereby  Tyre  had  become 


408  ,  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

rich  and  powerful.  It  is  not  till  we  reach  ver.  6  that  we  meet 
with  the  apodosis  answering  to  'w  naa  |y^  in  ver.  2,  which  has 
been  pushed  so  far  back  by  the  intervening  parenthetical  sen- 
tences in  vers.  2b-5.  For  this  reason  the  sin  of  the  prince  of 
Tyre  in  deifying  himself  is  briefly  reiterated  in  the  clause  ]Vl 
'lJl  ^rin  (ver.  Qb,  compare  ver.  2b),  after  which  the  announce- 
ment of  the  punishment  is  introduced  with  a  repetition  of  p?  in 
ver.  7.  Wild  foes  approaching  with  barbarous  violence  will 
destroy  all  the  king's  resplendent  glory,  slay  the  king  himself 
with  the  sword,  and  hurl  him  down  into  the  pit  as  a  godless 
man.  The  enemies  are  called  D^ia  TIV?  violent  ones  of  the 
peoples, — that  is  to  say,  the  wild  hordes  composing  the  Chaldean 
army  (cf.  ch.  xxx.  11,  xxxi.  12).  They  drew  the  sword  "  against 
the  beauty  (^B^.,  the  construct  state  of  ""^1)  of  thy  wisdom,"  i.e. 
the  beauty  produced  by  thy  wisdom,  the  beautiful  Tyre  itself, 
with  all  that  it  contains  (ch.  xxvi.  3,  4).  nyDl^  splendour ;  it  is 
only  here  and  in  ver.  17  that  we  meet  with  it  as  a  noun.  The 
king  himself  they  hurl  down  into  the  pit,  i.e.  the  grave,  or  the 
nether  world,  ''^n  "nioD,  the  death  of  a  pierced  one,  substan- 
tially the  same  as  n'by^  >niD.  The  plural  'nioo  and  'niD  here 
and  Jer.  xvi.  4  (mortes)  is  a  pluralis  exaggerativuSj  a  death  so 
painful  as  to  be  equivalent  to  dying  many  times  (see  the  comm. 
on  Isa.  liii.  9).  In  ver.  9  Ezekiel  uses  the  Plel  ^?n?p  in  the 
place  of  the  Poel  ^})^'^i  as  7^^  in  the  Plel  occurs  elsewhere  only 
in  the  sense  of  profanare,  and  in  Isa.  11.  9  the  Poel  is  used  for 
piercing.  But  there  is  no  necessity  to  alter  the  pointing  in 
consequence,  as  we  also  find  the  Paal  used  by  Ezekiel  in  ch. 
xxxii.  26  in  the  place  of  the  Poal  of  Isa.  liii.  5.  The  death 
of  the  uncircumcised  is  such  a  death  as  godless  men  die — a 
violent  death.  The  king  of  Tyre,  who  looks  upon  himself  as  a 
god,  shall  perish  by  the  sword  like  a  godless  man.  At  the  same 
time,  the  whole  of  this  threat  applies,  not  to  the  one  king, 
Ithobal,  who  was  reigning  at  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Tyre  by 
the  Chaldeans,  but  to  the  king  as  the  founder  and  creator  of 
the  might  of  Tyre  (vers.  3-5),  i.e.  to  the  supporter  of  that 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  409 

royalty  which  was  to  perish  along  with  Tyre  itself. — It  is  to  the 
king,  as  the  representative  of  the  might  and  glory  of  Tj're,  and 
not  merely  to  the  existing  possessor  of  the  regal  dignity,  that 
the  following  lamentation  over  his  fall  refers. 

Vers.  11-19.  Lamentation  over  the  King  of  Tyre. — 

Ver.  11.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Ver.  12. 
Son  of  man,  raise  a  lamentation  over  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  say  to 
him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Thou  seal  of  a  well-measured 
building,  full  of  wisdom  and  ferfect  in  beauty.  Ver.  13.  In 
Eden,  the  garden  of  God,  wast  thou  ;  all  kinds  of  precious  stones 
were  thy  covering,  cornelian,  topaz,  and  diamond,  chrysolit", 
beryl,  and  jasper,  sapphire,  carbuncle,  and  emerald,  and  gold:  the 
service  of  thy  timbrels  and  of  thy  women  was  with  thee ;  on  the 
day  that  thou  wast  created,  they  were  prepared.  Ver.  14.  Thou 
wast  a  cherub  of  anointing,  lohich  covered,  and  I  made  thee  for 
it;  thou  wast  on  a  holy  mountain  of  God ;  thou  didst  walk  in  the 
midst  of  fiery  stones.  Ver.  15.  Thou  wast  innocent  in  tliy  ivays 
from  the  day  on  which  thou  wast  created,  until  iniquity  %oas  found 
in  thee.  Ver.  16.  On  account  of  the  multitude  of  thy  commerce, 
thine  inside  was  filled,  with  icrong,  and  thou  didst  sin :  I  loill 
therefore  profane  thee  away  from  the  mountain  of  God ;  and 
destroy  thee,  0  covering  cherub,  away  from  the  fiery  stones ! 
Ver.  17.  Thy  heart  has  lifted  itself  up  because  of  thy  beauty, 
thou  hast  corrupted  thy  loisdom  together  ivith  thy  splendour:  I 
cast  thee  to  the  ground,  I  give  thee  up  for  a  spectacle  before  kings. 
Ver.  18.  Through  the  midtitude  of  thy  sins  in  thine  unrighteous 
trade  thou  hast  profaned  thy  holy  places  ;  I  therefore  cause  f  re 
to  proceed  from  the  midst  of  thee,  which  shall  devour  thee,  and  make 
thee  into  ashes  tipon  the  earth  before  the  eyes  of  all  who  see  thee. 
Ver.  19.  All  icho  knoio  thee  among  the  peoples  are  amazed  at 
thee :  thou  hast  become  a  terror,  and  art  gone  for  ever. — 
The  lamentation  over  the  fall  of  the  king  of  Tyre  commences 
with  a  picture  of  the  super-terrestrial  glory  of  his  position,  so 
as  to  correspond  to  his  self-deification  as  depicted  in  the  fore- 


410  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

going  word  of  God.     In  ver.  12  he  is  addressed  as  ri'33ri  cnn. 
This  does  not  mean,  "  artistically  wrought  signet-ring ;"  for  Dnh 
does  not  stand  for  Dnhj  but  is  a  participle  of  Dnrij  to  seal. 
There  is  all  the  more  reason  for  adliering  firmly  to  this  mean- 
ing, that  the  following  predicate,  ^9?'?     -9)  ^^  altogether  inap- 
plicable to  a  signet-ring,  though   Hitzig  once  more  scents  a 
corruption  of  the  text   in  consequence.      ri'':2ri,  from  pri,  to 
weigh,   or  measure   off,  does  not  mean   perfection    (Ewald), 
beauty  (Ges.),  fa^on  (Hitzig),  or  symmetry  (Hiivernick)  ;  but 
just  as   in    cli.  xliii.   10,  the  only   other  passage  in  which  it 
occurs,  it  denotes  the  measured  and  well-arranged  building  of 
the  temple,  so  here  it  signifies  a  well-measured  and  artistically 
arranged   building,   namely,   the   Tyrian   state    in    its    artistic 
combination   of   well-measured  institutions   (Kliefoth).     This 
building  is  sealed  by  the  prince,  inasmuch  as  he  imparts  to  the 
state  firmness,  stability,  and  long  duration,  when  he  possesses 
the  qualities  requisite  for  a  ruler.     These  are  mentioned  after- 
wards, namely,  "  full  of  wisdom,  perfect  in  beauty."      If  the 
prince  answers  to  his  position,  the  wisdom  and  beauty  manifest 
in  the  institutions  of  the  state  are  simply  the  impress  received 
from  the  wisdom  and  beauty  of  his  own  mind.     The  prince  of 
Tyre  possessed  such  a  mind,  and  therefore  regarded  himself  as 
a   God  (ver.  2).     His  place  of  abode,  which  is  described  in 
vers.  13  and  14,  corresponded  to  his  position.      Ezekiel   here 
coinpares  the  situation  of  the  prince  of  Tyre  with  that  of  the 
first  man  in  Paradise;  and  then,  in  vers.  15  and  16,  draws  a 
comparison  between  his  fall  and  the  fall  of  Adam.     As  the 
first  man  was  placed  in  the  garden  of  God,  in  Eden,  so  also 
was  the  prince  of  Tyre  placed  in  the  midst  of  paradisaical 
glory,     ny  is  shown,  by  the  apposition  D^'7^X  )3,  to  be  used  as 
the  proper  name  of  Paradise ;  and   this  view  is  not  to  be  upset 
by  the  captious  objection  of  Hitzig,  that  Eden  was  not  the 
garden  of  God,  but  that  this  was  situated  in  Eden  (Gen.  ii.  8). 
The  fact  that  Ezekiel  calls  Paradise  W'W  in  ch.  xxxvi.  35, 
proves  nothing  more  than  that  the  terms  Eden  and  Garden  of 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  411 

God  do  not  cover  precisely  the  same  ground,  inasmuch  as  the 
garden  of  God  only  occupied  one  portion  of  Eden.  But  not- 
withstanding this  difference,  Ezekiel  could  use  the  two  expres- 
sions as  synonymous,  just  as  well  as  Isaiah  (Isa.  li.  3).  And 
even  if  any  one  should  persist  in  pressing  the  difference,  it 
would  not  follow  that  ni'3  was  corrupt  in  this  passage,  as 
Hitzig  fancies,  but  simply  that  D'Tli^X  p  defined  the  idea  of 
ny  more  precisely — in  other  words,  restricted  it  to  the  garden 
of  Paradise.  There  is,  however,  another  point  to  be  observed 
in  connection  with  this  expression,  namely,  that  the  epithet 
Wrb^  p  is  used  here  and  in  ch.  xxxi.  8,  9 ;  whereas,  in  other 
places.  Paradise  is  called  nin^  p  (und.  Isa.  li.  3 ;  Gen.  xiii.  10). 
Ezekiel  has  chosen  Elohim  instead  of  Jehovah,  because  Para- 
dise is  brought  into  comparison,  not  on  account  of  the  historical 
significance  which  it  bears  to  the  human  race  in  relation  to  the 
plan  of  salvation,  but  simply  as  the  most  glorious  land  in  all 
the  earthly  creation.  The  prince  of  Tyre,  placed  in  the  plea- 
sant land,  was  also  adorned  with  the  greatest  earthly  glory. 
Costly  jewels  were  his  coverings,  that  is  to  say,  they  formed  the 
ornaments  of  his  attire.  This  feature  in  the  pictorial  descrip- 
tion is  taken  from  the  splendour  with  which  Oriental  rulers  are 
accustomed  to  appear,  namely,  in  robes  covered  with  precious 
stones,  pearls,  and  gold.  '"^S??,  as  a  noun  air.  Xey.,  signifies  a 
covering.  In  the  enumeration  of  the  precious  stones,  there  is 
no  reference  to  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  the  order  of  the  stones  is  a  different  one  here  ; 
secondly,  there  are  only  nine  stones  named  instead  of  twelve; 
and  lastly,  there  would  be  no  intelligible  sense  in  such  a  refer- 
ence, so  far  as  we  can  perceive.  Both  precious  stones  and 
gold  are  included  in  the  glories  of  Eden  {vid.  Gen.  ii.  11,  12). 
For  the  names  of  the  several  stones,  see  the  commentary  on 
Ex.  xxviii.  17-20.  The  words  'Ul  T^n  nsx^O— which  even  the 
early  translators  have  entirely  misunderstood,  and  which  the 
commentators  down  to  Hitzig  and  Ewald  have  made  marvellous 
attempts  to  explain — present  no  peculiar  difficulty,  apart  from 


412  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

^  the  plural  ^^3p3,  which  is  only  met  with  liere.  As  the  meaning 
timbrels,  tambourins  {adxiffa),  is  well  established  for  D'QJ^,  and 
in  1  Sam.  x.  5  and  Isa.  v.  12  flutes  are  mentioned  along  with 
the  timbrels,  it  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  D^3i^?  must 
signify  flutes  here.  But  there  is  nothing  to  support  such  a 
rendering  either  in  the  Hebrew  or  in  the  other  Semitic  dialects. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  meaning  pala  gemmarmn  (Vulgate),  or 
nno;-casket,  has  been  quite  arbitrarily  forced  upon  the  word  by 
Jerome,  Rosenmiiller,  Gesenius,  and  many  others.  We  agree 
with  Hiivernlck  in  regarding  Q"'3i^3  as  a  plural  of  nnpj  (foeminae), 
formed,  like  a  masculine,  after  the  analogy  of  D'K^j,  Cl^J??,  etc., 
and  account  for  the  choice  of  this  expression  from  the  allusion 
to  the  history  of  the  creation  (Gen.  i.  27).  The  service 
(n3S?0j  performance,  as  in  Gen.  xxxix.  11,  etc.)  of  the  women 
is  the  leading  of  the  circular  dances  by  the  odalisks  who  beat 
the  timbrels:  "the  harem-pomp  of  Oriental  kings."  This  was 
made  ready  for  the  king  on  the  day  of  his  creation,  i.e.  not  his 
birthday,  but  the  day  on  which  he  became  king,  or  commenced 
his  reign,  when  the  harem  of  his  predecessor  came  into  his 
possession  with  all  its  accompaniments.  Ezekiel  calls  this  the 
day  of  his  creation,  with  special  reference  to  the  fact  that  it 
was  God  who  appointed  him  king,  and  with  an  allusion  to  the 
parallel,  underlying  the  whole  description,  between  the  position 
of  the  prince  of  Tyre  and  that  of  Adam  in  Paradise.^  The 
next  verse  (ver.  14)  is  a  more  difficult  one.  ^l^5  is  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  J;^^?,  nns,  as  in  Num.  xl.  15  ;  Deut.  v.  24  (see  Ewald, 
§  184a).  The  utt.  Xey.  n^'DD  has  been  explained  in  very 
different  ways,  but  mostly  according  to  the  Vulgate  rendering, 

1  In  explanation  of  the  fact  alluded  to,  Havernick  has  very  appropriately 
called  attention  to  a  passage  of  Athen.  (xii.  8,  p.  531),  in  which  the  following 
statement  occurs  with  reference  to  Strato,  the  Sidouian  king:  "  Strato, 
with  flute- girls,  and  female  harpers  and  players  on  the  cithara,  made  pre- 
parations for  the  festivities,  and  sent  for  a  large  number  of  hctaerae  from 
the  Peloponnesus,  and  many  singing-girls  from  Ionia,  and  young  hetaerae 
from  the  whole  of  Greece,  both  singers  and  dancers."  See  also  other 
passages  in  Brissonius,  de  regio  Pcrs.  princ.  pp.  14:2-3. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  U-19.  413 

tu  Cheruh  extenius  et  'protegens,  as  signifying  spreading  out  or 
excension,  in  the  sense  of  "with  outspread  wings"  (Gesenius 
and  many  others).  But  nB'O  does  not  mean  either  to  spread 
out  or  to  extend.  The  general  meaning  of  the  word  is  simply 
to  anoint ;  and  judging  from  nrit'p  and  'T^K'b,  portioy  Lev. 
vii.  35  and  Num.  xviii.  8,  also  to  measure  off,  from  which  the 
idea  of  extension  cannot  possibly  be  derived.  Consequently 
the  meaning  "anointing"  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  estab- 
lished with  certainty  in  the  case  of  the  word  n^DO.  So  far  as 
the  form  is  concerned,  ni'^pp  might  be  in  the  construct  state ; 
but  the  connection  with  '^?iS'],  anointing,  or  anointed  one,  of 
the  covering  one,  does  not  yield  any  admissible  sense.  A  com- 
parison with  ver.  16,  where  ^3iDn  nna  occurs  again,  will  show 
that  the  H'J'OPj  which  stands  between  these  two  words  in  the 
verse  before  us,  must  contain  a  more  precise  definition  of  ^ns^ 
and  therefore  is  to  be  connected  with  3ii3  in  the  construct 
state  :  cherub  of  anointing,  i.e.  anointed  cherub.  This  is  the 
rendering  adopted  by  Kliefoth,  the  only  commentator  who  has 
given  the  true  explanation  of  the  verse,  nc'bjp  is  the  older 
form,  which  has  only  been  retained  in  a  few  words,  such  as 
DO"i»  in  Isa.  x.  6,  together  with  the  tone-lengthened  a  (vid. 
Ewald,  §  160a).  The  prince  of  Tyre  is  called  an  anointed 
cherub,  as  Ephraem  Syrus  has  observed,  because  he  was  a 
king  even  though  he  had  not  been  anointed.  'H^iti'O  is  not  an 
abstract  noun,  either  here  or  in  Nah.  ii.  6,  but  a  participle ;  and 
this  predicate  points  back  to  Ex.  xxv.  20,  "  the  cherubim 
covered  (D"'33iD)  the  capporeth  with  their  wings,"  and  is  to  be 
explained  accordingly.  Consequently  the  king  of  Tyre  is 
called  a  cherub,  because,  as  an  anointed  king,  he  covered  or 
overshadowed  a  sanctuary,  like  the  cherubim  upon  the  ark  of 
the  covenant.  What  this  sanctuary  was  is  evident  from  the 
remarks  already  made  at  ver.  2  concerning  the  divine  seat  of 
the  king.  If  the  "  seat  of  God,"  upon  which  the  king  of  Tyre 
sat,  is  to  be  understood  as  signifying  the  state  of  Tyre,  then 
the  sanctuary  which  he  covered  or  overshadowed  as  a  cherub 


414  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

will  also  be  the  Tyrian  state,  with  its  holy  places  and  sacred 
things.     In  the  next  clause,  T'rinj^  is  to  be   taken  by  itself 
according  to  the  accents,  "  and  I  liave  made  thee  (so),"  and 
not  to  be  connected  with  tnp  ins.     We  are  precluded  from 
adopting  the  combination  which  some  propose — viz.  "  I  set  thee 
upon  a  holy  mountain  ;  thou  wast  a  God  " — by  the  incongruity 
of  first  of  all  describing  the  prince  of  Tyre  as  a  cherub,  and 
then  immediately  afterwards  as  a  God,  inasmuch  as,  according 
to  the  Biblical  view,  the  cherub,  as  an  angelic  being,  is  simply 
a  creature  and  not  a  God;  and  the  fanciful  delusion  of  the 
prince  of  Tyre,  that  he  was  an  El  (ver.  2),  could  not  furnish 
the  least  ground  for  his  being  addressed  as  Eloldm  by  Ezekiel. 
And  still  more  are  we  precluded  from  taking  the  words  in  this 
manner  by  the  declaration  contained  in  ver.  16,  that  Jehovah 
will  cast  him  out  "  from  the  mountain  of  Elohim,"  from  which 
we  may  see  that  in  the  present  verse  also  Elohim  belongs  to 
har^  and  that  in  ver.  16,  where  the  mountain  of  God  is  men- 
tioned again,  the  predicate  ^p  is  simply  omitted  for  the  sake 
of  brevity,  just  as  nL*''pjp  is  afterwards  omitted  on  the  repetition 
of  ^3iD[i  3^">3.      The  missing  but   actual  object  to  ^'i^i^i   can 
easily  be  supplied  from  the  preceding  clause, — namely,  this,  i.e. 
an  overshadowing  cherub,  had  God  made  him,  by  placing  him 
as  king  in  paradisaical  glory.     The  words,  "  thou  wast  upon  a 
holy  mountain  of  God,"  are  not  to  be  interpreted  in  the  sense 
suggested  by  Isa.  xiv.  13,  namely,  that  Ezekiel  was  thinking  of 
the  mountain  of  the  gods  (Alborj)  met  with  in  Asiatic  mytho- 
lof^v,  because  it  was  there  that  the  cherub  had  its  home,  as 
Hitzig  and  others  suppose ;  for  the  Biblical  idea  of  the.  cherub 
is  entirely  different  from   the   heathen   notion  of   the  griffin 
keeping  guard  over  gold.      It  is  true  that  God   placed   the 
cherub  as  guardian  of  Paradise,  but  Paradise  was  not  a  moun- 
tain of  God,  nor  even  a  mountainous  land.     The  idea  of  a  holy 
mountain  of  God,  as  being  the  seat  of  the  king  of  Tyre,  was 
founded  partly  upon  the  natural  situation  of  Tyre  itself,  built 
as  it  was  upon  one  or  two  rocky  islands  of  the  Mediterranean, 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  415 

and  partly  upon  the  heathen  notion  of  the  sacredness  of  this 
island  as  the  seat  of  the  Deity,  to  which  the  Tyrians  attributed 
the  grandeur  of  their  state.  To  this  we  may  probably  add  a 
reference  to  Mount  Zion,  upon  which  was  the  sanctuary,  where 
the  cherub  covered  the  seat  of  the  presence  of  God.  For 
although  the  comparison  of  the  prince  of  Tyre  to  a  cherub 
was  primarily  suggested  by  the  description  of  his  abode  as 
Paradise,  the  epithet  ^^isn  shows  that  the  place  of  the  cherub 
in  the  sanctuary  was  also  present  to  the  prophet's  mind.  At  the 
same  time,  we  must  not  understand  by  ^p  "^^  Mount  Zion 
itself.  The  last  clause,  "  thou  didst  walk  in  the  midst  of 
(among)  fiery  stones,"  is  very  difficult  to  explain.  It  is  ad- 
mitted by  nearly  all  the  more  recent  commentators,  that  "  stones 
of  fire "  cannot  be  taken  as  equivalent  to  "  every  precious 
stone  "  (ver.  13),  both  because  the  precious  stones  could  hardly 
be  called  stones  of  fire  on  account  of  their  brilliant  splendour, 
and  also  being  covered  with  precious  stones  is  not  walking  in 
the  midst  of  them.  Nor  can  we  explain  the  words,  as  Hiiver- 
nick  has  done,  from  the  account  given  by  Herodotus  (II.  44) 
of  the  two  emerald  pillars  in  the  temple  of  Hercules  at  Tyre, 
which  shone  resplendently  by  night ;  for  pillars  shining  by 
night  are  not  stones  of  fire,  and  the  king  of  Tyre  did  not  walk 
in  the  temple  between  these  pillars.  The  explanation  given  by 
Hofmann  and  Kliefoth  appears  to  be  the  correct  one,  namely, 
that  the  stones  of  fire  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  wall  of  fire 
(Zech.  ii.  9),  which  rendered  the  cherubic  king  of  Tyre  unap- 
proachable upon  his  holy  mountain. 

In  ver.  15,  the  comparison  of  the  prince  of  Tyre  to  Adam 
in  Paradise  is  brought  out  still  more  prominently.  As  Adam 
was  created  sinless,  so  was  the  prince  of  Tyre  innocent  in  his 
conduct  in  the  day  of  his  creation,  but  only  until  perverseness 
was  found  in  him.  As  Adam  forfeited  and  lost  the  happiness 
conferred  upon  him  through  his  fall,  so  did  the  king  of  Tyre 
forfeit  his  glorious  position  through  unrighteousness  and  sin,  and 
cause  God  to  cast  him  from  his  eminence  down  to  the  ground. 


416  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

He  fell  into  perverseness  in  consequence  of  the  abundance  of 
his  trade  (ver.  16a).  Because  his  trade  lifted  him  up  to  wealth 
and  power,  his  heart  was  filled  with  iniquity.  i?0  for  ^^f^,  like 
i^p  for  s<i^p  in  ch.  xli.  8,  and  IK'J  for  ISB'J  in  ch.  xxxix.  26. 
^3in  is  not  the  subject,  but  the  object  to  vO ;  and  the  plural 
1^0,  with  an  indefinite  subject,  "  they  filled,"  is  chosen  in  the 
place  of  the  passive  construction,  because  in  the  Hebrew,  as  in 
the  Aramaean,  active  combinations  are  preferred  to  passive 
whenever  it  is  possible  to  adopt  them  (vid.  Ewald,  §  2946  and 
1286).  {<?9  is  used  by  Ezekiel  in  the  transitive  sense  "to  fill" 
(ch.  viii.  17  and  xxx.  11).  'H^H,  the  midst,  is  used  for  the 
interior  in  a  physical  sense,  and  not  in  a  spiritual  one ;  and  the 
expression  is  chosen  with  an  evident  allusion  to  the  history  of 
the  fall.  As  Adam  sinned  by  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  of  the 
tree,  so  did  the  king  of  Tyre  sin  by  filling  himself  with  wicked- 
ness in  connection  with  trade  (Hiivernick  and  Kliefoth).  God 
would  therefore  put  him  away  from  the  mountain  of  God,  and 
destroy  him.  i'?n  with  IP  is  a  pregnant  expression  :  to  desecrate 
away  from,  i.e.  to  divest  of  his  glory  and  thrust  away  from. 
T|3X)  is  a  contracted  form  for  "ni^NXl  (yid.  Ewald,  §  232A  and 
§  72c). — Vers.  17  and  18  contain  a  comprehensive  description 
of  the  guilt  of  the  prince  of  Tyre,  and  the  approaching  judg- 
ment is  still  further  depicted.  'n^V?-  ''^  cannot  mean,  "on 
account  of  thy  splendour,"  for  this  yields  no  appropriate 
thought,  inasmuch  as  it  was  not  the  splendour  itself  which 
occasioned  his  overthrow,  but  the  pride  which  corrupted  the 
wisdom  requisite  to  exalt  the  might  of  Tyre, — in  other  words, 
tempted  the  prince  to  commit  iniquity  in  order  to  preserve  and 
increase  his  glory.  We  therefore  follow  the  LXX.,  Syr.,  Ros., 
and  others,  in  taking  h]}  in  the  sense  of  una  cnm,  together  with. 
niN"i  is  an  infinitive  form,  like  nnnx  for  niS">,  though  Ewald 
(§  238e)  regards  it  as  so  extraordinary  that  he  proposes  to  alter 
the  text.  nXT  with  2  is  used  for  looking  upon  a  person  with 
malicious  pleasure.  "^J???"!  ^J??  shows  in  what  the  guilt  (PV) 
consisted  (?)V  is  the  construct  state  of  ^JV)-     The  sanctuaries 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  417 

(miqddsJiim)  which  the  king  of  Tyre  desecrated  by  the  unright- 
eousness of  his  commerce,  are  not  the  city  or  the  state  of  Tyre, 
but  the  temples  which  made  Tyre  a  holy  island.  These  the 
king  desecrated  by  bringing  about  their  destruction  through  his 
own  sin.  Several  of  the  codices  and  editions  read  T^"^?^  in 
the  singular,  and  this  is  the  reading  adopted  by  the  Clialdee, 
Syriac,  and  Vulgate  versions.  If  this  were  the  true  reading, 
the  sanctuary  referred  to  would  be  the  holy  mountain  of  God 
(vers.  14  and  16).  But  the  reading  itself  apparently  owes 
its  origin  simply  to  this  interpretation  of  the  words.  In  the 
clause,  "  I  cause  fire  to  issue  from  the  midst  of  thee,"  ^3inip  is 
to  be  understood  in  the  same  sense  as  "^?in  in  ver.  16.  The 
iniquity  which  the  king  has  taken  into  himself  becomes  a  fire 
issuing  from  him,  by  which  he  is  consumed  and  burned  to 
ashes.  All  who  know  him  among  the  peoples  will  be  astonished 
at  his  terrible  fall  (ver.  19,  compare  ch.  xxvii.  36). 

If  we  proceed,  in  conclusion,  to  inquire  into  the  fulfilment 
of  these  prophecies  concerning  Tyre  and  its  king,  we  find  the 
opinions  of  modern  commentators  divided.  Some,  for  example 
Hengstenberg,  Havernick,  Drechsler  (on  Isa.  xxiii.),  and  others, 
assuming  that,  after  a  thirteen  years'  siege,  Nebuchadnezzar 
conquered  the  strong  Island  Tyre,  and  destroyed  it;  while 
others — viz.  Gesenius,  Winer,  Hitzig,  etc. — deny  the  conquest 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  at  any  rate  call  it  in  question ;  and 
many  of  the  earlier  commentators  suppose  the  prophecy  to  refer 
to  Old  Tyre,  which  stood  upon  the  mainland.  For  the  history 
of  this  dispute,  see  Hengstenberg,  Be  rebus  Tyriorum  comment. 
(Berol.  1832);  Havernick,  OnEzekiel,  pp.420  sqq.;  and  Movers, 
Phoenizier,  II.  1,  pp.  427  sqq. — The  denial  of  the  conquest  of 
Insular  Tyre  by  the  king  of  Babylon  rests  partly  on  the  silence 
which  ancient  historians,  who  mention  the  siege  itself,  have 
maintained  as  to  its  result ;  and  partly  on  the  statement  con- 
tained in  Ezek.  xxix.  17-20. — All  that  Josephus  (Antt.  x.  11.  1) 
is  able  to  quote  from  the  ancient  historians  on  this  point  is  the 
following : — In  the  first  place,  he  states,  on  the  authority  of  the 

EZEK.  I.  2d 


418  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

third   book  of   the    Chaldean   history  of   Berosus,   that   when 
the  father  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  on  account  of  his  own  age  and 
consequent  infirmity,  had  transferred  to  his  son  the  conduct  of 
the  war  against  the  rebellious  satrap  in  Egypt,  Coelesyria,  and 
Phoenicia,    Nebuchadnezzar  defeated   him,   and   brought   the 
whole  country  once  more  under  his  sway.     But  as  the  tidings 
reached  him  of  the  death  of  his  father  just  at  the  same  time, 
after  arranging  affairs  in  Egypt,  and  giving  orders  to  some  of 
Ids  friends  to  lead  into  Babylon  the  captives  taken  from  among 
the  Judaeans,  the  Phoenicians,  the  Syrians,  and  the  Egyptians, 
tof^ether  with  the  heavy  armed  portion  of  the  army,  he  him- 
self  hastened   through  the  desert  to  Babylon,   with  a  small 
number  of  attendants,  to  assume  the  government  of  the  empire. 
Secondly,  he  states,  on  the  authority  of  the  Indian  and  Phoe- 
nician histories  of  Philostratus,  that  when  Ithobal  was  on  the 
throne,  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Tyre  for  thirteen  years.    The 
accounts  taken  from  Berosus  are  repeated  by  Josephus  in  his 
c.  Apion  (i.  §  19),  where  he  also  adds  (§  20),  in  confirmation  of 
their  credibility,  that  there  were  writings  found  in  the  archives 
of  the  Phoenicians  which  tallied  with  the  statement  made  by 
Berosus  concerning  the  king  of  Chaldea  (Nebuchadnezzar), 
viz.  "  that  he  conquered  all  Syria  and  Phoenicia ; "  and  that 
Philostratus  also  agrees  with   this,  since  he  mentions  the  siege 
of  Tyre  in  his  histories  (fjie/xvr]fjievo<;  ri}?  Tvpov  iroXiopKLas:). 
In    addition    to    this,    for    synchronistic    purposes,    Josephus 
(c.  Ap.  i.  21)  also  communicates  a  fragment  from  the  Phoe- 
nician history,  containing  not  only  the  account  of  the  thirteen 
years'  siege  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  reign  of  Ithobal, 
but  also  a  list  of  the  kings  of  Tyre  who  followed  Ithobal, 
down  to  the  time  of  Cyrus  of  Persia.^     The  siege  of  Tyre  is 

^  The  passage  reads  as  follows:  "In  the  reign  of  Ithobal  the  kiug, 
Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Tyre  for  thirteen  years.  After  him  judges  were 
appointed.  Ecnibalus,  the  son  of  Baslachus,  judged  for  two  months; 
Ohelbes,  the  son  of  Abdaeus,  for  ten  months ;  Abbarus,  the  high  priest, 
for  three  mouths;  ^lyttonus  and  Gerasturtus,  the  sous  of  Abdelemus,  for 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  419 

therefore  mentioned  three  times  by  Josephus,  on  the  authority 
of  Phoenician  histories ;  but  he  never  says  anything  of  the 
conquest  and  destruction  of  that  city  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
From  this  circumstance  the  conclusion  has  been  drawn,  that 
this  was  all  he  found  there.  For  if,  it  is  said,  the  siege  had 
terminated  with  the  conquest  of  the  city,  this  glorious  result  of 
the  thirteen  years'  exertions  could  hardly  have  been  passed 
over  in  silence,  inasmuch  as  in  Antt.  x.  11.  1  the  testimony  of 
foreign  historians  is  quoted  to  the  effect  that  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  "  an  active  man,  and  more  fortunate  than  the  kings  that 
were  before  him."  But  the  argument  is  more  plausible  than 
conclusive.  If  we  bear  in  mind  that  Berosus  simply  relates  the 
account  of  a  subjugation  and  devastation  of  the  whole  of  Phoe- 
nicia, without  even  mentioning  the  siege  of  Tyre,  and  that  it  is 
only  in  Phoenician  writings  therefore  that  the  latter  is  referred 
to,  we  cannot  by  any  means  conclude,  from  their  silence  as  to 
the  result  or  termination  of  the  siege,  that  it  ended  gloriously 
for  the  Tyrians  and  with  humiliation  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  or 
that  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  attempt  without  success 
after  the  strenuous  exertions  of  thirteen  years.  On  the  con- 
trary, considering  how  all  the  historians  of  antiquity  show  the 
same  anxiety,  if  not  to  pass  over  in  silence  such  events  as  were 
unfavourable  to  their  country,  at  all  events  to  put  them  in  as 
favourable  a  light  as  possible,  the  fact  that  the  Tyrian  his- 
torians observe  the  deepest  silence  as  to  the  result  of  the 
thirteen  years'  siege  of  Tyre  would  rather  force  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  very  humiliating  to  Tyre.  And  this  could 
only  be  the  case  if  Nebuchadnezzar  really  conquered  Tyre  at 
the  end  of  thirteen  years.  If  he  had  been  obliged  to  relinquish 
the  siege  because  he  found  himself  unable  to  conquer  so  strong 
a  city,  the  Tyrian  historians  would  most  assuredly  have  related 

six  years  ;  after  ■wliom  Balatorus  reigned  for  one  year.  When  he  died, 
they  sent  for  and  fetched  Merbalus  from  Babylon,  and  he  reigned  four 
years.  At  his  death  they  sent  for  his  brother  Eiramus,  who  reigned  twenty 
years.     During  his  reign,  Cyrus  ruled  over  the  Persians." 


420  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

this  termination  of  the  thirteen  years'  strenuous  exertions  of 
the  great  and  mighty  king  of  Babylon. 

The  silence  of  the  Tyrian  historians  concerning  the  conquest 
of  Tyre  is  no  proof,  therefore,  that  it  did  not  really  take  place. 
But  Ezek.  xxix.  17-20  has  also  been  quoted  as  containing  posi- 
tive evidence  of  the  failure  of  the  thirteen  years'  siege ;  in  other 
words,  of  the  fact  that  the  city  was  not  taken.  We  read  in 
this  passage,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  caused  his  army  to  perform 
hard  service  against  Tyre,  and  that  neither  he  nor  his  army 
received  any  recompense  for  it.  Jehovah  would  therefore  give 
him  Egypt  to  spoil  and  plunder  as  wages  for  this  work  of  theirs 
in  the  service  of  Jehovah.  Gesenius  and  Hitzig  (on  Isa.  xxiii.) 
infer  from  this,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  obtained  no  recompense 
for  the  severe  labour  of  the  siege,  because  he  did  not  succeed 
in  entering  the  city.  But  Movers  {I.e.  p.  448)  has  already 
urged  in  reply  to  this,  that  "  the  passage  before  us  does  not 
imply  that  the  city  was  not  conquered  any  more  than  it  does 
the  opposite,  but  simply  lays  stress  upon  the  fact  that  it  vms 
not  'plundered.  For  nothing  can  be  clearer  in  this  connection 
than  that  what  we  are  to  understand  by  the  wages,  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  did  not  receive,  notwithstanding  the  exertions 
connected  with  his  many  years'  siege,  is  simply  the  treasures  of 
Tyre ;  "  though  Movers  is  of  opinion  that  the  passage  contains 
an  intimation  that  the  siege  was  brought  to  an  end  with  a 
certain  compromise  which  satisfied  the  Tyrians,  and  infers, 
from  the  fact  of  stress  being  laid  exclusively  upon  the  neglected 
plundering,  that  the  termination  was  of  such  a  kind  that 
plundering  might  easily  have  taken  place,  and  therefore  that 
Tyre  was  either  actually  conquered,  but  treated  mildly  from 
wise  considerations,  or  else  submitted  to  the  Chaldeans  upon 
certain  terms.  But  neither  of  these  alternatives  can  make  the 
least  pretension  to  probability.  In  Ezek.  xxix.  20  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  "  as  wages,  for  whicli  he  (Nebuchadnezzar)  has 
worked,  I  give  him  the  land  of  Egypt,  because  they  (Nebu- 
chadnezzar and  his  army)  have  done  it  for  me  ;"  in  other  words, 


CHAP,  xxviir.  11-10.  421 

have  done  the  work  for  me.  When,  therefore,  Jehovah  pro- 
mises to  give  Egypt  to  Nebuchadnezzar  as  a  reward  or  wages 
for  the  hard  work  which  has  been  done  for  Him  at  Tyre,  the 
words  presuppose  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had  really  accomplished 
against  Tyre  the  task  entrusted  to  him  by  God.  But  God  had 
committed  to  him  not  merely  the  siege,  but  also  the  conquest 
and  destruction  of  Tyre.  Nebuchadnezzar  must  therefore 
have  executed  the  commission,  though  without  receiving  the 
expected  reward  for  the  labour  which  he  had  bestowed ;  and 
on  that  account  God  would  compensate  him  for  his  trouble 
with  the  treasures  of  Egypt.  This  precludes  not  only  the 
supposition  that  the  siege  was  terminated,  or  the  city  sur- 
rendered, on  the  condition  that  it  should  not  be  plundered,  but 
also  the  idea  that  for  wise  reasons  Nebuchadnezzar  treated  the 
city  leniently  after  he  had  taken  possession.  In  either  case 
Nebuchadnezzar  would  not  have  executed  the  will  of  Jehovah 
upon  Tyre  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  able  to  put  in  any  claim 
for  compensation  for  the  hard  work  performed.  The  only 
thing  that  could  warrant  such  a  claim  would  be  the  circum- 
stance,  that  after  conquering  Tyre  he  found  no  treasures  to 
plunder.  And  this  is  the  explanation  which  Jerome  has  given 
of  the  passage  ad  litteram.  "  Nebuchadnezzar,"  he  says,  "  being 
unable,  when  besieging  Tyre,  to  bring  up  his  battering-rams, 
besieging  towers,  and  vineae  close  to  the  walls,  on  account  of  the 
city  being  surrounded  by  the  sea,  employed  a  very  large  number 
of  men  from  his  army  in  collecting  rocks  and  piling  up  mounds 
of  earth,  so  as  to  fill  up  the  intervening  sea,  and  make  a  con- 
tinuous road  to  the  island  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  strait. 
And  when  the  Tyrians  saw  that  the  task  was  actually  accom- 
plished, and  the  foundations  of  the  walls  were  being  disturbed 
by  the  shocks  from  the  battering-rams,  they  placed  in  ships 
whatever  articles  of  value  the  nobility  possessed  in  gold,  silver, 
clothing,  and  household  furniture,  and  transported  them  to  the 
islands ;  so  that  when  the  city  was  taken,  Nebuchadnezzar 
found  nothing  to   compensate  him  for  all  his  labour.     And 


422  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

because  he  had  done  the  will  of  God  in  all  this,  some  years 
after  the  conquest  of  Tyre,  Egypt  was  given  to  him  by  God."^ 
It  is  true  that  we  have  no  historical  testimony  from  any  other 
quarter  to  support  this  interpretation.  But  we  could  not  expect 
it  in  any  of  the  writings  which  have  come  down  to  us,  inasmuch 
as  the  Phoenician  accounts  extracted  by  Josephus  simply  con- 
tain the  fact  of  the  thirteen  years'  siege,  and  nothing  at  all 
concerning  its  progress  and  result.  At  the  same  time,  there  is 
the  greatest  probability  that  this  was  the  case.  If  Nebuchad- 
nezzar really  besieged  the  city,  which  was  situated  upon  an 
island  in  the  sea,  he  could  not  have  contented  himself  with 
cutting  off  the  supply  of  drinking  water  from  the  city  simply 
on  the  land  side,  as  Shalmanezer,  the  king  of  Assyria,  is  said 
to  have  done  (vid.  Josephus,  Antt.  ix.  14.  2),  but  must  have 
taken  steps  to  fill  up  the  strait  between  the  city  and  the  main- 
land with  a  mound,  that  he  might  construct  a  road  for  besieging 
and  assaulting  the  walls,  as  Alexander  of  Macedonia  afterwards 
did.  And  the  words  of  Ezek.  xxix.  18,  according  to  which 
every  head  was  bald,  and  the  skin  rubbed  off  every  shoulder 
with  the  severity  of  the  toil,  point  indisputably  to  the  under- 
taking of  some  such  works  as  these.  And  if  the  Chaldeans 
really  carried  out  their  operations  upon  the  city  in  this  way,  as 
the  siege-works  advanced,  the  Tyrians  would  not  neglect  any 
precaution  to  defend  themselves  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  event 
of  the  capture  of  the  city.  They  would  certainly  send  the  pos- 
sessions and  treasures  of  the  city  by  ship  into  the  colonies, 
and  thereby  place  them  in  security  ;  just  as,  according  to 
Curtius,  iv.  3,  they  sent  off  their  families  to  Carthage,  when 
the  city  was  besieged  by  Alexander. 

This  view  of  the  termination  of  the  Chaldean  siege  of  Tyre 
receives  a  confirmation  of  no  little  weight  from  the  fragment 
of  Mcnander  already  given,  relating  to  the  succession  of  rulers 
in  Tyre  after  the  thirteen  years'  siege  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  It 
is  there  stated  that  after  Ithobal,  Baal  reigned  for  ten  years, 
*  Cyrill.  Alex,  gives  the  same  explanation  in  his  commentary  on  Isa.  xxiii. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19.  423 

that  judges  {siiffetes)  were  then  appointed,  nearly  all  of  whom 
held  office  for  a  few  months  only ;  that  among  the  last  judges 
there  was  also  a  king  Balatoriis,  who  reigned  for  a  year ;  that 
after  this,  however,  the  Tyrians  sent  to  Babylon,  and  brought 
tlience  Merhal,  and  on  his  death  Hiram,  as  kings,  whose  genuine 
Tyrian  names  undoubtedly  show  that  they  were  descendants 
of  the  old  native  royal  family.  This  circumstance  proves  not 
only  that  Tyi'e  became  a  Chaldean  dependency  in  consequence 
of  the  thirteen  years'  siege  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  but  also  that 
the  Chaldeans  had  led  away  the  royal  family  to  Babylonia, 
which  would  hardly  have  been  the  case  if  Tyre  had  submitted 
to  the  Chaldeans  by  a  treaty  of  peace. 

If,  however,  after  what  has  been  said,  no  well-founded  doubt 
can  remain  as  to  the  conquest  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  our 
prophecy  was  not  so  completely  fulfilled  thereby,  that  Tyre 
became  a  bare  rock  on  which  fishermen  spread  their  nets,  as  is 
threatened  in  ch.  xxvi.  4,  5,  14.  Even  if  Nebuchadnezzar 
destroyed  its  walls,  and  laid  the  city  itself  in  ruins  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  he  did  not  totally  destroy  it,  so  that  it  was  not 
restored.  On  the  contrary,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  after- 
wards, we  find  Tyre  once  more  a  splendid  and  powerful  royal 
city,  so  strongly  fortified,  that  Alexander  the  Great  was  not  able 
to  take  it  till  after  a  siege  of  seven  months,  carried  on  with  extra- 
ordinary exertions  on  the  part  of  both  the  fleet  and  army,  the 
latter  attacking  from  the  mainland  by  means  of  a  mound  of 
earth,  which  had  been  thrown  up  with  considerable  difficulty 
(Diod.  Sic.  xvii.  40  sqq. ;  Arrian,  Alea;.  ii.  17  sqq. ;  Curtius, 
iv.  2-4).  Even  after  this  catastrophe  it  rose  once  more  into  a 
distinguished  commercial  city  under  the  rule  of  the  Seleucidae 
and  afterwards  of  the  Romans,  who  made  it  the  capital  of 
Phoenicia.  It  is  mentioned  as  such  a  city  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Matt.  XV.  21 ;  Acts  xxi.  3,  7)  ;  and  Strabo  (xvi.  2.  23) 
describes  it  as  a  busy  city  with  two  harbours  and  very  lofty 
houses.  But  Tyre  never  recovered  its  ancient  grandeur.  In 
the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  it  is  frequently  men- 


424  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

tioned  as  an  aiclibishop's  see.  From  a.d.  G36  to  a.d.  1125  it 
was  under  the  rule  of  the  Saracens,  and  was  so  strongly  for- 
tified, that  it  was  not  till  after  a  siege  of  several  months'  duration 
that  they  succeeded  in  taking  it.  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  who 
visited  Tyre  in  the  year  1060,  describes  it  as  a  city  of  distin- 
guished beauty,  with  a  strongly  fortified  harbour,  and  surrounded 
by  walls,  and  with  the  best  glass  and  earthenware  in  the  East. 
"  Saladin,  the  conqueror  of  Palestine,  broke  his  head  against 
Tyre  in  the  year  1189.  But  after  Acre  had  been  taken  by 
storm  in  the  year  1291  by  the  Sultan  El-Ashraf,  on  the  day 
following  this  conquest  the  city  passed  without  resistance  into 
the  hands  of  the  same  Egyptian  king ;  the  inhabitants  having 
forsaken  Tyre  by  night,  and  fled  by  sea,  that  they  might  not 
fall  into  the  power  of  such  bloodthirsty  soldiers  "  (Van  de  Velde). 
When  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  once  more,  its 
fortifications  were  demolished ;  and  from  that  time  forward 
Tyre  has  never  risen  from  its  ruins  again.  Moreover,  it  had 
long  ceased  to  be  an  insular  city.  The  mound  which  Alexander 
piled  up,  grew  into  a  broader  and  firmer  tongue  of  land  in 
consequence  of  the  sand  washed  up  by  the  sea,  so  that  the 
island  was  joined  to  the  mainland,  and  turned  into  a  peninsula. 
The  present  Sur  is  situated  upon  it,  a  market  town  of  three  or 
four  thousand  inhabitants,  which  does  not  deserve  the  name  of 
a  city  or  town.  The  houses  are  for  the  most  part  nothing  but 
huts;  and  the  streets  are  narrow^,  crooked,  and  dirty  lanes. 
Tlie  ruins  of  the  old  Phoenician  capital  cover  the  surrounding 
country  to  the  distance  of  more  than  half  an  hour's  journey 
from  the  present  town  gate.  The  harbour  is  so  thoroughly 
choked  up  with  sand,  and  filled  with  the  ruins  of  innumerable 
pillars  and  building  stones,  that  only  small  boats  can  enter. 
The  sea  has  swallowed  up  a  considerable  part  of  the  greatness 
of  Tyre ;  and  quite  as  large  a  portion  of  its  splendid  temples 
and  fortifications  lie  buried  in  the  earth.  To  a  depth  of  many- 
feet  the  soil  trodden  at  tlie  present  day  is  one  solid  mass  of 
building  stones,   shafts  of    pillars,   and   rubbish   compused    of 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  20-2G.  425 

marble,  porphyry,  and  granite.  Fragments  of  pillars  of  the 
costly  verde  aniiquo  (green  marble)  also  lie  strewn  about  in 
large  quantities.  The  crust,  which  forms  the  soil  that  is  trodden 
to-day,  is  merely  the  surface  of  this  general  heap  of  ruins. 
Thus  has  Tyre  actually  become  "  a  bare  rock,  and  a  place  for 
the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  sea  ; "  and  "  the  dwelling- 
places,  which  are  now  erected  upon  a  portion  of  its  former  site, 
are  not  at  variance  with  the  terrible  decree,  '  thou  shalt  be  built 
no  more'"  (compare  Robinson's  Palestine,  and  Van  de  Velde's 
Travels). — Thus  has  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  been  completely 
fulfilled,  though  not  directly  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  for  the 
prophecy  is  not  a  bare  prediction  of  historical  details,  but  is 
pervaded  by  the  idea  of  the  judgment  of  God.  To  the  prophet, 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  the  instrument  of  the  punitive  righteousness 
of  God,  and  Tyre  the  representative  of  the  ungodly  commerce 
of  the  world.  Hence,  as  Hiivernick  has  already  observed, 
Nebuchadnezzar's  action  is  more  than  an  isolated  deed  in  the 
prophet's  esteem.  "  In  his  conquest  of  the  city  he  sees  the 
whole  of  the  ruin  concentrated,  which  history  places  before  us 
as  a  closely  connected  chain.  The  breaking  of  the  power  of 
Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar  stands  out  before  his  view  as  insepar- 
ably connected  with  its  utter  destruction.  This  was  required 
by  the  internal  theocratic  signification  of  the  fact  in  its  relation 
to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem."  Jerusalem  will  rise  airain  to 
new  glory  out  of  its  destruction  through  the  covenant  faithful- 
ness of  God  (ch.  xxviii.  25,  26).  But  Tyre,  the  city  of  the 
world's  commerce,  which  is  rejoicing  over  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
will  pass  away  for  ever  (ch.  xxvi.  14,  xsvii.  36). 

CIIAr.  XXVIII.  20-2G.    PROPHECY  AGAINST  SIDON  AXD  PROMISE 
FOR  ISRAEL. 

The  threatening  word  against  Sidon  is  very  brief,  and 
couched  in  general  terms,  because  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
prophecy  against  Tyre  involved  the  announcement  of  the  fall 


426  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

of  Sidon,  which  was  dependent  upon  it ;  and,  as  we  have  ah'eady 
observed,  Sidon  received  a  special  word  of  God  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  making  up  the  number  of  the  heathen  nations 
mentioned  to  the  significant  number  seven.  The  word  of  God 
ao-ainst  Sidon  brings  to  a  close  the  cycle  of  predictions  of  judg- 
ment directed  against  those  heathen  nations  which  had  given 
expression  to  malicious  pleasure  at  the  overthrow  of  the  king- 
dom of  Judah.  There  is  therefore  appended  a  promise  for 
Isx'ael  (vers.  25,  26),  which  is  really  closely  connected  with 
the  threatening  words  directed  against  the  heathen  nations,  and 
for  which  the  way  is  prepared  by  ver.  24.  The  correspond- 
ence of  na  "nC'TpJ-  (I  shall  be  sanctified  in  her)  in  ver.  22  to 
D3  ^"yl^'■^i?3  (I  shall  be  sanctified  in  them)  in  ver.  25,  serves  to 
place  the  future  fate  of  Israel  in  antithesis  not  merely  to  the 
future  fate  of  Sidon,  but,  as  vers.  24  and  26  clearly  show,  to 
that  of  all  the  heathen  nations  against  which  the  previous 
threats  have  been  directed. 

Ver.  20.  And  the  loord  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying, 
Ver.  21.  Son  of  man,  direct  thy  face  toicards  Sidon,  and  prophesy 
against  it,  Ver.  22.  A7id  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Behold,  Iicill  he  against  thee,  0  Sidon,  and  will  glorify  myself  in 
the  midst  of  thee  ;  and  they  shall  hioio  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I 
execute  judgments  upon  it,  and  sanctify  myself  upon  it.  Ver.  23. 
Twill  send  pestilence  into  it,  and  Hood  into  its  streets  ;  slain  loill 
fall  in  the  midst  of  it  by  the  sioord,  xchich  cometh  upon  it  from 
every  side  ;  and  they  shall  learn  that  T  am  Jehovah.  Ver.  24. 
And  there  shall  be  no  more  to  the  house  of  Israel  a  malignant 
thorn  and  smarting  sting  from  all  round  about  them,  ivho 
despise  tliem  ;  but  they  shall  learn  that  T  am  the  Lord  Jehovah. 
■ — Jehovah  will  glorify  Himself  as  the  Lord  upon  Sidon, 
as  Pie  did  before  upon  Pharaoh  (compare  Ex.  xiv.  4, 16,  17,  to 
which  the  word  W??3  in  ver.  22,  an  unusual  expression  for 
Ezekiel,  evidently  points).  The  glorification  is  effected  by 
judgments,  through  which  He  proves  Himself  to  be  holy  upon 
the  enemies  of  His  people.     He  executes  the  judgments  through 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  25,  -IG.  427 

pestilence  and  blood  (yid.  ch.  v.  17,  xxxviii.  22),  i.e.  through 
disease  and  bloodshed  occasioned  by  war,  so  that  men  fall,  slain 
by  the  sword  (cf.  ch.  vi.  7).  Instead  of  ''S3  we  have  the  inten- 
sive form  ''r??,  which  is  regarded  by  Ewald  and  Hitzig  as  a 
copyist's  error,  because  it  is  only  met  with  here.  Through 
these  judgments  the  Lord  will  liberate  His  people  Israel  from 
all  round  about,  who  increase  its  suffering  by  their  contempt. 
These  thoughts  sum  up  in  ver.  24  the  design  of  God's  judg- 
ments upon  all  the  neighbouring  nations  which  are  threatened 
in  ch.  xxv.-xxviii.,  and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  the  concluding 
promise  in  vers.  25  and  26.  The  figure  of  the  sting  and  thorn 
points  back  to  Num.  xxxiii.  55,  where  it  is  said  that  the 
Canaanites  whom  Israel  failed  to  exterminate  would  become 
thorns  in  its  eyes  and  stings  in  its  sides.  As  Israel  did  not 
keep  itself  free  from  the  Canaanitish  nature  of  the  heathen 
nations,  God  caused  it  to  feel  these  stings  of  heathenism. 
Having  been  deeply  hurt  by  them,  it  was  now  lying  utterly 
prostrate  with  its  wounds.  The  sins  of  Canaan,  to  which 
Israel  had  given  itself  up,  had  occasioned  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  (chap.  xvi.).  But  Israel  is  not  to  succumb  to  its 
wounds.  On  the  contrary,  by  destroying  the  heathen  powers, 
the  Lord  will  heal  His  people  of  the  wounds  which  its  heathen 
neighbours  have  inflicted  upon  it.  P^p,  synonymous  with 
\S'^P  in  ch.  ii.  6,  a  word  only  found  in  Ezekiel.  1''^5p^,  on 
the  contrary,  is  taken  from  Lev.  xiii.  51  and  xiv.  44,  where  it 
is  applied  to  malignant  leprosy  (see  the  comm.  on  the  former 
passage). — For  DHiX  D'lpsCi'n,  see  ch.  xvi.  57  and  xxv.  6. 

Ver.  25.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  When  I  shall  gather 
the  house  of  Israel  out  of  the  peoples  among  whom  they  have  been 
scattered,  I  shall  sanctify  myself  upon  them  before  the  eyes  of  the 
heathen  nations,  and  they  will  dwell  in  their  land  ichich  I  have 
given  to  my  servant  Jacob.  Ver.  26.  Tliey  will  dioell  there 
securely,  and  build  houses  and  plant  vineyards,  and  icill  dwell 
securely  ichen  I  execute  jxidgments  upon  all  icho  despise  them  of 
those  round  about  them ;  and  they  shall  learn  that  I  Jehovah  am 


428  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL. 

their  God. — Whilst  the  heathen  nations  succumb  to  the  judg- 
ments of  God,  Israel  passes  on  to  a  time  of  blessed  peace. 
The  Lord  will  gather  His  people  from  their  dispersion  among 
the  heathen,  bring  them  into  the  land  which  lie  gave  to  the 
patriarch  Jacob,  His  servant,  and  give  them  in  that  land  rest, 
security,  and  true  prosperity.  (For  the  fact  itself,  compare 
ch.  xi.  17,  XX.  41,  xxxvi.  22  sqq.) 


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upon  the  matter,  which  has  here  been  dealt  with  in  a  scholarly  and  Christian  spirit.' — 
Rock. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


In  crown  8ro,  price  4s., 

PRINCIPLES 

OF 

NEW  TESTAMENT  QUOTATION 

Estalilislied  and  Applied  to  Biblical  Science. 

By     Rev.   JAMES     SCOTT,     M.A.,     B.D. 

'Mr.  Scott's  very  exhaustive  essay  is  quite  a  masterpiece  of  pithy  compression. 
Theological  students  will  find  the  book  to  be  one  of  great  value,  not  only  for  its  direct 
help,  but  for  its  lucid  example  of  method.  It  does  not  contaia  a  specific  ci-iticism  of 
every  Old  Testament  citation  found  in  the  New  Testament,  but  deals  with  the  whole 
question  of  quotation  in  general,  and  thus  exhibits  the  principles  of  the  Biblical 
quotation,  and  vindicates  them  with  a  masterly  force.' — English  Churchman. 

'  The  book  is  thoughtful,  learned,  conscientious,  and  painstaking,  and  performs  a 
service  which  ought  to  be  heartily  recognised.' — Bajjtist  Magazine. 

'  The  treatment  throughout  is  reverent,  scholarly,  and  satisfactory.' — Freeman. 

'  A  thoughtful  attempt  to  arrange  and  systematize  the  various  forms  of  quotation  .  .  . 
in  which  the  author  has  been  highly  successful.' — Scotsman. 

'  The  work  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  external  defences  of  the  faith.' — Methodist 
Recorder. 

'  Much  solid  learning  and  sound  philosophy  in  the  work.' — London  Weekly  Review. 


In  Two  Vols.,  demy  8vo,  price  21s., 

PARTICULARLY  IN  GERMANY, 

Viewed  according  to  its  Fundamental  Movement,  and  in  connection  witli 
the  Religious,  Moral,  and  Intellectual  Life. 

TRANSLATED   FROM  THE   GERMAJ^T  OF 

Dr.  J.  A.  DORNER,  Professor  of  Theology,  Berlin. 

With  a  Preface  to  the  Translation  by  the  Author. 

'  This  work,  which  may  be  called  a  History  of  Modern  Theology,  is  one  of  the  most 
important,  interesting,  and  useful  that  Messrs.  Clark  have  ever  issued.  A  careful  study 
of  it  would  systematize  on  the  reader's  mind  the  whole  round  of  evangelical  truth.  In 
fact,  it  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  comprehensive  view  of  historical  theology,  written  on  a 
new  plan — not  in  the  fonn  of  the  tabulated  summary,  but  as  traced  in  the  living  history 
of  those  whose  struggles  won  for  us  the  truth,  and  whose  science  formulated  it  for 
posterity.' — London  Quarterly  Review. 

'We  earnestly  recommend  this  most  valuable  and  important  work  to  the  attention  of 
all  theological  students.  So  great  a  mass  of  learning  and  thought  so  ably  set  forth  has 
never  before  been  presented  to  English  readers,  at  least  on  this  subject' — Journal  of 
Sacred  Literature. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Just  puhliahed,  in  demy  8fo,  'price  95., 

St.  John  the  Author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

By  Professor  C.  E.  Lutiiardt,  Author  of  '  Fundamental  Truths  of  Christi- 
anity,' etc.  Translated  and  the  Literature  enlarged  by  C.  R.  GrvEGORY, 
Leipzig. 

'  A  work  of  thoroughness  and  value  ;  the  translator  has  added  a  lenp:thy  Appendix  con- 
taining: a  very  complete  account  of  the  literature  beariiig  on  the  controversy  respecting 
this  Gospel.  The  indices  which  close  the  volume  are  well  ordered  and  add  greatly  to  its 
value.' — Guardian, 

'  In  this  work,  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  greatest  divines  of  Germany,  the  facts  are 
made  to  speak  for  themselves,  and  the  result  is  a  complete  refutation  of  the  Anti- 
Johannine  school  of  criticism,  and  a  correspondingly  complete  establishment  of  the  truth 
on  which  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  ancient  Church  is  shown  to  rest.  .  .  .  Such  a 
work  as  this  was  much  needed.' — Dickinson's  Quarterly. 

BY  THE   SAME   AUTHOR. 
Fourth  edition,  croicn  Svo,  6s'., 

The  Fundamental  Truths  of  Christianity. 

The  Antagonistic  Views  of  the  "World  in  their  Historical  Development ;  The 
Anomalies  of  Existence ;  The  Personal  God  ;  The  Creation  of  the  World  ; 
^lan  ;  Religion  ;  Revelation  ;  History  of  Revelation — Heathenism  and 
Judaism ;  Christianity  in  History  ;  The  Person  of  Jesus  Christ. 

BY  THE    SAME  AUTHOR. 
Third  edition,  crown  8ro,  65., 

Apologetic  Lectures  on  the  Saving  Truths 

of  Christianity. 
The  Nature  of  Christianity ;  Sin  ;  Grace ;  The  God-Man ;  The  Work  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  The  Trinity  ;  The  Church ;  Holy  Scripture ;  The  Means  of  Grace  ; 
The  Last  Thmgs. 

BY   THE   SAME   AUTHOR. 

Second  edition,  crown  8vo,  6s., 

Apologetic  Lectures  on  the  Moral  Truths 

of  Christianity. 
The  Nature  of  Christian  Morality ;  Man ;  The  Christian,  and  the  Christian 
Virtues ;  The  Devotional  Life  of  the  Christian,  and  his  Attitude  towards 
the  Church ;  Christian  Marriage ;  The  Christian  Home ;  The  State  and 
Christianity ;  The  Life  of  the  Christian  in  the  State ;  Culture  and 
Christianity  ;  Humanity  and  Christianity. 

'  From  Dr.  Luthardt's  exposition  even  the  most  learned  theologians  may  derive  in- 
valuable criticism,  and  the  most  acute  disputants  supply  themselves  with  more  trenchaut 
and  polished  weapons  than  they  have  as  yet  been  possessed  of.' — BelTs  W'eekli/  Messenger. 

'  We  do  not  know  any  volumes  so  suitable  in  these  times  for  young  men  entering  on 
life,  or,  let  us  say,  even  for  the  library  of  a  pastor  called  to  deal  with  such,  than  the  three 
volumes  of  this  series.  We  commend  the  whole  of  them  with  the  most  cordial  satisfaction. 
They  are  altogetlier  quite  a  specialty  in  our  literature.'^ ll'«ei-ty  Review. 

Crown  SfO,  bs., 

Luthardt,    Kahnis,    and     Bruckner— The 

Church  :  Its  Origin,  its  History,  and  its  present  Position. 
'A  comprehensive  review  of  this  sort,  done  by  able  hands,  is  both  instructive  and 
suggestive.' — Record. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Just  published,  Second  Edition,  in  crown  Svo,  price  7s.  6d., 

DAVID,   THE    KING   OF   ISEAEL  : 

A  PORTRAIT  DRAWN  FROM  BIBLE  HISTORY  AND  THE  BOOK 
OF  PSALMS. 

By    F.    W.    KRUMMACHER,    D.D., 

Author  of  '  Elijah  the  Tishbite.' 

'  Dr.  Krummacher's  work  on  David's  life  resembles  that  of  his  "  Elijah  "  in  its  eloquence, 
its  graphic  description,  its  devout  and  earnest  spirit,  and  will  be  widely  welcomed.' — 
Evangelical  Magazine. 

At  the  close  of  two  articles  reviewing  this  work,  the  Chnstian  Observer  says:  'Our 
space  will  not  permit  us  to  consider  more  at  large  this  very  interesting  work,  but  we 
cannot  do  less  than  cordially  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  our  readers.  It  affords 
such  an  insight  into  King  David's  character  as  is  nowhere  else  to  be  met  with ;  it  is 
therefore  most  instructive.' 

'  This  will  be  a  pleasant  household  reading-book  for  many  people.' — Literary  Church- 
man. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 
In  crown  8vo,  Eighth  Edition,  price  Is.  6d., 

THE   SUFFERING   SAVIOUR; 

OR,  MEDITATIONS  ON  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE 
SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

'A  book  which  has  reached  its  eighth  edition  needs  no  introduction  to  the  reading 
public.  And  yet  the  very  circumstance  of  its  repfeated  publication  entitles  it  to 
popularity.  There  is  a  richness  in  these  meditations  which  wins  and  warms  the  heart.' 
— Nonconformist. 

'  A  book  of  inestimable  value.' — John  Bull. 

'  The  reflections  are  of  a  pointed  and  practical  character,  and  are  eminently  calculated 
to  inform  the  mind  and  improve  the  heart.  To  the  devout  and  earnest  Christian  the 
volume  will  be  a  treasure  indeed.' —  Wesleyan  Times. 

'The  work  will  be  prized  by  experienced  Christians  throughout  the  world;  and  is 
destined,  we  trust,  to  as  wide  a  circulation  and  as  long  a  life  as  the  gifted  author's 
"  Elijah." ' — English  Presbyterian  Messenger. 

In  crown  8iw,  price  7s.  6d., 

THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  CHRIST. 

Translated  from  the  German  of  A.  GASPERS. 

'  It  is  a  book  of  solid  thought  and  solid  learning,  and  should  find  a  considerable  publicity 
in  its  English  dress.' — Nonconformist, 

'A  very  interesting  and  instructive  book.  Its  style  is  quaint  and  antithetic;  it 
abounds  in  bright  thoughts,  presents  striking  views  of  Scripture  facts  and  doctrines, 
and  is  altogether  eminently  fitted  to  refresh  and  edify  believers.' — Family  Treasury. 

'  Eminently  evangelical,  and  distinguished  also  by  great  originality  and  terseness.' — 
Baptist  Magazine. 

'  There  is  much  deeply  experimental  truth  and  precious  spiritual  love  in  Caspers'  book. 
I  do  not  always  agree  with  his  theology,  but  I  own  myself  much  profited  by  his  devout 
utterances.' — Eev.  C.  H.  Spuegeon. 


2e 


T.  mid  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Just  published,  in  Two  Vols.,  large  crown  %vo,  price  7s.  6d.  each, 

THE   YEAR   OF    SALVATION. 

WORDS   OF   LIFE   FOR   EVERY   DAY. 
A  BOOK  OF  HOUSEHOLD  DEVOTION. 

Br    J.    J.    VAN    OOSTERZEE,    D.D. 

'  A  work  of  great  value  and  interest.  To  the  clergy  these  readings  will  be  found  full 
of  suggestive  hints  for  sermons  and  lectures;  while  for  family  reading  or  for  private 
meditation  they  are  most  excellent.  The  whole  tone  of  the  work  is  thoroughly  pi-actical, 
and  never  becomes  controversial.' — Church  Bells. 

'  The  text  is  illustrated  by  apposite  and  thoughtful  remarks,  which  will  be  found  both 
convenient  and  profitable  not  only  in  the  family  circle,  but  also  for  private  meditation.' 
— Christian  Observer. 

'  The  very  be^t  religious  exposition  for  every-day  use  that  has  ever  fallen  in  our  way.' — 
Bell's  Weekly  Messenger. 

'The  author's  mind  is  deeply  imbued  with  Scripture  principles,  and  overflows  with 
words,  rich,  warm,  and  devotional  iu  their  character.' — Ecclesiastical  Gazette. 

'  This  charming  and  practical  book  of  household  devotion  will  be  welcomed  on  account 
of  its  rare  intrinsic  value,  as  one  of  the  most  practical  devotional  books  ever  published.' 
— Standard. 

'  Massive  of  thought,  persuasive,  earnest,  and  eloquent.' — Literary  Churchman. 

'  Simple,  terse,  and  practical ;  and  will,  we  are  sure,  be  read  with  profit  and  pleasure 
by  many.' — Leeds  Mercury. 

'  Every  page  breathes  a  spirit  of  deep  piety  and  earnest  faith.' — Scotsman. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 
Just  published,  in  croion  Svo,  price  6s., 

MOSES: 

A     BIBLICAL     STUDY. 

'  Our  author  has  seized,  as  with  the  instinct  of  a  master,  the  great  salient  points  in  the 
life  and  work  of  Moses,  and  portrayed  the  various  elements  of  his  character  with  vivid- 
ness and  skill.  .  .  .  The  work  will  at  once  take  its  place  among  our  ablest  and  most 
valuable  expository  and  practical  discourses.' — Baptist  Magazine. 

'  The  treatise  is  practical,  not  scientific ;  the  study  is  a  study  of  character  for  spiritual 
purposes.  This  is  conducted  with  much  elaboration,  judgment,  and  piety.' — Daily 
Review. 

'  Few  men  have  proved  themselves  more  competent  to  write  such  a  life  than  Dr. 
Oosterzou.  On  the  oldest  subjects  he  novor  writes  platitudes ;  on  the  most  simple  ho 
never  writes  stupidly.     He  is  always  scholarly,  scriptural,  and  devout' — Ilomilist. 

'  An  original,  beautiful,  and  striking  work.' — Christian  Treasury. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Pzcblications. 


Just  published,  in  demy  8uo,  price  12s., 

INTRODUCTION 

TO 

THE    PAULINE    EPISTLES. 

By    PATON    J.    GLOAG,    D.D., 

Author  of  a  '  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Acts  of  tlie 

Apostles.' 

'  Those  acquainted  with  the  author's  previous  works  will  be  prepared  for  something 
valuable  in  his  present  work ;  and  it  will  not  disappoint  expectation,  but  rather  exceed  it. 
The  most  recent  literature  of  his  subject  is  before  him,  and  he  handles  it  with  ease  and 
skill.  ...  It  will  be  found  a  trustworthy  guide,  and  raise  its  author's  reputation  in  this 
important  branch  of  biblical  study.' — British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Review. 

'  A  work  of  uncommon  merit.  He  must  be  a  singularly  accomplished  divine  to  whose 
library  this  book  is  not  a  welcome  and  valuable  addition.' —  Watchman. 

'It  will  be  found  of  considerable  value  as  a  handbook  to  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  The 
dissertations  display  great  thought  as  well  as  research.  The  author  is  fair,  learned,  and 
calm,  and  his  book  is  one  of  worth.' — Church  Bells. 

'A  capital  book,  full,  scholarly,  and  clear.  No  difiBeulty  is  shirked,  but  dealt  with 
fairly,  and  in  an  evangelical  spirit.  To  ministers  and  theological  students  the  book  will 
be  of  great  value.' — Evangelical  Magazine. 

'  It  bears  the  stamp  of  study,  and  of  calm,  critical  power.  It  is  a  good  defence  of  the 
orthodox  views,  written  in  a  style  which  combines  dignity,  strength,  and  clearness.  It 
may  be  read  with  pleasure  by  any  lover  of  theology,  and  will  be  a  valuable  addition  to 
the  book-shelf  as  a  book  of  reference.' — Glasgow  Herald. 

Recently  published,  in  demy  8vo,  price  14s., 

THE    APOCALYPSE 

TRANSLATED     AND     EXPOUNDED. 

By    JAMES     GLASGOW,     D.D., 

Irish  General  Assembly's  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages,  etc.  etc. 

'  A  book  which  sober  scholars  will  not  despise,  and  which  intelligent  Christians  will 
highly  value.  ...  It  has  substantial  merits,  and  cannot  be  read  without  great  profit.' — 
Watchman. 

'  A  goodly  volume,  .  .  .  replete  with  the  fruits  of  learning  and  profound  research,  .  .  . 
characterized  by  independence  of  thought,  originality  and  even  singularity  of  view,  and 
decision  in  grasping  and  enunciating  results.' — Evangelical  Witness. 

'A  most  elaborate  work,  the  result  of  careful  thought,  wide  reading,  and  patient 
industry.' — English  Independent. 

'  The  book  is  very  able,  and  is  well  worthy  the  study  of  those  who  are  seeking  to  know 
the  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God.' — Princeton  Review. 


T.  aftd  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Just  published,  in  demy  8vo,  price  10.s\  6d., 

DELIVERY  AND  DEVELOPMENT 

OF 

CHRISTIAN     DOCTRINE. 

Cl^c  dTift]^  ^tviti  of  tijc  Cunnmgj^am  %tctutti. 
By  ROBERT  RAINY,  D.D., 

PRINCIPAL  AXD  PROFKSSOR  OF  DIVINITY  AND  CHURCH  HISTORY,  NEW  COLLEGE,  EDINBURGH. 

'  We  gladly  acknowledge  their  high  excellence  and  the  extensive  learning  which  they 
all  display.  They  are  able  to  the  last  degree  ;  and  the  author  has  in  an  unusual  measure 
the  power  of  acute  and  brilliant  generalization.  He  handles  his  array  of  multifarious 
facts  with  ease  and  elegance ;  and  we  must  needs  acknowledge  (and  we  do  it  willingly) 
that  the  Lectures  are  a  real  contribution  to  the  settlement  of  the  vast  and  obscure  question 
with  which  they  are  occupied.' — Literary  Churchman. 

'It  is  a  rich  and  nutritious  book  throughout,  and  in  temper  and  spirit  beyond  all 
praise.' — British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Review. 

'  The  subject  is  treated  with  a  comprehensive  grasp,  keen  logical  power,  clear  analysis 
and  learning,  and  in  a  devout  spirit.' — Evangelical  Magazine. 

In  crown  Sro,  Second  Edition,  price  4s.  6(/., 

AIDS    TO    THE    STUDY 

OF 

GERMAN    THEOLOGY. 

By  Rev.  GEORGE  MATHESON,  M.A.,  B.D., 

MINISTER   OF  INNELLAN. 

'  The  writer  of  this  treatise  has  formed  to  himself  singularly  clear  conceptions,  and  he 
possesses  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  faculty  of  lucid  exposition.  .  .  .  Besides  serving  as 
an  admirable  introduction  to  the  study  of  Grerman  theology,  this  little  volume  will  be 
valuable  to  the  general  reader,  as  furnishing  an  intelligible  and  interesting  account  of  the 
principal  phases  which  theological  speculation  has  assumed  in  Germany  in  modern  times.' 
— Scotsman. 

'  This  little  volume  is  a  valuable  and  instructive  introduction  to  a  department  of  theo- 
logical literature  that  every  student  is  now  compelled  to  examine.' — British  Quarterly 
Review. 

'  A  helpful  little  volume :  helpful  to  the  student  of  German  theology,  and  not  less  so 
to  the  careful  observer  of  the  tendencies  of  English  religious  thought.' — Freeman. 

'  The  writer  or  compiler  deserves  high  praise  for  the  clear  manner  in  which  he  has  in 
a  brief  compass  stated  these  opinions.' — Christian  Observer. 


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