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Threatenings of God

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Anno

EZEKIEL.

against Israel.
À. M. 3411.
B. C.593.
OL. XLVI. 4.
Anno
Tarquinii Prisci,
R. Roman., 24.

4 Seeing then that I will cut the LORD; Say, A sword, a Ol. XLVI. 4. off from thee the righteous and sword is sharpened, and also Tarquinii Prisci, the wicked, therefore shall my furbished : R. Roman., 24. sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh, from the south to the north: 5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath:

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it shall not return any more.

6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

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8 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: m terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: "smite therefore upon thy thigh.

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13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod ? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

14 Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the

9 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith sword be doubled the third time, the sword

d Chap. xx. 47. So Isa. xlv. 23; Iv. 11.——sIsa. xxii. 4. Chap. vii. 17. Heb. shall go into water.- Deut. xxxii. 41; ver. 15, 28. -k Or, it is the rod of my son, it despiseth every tree, Or, they are thrust down to the sword with my peo

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whole of the Book of Ezekiel, all the prophecies of Daniel, the bright example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, the decrees passed in favour of the religion of the true God by Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, &c. And to this dispensation of God's merciful providence we owe the Books and example of Ezra and Nehemiah. Where then is the injustice, so loudly declaimed against, of God's thus cutting off from the land of Judea the righteous with the wicked? The righteous were not cut off for the crimes of the wicked, (see chap. xviii.,) nor were these crimes visited upon them; yet several of them shared in the common calamity, but none perished. Those that were removed by a violent death, (and I believe we shall find few such,) got a speedier entrance into eternal glory.

Verse 4. From the south to the north] The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other.

Verse 5. It shall not return any more.] That is, till all the work that I have designed for it is done. Nor did it; for Nebuchadnezzar never rested till he had subdued all the lands from the south to the north, from the Euphrates to the Nile.

Verse 6. Sigh-with the breaking of thy loins] Let thy mourning for this sore calamity be like that of a woman in the pains of travail.

Verse 7. Wherefore sighest thou?] The prophet was a sign unto them. His sighing and mourning showed them how they should act.

ple.- - Jer. xxxi. 19.—o Or, When the trial hath been, what then? shall they not also belong to the despising rod?- -P Job ix. 23; 2 Cor. viii. 2. Ver. 27. Num. xxiv. 10; ver. 17; chap. vi. 11.- Heb. hand to hand.

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As every tree.] As all the stocks, kindreds, and nations, over which I have already given him commission. Can the rod of Israel be spared, when the trees of Assyria, Egypt, &c., have been cut down? Verse 11. This sword is sharpened] It is prepared for the slaughter, it is furbished; from the French, fourbir, to polish, brighten. He shall have splendid victories every where. Some complain of corruption in the original in this place; but I think without sufficient reason.

Verse 12. Smite-upon thy thigh.] See on Jer. xxxi. 19. So HOMER, II. xv. ver. 113:—

Ως έφατ' αυταρ Αρης θαλέρω πεπληγε το μηρώ Χερσι καταπρηνεσσ', ολοφυρόμενος δε προσηύδα. "She spake; and, with expanded arms his thighs Smiting, thus sorrowful the god exclaimed."

COWPER.

Verse 13. Because it is a trial] This will be a trial of strength and skill between the Chaldeans and the Jews; and a trial of faith and patience to the righteous.

And what if the sword, (Nebuchadnezzar,) contemn even the rod ?] Overthrow Zedekiah? It will do so; for the regal government of Judea shall be no more.

All knees shall be weak as water] See the note on Or, it is tried; that is, the sword. Nebuchadnezzar chap. vii. 17.

Verse 10. It contemneth the rod of my son] "It," the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, "contemneth the rod,"

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has already shown himself strong and skilful.

Verse 14. Let the sword be doubled the third time] The sword has been doubled, and it shall come the ( 31 )

The divination of the

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of the slain: it is the sword of of one land: and choose thou a

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OL. XLVI. 4.

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20 Appoint a way, that the R. Roman., 24. sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 21 For the king of Babylon stood at the

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parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice

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18 The word of the LORD came unto me with shouting, to appoint battering rams again, saying,

19. Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come both twain shall come forth out

1 Kings xx. 30; xxii. 25.- - Or, glittering, or fear. Ver. 10, 28.Or, sharpened.- Chap. xiv. 17.- -y Heb. set thyself, take the left hand. Ver. 14; chap. xxii. 13.- Chap. v. 13.- Jer. xlix. 2; chap. xxv. 5; Amos i. 14.

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third time. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea THRICE. 1. Against Jehoiakim. 2. Against Jeconiah. 3. Against Zedekiah. The sword had already been doubled; it is to come now the third time, i. e., against Zedekiah.

The sword of the slain] on an chereb chalalim, "the sword of the soldiers," of the Chaldeans. So in the next clause, binan bin an hi chereb chalal haggadol, “it is the sword of that great soldier," that eminent king and conqueror. This is the meaning of the word chalal, that is so ill rendered in almost every place of its occurrence, in our Version. See Dr. Kennicott.

Verse 15. Wrapped up] It is not a blunt sword, it is carefully sharpened and preserved for the slaughter. Verse 16. Go thee one way or other] Thou shalt prosper, O sword, whithersoever thou turnest; against Ammon, or Judea, or Egypt.

Verse 19. Appoint thee two ways] Set off from Babylon, and lay down two ways, either of which thou mayest take; that to the right, which leads to Jerusalem; or that to the left, which leads to Rabbath of the Ammonites, ver. 20. But why against the Ammonites? Because both they and the Moabites were united with Zedekiah against the Chaldeans, (see Jer. xxvii. 3,) though they afterwards fought against Judea, chap. xii. 6.

Verse 21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way] He was in doubt which way he should first take; whether to humble the Ammonites by taking their metropolis, Riblath, or go at once against Jerusalem. In this case of uncertainty, he made use of divination. And this was of three kinds :

1. By arrows. 2. By images or talismans. 3. By inspecting the entrails of a sacrifice offered on the

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1. He made bright his arrows. This might be after the manner in which the divination is still practised among the Arabs. These arrows were without head or wing. They took three. On one they wrote, Command me, Lord. On the second, Forbid me, Lord. The third was blank. These were put in a bag, and the querist put in his hand and took one out. If it was Command me, he set about the business immediately; if it was Forbid me, he rested for a whole year; if it was the blank one, he drew again. On all occasions the Arabs consulted futurity by such arrows. See D'Herbelot, under the word ACDAH.

2. As to the images, the Hebrew calls them ' teraphim. See the note on Gen. xxxi. 19.

3. And as to the liver, I believe it was only inspected to see whether the animal offered in sacrifice were sound and healthy, of which the state of the liver is the most especial indication. When the liver is sound, the animal is healthy; and it would have been a bad omen to any who offered sacrifice, to find that the animal they had offered to their gods was diseased; as, in that case, they would have taken for granted that the sacrifice was not accepted.

Verse 22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem] He had probably written on two arrows; one, Jerusalem; the other, Riblath; the third, left blank. He drew, and that on which Jerusalem was written came to his hand; in consequence of which he marched immediately against that city. It was ripe for destruction; and had he marched before or after, it would have fallen; but he never considered himself as sure of the conquest till now.

Verse 23. To them that have sworn oaths] To Zedekiah and his ministers, who had bound themselves by the oath of the Lord to be faithful to the Chaldeans, and to pay them the promised tribute. The

The destruction of

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remembrance the iniquity, that their reproach; even say thou, they may be taken. The sword, the sword is 24 Therefore thus saith the drawn: for the slaughter it is Lord GOD; Because ye have made your ini- furbished, to consume because of the glit quity to be remembered, in that your trans-tering: .. gressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

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25 And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

26 Thus saith the Lord GoD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: • exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, -Thus saith the Lord GoD concerning the

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m 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13; Jer. lii. 2; chap. xvii. 19.——— Ver. 29; chap. xxxv. 5.0 Chap. xvii. 24; Luke i. 52.—P Heb. perverted, perverted, perverted will I make it. - Gen. xlix. 10; ver. 13; Luke i. 32, 33; John i. 49. Jer. xlix. 1; chap. xxv. 2, 3, 6; Zeph. ii. 8, 9, 10.

oaths may refer, farther, to the alliances formed with the Egyptians, Ammonites, and others. They will not believe that Nebuchadnezzar shall succeed against them, while they expect the powerful assistance of the Egyptians.

Verse 25. And thou profane wicked prince of Israel] Zedekiah, called here profane, because he had broken his oath; and wicked, because of his opposition to God and his prophet.

29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles. they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, "whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will a blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. 32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

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Ver. 9, 10.

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Chap. xii. 24; xxii. 28.-u Ver. 25; Job xviii. 20; Psa. xxxvii. 13. Or, Cause it to return.— Jer. xlvii. 6, 7.- Gen. xv. 14; chap. xvi. 38.-y Chap. xvi. 3. * Chap. vii. 8; xiv. 19; xxii. 22.- Chap. xxii 20, 21.- Or, burning.

Chap. xxv. 10.

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The my avah, which we translate overturn, is thrice repeated here; to point out, say the rabbins, the three conquests of Jerusalem, in which Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah were overthrown.

Verse 28. Concerning the Ammonites] They had reproached and insulted Judea in its low estate, see chap. xxv. This prophecy against them was fulfilled about five years after the taking of Jerusalem. See Whose day is come] Who in a short time shalt be Joseph. Ant. lib. x. c. 11; and Jer. xxvii., xlviii., xlix.; delivered into the hands of thy enemies.

Verse 26. Exalt him that is low] Give Gedaliah the government of Judea.

Abase him that is high.] Depose Zedekiah-remove his diadem, and take off his crown.

Verse 27. I will overturn] I will utterly destroy the Jewish government. Perverted will I make it. See the margin.

Until he come whose—is] ODVD mishpat, the judgment; i. e., till the coming of the son of David, the Lord Jesus; who, in a mystic and spiritual sense, shall have the throne of Israel, and whose right it is. See the famous prophecy, Gen. xlix. 10, and Luke i. 32.

Ezek. xxv.

Verse 30. I will judge thee] This seems to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who, after his return from Jerusalem, became insane, and lived like a beast for seven years; but was afterwards restored, and acknowledged the Lord.

Verse 32. Thou shall be no more remembered] The empire of the Chaldeans was destroyed, and the power transferred to the Persians; the Persian empire was destroyed, and given to the Greeks; the Grecian empire was destroyed, and given to the Mohammedans ; and the destruction of the Mohammedans is at no great distance.

CHAPTER XXII.

This chapter contains a recital of the sins of Jerusalem, 1–12; for which God threatens it with severe judgments, 13-16, in order to purify it from the dross, 17-22. And as the corruption is general, pervading prophets, priests, princes, and people; so, it is declared, shall be the punishment, 23–31.

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of the sins of Israel.

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LORD came unto me, saying, upon the mountains 2 Now, thou son of man, wilt midst of thee they commit lewdthou judge, wilt thou judge the ness. d bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations.

3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. 7 In thee have they 'set light by father and mother in the midst of thee have they dealt by "oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

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Chap. xx. 4; xxiii. 36.- bOr, plead for.- Chap. xxiv. 6, 9; Nah. iii. 1.- d Heb. city of bloods. Heb. make her know; chap. xvi. 2.. -f2 Kings xxi. 16.- - Deut. xxviii. 37; 1 Kings ix. 7; chap. v. 14; Dan. ix. 16.- h Heb. polluted of name, much Isa. i. 23; Mic. iii. 1, 2, 3; Zeph. iii. 3. Deut. xxvii. 16.- Exod. xxii. 21, 22.26.—p Lev. xix. 30; chap. xxiii. 38.

in vexation.-
k Heb. arm.-
deceit. — Ver.
men of slanders.
xviii. 6, 11.-

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Exod. xxiii. 1; Lev. xix. 16.
Lev. xviii. 7, 8; xx. 11; 1 Cor. v. 1.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXII.

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Verse 2. Wilt thou judge the bloody city] nounce the sentence of death against the murderers. Show her all her abominations.] And a most revolting and dreadful catalogue of these is in consequence exhibited.

Verse 3. Her time may come] Till now, it was my long-suffering; she has fulfilled her days-completed the time of her probation; has not mended, but is daily worse; therefore her judgment can linger no longer. Verse 4. Thou art become guilty in thy blood] Thou art guilty of blood,

Verse 5. Those that be near] Both distant as well as neighbouring provinces consider thee the most abandoned of characters; and through thee many have been involved in distress and ruin,

Verse 6. Behold, the princes] Ye are a vile and murderous people, and your princes have been of the same character. Like people, like prince.

Verse 7. In thee have they set light] The children

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10 In thee have they discovered their father's nakedness in thee have they humbled her that was "set apart for pollution.

11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another y hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law: and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

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12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

13 Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

14f Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and i will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance

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u Lev. xviii. 19; xx. 18; chap. xviii. 6.- - Or, every one. w Lev. xviii. 20; xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22; Jer. v. 8; chap. xviii. 11.- - Or, every one.--y Lev. xviii. 15; xx. 12.- -z Or, by lewdness, Lev. xviii. 9; xx. 17.- - Exod. xxiii. 8; Deut. xvi. 19; xxvii. 25. Exod. xxii. 25; Lev. xxv. 36; Deut. xxiii. 19; chap. xviii. 13.—d Deut. xxxii. 18; Jer. iii. 21; chap. xxiii. 35.- -e Chap. xxi. 17.- See chap. xxi. 7.- -g Chap. xvii. 24.- - Deut. iv. 27; xxviii. 25, 64; chap. xii. 14, 15. i Chap. xxiii. 27, 48. Or, shalt be profaned.

do not reverence their parents. Parental affection and filial respect do not exist among you. The stranger is not only not succoured, but he is oppressed. The widows and fatherless are vexed by wrongs and exactions.

Verse 8. Thou hast despised] All my ordinances are not only neglected, but treated with contempt; and my Sabbaths profaned. There is not only no power of godliness among you, but there is no form.

Verse 9. In thee are men that carry tales] Witnesses that will swear any thing, even where life is concerned.

They eat upon the mountains] Sacrifice to idols, and celebrate their festivals.

Verse 10. In thee have they discovered] They are guilty of the most abominable incest and unnatural lust.

In thee have they humbled] In their unholy and unnatural connexions, they have not abstained from those set apart because of their infirmities. The catalogue of crimes that follow is too plain to require comment.

Verse 16. Thou shalt know that I am the Lord.]

The corrupt state of the people,

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17 And the word of the LORD they have made her many widows cit. annum 24. in the midst thereof.

came unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, m the house of Israel is to me become dross all they are brass, and in, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the "dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

21 Yea, I will gather you, and P blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof and ye shall know that I the LORD have a poured out my fury upon you.

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23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, the gap before me for the land, that I should saying,

24. Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening

1 Psa. ix. 16; chap. vi. 7.—— Isa. i. 22; Jer. vi. 28, &c.; see Psa. cxix. 119.- Heb. drosses.- Heb. according to the gathering.- -P Chap. xxii. 20, 21, 22. Chap. xx. 8, 33; ver. 31. Hos. vi. 9. Matt. xxiii. 14. - Mic. iii. 11; Zeph. iii. 3, 4. u Mal. ii. 8. Heb, offered violence to. Lev. xxii. 2, &c.; 1 Sam. ii. 29.—— Lev. x. 10; Jer. xv. 19; chap. xliv. 23.

I shall so deal with and punish thee, that thou shalt bé obliged to own the vindictive hand of a sin-avenging God. Verse 18. The house of Israel is to me become dross] They are all like base metal-brass, tin, iron, and lead alloyed together with silver. Ye must be put in the furnace, and subjected to the most intense fire, till your impurities are consumed away. No ordinary means will avail any thing; the most violent must be resorted to. Verse 19. I will gather you] Jerusalem is represented here as the fining pot; all the people are to be gathered together in it, and the Chaldean fire is to melt the whole. And God will increase thy sufferings: as the refiner blows the fire with his bellows, so God will blow upon you with the fire of his wrath, ver. 21.

Verse 24. Thou art the land that is not cleansed] Thou art like a country where there is no rain, either to cleanse the garments, or fertilize the ground.

not destroy it but I found none.

31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord Gop.

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Verse 25. There is a conspiracy] The false prophets have united together to say and support the same things; and have been the cause of the destruction of souls, and the death of many, so that widows, through their means, are multiplied in thee.

Verse 26. Her priests] Even they whose lips should preserve knowledge, have not instructed the people: they have violated my law, not only in their private conduct, but in their careless and corrupt manner of serving in my temple.

Verse 27. Her princes] Are as bad as her priests; they are rapacious, and grievously oppress the people by unjust impositions in order to increase their reve

nues.

Verse 28. Her prophets] Even those who profess themselves to be my prophets, have been unfaithful in the discharge of their office; have soothed the people

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