Annotations for Ezekiel

1:1—24:27 A Time to Mourn: Prophecies Against Israel. Two related matters shape and frame chs. 1–24: the mourning motif and the city’s prominence. (1) Ezekiel becomes a mourner by virtue of eating a scroll containing lamentation, mourning, and woe (2:8–10), and he symbolically enacts Israel’s funeral procession as he mourns inwardly after his wife dies (24:15–24). (2) Ezekiel portrays the city’s siege (ch. 4) and the city’s fall, which his wife’s death symbolizes (24:15–24). See Introduction: Literary Features.

1:1—3:27 Ezekiel’s First and Formative Vision. This opening vision sets the tone for the entire book. Overcome by the supernatural, Ezekiel partially sees God and hears God’s voice as he is propelled into God’s service. In the context of exile, Ezekiel is the recipient of bad news. The scroll Ezekiel must eat communicates the irrevocable nature of the news, provides the main subject matter for most of the book, and sets the heavy tone of both his book and his ministry.

1:1–28 Ezekiel Experiences God’s Presence in Babylon. Through a remarkable vision on foreign territory, Ezekiel experiences God’s presence outside the temple in Jerusalem. He attempts to describe the indescribable: the radiant splendor of God’s glory. His experience is stunning and perplexing, yet it communicates much about God.

1:1 my thirtieth year . . . fourth month . . . fifth day. July 31, 593 BC. The Babylonians had forcibly carried Ezekiel away from Jerusalem to Babylon in 597. my thirtieth year. Possibly refers to the prophet’s age. Instead of entering the priestly ministry (Num 4:3), God gives him a prophetic ministry. I saw visions of God. Introduces the first of Ezekiel’s four visions (see 8:1–2; 37:1–14; 40:1–2).

1:2 King Jehoiachin. This Judahite king reigned for three months (2 Kgs 24:8) in 598–597 BC.

1:4 I saw a windstorm. Ezekiel describes his vision. He sees a storm cloud roll in. But this is no ordinary cloud; it is both “immense” and “surrounded by brilliant light.” coming out of the north. The cloud’s direction and immensity signal disaster (cf. 23:23–24; 26:7; Isa 41:25; Jer 1:13–15; 4:6; see notes on Isa 14:31; Jer 1:13–14).

1:5 four living creatures. It is not until his second vision (chs. 8–11) that Ezekiel realizes that these living creatures are cherubim (10:15–17). Knowing now that these are cherubim helps the reader understand the nature of the vision as it unfolds. Cherubim are guardians and bearers of the things of God (Gen 3:24; Exod 25:18–22).

1:6 four . . . four. Likely expresses a geographic totality, comparable to the four directions on a compass (Gen 13:14; Isa 11:12). four faces. Enables the living creatures to see at once in any direction. faces. See note on v. 10.

1:9 the wings of one touched the wings of another. Spatially the creatures’ outstretched wings formed a square-like perimeter. This is similar to the cherubim described in the Most Holy Place in Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 6:27). they did not turn as they moved. They were multidirectional. This reflects their supernatural mobility, which enabled them to move “straight ahead” in any direction.

1:10 face of a human being . . . a lion . . . an ox . . . an eagle. This reveals the composite nature of one face. Suggestions abound relative to the symbolism here. At the very minimum, the lion, ox, eagle, and human represent the most majestic of creatures in their respective realms. In the wild, the lion represents the most ferocious (Prov 30:30). Of domestic animals, the ox represents the strongest beast (Prov 14:4). In the air, an eagle’s might is undisputed (Prov 23:5; cf. Obad 4). On earth, humans have dominion over all creation (Gen 1:26–28).

1:12 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go. The cherubim depended on the “spirit,” not the “Spirit,” for mobility (see also v. 20 and note). Given 3:12, that which directs the cherubim derives from the divine spirit. They had an orientation in all directions.

1:15 I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature. The wheel description (vv. 15–21) depicts the mobility of the cherubim. The close proximity of the wheels to the creatures, or “cherubim,” reflects the readiness of the wheels to follow the lead of the creatures.

1:20 the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Indicates speed of movement. The description of the cherubim highlights their supernatural ability to see in any direction and move with speed at a moment’s notice anytime and anywhere.

1:22 something like a vault. A gemlike platform supported by the cherubim, whose noisy wings were heard as they flew around, bearing the platform.

1:25-26 above the vault . . . like a throne. The vault (see note on v. 22) functioned as a platform for a throne, upon which an unidentified male figure sat. But this was no ordinary human.

1:27 fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. In the Bible, God’s presence is often symbolically revealed in the form of fire and light (Exod 13:21; 19:18; 24:17; 40:34, 38; Isa 66:15).

1:28 the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Ezekiel’s interpretation of what he sees in this vision. The glory is God’s manifested presence with his people that was first visible as a cloud in the wilderness (see Exod 16:10 and note) and later in the tabernacle (see Exod 40:34–38 and note) and the temple (see 1 Kgs 8:10–12 and notes). See “The Glory of God.” The architecture of the Most Holy Place indicates that the Lord dwelled there in the midst of the cherubim (see Exod 25:20–22 and note on 25:22; 2 Sam 6:2). Thus, in this vision, the cherubim were supporting, transporting, and guarding the throne chariot of God. These heavenly attendants have escorted God to Ezekiel and the exiles in Babylon. fell facedown. Because he is face to face with the living God. In other words, God is on the move, no longer content to disclose himself only in Jerusalem in the Most Holy Place. What Ezekiel sees and experiences anticipates God appearing in human form (Heb 1:3) and the experience of the disciples (John 1:14). That Ezekiel sees God outside God’s expected habitation (the temple) points to the reality that as redemptive history moves forward, God will no longer dwell in houses made with human hands. God is now with the exiles in Babylon, and in this way, the appearance is positive (11:16). However, since the Lord’s presence emerges from an immense cloud out of the north, it seems that the storm of the Lord’s presence is advancing like an enemy, clearly a threatening indicator (see note on v. 4 [“coming out of the north”]). This is further established in the ominous nature of the Lord’s speech that immediately follows.

2:1—3:15 Ezekiel’s Call as Prophet and Mourner. Ezekiel’s prophetic role, its outcome, his audience, and his mourning role merge as God speaks to him and reveals the serious call on his life.

2:1 Son of man. Human (see NIV text note). This is how the Lord addresses Ezekiel 93 times in the book. The designation emphasizes Ezekiel’s humanity (as creature), which identifies him closely with his audience, and starkly contrasts him with the Lord (as Creator)—even though Ezekiel and the Lord seem to function as one in the book. Daniel is also addressed this way (Dan 8:17).

2:2 the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. After falling facedown upon experiencing God’s presence, Ezekiel is placed on his feet. The Spirit of God supernaturally empowers Ezekiel to stand and hear God’s words (Isa 48:15–16; cf. Gen 1:2–3). Without the empowerment of the Spirit of God, the word of the Lord cannot energize. The speaking voice that Ezekiel hears comes from the throne (1:25–26) and continues to reveal the lifelike nature of the storm.

2:3 I am sending you . . . to a rebellious nation. As a prophet of God (v. 5). Ezekiel’s assignment is difficult because of his audience. See Introduction: Audience; Historical Setting, Purpose, and Occasion. God’s people in exile are like those who commit crimes against the state, bent on doing wrong.

2:5 they will know that a prophet has been among them. “[Then] they will know” is a refrain that recurs throughout Ezekiel; this is its first occurrence. The test for whether one is a true prophet is the fulfillment of their predictions (Deut 18:20–22). When Jerusalem falls in seven years, Ezekiel’s audience will know he is a true prophet. This is directly tied to knowing the Lord; God will reveal his character and vindicate his name when Ezekiel’s predictions come to pass, because God is the one speaking. The dominant biblical-theological theme of knowing the Lord through judgment begins to surface (see Exod 5:2; 6:3; 7:5; 14:4; 16:6; 18:11; 20:19; 33:12–13; see also “Sin”). See Introduction: Theological Significance.

2:6 briers and thorns . . . scorpions. Vivid descriptions of his audience show how their deep-seated rebellion makes them prickly and even dangerous. The people will welcome neither the messenger nor the message.

2:8 open your mouth and eat what I give you. The command to eat without any indication of what he will be eating is meant to test Ezekiel’s character and obedience. eat. Symbolizes the appropriation of God’s words (e.g., Jer 15:16).

3:1, 3 eat this scroll. This event appears to be more than just a test of Ezekiel’s obedience. Both the description of the scroll and Ezekiel’s response to it are indicators. The scroll’s nature is fixed since its origin is divine (2:9) and it is fully written upon (2:10); any additions or changes are impossible. It concerns “lament and mourning and woe” (2:10) due to Jerusalem’s upcoming downfall. The Lord has decreed anguish and severe emotional turmoil, ongoing cries likened to death pangs—a destiny that is nonnegotiable on the basis of the scroll’s content. On the one hand, the scroll sets a specific and undeniable tone for Ezekiel’s ministry. On the other, it seems to describe some of the contents of Ezekiel’s book, even if not all of it reads like a lament. Internalizing the scroll is equivalent to internalizing the divine message. Ezekiel becomes what he eats. He becomes a mourner as a result of eating a scroll containing lamentation, mourning, and woes. In this way, the event represents more than just a test of obedience.

3:3 sweet as honey in my mouth. A surprising contrast with what one might expect from eating words of mourning. Following God’s command touches Ezekiel’s sense of taste in a positive way (see Pss 19:10; 119:103; Rev 10:9–10), probably indicating that God’s justice, however severe, is incomparably better than injustice.

3:5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech. God is not sending the prophet to serve in a foreign land, where he would have to learn another language and culture. In one sense, however, a cross-cultural mission would have been easier for Ezekiel. This is so because foreigners (those not a part of God’s covenantal community) would not be as rebellious as God’s covenantal people. Foreigners would actually listen and, in fact, might be more ready to hear and heed the word of God (Jonah 3:5; Mal 1:10–11; Rom 10:20–21).

3:12–15 The dramatic conclusion of the vision. God’s glory is escorted away in the same manner it appeared: by the loud sound of the cherubim’s wings (1:24).

3:14 I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit. Upon leaving the vision and beginning his prophetic task under God’s compelling hand, Ezekiel comes to the exiles. A description of Ezekiel’s reaction to the scroll incident unfolds in first-person narrative. He is filled with strong emotions and expresses deep dissatisfaction, consistent with the scroll he swallowed (2:10). Ezekiel has God’s perspective on the people’s rebellion.

3:15 Tel Aviv. The name means “mound of the deluge” in Babylonian, but its exact location is uncertain. The designation was used to refer to ancient cities that had been reduced to mere mounds (tells). I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed. Typical posture and length of time for the ritual period of mourning (Gen 50:10; 1 Sam 31:13; 1 Chr 10:12). Part of the mourning period was a time of stunned silence, shock, despair, and distress. Ezekiel describes himself as one participating in mourning rites. He is sitting among his peers, the exiles, in stunned silence and is motionless for a week as a result of the shocking news of the Lord (Job 2:13). By becoming what he ate, he becomes a mourner and subsequently does what mourners do.

3:16–21 Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman. Not only does God call Ezekiel to be a prophet and mourner, but his call also entails a related task as Israel’s watchman, one who warns of impending danger. A watchman was responsible to protect, defend, and care for the people (33:1–6; cf. Isa 21:6–9; Hos 9:8; Hab 2:1). While it is not uncommon to designate Israelite prophets as watchmen, Ezekiel is charged with carrying out his prophetic task or he will share in the punishment that will come upon the people. Thus, his own life is threatened. Ezekiel becomes responsible for people’s life and death.

3:16 seven days. See note on v. 15. The mourner usually returned to normal life after seven days, but Ezekiel does not (see note on v. 17): the Lord makes Ezekiel Israel’s watchman (vv. 16–21) and appears to extend Ezekiel’s mourning period (vv. 22–27). the word of the LORD came to me. As in 1:3.

3:17 watchman. Stationed in a lookout tower on the city wall, a watchman was responsible to sound a trumpet for soldiers and civilians in the city at the sight of approaching danger or attack. God asks Ezekiel to give people fair warning of the present crisis: they will experience the consequences for being a rebellious nation. As a prophet Ezekiel spoke about these things to this nation of rebels as a whole. But the nation is made up of individuals whom he must warn. His watchman role for the “people of Israel” zooms in on individuals: “a wicked person” (v. 18) or “a righteous person [who] turns from their righteousness and does evil” (v. 20). These individuals need fair warning—not of enemy invasion but that death awaits those who oppose God. This warning of death ties into Ezekiel’s mourning role (see note on vv. 1, 3).

3:20 I put a stumbling block before them. Those who have abandoned righteousness and embraced what is evil will be put to the test by God personally (14:9; Deut 13:3; 2 Sam 24:1).

3:22–27 Ezekiel’s Confinement and Speechlessness. God places severe limitations on Ezekiel, limitations in line with his call to be a mourner.

3:24 shut yourself inside your house. The Lord demands Ezekiel’s seclusion and seems to secure it by having him bound with ropes (v. 25).

3:26 you will be silent. God secures Ezekiel’s silence by making him speechless unless he needs to deliver a word from the Lord (v. 27). Generally, to be motionless is connected to silence as a sign of mourning. Furthermore, his silence is coterminous with the fate of Jerusalem. The Lord later promises that on the day the fugitive arrives with the news of Jerusalem’s fall, Ezekiel will again speak (24:25–27), and that happens (33:21–23). The prophet’s confinement and speechlessness encompass about a seven-and-a-half-year period (ca. 593–586 BC) and should be understood in terms of an extended mourning period.

4:1—5:17 Visual Aids of Jerusalem’s Upcoming Siege. By means of a series of symbolic acts, Ezekiel is to portray the siege of Jerusalem and its outcome. In 4:1–3 the siege itself is portrayed; in 4:4–8 Ezekiel symbolically bears the punishment of the people of Israel and Judah; in 4:9–17 Ezekiel’s diet symbolizes both the limitations of food that those under siege will suffer and that they and the exiles will be forced to eat food the law specified as “unclean” and therefore prohibited; in 5:1–4 Ezekiel is instructed to shave off his hair and use it to symbolize that only a small remnant of Israel will be left after God’s judgment. In 5:5–17 these symbolic acts are interpreted.

4:1–17 Ezekiel’s Drawing, Posture, and Dietary Restrictions. With the city’s destruction as the focal point, God asks Ezekiel to engage his audience with actions rather than words. In order to symbolize the upcoming siege on Jerusalem for his rebellious audience, God requires Ezekiel to use three elaborate visual aids (vv. 1–3, 4–8, 9–15)—nonverbal communication for non-hearing people.

4:1 take a block of clay. Ezekiel must build a model of Jerusalem under siege, with all the accompanying features of a city’s defense system.

4:3 iron wall. Represents the ironclad barrier between God and his people, one that people cannot penetrate. you shall besiege it. That Ezekiel takes action in the mock siege shows God’s deliberate hostility toward the city rather than his passive neglect. sign. See 12:6, 11; 24:24, 27.

4:4 You are to bear their sin. As a priest (1:3) Ezekiel must bear the weight of the nation’s sin (Exod 28:38; Num 18:1) by lying first on his left side for 390 days (v. 5) and then on his right side for 40 days (v. 6). This is a representative, not substitutionary, bearing of sin. The actions symbolize not the removal of sin but the punishment Israel will suffer for sin. Although the prophet must dramatize this, the context (vv. 9–17) assumes that it requires not an around-the-clock demonstration but a periodic demonstration—one that will capture the attention of his non-hearing audience.

4:5 for 390 days. Likely represents the years of the nation’s misconduct that started early in Solomon’s reign (1 Kgs 11:1–10; 14:21–24) and will end when Jerusalem falls in 586 BC.

4:6 40 days. May represent the long and wicked reign of Manasseh (his sole reign was 687/86–643/42 BC; see 2 Kgs 21:11–15; 23:26–27; 24:3). It could also represent the 40 years that the nation wandered in the wilderness for their unbelief (Num 14:33–34).

4:7 prophesy against her. By means of this symbolic action.

4:9–15 The dietary restrictions here represent the severe famine that will hit Jerusalem as a result of the siege. Ezekiel must make bread from limited and unusual ingredients that amount to a daily allotment (see NIV text note on v. 10), and his water supply is also limited (see NIV text note on v. 11). The food and its repulsive preparation indicate the level of contamination the people will experience by living in places outside of Israel, places God considered defiled and unclean on account of idolatrous religious practices.

4:9 wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt. Meager vegetarian provisions of a besieged city.

4:15 cow dung instead of human excrement. Rather than use a defiling substance, something ceremonially unclean for a priest, God allows Ezekiel to use animal dung, a common fuel used for baking in the ancient Near East.

4:16–17 Verbally interprets the dramatic performance in vv. 9–15 in the event his non-hearing audience might be tempted to listen. The Lord is the agent of destruction behind the siege; he is dispensing the covenantal curses on his rebellious people.

5:1–17 Shaving as a Sign of Humiliation and Mourning. With the city’s destruction as the focal point, God asks Ezekiel to engage his audience in another gesture that affects Ezekiel personally.

5:1 shave your head. An external, nonverbal gesture that symbolizes the upcoming sword that will fall upon Jerusalem for its rebellion and the associated humiliation. The treatment of the shaved hair (vv. 1–4) symbolizes the treatment of the population of Jerusalem when the Babylonians invade (vv. 11–12). Shaving one’s head was also associated with mourning (Jer 47:5; Mic 1:16). If by eating the scroll Ezekiel becomes a mourner (see note on 3:1, 3), then this shaving might also be a visual aid of mourning over Jerusalem’s destruction.

5:5 This is Jerusalem. God interprets Ezekiel’s nonverbal communication. What is shocking is not that Ezekiel’s actions refer to Jerusalem but that God would allow Jerusalem to be destroyed. God assigned a special status to the city among the nations (Deut 12:1–28), and his sanctuary and name dwelled there (v. 11; 1 Kgs 8:29). center of the nations. God chose for his people Israel and his earthly temple to be at the crossroads of the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe so that what he did for them might be visible to the nations.

5:7 You have been more unruly than the nations around you. Although God chose to dwell in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 11:36; 2 Kgs 21:4, 7; 2 Chr 33:7), Jerusalem was worse and “more unruly” than her neighbors in that the people rebelled against God and engaged in worship practices in the Lord’s temple that he did not authorize (v. 11).

5:8 I myself am against you. Ezekiel’s audience gets short, shocking reminders of this fact (13:8; 21:3; 26:3; 28:22; 29:3, 10; 34:10; 38:3; 39:1; cf. 30:22; 35:3).

5:9-11 Because . . . Therefore . . . Therefore. Because they have acted in a certain way, God will act in a certain way. A cause-and-effect pattern prevails. Jerusalem has failed and will fall and experience the unspeakable horrors threatened in the covenant (Lev 26:25–26, 29; Deut 28:53–57).

5:10 parents will eat their children. Cannibalism, the most gruesome extremity of life under siege (see 2 Kgs 6:28), was threatened as a consequence of breaking the covenant (Deut 28:53; see Jer 19:9 and note; Lam 2:20; Zech 11:9 and note).

5:11 as surely as I live. A divine oath communicating God’s unalterable intentions. I myself will shave you. This aftershock is worse than the unfathomable and sobering announcement in v. 8. shave you. Humiliation; here associated with the sword.

5:13 I will be avenged. The outcome for God relative to his just judgment. This happens once God’s wrath is used up on guilty covenant-breakers. Israel violated their relationship with God and tarnished his reputation. God’s punishment of his rebellious people reasserts his holiness; his reputation is thereby avenged and his anger ceases. they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal. Driven by passion for recognition as the sovereign Lord, his judgment produces such knowledge of him. See Introduction: Theological Significance.

5:15 when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. More expressions of divine hostility and punishment for sin. The punishment includes horrific judgment on Jerusalem (vv. 16–17), in line with earlier warnings of catastrophic judgment (Deut 32:22–25). Although the reader may be uneasy with such Bible verses, Ezekiel does not downplay God’s anger over sin. The outpouring and dispensing of God’s anger through the exile is a visual reality of what later came when he poured out his wrath on Jesus at the cross. It is a picture of the anger of God being satisfied for sin and its consequences. See Introduction: Theological Significance.

6:1—7:27 Descriptions of Upcoming Total Destruction. After the dramatic performances signaling Jerusalem’s end (4:1—5:17), God gives Ezekiel portraits of destruction using the topography of the land to describe the complete and utter destruction that awaits the people of Judah.

6:1–14 Doom for the Mountains of Israel. The Lord first draws attention to Israel’s highlands.

6:2 set your face against. Indicates hostility; elsewhere refers to how the Lord opposes the nation (4:3, 7; 14:8; 15:7; cf. Lev 17:10; 20:3, 5–6; Jer 21:10; 44:11), which suggests that divine abandonment or alienation is in view. mountains of Israel. The central highlands, but the whole land is in view since v. 3 mentions hills, ravines, and valleys. Singling out the mountains refers to where the people set up pagan sanctuaries and worshiped idolatrous images (see note on v. 3).

6:3 high places. Open-air sanctuaries. Some are associated with the Lord, others with foreign deities. Consistent activities at both included sacrificing and burning incense. Objects typically associated with these sanctuaries were “altars,” “incense altars,” and “idols” (v. 4; see note on v. 4).

6:4 altars. Used for cooking animal meat. incense altars. Made of clay and standing two feet (0.6 meters) tall, they were small stands that burned sweet-smelling fragrances. Yahweh’s high places varied in size and location. They were legitimate before Solomon’s temple (1 Sam 9:1—10:16; 1 Kgs 3:1–4) but not afterward (1 Kgs 15:14; 22:43; 2 Kgs 12:3; 14:4; 15:4, 35). The Lord himself is going to demolish the illegitimate cultic sites and all things associated with them, and many Israelite worshipers will fall victim to God’s wrath (vv. 3–7). What they think is so powerful is, in reality, impotent.

Incense altar found at Megiddo. “Your incense altars will be smashed” (Ezek 6:4).

Kim Walton, taken at the Oriental Institute Museum

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6:7 you will know that I am the LORD. Knowledge of God’s character and reputation will ripple throughout the surviving community, thereby giving him name recognition (cf. vv. 10, 13, 14), God’s main goal when he judges Israel. The theme of the Lord’s judgment and restoration, which results in his being known and acknowledged by Israel and the nations, echoes throughout chs. 6–39 (see Introduction: Theological Significance; see also note on 5:13).

6:9 those who escape will remember me. Those who survive the divine sword but are taken captive in a foreign land will acknowledge that God’s judgment is just. The escapees represent the promise of a remnant; complete annihilation will not take place (5:3; Rom 9:27; 11:5). grieved. God’s anger is mournful. adulterous. Idolatrous. By giving affection to something or someone other than the Lord, Israel has acted like an unfaithful marriage partner (cf. chs. 16; 23). God is grieved yet justified in his punitive actions (v. 10).

6:11 Strike your hands together and stamp your feet. Ezekiel must display mournful anger. This fits his mourning role that the scroll established (see note on 3:1, 3). This mirrors the Lord’s sentiments since Ezekiel can do nothing apart from the Lord’s bidding (see notes on ch. 3). See Introduction: Literary Features.

7:1–27 The End for the Entire Land. Ch. 7 vividly describes destruction on the entire land and the inability to escape such destruction because of God’s wrath poured out on wrongdoing and wrongdoers. Both the places where one would typically find refuge in the day of trouble and the people who would typically furnish protection will not provide safe haven. Escape, a defense, hope for deliverance, a reversal of the decreed end—none of these is possible because the agent of destruction is the Lord (v. 9). God’s patience with his stubborn people has run out.

7:1–9 Announces “the end” (vv. 2, 3, 6) as an unleashing (v. 3) and outpouring (v. 8) of God’s anger, judging and repaying them for misconduct (9:8; 14:13–14; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 36:18; cf. 30:15).

7:2 The end! The end. A repetition that communicates finality (see also v. 6). This creates a strong emotional reaction. The audience must take the threats seriously, for the end is imminent. the four corners of the land! Expresses totality; an idiomatic way of communicating “the whole land.”

7:4, 9 I will not look on you with pity. Suggests that God is hardening his heart in order to carry out judgment. When God revealed himself to Moses, he made himself known as a gracious and merciful God but one who would not let the guilty go unpunished (Exod 34:5–7). For about 800 years God had given the nation numerous chances to change, but their opportunities for change have run out.

7:4 Then you will know that I am the LORD. The intended outcome of God’s furious unleashing of anger is not only the promised consequences for their misconduct (Deut 28) but also that Israel acknowledge and recognize his power. See also v. 27.

7:10 the day! Another notification of “the end” (vv. 2, 3, 6) but without using the term. It refers to an outpouring of God’s wrath using language of totality with respect to the people in the land (vv. 11–12, 14) on “the day” (also in vv. 7, 12, 19). Instead of it being a day when people would experience God’s goodness (Amos 5:18–20), people will experience his judgment and justice as a time of “doom” (also v. 7), “violence” (v. 11), “calamity” (v. 26), and “rumor” (v. 26). The effects will be economic and emotional (vv. 12–18), religious (vv. 19–24), and political (vv. 25–27). See note on Amos 2:16.

7:18 They will put on sackcloth . . . every head will be shaved. Signs of mourning (Gen 37:34; Job 1:20; Isa 15:2; Rev 11:3).

7:22 the place I treasure. Jerusalem’s temple (Deut 12).

7:26 vision . . . law . . . counsel. Guidance from God through the expected means of prophet, priest, and elder, respectively, will not be available (1 Sam 28:6; Amos 8:11–12; Mic 3:6–7; see note on Jer 18:18).

7:27 king . . . prince. Refer to the same person: King Jehoiachin.

8:1—11:25 The Temple Vision. This is the second of four dream-like visions the prophet receives. It culminates tragically with God’s presence leaving the Jerusalem temple (11:22–23). Because of Israel’s relentless idolatry, God is angry and justified in abandoning his temple, people, and land. Divine abandonment is the ultimate curse of the covenantal curses that Deuteronomy promises (see Introduction: Literary Features).

8:1–18 Tour of Temple Violations. Ezekiel sees escalating snapshots of idolatrous worship. He “sees” with “spiritual eyes” the detestable things that people are doing, justifying the Lord’s departure.

8:1–6 The Spirit supernaturally transports Ezekiel from exile (v. 1) to the Jerusalem temple (v. 3). When he arrives at the temple entrance, two opposing images capture his attention: “the idol that provokes to jealousy” (v. 3) and “the glory of the God of Israel” (v. 4). The “glory” represents God’s presence (see 1:28 and note). The “idol” intrudes on the Lord’s property; ownership and sovereignty of the temple belong to “the God of Israel,” hence the vision highlights this important reality through the repeated designation “the glory of the God of Israel.” This “idol” with which the people have associated themselves has caused a serious rift in their relationship with God; God is a jealous God and will not share his glory with another (Exod 20:5). Ezekiel is about to see up close and personal “things that are even more detestable” (vv. 6, 13, 15).

8:1 sixth year . . . sixth month . . . fifth day. The second of 13 dates (see Introduction: Date). The date is Sept. 17, 592 BC, just over a year from the inaugural vision (see note on 1:1). The “elders” seek a word from Ezekiel.

8:2 figure like that of a man. Similar to the vision of God in 1:26–27. like fire . . . as bright as glowing metal. A description of the blinding brightness of the divine presence.

8:3 The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven. Hovering between two realities, physically with the exiles in Babylon but spiritually seeing events in Jerusalem. An experience unique to Ezekiel (see 3:12, 14; 11:1, 24; 43:5).

8:4 glory of the God of Israel. See also 9:3; 10:19; 11:22. A designation that communicates that Israel’s God supremely owns the temple and city (see vv. 1–6 and note). Ezekiel experiences the glory of God’s presence outside of the Jerusalem temple (1:28; 3:23).

8:5 idol of jealousy. An unidentified figure. The focus is not the image itself but the divine outrage it provokes.

8:6, 13, 15 even more detestable. What Ezekiel is about to see will be even worse than what he sees now. The people’s actions are altogether hateful and dishonoring before God.

8:7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. As Ezekiel is escorted through the temple, the spotlight is on those involved in the detestable practices: 70 elders (vv. 7–13), women (vv. 14–15), and 25 men (v. 16).

8:9–13 The leadership is engaged in polytheistic religious practices in a dark, secret room. Tragically, Israel’s leaders are crying out to the animal spirits, revealed by the images on the walls as they use incense smoke to symbolize the animals’ glory (v. 10). This might reflect Egyptian influence (2 Kgs 23:31–35).

8:11 Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Perhaps a shock that he was among the traitors, because his family was staunchly loyal to the Lord during Jeremiah’s ministry (2 Kgs 22:8–10; Jer 26:24).

8:12 The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land. Their rationale for going astray; a reflection of faulty theology. Perhaps they understood the Babylonian invasion in 597 BC to mean that the Babylonian gods had defeated Yahweh and that Yahweh had been driven away from his land.

8:14 Tammuz. The Hebrew spelling of Dumuzi, the dying and rising Sumerian-Babylonian god. His followers mourned his death, which supposedly happened seasonally at the height of the summer heat and which they thought caused the annual die-off of vegetation. “Mourning” this god may mean that the women are equating the Lord with Tammuz (cf. v. 12) or that syncretism is taking place in the Lord’s temple; hence, the women are weeping because Tammuz is gone too.

8:16 between the portico and the altar. Normally reserved for priests. At this sacred place—the very entrance to the Holy Place—these men are venerating the sun and turning their backs on the Holy Place of the temple, which Deut 4:19 prohibits (see Deut 17:3; 2 Kgs 23:5, 11). bowing down to the sun. Worshiping the sun as it rose required people to turn their backs to the temple because ancient temples faced east.

8:17 putting the branch to their nose! Probably a gesture of derision.

8:18 I will not look on them with pity. God has hardened himself against them. This is another reminder that there are no more chances for them to change (see 7:4, 9 and note; 9:10). The behavior that ch. 8 describes has justifiably angered the God of Israel, who has a rationale for judging the idolaters and abandoning the temple, people, and city. As the Lord shows Ezekiel all these detestable practices, stage by stage, a growing tension builds in the vision.

9:1–11 Temple Owner’s Response. As the owner of the temple, God communicates how he intends to deal decisively with the detestable practices of the people (8:1–18). Before his official departure from the city (11:22–23), which is his ultimate response, he will clean house with a citywide slaughter of the idolaters.

9:2 a man clothed in linen. The garment helps identify him more specifically than the “six men.” He is a heavenly attendant associated with righteousness (44:17–18; Dan 12:6–7; Rev 19:8, 14). writing kit. Pen and ink for marking (see note on v. 4).

9:4 mark . . . those who grieve and lament. The man’s role is to spare from execution those who grieve over the people’s rebellion (see Introduction: Historical Setting, Purpose, and Occasion). The mark happily sets the righteous apart from the rebels. It preserves a faithful remnant for God. foreheads. The most visible part of their bodies.

9:5 kill, without showing pity or compassion. This execution is not taking place literally but anticipates the upcoming brutality of the Babylonian invasion in 587 BC. The killing is thorough, indiscriminate, and merciless. It mirrors the Lord’s attitude toward their sins (v. 10; 8:18). The first to experience God’s wrath are the leaders who have done detestable things at God’s “sanctuary” (v. 6; see 8:16).

9:7 Defile the temple. Beyond the defilements already present in the temple (8:4–18), the dead bodies of the slain will further defile the Lord’s sanctuary (cf. 6:4–5, 13).

9:8 I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas . . .” As a mourner, Ezekiel utilizes words associated with mourning and grief (cf. 11:13). This is a voluntary human response to bad news, as he is asking the Lord to have mercy and spare some. But it is a time not for mercy but for God’s just judgment. See Introduction: Literary Features.

9:10 bring down on their own heads what they have done. Although some might be spared this fate due to the work of the man in linen (vv. 4, 6), the vision focuses on the realities and justness of God’s actions carried out through the six men. See 16:43; Jer 50:15.

10:1–22 God’s Presence Departs the Temple. God judges the city with fire, but the ultimate judgment and focal point is God’s departure from his earthly home. This is the curse God promised in Deut 31:17–18: God said he would hide his face from his people because they turned to other gods. God’s glory departs slowly and even reluctantly at several stages. The departure is like that of a bird due to the movement of the cherubim as they escort the “glory” throughout the vision. The glory of the Lord goes up from the ark of the covenant to the temple’s entrance (9:3) to the east gate (10:19) and eventually to the mountain in the east (11:22–23). The initial step is Yahweh’s departure from the Most Holy Place, the place of his earthly throne, to the temple’s entrance (9:3). After the destruction of the idolaters (9:4–10), Yahweh joins up again with the waiting cherubim at the temple’s entrance, then moves out of the temple to the east gate of the temple complex, and temporarily stops there (10:4, 18–19). This pause is at the “east gate” (v. 19), i.e., the gate at the very edge of the temple complex (the outer court gate), where the “glory” would be best positioned to leave the city (11:23).

10:1–8 These verses describe the setting for the coals of judgment hurled on the city. Judgment by fire derives from God’s very throne. The man in linen has to enact judgment now (contrast ch. 9).

10:1 the likeness of a throne . . . over the heads of the cherubim. See notes on 1:22–28. cherubim. Creatures that guard and transport the divine presence (Gen 3:24; Exod 25:18–22; 1 Kgs 6:23–28). Here they provide conveyance for the Lord as he makes his way around and out of the temple complex (v. 18; 9:3; 11:22–23). They move by flying (vv. 5, 16, 19; 11:22; cf. 1:19, 24), and their wings generate noise when they move (v. 5; cf. 1:24), probably indicating that they are ready to act or anticipate the departure. They also provide the man in linen with the fire to hurl onto the city (vv. 7–8).

Likely a picture of two cherubim on a tenth-century BC cult stand from the city of Taanach. Ezek 10:1–5 mentions the cherubim in God’s temple.

Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com

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10:3 cloud. Enclosed the “glory of the LORD” (v. 4). At their respective completions, the tabernacle and temple were filled with the “cloud,” i.e., the glory of God’s presence (Exod 40:34–35, 38; 1 Kgs 8:10–12). In those structures the cloud visually declared the reality that God was in Israel’s midst. The cloud was also associated with Israel’s guidance while in the wilderness (Num 9:15–17). In the NT John says of Jesus (God in human form) that by seeing him the disciples actually saw the glory of God (John 1:14). Jesus reveals God to humankind and gives guidance to believers through the Holy Spirit. At the end of the age, Christ will come again, but it will be in the clouds and all will see him (Matt 24:30; Rev 1:7).

10:9 wheels. Called “the whirling wheels” (v. 13). See notes 1:12, 15, 20. Along with the wings of the cherubim, the wheels help the cherubim move. The wheels keep pace with the cherubim, and the movements of the wheels are synchronized with those of the cherubim (v. 16) because “the spirit of the living creatures was in them” (v. 17). Through his flying throne chariot (see note on 1:28), God is infinitely mobile and presently on the move.

10:14 four faces. See notes on 1:6, 10.

10:15 These were the living creatures I had seen. See also v. 20. Ezekiel realizes that the cherubim in this second vision are the same as the “living creatures” in his first vision (see 1:5–15 and notes).

10:19 east gate. See note on vv. 1–22.

11:1–13 God’s Certain Judgment on Jerusalem. Before God leaves Jerusalem (vv. 22–23), he confronts through the prophet the people’s erroneous theology.

11:2 men . . . giving wicked advice in this city. Refers to the 25 leaders in v. 1. The nature of their advice follows in v. 3.

11:3 Owing to the obscure nature of the Hebrew of this verse, the “wicked advice” of the leaders (v. 2) is not clear. Verse 3a may be either a statement or a question. If it is a statement, the “pot” and “meat” metaphor is negative (“we’re cooked!”); but if it is a question, the metaphor is positive (“we won’t be burned!”). Most likely, the metaphor is positive. As meat belongs in a pot, so the current leaders think they are safe and belong in Jerusalem. The city is theirs (v. 15); it cannot be taken away because God made an ironclad promise. This reveals the theology of Jerusalem’s leaders, but it is way off base (v. 4).

11:7 The bodies you have thrown there are the meat. This is the theological reality the leaders must face. The meat, redefined by the prophet, is not the leaders in Jerusalem (who will be driven out of it) but the innocent people they killed.

11:13 Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. This leader’s sudden death tangibly demonstrates that God will judge the people of the city. Ezekiel mourns over the loss and pleads mercy for the remnant of Israel (see 5:3; 6:9). Pelatiah means “the LORD delivers”; Benaiah means “the LORD builds”; therefore, “The LORD delivers”—the son of “The LORD builds”—has died.

11:14–21 Those in Exile to Be Restored. The prophet brings a message of hope for a return to the land of Canaan. This message of hope, however, is not for Jerusalem’s current residents, who think of themselves as more privileged than those in Babylon.

11:15 They are far away from the LORD; this land was given to us as our possession. A wrong theological boast. The people of Jerusalem arrogantly and self-confidently think the promises of God exclude the exiles.

11:16 I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. God’s corrective to the residents of Jerusalem (v. 15) and encouragement to the exiles. God redefines his relationship with the exiles, his remnant. God is present with the exiles even though they were driven away from Jerusalem and the temple (the symbol of God’s presence). This is so because the real sanctuary is a person, not a symbolic place or building. Ezekiel’s first vision underscores this fact: “above on the throne was a figure like that of a man” (1:26). This anticipates the person of Jesus, who refers to himself as a temple (John 2:19).

11:19 undivided heart . . . new spirit. A description of the new relationship with the remnant. The mark of the relationship is a single-minded commitment to God that produces faithfulness in the relationship (36:26). remove . . . their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. A spiritual heart transplant performed by God. Points to the new covenant in Christ (see Jer 31:31–34; Heb 8:8–13; 10:15–18 and notes; see also 2 Cor 3:3).

11:20 They will be my people, and I will be their God. An exclusive and possessive relationship. The heart of God’s covenant promise (see Exod 6:7 and note; Jer 7:23; Zech 8:8 and note). This covenantal relationship derives from Exod 6:2–8, yet it points back to Gen 17. The exiled population, “the remnant of Israel” (v. 13), will return to the land. They will be cleansed and become the new people of God. Ironically, those facing death in exile will experience life. Not only does this statement correct the faulty theology of the present inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land, but it also answers Ezekiel’s question in v. 13. God will not destroy all the remnant of Israel. In wrath God will remember mercy (Hab 3:2).

11:22–25 Conclusion of Temple Vision. The vision ends tragically, with the Lord’s presence departing the city of Jerusalem. The last mention of the “glory” was its position at the east gate of the temple complex (10:19). The throne chariot flies away (v. 22), and Ezekiel sees it at the city limits (v. 23). Now the “glory” is positioned on a mountain east of the city. This is a stunning reversal of 1 Kgs 8:10, which describes the glory of the Lord filling the temple at its dedication in the time of Solomon (cf. Exod 40:35). In sum, chs. 4–11 anticipate desolation to the city, people (chs. 4–5), its environs and whole land (chs. 6–7), and the temple proper (chs.8–11). Thus, there has been a progression in chs. 4–11 as it relates to descriptions of total destruction.

12:1–28 Ezekiel Symbolizes the Exile of Jerusalem. Although already exiled in 597 BC during Jehoiachin’s reign (1:1–3), Ezekiel predicts a future exile through two symbolic acts (vv. 3–16, 17–20). This reference to future exile concerns events that unfold between 597 (when Ezekiel was exiled) and 586 BC (the final fall of Jerusalem, during Zedekiah’s reign).

12:1–16 Packed and Ready to Go. Upon returning to his fellow exiles in mind and spirit from his second visionary experience (chs. 8–11), God commands Ezekiel to utilize another visual aid (pack his belongings) to prepare the people for future exile and its effects on the present Judahite puppet king and those who remain in the land. See photo.

12:2 do not see . . . do not hear. Malfunctioning body parts symbolize spiritual blindness and deafness due to rebellion (cf. Isa 6:9). Physically they will see Ezekiel’s visual aid, but spiritually they will not understand it (v. 9). They are lifeless, like the idols they worship.

12:3 pack your belongings. Ezekiel must prepare for future exile by packing something portable to take on the journey. In the evening he must depart as if going into exile.

12:5 dig through the wall. Probably of his house. Invading armies entered cities by breaking down walls at various locations (Amos 4:3).

12:6 Cover your face. Ezekiel is not supposed to see where he is going: he is in darkness, walking away from his home and leaving the city through a breach in the wall. sign. A repeated term used in the book for the visual aids God has Ezekiel perform (v. 11; 24:24, 27).

12:8–15 The interpretation of the visual aid concerns Zedekiah and those remaining in Jerusalem.

12:10 prince in Jerusalem. Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, whom the Babylonians installed in 597 BC. He rebels against Babylon (2 Kgs 25:1), so the Babylonians capture him, kill his sons in front of him, gouge out his eyes, and take him blind to Babylon, where he later dies (2 Kgs 25:6–7). all . . . who are there. Babylon will carry off the remaining Israelites.

12:11 sign. A visual aid (vv. 6, 11) of the “end times” for Judah as an independent state.

12:15, 16 They will know that I am the LORD. God’s goal in exiling the remaining rebellious Judahite population and yet sparing some. God is about gaining glory. He wants the exiles to recognize his true character (v. 15). Their rebellion and spiritual poverty brought a contrast between God and his people (see note on v. 16). If they are his people and he is their God, then they will display his character. Rebellious people cannot acknowledge God’s holy and just character. The humiliation and suffering of exile would help to correct this. God also wants those he spares to recognize his true character (v. 16).

12:16 sword, famine and plague. Covers the full range of divine agents of destruction; a standard way of speaking about divine punishment (5:12; 7:15). The Lord desires that the group of people he graciously spares (Lev 26:42–45; Deut 4:30–31) publically (in the nations where they go) acknowledge their sinful past. As they acknowledge him, they will restore God’s reputation for what appeared to be harsh and unjust dealings with his people. Then there will no longer be a contrast between the character of God’s people and that of their God (see note on vv. 15, 16). The exile will expose the truth about Israel and her God. See Introduction: Theological Significance.

12:17–28 Unfavorable Outcomes. After the sign of an exile packing their belongings, its interpretation, and purpose (vv. 1–16), ch. 12 concludes with one more visual aid and another theological correction, this one pertaining to the people’s understanding of prophets and prophecy.

12:18 tremble . . . shudder. Another prophetic visual aid symbolizing the emotional turmoil that people will experience in the siege leading up to the exile. tremble. The same Hebrew term is used of an earthquake in 1 Kgs 19:11; Amos 1:1.

12:22 The days go by and every vision comes to nothing. A mocking slogan. This includes the prophetic words about the nation’s demise from the time of Amos (ca. 760 BC; cf. Amos 2:4–5) to the time of Ezekiel. Jerusalem had remained untouched for almost 200 years since Amos’s words, and people did not really believe that Jerusalem would fall. They could not see that the delay in fulfilling these prophetic words was an undeserved extension of Yahweh’s loyalty and grace.

12:23 The Lord refutes the mocking slogan (see note on v. 22) of the people that dismissed his prophet’s announcements of impending judgment.

12:24 no more false visions. False prophecies will come to an end (see ch. 13).

12:25 in your days. God corrects their false security. The Judahites are going to experience the “end times,” and those proclaiming anything different are false (see ch. 13). The corrective, therefore, is that Ezekiel’s generation will witness the destruction.

12:27–28 Another dismissive slogan about Ezekiel’s revelations concerning Jerusalem’s fall that reveal belief and unbelief. The people acknowledge that Ezekiel’s revelation is from God, but they think Ezekiel’s timing is off.

12:28 None of my words will be delayed. God’s response to the people’s false sense of security.

13:1—14:23 False Prophets and Idolatry. Ezekiel must speak to false prophets who sound like true ones. Linked to this brutal word to the false prophets is a word to idolatrous elders who are consulting both these false prophets and Ezekiel, the true prophet, at the same time.

13:1–23 Condemnation of False Prophets. This section targets male prophets (vv. 1–16) and female prophets (vv. 17–23).

13:2 out of their own imagination. Unlike true prophets, who repeat what God said, false prophets make up the words in their own minds and for their own gain.

13:3 Ironically, the false prophets are seers (i.e., prophets) who “have seen nothing.” God has not given them a message, yet they are deceiving people with a message of hope.

13:4 jackals. Wild scavenger dogs. ruins. Of abandoned cities (Isa 13:20–21; Jer 50:39; 51:37; Lam 5:18). The imagery is that Israel’s false prophets are running around loose and providing no help in rebuilding the nation.

13:5 not gone up to the breaches in the wall. The inability of the false prophets to defend the city. They are not strengthening the weak spiritual fortifications of the nation by speaking out against its evils.

13:8 I am against you. God personally opposes and confronts the false prophets (see 5:8 and note). The false prophets will be excluded and isolated from the community of faith (v. 9).

13:10 saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace. A false sense of security or well-being. flimsy wall . . . whitewash. The false prophets “fix” poorly constructed walls by cosmetically covering up the problem areas, but the walls are structurally still weak and vulnerable. Their messages are worthless (cf. Jer 6:14; 8:11; Mic 3:5).

13:12 When the wall collapses. When Jerusalem’s destruction becomes a reality.

13:13 I will unleash a violent wind. God’s judgment comes in storm imagery (cf. 1:4–9; see, e.g., Ps 18:7–15; Isa 28:17; Jer 23:19) to rain down on the faulty structure and those who built it. He is his own agent of destruction.

13:17 daughters. The fraudulent counterpart to the male prophets (v. 2). They make up the words in their own minds and for their own gain. A contrast with other Israelite women who function as true agents of God (Exod 15:20; Judg 4:4; 2 Kgs 22:14; Neh 6:14; Isa 8:3).

13:18 magic charms . . . veils. Associated with black magic and sorcery of witches or fortunetellers. They aim to trap people, like hunters stalking their prey (v. 20). They hunt the souls of God’s people who consult with them.

Magical amulet of goddess Lamashtu, to ward off evil, from eighth-century BC Babylonia. Ezek 13:18 warns against women who make magic charms.

Kim Walton, taken at the British Museum

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13:19 a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. The price for their services (1 Sam 9:7).

13:20–23 God will end the cult of the false female prophets and rescue victims from the snares of these powerful women and thus get glory. Both the male and female prophets starkly contrast with Ezekiel.

14:1–11 Condemnation for Consulting Prophets. The condemnation now turns to the leaders of the exiled community, the recipients rather than the creators of false prophecies. The elders approach Ezekiel during a time of crisis in hopes of achieving the Lord’s perspective (8:1; cf. Num 22:8; 2 Kgs 4:38).

14:3 idols in their hearts. The elders internalize idolatry even in exile. They allow their new circumstances in pagan Babylon to compromise their loyalty to God. Should I let them inquire of me at all? How can people bent on idolatry expect to hear from the one true God (Exod 20:4–5)?

14:4 I the LORD will answer them myself. Instead of giving them his perspective about the Jerusalem crisis, God surprisingly “answers” them by personally confronting their idolatry.

14:6 Repent! If the exiles renew their loyalties to the Lord and discard their idolatrous alliances, they may have a chance, unlike those in Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s call to “repent” must be understood in light of the differing circumstances of the exiles (18:30; 33:11).

14:9 I the LORD have enticed that prophet. As a form of judgment, the Lord will force a false prophet to falsely prophesy to an idolatrous inquirer (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19–23; Jer 20:7, 10). The Lord gives people over to their own desires (Rom 1:18–32; 2 Thess 2:9–12). God will then destroy both, resulting in a cleansing that leads to restoration of the covenantal relationship that once was (vv. 10–11).

14:11 my people . . . their God. Terminology that suggests an exclusive and possessive relationship (see note on 11:20, cf. Exod 6:2–8).

14:12–23 Inescapable Judgment. “Salvation” (see vv. 14, 16, 18, 20) from the upcoming judgment is not possible and cannot be achieved by another’s righteousness.

14:13 famine. A covenantal curse promised for disobedience (Lev 26:26, 29; Deut 28:53–56; 32:24). A city’s inhabitants die when isolated from food sources in a siege.

14:14 Noah . . . Job. Well-known individuals from the past who found favor with God in the midst of adversity (Gen 6:9; Job 1:1). Daniel. Cf. 28:3. This could refer to the prophet Daniel, the author of the book bearing his name. Alternatively, if the name is spelled “Danel” (see NIV text note), it could refer to an ancient sage of the Syrian region known from extrabiblical texts found at Ugarit. God spared these individuals from the full impact of hardship because of “their righteousness.” Although God spared Lot due to Abraham’s prayer (Gen 18:20–33), this is not possible now for Jerusalem because her “end” (7:2) has been decreed (see note on 7:1–27).

14:15 wild beasts. Ravenous animals that inhabit desolate cities as a result of a siege; it was a covenantal curse for disobedience (Lev 26:22; Deut 32:24).

14:17 sword. Suffering in war; a covenantal curse for disobedience (Lev 26:25, 33; Deut 32:25, 41–42).

14:19 plague. Sickness and disease due to living conditions during a siege; a covenantal curse for disobedience (Lev 26:25; Deut 28:21–22; 32:24).

14:21 when I send against Jerusalem my . . . judgments. Not “if” but “when” God confronts the city. It summarizes and concludes the hypothetical scenarios that vv. 12–20 outline about an unidentified country, now identified as “Jerusalem.”

14:22 survivors. Random people who escape the devastation but are not delivered by anyone’s righteousness; these are not the righteous remnant God promises Ezekiel.

14:23 The wicked conduct of the survivors (v. 22) amid the exiles will confirm to the exiles that God’s judgment on the city was just.

15:1—17:24 Three Allegories. God gives Ezekiel three word pictures, fictional stories that creatively illustrate true events concerning Jerusalem’s fall: the useless vine (ch. 15), the adulterous wife (ch. 16), and the two eagles (ch. 17).

15:1–8 Jerusalem a Useless Vine. This is the first of three allegories in chs. 15–17 illustrating Jerusalem’s guilt. The surprise factor is the nation’s fruitlessness, which equates to having no value. Cf. Ps 80:8–16.

15:2 wood of a vine. The wood that remains after a grapevine’s fruit is useless; it cannot be used to make furniture because it is not strong enough (v. 3). It is only slightly useful when supplying fuel for a fire (v. 4). And when burned up it is even less valuable (v. 5).

15:6–7 Interprets the vine story (cf. Gen 49:22; Deut 32:32; Isa 5:1–7; Jer 2:21). In 586 BC the Babylonians will exile Jerusalem’s inhabitants that were not exiled in 597 BC (see 2 Kgs 24:14; 2 Chr 36:9–10 and notes).

15:6 fire. An agent of destruction along with the fourfold package of sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague (10:2, 6–7; Gen 19:24; Amos 7:4). Although the invading Babylonians will be the ones to actually burn the city, this represents God’s fury against the people of Jerusalem, whom God has rejected as useless to him because they have been unfaithful. The land, as a result, will lie desolate, as promised in covenantal curses for disobedience (Lev 26:32–35, 43; Deut 29:23).

15:7 you will know that I am the LORD. When the fire of God strikes the inhabitants of Jerusalem in 586 BC, those already in exile will acknowledge the divine hand of judgment as a revelation of the Lord. See Introduction: Theological Significance.

16:1–63 Jerusalem an Adulterous Wife. This is the second of three allegories in chs. 15–17 illustrating Jerusalem’s guilt. It narrates the city’s past through the story of an unfaithful wife. It portrays Jerusalem as a professional prostitute who for personal gain gives her affections to numerous others. Not only is this the longest single prophecy in the book, but it is also the hardest and most shocking to read, given the sexual language used and the violence portrayed. Ezekiel does not attempt to water down the offensive nature of Jerusalem’s sin, because that is precisely the point. Jerusalem’s conduct is just as shocking as the language used to describe it. Ch. 16 has two parts. The first part addresses idolatry and illustrates the problem with the analogy of the unfaithful wife (vv. 1–43). The second part addresses social injustices and illustrates this by a familial analogy of an older and younger sister (vv. 44–52). The two metaphors rely heavily on irony to expose the nation’s guilt. Ch. 16 concludes with a glimmer of hope for restoration (vv. 53–63).

16:3 Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Jerusalem had a centuries-old, pre-Israelite history, and the city long resisted Israelite conquest (Josh 15:63) until David’s conquest (2 Sam 5:6–9). father . . . mother. A reference to Jerusalem’s non-Israelite origin (cf. v. 45). Amorite. Like the Canaanites, the Amorites were pre-Israelite, Semitic inhabitants of Canaan (see notes on Gen 10:15–19; 15:16; Josh 5:1; Judg 1:34–36). Hittite. Non-Semitic residents of Canaan who flourished in Asia Minor during the second millennium BC (see notes on Gen 10:15–19; Josh 1:4). Israel intermarried with the population of the land and served the Canaanite gods (Judg 3:6), which diluted their tribal identity and compromised their bloodline, so Jerusalem’s ancestry is dubious.

16:4 the day you were born. Jerusalem’s birthday. Instead of receiving the expected care at birth, Jerusalem was abandoned as a baby girl, an unwanted child.

16:5 thrown out into the open field. Abandoned to die. Exposure of infants, common in ancient pagan societies, was abhorrent to Israel.

16:6 Then I passed by and saw you. God, unlike negligent birth parents, had compassion on the abandoned, unwashed baby (covered with amniotic fluid and blood at birth), and with one word of his mouth, God rescued, adopted, and took in the baby (i.e., Jerusalem). He graciously gave her life and growth.

16:8 God married the girl when he saw that she was ready for lovemaking. spread the corner of my garment. Signified establishing a new relationship that entailed protecting and sustaining the wife (cf. Ruth 3:9). gave you my solemn oath. The Lord pledged his commitment, probably entailed in the gesture of raising his hand (20:5), a covenantal basis for the marriage metaphor. mine. A very special status and possession. Jerusalem became Yahweh’s wife (Mal 2:14). This was always God’s intention, but Jerusalem did not realize that special status until David’s time (2 Sam 5:7–9).

16:9–14 Portrays Jerusalem as a world-renowned beautiful queen and a bride who was cleansed, perfumed (perhaps a wedding ritual), adorned with lavish garments and fine jewelry, and given the choicest of food—all lavish provisions that her loving and committed husband provided her.

16:15–34 Highlights the queen and how she responded to God’s gracious, life-giving provisions and reputation.

16:15 Ironically, the bride used her reputation and all the lavish gifts she received “to become a prostitute.” anyone who passed by. Her sexual “favors” were numerous and indiscriminate.

16:20–21 She sacrificed her children, born out of wedlock. God condemned the vile practice of child sacrifice (Lev 18:21; Deut 18:10; 2 Kgs 21:6; cf. Jer 7:31).

16:23 Woe! Woe. Announces the uncontrollable nature of her promiscuity, which included multiple partners because of her insatiable sexual appetite.

16:26-29 Egyptians . . . Philistines . . . Assyrians . . . Babylonia. Represent Jerusalem’s political alliances that caused her to turn away from and forget God (v. 22). Her heart was so feverish for folly that exclusive loyalty to God was not possible, expressed as infidelity in marriage and multiple sexual partners associated with prostitution.

16:26 neighbors with large genitals. Egyptians; strongly expresses the nature of Jerusalem’s lust and God’s disgust with it (cf. 23:20).

16:33 you give gifts to all your lovers. Jerusalem’s acts of prostitution and adultery are worse than what is considered “normal” for such an act.

16:35–42 God personally prosecutes the prostitute Jerusalem for her idolatry (vv. 37, 39). Initially, God provided a garment to cover her nakedness, symbolizing marriage (vv. 4, 7–8), but now he will remove that garment (“strip you,” v. 37), exposing her to open shame, symbolizing divorce (see Hos 2:2 and note).

16:43 did not remember the days of your youth. Forgot God’s care.

16:44–52 Traces family traits passed to Jerusalem’s two siblings—daughters of a Hittite mother (see note on v. 46).

16:45 Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Swaps the order in v. 3 to highlight Jerusalem’s Hittite mother. Hittite . . . Amorite. See note on v. 3.

16:46 Samaria . . . Sodom. Jerusalem’s siblings, both known proverbially for their wickedness. The inhabitants of Samaria were related to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; both descended from the patriarch Israel. Along with idolatry, Samaria was known for social crimes against humanity (2 Kgs 17:6–17; Amos 3:9–11; 4:1; 8:14). But Jerusalem and Sodom were not related. Sodom was the pinnacle of social and moral evil (Gen 13:10; 19:4–9; Deut 29:23; Isa 1:9–10). Calling Sodom Jerusalem’s sister would have shocked Ezekiel’s audience.

16:51 Jerusalem is doubly guilty.

16:53 I will restore the fortunes. God promises family restoration. The siblings will return to their former state of well-being (v. 55). More shock and irony unfold: God will restore wicked Sodom. By doing so he will cut to the core of Jerusalem’s pride (vv. 56–57). Sodom was a dirty word. The shock is that God can restore the vilest of the vile.

16:59–63 God’s concluding word concerning Jerusalem’s future reformation and restoration. The city’s role as representative of Israel is foregrounded so that his words about remembering the covenant and establishing an everlasting covenant parallel what is elsewhere said of Israel itself (37:26; Isa 55:3; Jer 32:40).

16:59-60 breaking the covenant . . . remember the covenant. See v. 8 and note. Covenant is mentioned three times in these two verses. Although Jerusalem failed to remember its obligations in the relationship, God will not fail to remember his.

16:60 remember . . . establish an everlasting covenant. When God remembers his covenant, it translates into action (Gen 9:15–16; Exod 2:24; 6:5; Lev 26:42; Ps 105:8). This refers to the new covenant (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:31–34) and fulfills elements of the Abrahamic covenant (Isa 55:3; Jer 32:40).

16:63 when I make atonement for you. God himself will do for faithless Jerusalem what she cannot do for herself (cf. Rom 3:23). God’s forgiveness will cover shame and humiliation for sin. The action described here helps to identify more specifically the “everlasting covenant” (v. 60). God will graciously intervene to purge and purify his people (36:22–38; Deut 21:8).

17:1–24 Two Eagles and a Vine. This is the third of three allegories in chs. 15–17 illustrating Jerusalem’s guilt. Here its guilt is due to King Zedekiah’s vacillating royal policy. Ezekiel must deliver a riddle, an allegory (vv. 3–10; see also 20:49; cf. Judg 14:12–19); then God interprets this mysterious story (vv. 12b–21). Ch. 17 ends on a surprising note of hope, utilizing the imagery of the allegory (vv. 22–24).

17:3 great eagle. Nebuchadnezzar (v. 12). Lebanon. Jerusalem (v. 12). cedar. David’s dynasty (i.e., his royal family).

17:4 topmost shoot. Jehoiachin. land of merchants. The country of Babylonia (v. 12; 16:29). city of traders. The city of Babylon.

17:5 one of the seedlings. Zedekiah (see 2 Kgs 23–24). planted it. Made him king (2 Kgs 24:17).

17:6 low, spreading vine. Because of the deportation (2 Kgs 24:15–16; Jer 52:28), it is no longer a tall cedar.

17:7 another great eagle. An Egyptian pharaoh, either Psammetichus II (595–589 BC) or Hophra (589–570 BC). sent out its roots. Zedekiah’s appeal to Egypt for military aid.

17:9 Will it thrive? The riddle raises questions that demand the audience’s judgment. The audience’s judgment or answer reveals their guilt. This is the first of four questions in vv. 9–10. The implied answer to each question is no, thereby showing that the vine cannot thrive.

17:10 east wind. Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces. A wind from the east was a hot, dry wind that withers vegetation (vv. 16, 18).

17:12–18 God explains the riddle. The first eagle is Nebuchadnezzar, the “king of Babylon” (v. 12b). He “carried off [Jerusalem’s] king” (v. 12b), King Jehoiachin of Judah, the “topmost shoot” (v. 4), to the “city of traders” (v. 4), i.e., Babylon, in 597 BC. He also took Zedekiah, “a member of the royal family” (v. 13), the “seedling” (v. 5), and installed him as a puppet king after carrying off Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:15). Zedekiah’s installation as puppet king put him unwillingly “under oath” (v. 13) to keep his “treaty” (v. 14), i.e., to keep political alliances with the king of Babylon. Zedekiah “rebelled” (v. 15). He broke his oath by turning to Pharaoh and Egypt for help, the second “eagle” (v. 7; see 2 Chr 36:13; Jer 44:30; 52:11).

17:19 I will repay him for despising my oath. Zedekiah was not loyal to God (vv. 19–20; cf. 2 Chr 36:11–14). He pledged his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar in God’s name, which meant that Israel’s God would hold Zedekiah liable unto death if Zedekiah did not keep his side of the bargain. The form of the oath might have been as follows: “May the LORD kill me if I do not do what I promised” (an oath that promises harm to the one making the oath if he breaks his word; see Gen 15:9–17; 1 Sam 20:12–13; 2 Sam 3:9–10 and notes).

17:22–24 These verses explain the riddle’s surprising future consequence. They use the previous imagery but in a new and unexpected way. At God’s own initiative he will replant a shoot on Israel’s mountain heights that will grow into a cedar that provides shelter for birds. “Shoot” or “Branch” is used to speak of a Messianic figure, a son of David, who will revive the royal line and under whose branches one will find safety (see Isa 4:2; 11:1; Jer 23:5; Zech 3:8 and notes). The new king from David’s line is Christ. He will rule over a renewed and mighty kingdom, which the mountain on which the cedar is planted symbolizes (Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1).

18:1–32 Individual Responsibility. The people of Jerusalem accuse God of being unjust. They believe that their present sufferings are due not to their own sins but to the sins of their ancestors. That they are guilty of wrongdoing is far from their minds. Ch. 18 brings a needed corrective to their wrong interpretive framework. Through the prophet they learn that God’s justice visits individuals across the generations.

18:1–18 The One Who Sins Will Die. This section exposes the problem (v. 1–3) and then follows with the corrective based on Deut 24:16, utilizing three hypothetical scenarios about a father, his son, and his grandson to illustrate God’s views on generational guilt and innocence (vv. 4–18).

18:2 this proverb. A popular belief that commenced in Jeremiah’s time (Jer 31:29) and was circulating among those who experienced the exile of 597 BC. parents . . . children’s teeth are set on edge. A statement of inherited guilt and self-pity, one that mocks God’s justice. It presents an undesirable and uncontrollable situation given to children by their parents and reveals a fatalistic approach to life. It may have derived from a misunderstanding of Exod 20:5, which states that God punishes the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation. set on edge. Though the meaning of this rare Hebrew word is uncertain, here may refer to a bitter or sour taste.

18:4 The one who sins is the one who will die. God corrects the proverb (see v. 2 and note). Individuals are not in the hand of fate but in the hand of God, who looks at each individual in a group. What follows describes three men (vv. 5–9, 10–13, 14–18), standing for three generations, who break the three/four-generation pattern.

18:5 a righteous man. Represents the first generation and refers to one who “faithfully keeps [God’s] laws” (v. 9), which includes ceremonial and moral injunctions. A person’s righteousness is credited individually and does not depend on parental influence.

18:6 eat at the mountain shrines. Eating meat sacrificed to idols at the high places (see 6:3; Hos 4:13 and notes).

18:7 oppress anyone. Speaks of the rich taking advantage of the poor. returns what he took in pledge. See Exod 22:26. commit robbery. See the commandment against stealing (Exod 20:15).

18:9 That man is righteous; he will surely live. The verdict for the man of this first generation. live. Includes fellowship with God (see Pss 63:3; 73:27–28) and anticipates life that comes through Christ’s perfect righteousness (Rom 3:23–26; 6:23).

18:10 a violent son. Represents the second generation and refers to one who does not faithfully keep God’s commands. A person’s unrighteousness is credited individually, regardless of positive parental conduct. This proves v. 4.

18:13 his blood will be on his own head. A clear statement of owning responsibility for sin.

18:14 a son. Represents the third generation. He is the opposite of the son in vv. 10–13. This son has not done detestable things contrary to God’s law. His righteousness is credited individually, regardless of negative parental conduct. This proves v. 4.

18:19–32 Objections to God’s Justice. Even though the three men, standing for three generations, show the proverb (v. 2) to be false, the second half of ch. 18 anticipates several questions and objections that Ezekiel’s audience may have.

18:19 Why does the son not share the guilt of his father? A logical question. Samaria fell because successive generations of Israelites engaged in idolatry (2 Kgs 17:6–23).

18:20 The one who sins . . . will die. The answer to the question in v. 19.

18:21 Verses 1–20 illustrate that the chain of inherited guilt can be broken, and vv. 21–29 teach that guilt can be overcome in a person’s life.

18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? God denies any accusations to this effect. The evidence is v. 21. God allows for a person to change the direction of their life. Thus, God will not factor in a person’s wicked past in light of a visible lifestyle change. This answers the charge that God lacks mercy, prefers judgment over mercy, or punishes the unrighteous on a whim. What pleases God is life, not death (v. 32; 16:6; 33:11; Jonah 4:11).

18:25 Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? Cf. 33:17. Their character and behavior is in question, not God’s.

18:30 Therefore . . . I will judge each of you. A conclusion and summary to ch. 18. Repent! See note on 14:6.

18:31 get a new heart and a new spirit. An appeal to live right before God. Contrasts 11:19; 36:26, where the new heart and new spirit are gifts from God.

18:32 Repent and live! The third and final call to repentance in the book (v. 30; 14:6); a charge to take moral responsibility (see v. 31). Although reversing God’s judgment on Jerusalem is impossible (2:8; 7:1–4), the exiles are being urged to make lifestyle changes that will benefit them in their present circumstances.

19:1–14 Lamenting Leadership. In line with Ezekiel’s role as a mourner (see note on 3:1, 3), ch. 19 is a funeral song (vv. 1, 14). Ironically, Ezekiel adapts this common ancient Near Eastern lament genre for his exilic audience. Just as he must mourn the death of the nation (due to their guilt and upcoming judgment), so too he mourns the deaths of the nation’s princes (due to their guilt and imminent judgment) from the line of David (vv. 1–9) along with the demise of the dynasty (vv. 10–14). He holds individual monarchs (not just individual Israelites, cf. ch. 18) accountable and illustrates some of the principles in ch. 18. Using the lament genre encourages Ezekiel’s audience not to have false hopes about their protection.

19:1–9 Lament Over Jerusalem’s Kings: A Lament for the Lion. This section of the lament specifically concerns Jehoahaz, and either Jehoiachin or Zedekiah, two out of four of Judah’s last kings.

19:2 mother. A figurative way of speaking about the nation as a whole, which produced the two kings described in vv. 1–9.

19:3 one of her cubs . . . man-eater. Jehoahaz’s policies were oppressive.

19:4 trapped . . . led him with hooks to . . . Egypt. This is cause for mourning because the free and dangerous lion became trapped: in one of his Egyptian campaigns into the Syria-Palestine region, Pharaoh Necho (610–595 BC) captured Jehoahaz and exiled him to Egypt, where Jehoahaz died (2 Kgs 23:34).

19:5 another of her cubs. Either (1) Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:8–15), who reigned for three months in 598–597 BC before his exile to Babylon and who was Judah’s last legitimate ruler, or (2) Zedekiah (597–586 BC), Judah’s puppet king whom Nebuchadnezzar installed (2 Kgs 24:16—25:7).

19:10–14 Lament Over David’s Dynasty: A Lament for the Vine. Mourning will take place over the end of Judah and its Davidic kings. The imagery for the princes of Israel changes from lion (vv. 1–9) to vine (cf. 15:1–8; 17:5–10).

19:10 mother . . . a vine. The tribe of Judah, which produced kings (“branches,” v. 11) from David to Zedekiah (cf. Gen 49:9–11). The kingdom was fruitful and highly visible.

19:12 east wind. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (see note on 17:10).

19:13 in the desert. In Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army will capture Zedekiah and bring him to Babylon, “a dry and thirsty land” in the east (2 Kgs 25; Jer 52).

19:14 Fire. A symbol often used for destruction and annihilation (e.g., Gen 19:24; Rev 20:14). one of its main branches. Zedekiah, the final king of Judah, whose godless reign furthered the ruin of the nation (2 Kgs 24:18—25:7). The cause for mourning is the upcoming removal of the Davidic dynasty in 586 BC. But removing the royal scepter as a consequence for sin is only temporary (ch. 34; Gen 49:10), because out of death will come life.

20:1–44 History of Idolatry. This section narrates Israel’s guilt from the day God chose the Israelites (sometime prior to the exodus event) to the time God exiled them from the promised land. It is part of the literary unit comprising chs. 16–23 that highlights individual and national guilt. Rather than use allegory or metaphor, it uses straightforward historical recollection.

20:1–32 Cycles of Rebellion. This section identifies cycles of rebellion in Egypt (vv. 1–12), the wilderness (vv. 13–26), and Canaan (vv. 27–32). The general pattern is the rebellion, the nature of the rebellion, wrath threatened, and wrath withheld for the sake of God’s name. Each cycle concludes with a statement about God graciously giving something to his people so that they will know he is the Lord.

20:1–12 Guilty in Egypt. Israel’s history of apostasy goes back to the days when she lived under Egyptian servitude and got entangled with the gods of the land. This is the first cycle of rebellion (see note on vv. 1–32).

20:1 seventh year . . . fifth month . . . tenth day. Aug. 14, 591 BC. elders. The representative group in the community. It is their third visit to Ezekiel (8:1; 14:1). inquire of the LORD. Access God’s guidance through the prophet.

20:3 I will not let you inquire of me. Owing to their idolatry, God resists giving the people guidance (see note on 14:3).

20:4 Will you judge them? . . . Then confront them. God calls for a confrontation instead of answering their concerns. Ezekiel must confront his exilic audience. The confrontation begins by looking at the detestable practices of their ancestors.

20:5 the day I chose Israel. An undefined time prior to the exodus event (Exod 12:33—14:31). God saw Israel’s plight and announced that he would remember his covenant (Exod 2:23–25). uplifted hand. A symbolic action accompanying God’s oath that reinforced to the exodus generation that God would keep his promises (Gen 12:1–3). I am the LORD your God. A statement demonstrating the exclusive and possessive relationship God would have with his people.

20:7 get rid of the vile images. A required action in response to God’s oath. vile images. A Hebrew term routinely used by Ezekiel to reflect his attitude toward such practices; perhaps understood as excrement (cf. vv. 8, 30; 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; 37:23). the idols of Egypt. Improper worship and ways of reaching the deity.

20:8 rebelled. An action that marked the relationship (vv. 13, 21). Israel was unable to say no to idols and yes to the Lord. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them. A repeated refrain punctuating the historical recollection of apostasy in ch. 20 (vv. 13, 21). God threatened to dispense his anger by calling off the long-awaited rescue mission from Egypt.

20:9 for the sake of my name, I brought them out. The conclusion to the first cycle of rebellion in Egypt (see note on vv. 1–12). God acted and delivered them out of concern for his own reputation and character, not because of Israel’s merit. name. Signals both identity and character. God’s acts of deliverance in the past and in the future reveal his nature (see 36:22).

20:11 my decrees . . . by which the person who obeys them will live. Speaks of the life-giving power of obedience to the commandments (see note on 18:9, cf. Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12).

20:12 Sabbaths. Days of required rest in the calendar year. sign. A visual reality of Israel’s relationship to God.

20:13–26 Guilty in the Wilderness. Israel’s history of apostasy goes back to the first and second wilderness generations. This is the second of three rebellion cycles (see note on vv. 1–32).

20:13–20 The first generation rebelled by rejecting God’s laws. They loved idols, not the Lord. God threatened to dispense his anger by destroying them in the wilderness and by withholding the promised land. He withheld wrath out of concern for his reputation and because he “looked on them with pity” (v. 17). He graciously warned their children (vv. 18–20).

20:21–26 The second generation also rebelled—regardless of God’s warning (vv. 18–20)—by rejecting God’s laws. They also loved idols. God threatened to dispense his anger but withheld wrath out of concern for his reputation (v. 22).

20:25 So I gave them . . . laws through which they could not live. An act of judgment. Instead of keeping God’s good laws, they followed pagan laws that could produce only death. As a consequence of their sin, God gave them over to their idolatry by giving them more of what they wanted (Deut 4:28; cf. Rom 1:21–27; 2 Thess 2:9–12).

20:26 I defiled them through their gifts. Rather than dedicate every firstborn to God (Exod 13:2; 22:29), a law that produced life, he gave them over to their sin—“the sacrifice of every firstborn” in the fire (see v. 31 and note)—as an act of judgment producing death.

20:27–32 Guilty in Canaan and Exile. Israel’s history of apostasy goes back to living in the land of promise and includes present apostasy in exile. This is the third and final cycle of rebellion (see note on vv. 1–32).

20:28 made offerings that aroused my anger. Those in the promised land “blasphemed” God (v. 27), probably through child sacrifice, an act of devotion and adoration to a pagan deity (see v. 31; 16:20–21 and notes).

20:31 sacrifice of your children in the fire. See 2 Kgs 16:3; 17:17; 21:6; 23:10; Jer 32:35; see also notes on Lev 18:21; Jer 7:30—8:3. This practice was condemned (Lev 18:21; 20:2–5).

20:32 like the nations. Rather than resist this temptation, they fell into the trap (1 Sam 8:5); this suggests a loss of their uniqueness as a people of God (Exod 19). This aroused God’s anger and instead of withholding wrath, it is now about to be dispensed.

20:33–38 A Shocking Exodus. Utilizes imagery and language from the book of Exodus but with an ironic twist. After about 800 years of Israel’s blatant misconduct and God’s continual display of his long-suffering patience, God reveals himself here as one who will by no means clear the guilty (Exod 34:5–7); he will visit on them the consequences of their idolatry.

20:33 mighty hand . . . outstretched arm. A statement of power and might. It was language of redemption in Exodus (Exod 6:6) but is now language of judgment in Ezekiel.

20:35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations. Exile among the nations is likened to the first wilderness experience. He is bringing them out “from the nations” (v. 34) and into “the wilderness” to experience wrath. face to face. Expresses the personal and direct nature of this “visitation” of judgment God promised (Exod 32:34).

20:37 I will take note of you as you pass under my rod. An idiom that comes from animal husbandry—the shepherd’s rod guided and counted the sheep—expressing a time of examination and accountability. God is weighing their actions against the covenant, a legal document binding both God (vv. 5–6) and Israel (vv. 11–12) to a certain course of action. God swore to give the land, and Israel swore to keep God’s laws, decrees, and Sabbaths (cf. Exod 20; 24). After close scrutiny the king/shepherd asserts his authority by stating that he will remove the rebels (v. 38); they will not enter the land. These actions will produce knowledge of the Lord (v. 38).

20:39–44 Holy on My Holy Mountain. After this shocking new exodus described in vv. 33–38, there will be a reversal of idolatry as the norm. Holiness, not profane behavior, will characterize God’s people. Acceptance, not rejection, will characterize God’s response. This renewed relationship will unfold on a sacred and high mountain found not in Egypt, the wilderness, or in exile but “in the land” (v. 40). In the land of promise Israel will wholeheartedly serve the Lord, not idols. God will require and accept their sacrifices because now those sacrifices are set apart solely for him (v. 40), and God will accept the people themselves like a pleasing sacrifice (v. 41). Thus, in the restoration, when God returns people to Jerusalem in 539 BC (Ezra 1), he will be shown as holy (different from other gods) and faithful to his word (v. 42). The restoration to the land will recall shame for past behavior (v. 43). God will restore them to the land in spite of their misconduct (v. 44). All this will help his people acknowledge him as the one true Lord with whom they have covenantal obligations (vv. 42, 44). Though this anticipates 539 BC, it points beyond it to a permanent restoration (ch. 36). See Introduction: Theological Significance.

20:40 holy mountain. Jerusalem, or Zion (Ps 2:6; Isa 2:2–4; 27:13; 56:7; Jer 31:23).

20:45—21:32 The Lord’s Sword of Destruction. This section uses language and imagery for warfare to further describe God’s judgment on the nation. Destruction will come by way of the sword (i.e., war). Although the Lord is the primary agent of destruction, he hands his sword over to the king of Babylon to wield.

20:45—21:7 Forest Fire Parable and Interpretation. This section describes Yahweh’s metaphoric fire, a blaze he sets off that consumes all that is in its path as divine punishment (Deut 28:24; 32:22). It expresses his divine anger (21:31–32). This “parable” is not clear to Ezekiel’s audience (20:49), so it is interpreted in 21:1–7.

20:46 set your face. Represents hostility (e.g., 6:2; 13:17; 21:1; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2). toward the south. Toward Judah and Jerusalem. The Babylonian invaders traverse Israel from north to south.

20:47 trees, both green and dry. Expresses comprehensive judgment.

21:2 Jerusalem . . . sanctuary . . . land of Israel. Judah, the south (20:46–47).

21:3 sword. Of warfare; Yahweh’s fire (20:47). cut off . . . the righteous and the wicked. Describes completeness of judgment. No one will escape the final and upcoming attack by the Babylonians in 586 BC (see notes on ch. 7). All (see 20:47 and note) will be carried away in war.

21:6 Groan . . . with broken heart and bitter grief. In line with his mourning role (see note on 3:1, 3), Ezekiel outwardly mourns in their midst, anticipating the bad news of Jerusalem’s death. The Jerusalem invasion will involve grief, pain, and suffering.

21:8–17 God’s Sharpened and Polished Sword. This section reveals God’s main agent of destruction. Like the storm of Yahweh’s presence in ch. 1, the sword is lifelike.

21:10 sharpened . . . polished. Razorlike readiness for fierce slaughter, creating an atmosphere of dread. Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? A rhetorical question; the answer is no. It is a time to mourn, not rejoice, because the reigning king of David’s house cannot escape judgment (see Introduction: Literary Features).

21:12-14 Cry out and wail . . . strike your hands together. Mournful gestures of grief and anger that communicate dread.

21:18–27 The King of Babylon’s Sword. Ezekiel role-plays as the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Faced with a military choice to attack an Ammonite or Judahite city, the king seeks an omen for advice (v. 21). His guidance is governed by the sovereign God.

21:21 cast lots with arrows . . . consult his idols . . . examine the liver. Babylonian omen-seeking methods to get guidance from the gods. cast lots with arrows. Arrows were labeled (e.g., “Rabbah,” “Jerusalem”), placed into a quiver, and drawn out, one with each hand. The selection in the right hand was seen as a good omen (v. 22). idols. Cultic objects, or “household gods” (Gen 31:34; Judg 18:14; Hos 3:4), were consulted. examine the liver. Observation of line patterns on sheep livers to indicate a certain course of action—a common practice in ancient Babylon and Rome. Taken together the “luck of the draw” fell to Jerusalem. The city will undergo siege, and its inhabitants will be captured regardless of a previous allegiance (2 Chr 36:13).

21:25 wicked prince of Israel. Zedekiah (597–586 BC).

21:26 turban . . . crown. Royal headwear also worn by the high priest (Exod 28:36–37; 29:6; 39:31; cf. Isa 62:3). Zedekiah no longer possesses the right to wear kingly garments. Jerusalem no longer possesses the right to kingship, a clear reversal of the norm (17:24; 1 Sam 2:7–8).

21:27 The crown will not be restored until he . . . shall come. The fall of Jerusalem brings a temporary interruption of the promises of God relative to Davidic kingship (see ch. 34).

21:28–29 The Sword Wielded Against Ammon. As with Zedekiah (v. 25), “punishment has reached its climax” for the Ammonites (v. 29), because they gloated over Jerusalem’s demise (v. 28; 25:1–7). The Ammonites and their capital of Rabbah (v. 20; Jer 49:2) will feel the effects of the Babylonian sword that Nebuchadnezzar wields.

21:30–32 The Lord’s Sword Returned to Its Sheath. These verses complete the story of the unsheathed sword that begins in v. 3.

21:30 in the land . . . I will judge you. Anticipates the real end of the story: Babylon will experience the Lord’s wrath but only after God uses them to destroy Jerusalem (Jer 50:15, 27, 29, 31; 51:6; Hab 2:4–20; cf. Isa 10:5–19).

22:1–31 History of Bloodshed. The topic of Israel’s guilt continues to shape Ezekiel’s discussion. From the covenantal perspective, guilt provides the legal rationale for the demise of the city (see chs. 16–23). Ezekiel takes on the role of judge, one of his many roles in the book (see Introduction: Author). His charge is against the city (vv. 1–16), all classes of people (vv. 17–22), and the land (vv. 23–31), and it concerns widespread bloodshed and idolatry. As a result, the city is defiled and a sentence is on it. Jerusalem will experience the fiery furnace of God’s fury (vv. 13–22, 30–31).

22:1–16 Indictment of the City. The city has fostered bloodshed and idolatry. It has been a receptacle for a pattern of sin (vv. 6–12), so it is dirty, or defiled.

22:2 bloodshed. Jerusalem’s characteristic sin (vv. 3–4, 6, 9, 12–13). This refers not necessarily to physically taking life but to harming and exploiting people.

22:6 in you. In Jerusalem; repeated in vv. 7–12. Jerusalem is “sin city,” a dirty container filled to the brim with every sort of defilement.

22:13 strike my hands together. Expresses mournful anger (cf. 6:11; 21:14); a gesture signifying that God has had enough of their sins.

22:14–15 In the upcoming exile God will demonstrate that their stubborn “courage” to continue in sin is no match for his own character that will put an end to their “uncleanness.”

22:16 you will know that I am the LORD. See notes on 6:7; 7:4; 12:15, 16; 15:7; see also Introduction: Theological Significance.

22:17–22 The Furnace of God’s Fury. Appropriately, the place where sin was fostered, i.e., in Jerusalem (see note on v. 6), becomes the place where God’s anger will burn in order to rid the city of its impurities. Jerusalem, the container of sin, will become God’s furnace. Due to their sin, the people are as useless to God as the by-products produced when metals undergo the refining process (v. 18). As punishment God will “melt down” all those in and around the city in this severe and atypical purification process (Isa 1:22–25; Jer 6:27–30).

22:23–31 Corruption Across Classes. This section addresses the land. Collectively, the city, people, and land are impure. Much like in 7:23–27, the systemic nature of their corruption cuts through the covenantal administrative leadership structure.

22:25-29 princes . . . priests . . . officials . . . prophets . . . people of the land. They all negatively influenced society and abused their leadership roles. Kings abused widows for more wealth; priests misrepresented God (Lev 10:10–11); government officials mishandled finances; false prophets misled; rich land owners abused the poor.

22:30 I looked for someone . . . who would build up the wall . . . so I would not have to destroy it. Confirms God does not delight in death (cf. ch. 18). No line of defense was in place against the city’s sins (13:5; Ps 106:23). There was no one to help avert the destruction. before me. Suggests that this standing in the gap in defense of the city is in fact intercessory prayer before God. This pictures a vulnerable city that is open to attack because its wall is broken.

23:1–49 Story of Two Depraved Sisters. Ch. 23 climactically bookends chs. 16–23, which begin with the nation being addressed as an adulterous wife (ch. 16). Ch. 23 is an allegory of two sisters, representing Samaria and Jerusalem. They prostituted themselves largely by forging political alliances with pagans (vv. 1–35). They were unfaithful (vv. 36–49; see ch. 16 and notes). Samaria was bad, but Jerusalem was worse (vv. 11, 14). Jerusalem’s promiscuity escalated with no end in sight (v. 19), and her passions were so out of control that only divine intervention could stop it (v. 27; cf. 22:15).

23:1–10 Samaria: Oholah’s Story. This section introduces both sisters and their prostitution (vv. 1–4) and recounts Oholah’s story (vv. 5–10).

23:3 Egypt. Where Israel was enslaved to Pharaoh. The sisters early depended on a pagan power for provision, protection, and security. Their continual desire to return to Egypt revealed a codependence God would not tolerate. The exodus revealed that they did not need to rely on a pagan power, because Yahweh miraculously saved them and provided for their needs in the wilderness (20:5–8; Exod 17:3; Num 11:5, 18; 14:2–4). fondled . . . caressed. Sexually suggestive language for political prostitution, which is as disgusting in God’s eyes as religious prostitution, because it is a personal affront to God.

23:5–10 Samaria’s political prostitution continued with the Assyrians, with whom Samaria made political alliances. But God made these “lovers” (vv. 5, 9) turn against Samaria (vv. 9–10). The Assyrians captured the city and deported the people in 722 BC (2 Kgs 15–17).

23:11–21 Jerusalem: Oholibah’s Story. Jerusalem, like Samaria, was enticed by the power of not only the Assyrians but also the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to solve her problems (2 Kgs 20:12–13; 24:1, 8–12). Jerusalem’s prostitution surpassed Samaria’s (v. 14).

23:14–18 Jerusalem’s political prostitution continued with the Babylonians when Babylon conquered Assyria in 612–605 BC. Hopeful that alliances with Babylon would help to solve her problems, Judah metaphorically got into bed with Babylon. But Jerusalem’s new partner abandoned and defiled her (2 Kgs 23:29–30).

23:19–21 Judah attempted to solve her own problems through international diplomacy (2 Kgs 23:29—24:20). These verses mock her relentless pursuit of looking for “love” in all the wrong places (other nations) with a gross and exaggerated description of her lover’s reproductive organs.

23:22–35 The End of the Story for Oholibah. Although Jerusalem could not end her insatiable appetite for love (a codependence on Assyria and Babylon and not a dependence on the Lord), God takes the initiative and ends her political prostitution (v. 27). God stirs up Jerusalem’s lovers and uses them to punish Jerusalem. He gives his people more of what they want but with an ironic twist: Jerusalem’s lovers will come not to love her but to abuse her.

23:23 Babylonians . . . Chaldeans. Two designations for the same nation along with those assimilated into their army (Aramean tribal people and Assyrians). God stirs them up.

23:24 God describes and sanctions the enemy’s severe warfare tactics.

23:29 leave you stark naked. Punishment for adultery included stripping an adulterous wife naked—to expose in public what she had done in private (see note on 16:35–42). The Babylonians similarly will strip Jerusalem and Judah of everything valuable (2 Kgs 25:8–17) and expose them, to their own shame.

23:31 put her cup into your hand. Jerusalem’s fate will be like that of her sister. cup. Signifies an outpouring of God’s anger (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, 22; see Jer 25:15–38 and note).

23:32–34 The cup’s size, contents, and shattered state after being emptied mock Jerusalem’s promiscuity (see Isa 37:22–29; Jer 25:15–29).

23:34 tear your breasts. In anguish; a sign of mourning (21:12) and an attempt to find relief. These were once fondled for pleasure (vv. 3, 8, 21).

23:35 They scorned God’s love (cf. 22:12).

23:36–49 The End of the Story for Both Sisters. This section addresses both Samaria and Jerusalem and again portrays Ezekiel as their judge (v. 36; 22:2). Their combined religious prostitution is murder and adultery.

23:37–38 sacrificed their children . . . defiled my sanctuary. See notes on 16:20–21; 20:31.

23:40–44 Trusting international diplomacy rather than the Lord was political prostitution. Oholah and Oholibah invited their lovers from all walks of life to engage them sexually until they were “worn out” (v. 43).

23:41 incense and olive oil that belonged to me. Items they beautified themselves with in anticipation of their lover’s arrival. The level of callousness toward the husband manifests itself by misusing his gifts to attract the attention of their lovers.

23:45–49 The judge’s gavel comes down on the conduct of Oholah and Oholibah: guilty as charged; their two crimes are adultery and murder (v. 45). The sentence is the death penalty (vv. 46–47), as the Mosaic law prescribed (Lev 20:10; 24:17, 21; Deut 22:22). Thus, God will “put an end” (v. 48) to the uncontrolled passions of Samaria and Jerusalem (vv. 27, 48), and knowledge of who he is will be apparent (v. 49). An end to sin will come, but only by God’s initiative.

24:1–27 Jerusalem’s Siege and the Fall Vividly Predicted. This points back to the two related matters that shape and frame the book: the mourning motif and the city’s prominence (see note on 1:1—24:27). Attention to the city via Ezekiel’s dramatic performances functions as a framing device. Ezekiel’s ministry commenced with a “sign” reflecting the siege on the city (4:3). Now God tells Ezekiel that Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem (vv. 1–2). Ch. 24 concludes with the city’s fall dramatically portrayed in the death of Ezekiel’s wife and his response to it, another “sign” for the people (vv. 15–17). Ironically, when Ezekiel’s wife dies he must “groan quietly” (v. 17) rather than mourn outwardly, as he would be expected to do.

24:1–14 City Under Siege: Jerusalem Cooked Over the Fire. The prophet has revealed the people’s misconceptions about Jerusalem and the safety of its people (see 11:3–11 and note on 11:3). The imagery of Jerusalem as a pot protecting the meat (inhabitants) gives way to this parable of plunder. Siege not safety, plundering not protection, will be Jerusalem’s lot as God uses the Babylonians, his agent of destruction, to fulfill his purposes.

24:1 ninth year . . . tenth month . . . tenth day. Of King Zedekiah’s reign, Jan. 15, 588 BC (2 Kgs 25:1; Jer 52:4), the beginning of the Babylonian siege on the city.

24:4 choice pieces. People remaining in the city who think that they were spared the exile of 597 BC because of their goodness (see 11:3 and note). The pot is to boil and cook the meat pieces (vv. 3–5). The scum that remains will be burned away by burning the pot clean of its filth (vv. 10–11).

24:6 pot now encrusted. Represents Jerusalem’s irredeemable situation.

24:11 empty pot. Jerusalem, emptied of inhabitants. its impurities . . . melted. Jerusalem’s punishment. The Babylonians will cleanse the city and burn away its impurity, commencing with the siege.

24:14 I the LORD have spoken. The certainty of Jerusalem’s end rests on the power of Yahweh’s word. The time has come. See ch. 7 and notes. God will unleash his fury. I will not hold back. The certainty of Jerusalem’s destruction involves a lack of restraint from Yahweh. I will not have pity, nor will I relent. Unrestrained judgment materializes because Yahweh detaches himself emotionally from his people (e.g., 5:11). You will be judged. God takes sin seriously.

24:15–27 Ezekiel’s Wife Dies. The sudden death of Ezekiel’s wife, along with the command not to mourn outwardly, shockingly demonstrates that Jerusalem will die and reveals how the people must respond when they hear the news (v. 24). Connected to hearing the news of Jerusalem’s fall is the promise that Ezekiel will regain his speech, another “sign” (v. 27) intended to reveal God’s character. Unless delivering a word from God, however, Ezekiel is made speechless (see note on 3:26).

24:16 with one blow I am about to take away from you. Suggests a sudden fatal sickness that God allows to strike Ezekiel’s wife (Exod 9:14; Num 14:37). the delight of your eyes. Ezekiel’s wife (v. 18). Ezekiel’s strong affection for his wife mirrors the affection people have for the Jerusalem temple and the city itself (vv. 21, 25).

24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Outwardly showing his grief would be expected (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12; 2 Sam 15:30; Jer 16:7), but at her death he may groan only inwardly.

24:21 my sanctuary . . . the delight of your eyes. The Jerusalem temple, which Nebuchadnezzar will strike down as God planned. The people have strong affection for the temple and city, but their affection, false pride, and confidence in the temple are misplaced (Jer 7). Therefore, these things too will be destroyed metaphorically when the temple burns down. Rather than outwardly showing grief when the people hear the dreaded news, they will groan inwardly (vv. 23–24), and it will remind them of their sins.

24:23 keep your turbans on your heads. Rather than discarding this garment, as one would do in mourning rites (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12), the command is to keep it on. The turban was also a festive garment related to wedding imagery and the election of priests (44:18; see Isa 61:10; Zech 3:5). By wearing a festive garment or a garment associated with a special religious status at a time of grief, Ezekiel’s sign manifests hope for their restoration, a new status for prophet and people alike. This explains why mourning will not be necessary.

24:25 the day I take away their stronghold. The day Jerusalem falls.

24:26 a fugitive. A fugitive from the events of 586 BC in Jerusalem will trek about 880 miles (about 1,400 kilometers) to tell Ezekiel the news in Babylon (33:21). Upon hearing that Jerusalem has fallen, Ezekiel the mourner can expect a return to normal life. He will be able to speak again (v. 27; see note on 3:26), a sign reflecting a change in Ezekiel’s mourning role (cf. 2 Sam 12). The time for mourning will be over when the city finally falls.

25:1—32:32 Signs Mourning Will End: Prophecies Against the Nations. Readers expect to hear of Jerusalem’s fall immediately following the death of Ezekiel’s wife (24:15–27). But this does not come until approximately two years after her death (33:21–22). Sandwiched in between are a series of prophecies condemning seven surrounding nations that, at first glance, seem misplaced. If one understands the actual news of Jerusalem’s fall as inaugurating a new era of hope (turning mourning to joy), the latter can only be realized when Israel’s enemies are destroyed. Given Israel’s vulnerable condition, it would be expected that friends and neighbors would come and offer comfort. In Israel’s case, her neighbors act like enemies. Rather than share in the mourner’s grief by bringing comfort, her enemies rejoice. The way Ammon and Tyre gloat over the ruination of the house of Judah and the less than neighborly ways of Moab, Edom, and Philistia cause Israel further grief. As a result, when Israel’s oppressors receive punishment from God, God’s people will be comforted. Only then, when comfort arrives, will the mourning period cease and full restoration begin. Thus, the literary placement of these prophecies has a distinct function in the book’s overall message (see Introduction: Literary Features). From a biblical-theological point of view, the prophecies are a reminder that a day is coming when God will confront all those who oppose him and his people (see Introduction: Theological Significance).

25:1–17 The judgment sequence “because [they are evil] . . . therefore [God will judge them],” used previously for Israel (e.g., 5:7–11), repeats itself in the prophecies against the nations (e.g., vv. 3–4). This grammatical sequence, with a clear cause-and-effect pattern, exposes the guilt of each nation. The promised punishment will comfort Ezekiel’s Judahite audience. Judah’s four immediate neighbors, moving clockwise: Ammon to the northeast (vv. 1–7), Moab to the east (vv. 8–11), Edom to the south (vv. 12–14), and Philistia to the west (vv. 15–17).

25:1–7 Prophecy Against Ammon. God confronts Israel’s neighbors to the northeast. The Ammonites descended from Lot and his incestuous relationship with his daughter (Gen 19:30–38). They are characterized by idolatry (1 Kgs 11:7, 33) and especially by their opposition to God’s people (Deut 23:3–4; Judg 3:13; 1 Sam 11:1–3; 2 Sam 10:1–14; 2 Kgs 24:2; Neh 4:3, 7–8). Although they are relatives, Israel must treat the Ammonites as foreigners due to their conflicting religious practices (20:28–29). Moreover, malicious joy (vv. 3, 6) characterizes their demeanor toward God’s temple and land in time of trouble (2 Kgs 24:2). All of this requires a direct confrontation with God.

NATIONS AND CITIES UNDER JUDGMENT IN EZEKIEL

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25:2 set your face against. See note on 6:2.

25:4 people of the East. Either desert nomads or the Babylonian army (see 21:31). They are God’s agents of destruction on Ammon.

25:5 Rabbah. The Ammonite capital. God will tear down this built-up city, reversing human ingenuity.

25:7 stretch out my hand against. Destroy (cf. Zeph 2:13–15).

25:8–11 Prophecy Against Moab. God confronts Israel’s neighbors to the east. As the Ammonites (see note on vv. 1–7), the Moabites also descended from Lot and his incestuous relationship with his daughter (Gen 19:30–38). They polluted God’s people by introducing them to Baal worship (Num 21:1–25; 31:16). As with the Ammonites, Israel must treat the Moabites as foreigners (even though they are distant relatives) owing to their idolatrous religious practices (Deut 23:3–4; 1 Kgs 11). The Moabites join forces with the Babylonians and attack Judah and delight at Judah’s downfall (2 Kgs 24:2; Jer 48:29; Zeph 2:8–9). Rather than offer comfort, they mock Israel’s God.

25:8 Judah has become like all the other nations. From the mouth of the enemy comes this shocking reality. Moab accuses God as powerless, insulting God’s character and distinctness among the gods of the nations (Josh 2:8–11; Lam 4:12). God’s people wanted to be like the nations (20:32; 1 Sam 8:5), but God mandated a distinction and separation (Exod 19:5–6; Deut 17:14–20; 18:9–16).

25:10 people of the East. The same agents of destruction on Ammon (see note on v. 4). The lineup of cities in the Moabite heartland will be exposed to the enemy (v. 9).

25:12–14 Prophecy Against Edom. God confronts Israel’s neighbors to the south. The Edomites descended from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother born to Rebekah (Gen 25:21–34). The Israelites descended from Jacob. The early struggle between these twins intensifies to hatred in the biblical narrative (v. 12). See also 35:1—36:15.

25:12 revenge. Instead of helping Judah’s refugees after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, they attack those fleeing and gloat over the downfall of the Jerusalem temple (Ps 137:7; Lam 4:21–22; Obad 11–14).

25:15–17 Prophecy Against Philistia. God confronts Israel’s neighbors to the west. The Philistines were inhabitants on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. These people were constant adversaries of Israel as early as the time of the judges as they fought over contested territory (Judg 3:31; 10:7, 13–16; 1 Sam 4; 2 Sam 5; 2 Kgs 18:8). The Philistines were eventually conquered by David (2 Sam 5:17–25), but they remained hostile until their own encounter with the Babylonians (Isa 14:29–31; Jer 47; Amos 1:6–8; Zeph 2:4–7).

25:16 Kerethites. Coastal dwellers probably related to and perhaps identical to the Philistines (1 Sam 30:14; 2 Sam 8:18; 15:18; 20:7). The name might also relate to their origin from Crete (see second NIV text note on Amos 9:7 [“Caphtor”]).

26:1—28:26 Prophecy Against Tyre and Sidon. This section contains a lengthy judgment on Tyre (26:1—28:19) and a short statement concerning Sidon’s end (28:20–24). Tyre and Sidon were two wealthy and influential seafaring Phoenician cities, and the Bible often speaks of them together (Isa 23:1–4; Jer 25:22; 47:4; Joel 3:4; Zech 9:2). With respect to Tyre, the repeated phrase “I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more” (26:21; cf. 27:36; 28:19) divides the prophecy into three parts. Tyre, the chief seaport of Phoenicia, rejoices rather than comforts Jerusalem and gloats over Jerusalem’s problems (26:2). Therefore, God is against them (26:3). As an economic superpower, they played a key role in international trade due to their location. Tyre was an island. It was wealthy and renowned, and, as a result, arrogant. The Lord assures the end of Tyre’s arrogance by sending the king of Babylon as his instrument of judgment (26:7). Ezekiel poetically and appropriately describes Tyre’s end with sea-faring language. God will reduce Tyre to a “bare rock” (26:4, 14), good only for fishing (26:5, 14). God will “sink” Tyre, “the ship” (27:25–27). He will also demolish the pride of its king (28:1–19). The prophecy ends with a brief word of judgment on Sidon (28:20–23).

26:1–21 Tyre’s Destruction Announced. Three images dominate: Tyre is made a “bare rock” (vv. 4, 14) out in the open seas (vv. 1–14); the coastlands are personified as mourners over the city’s destruction (vv. 15–18); and the pit becomes Tyre’s eternal dwelling place (vv. 19–21). These three images communicate Tyre’s fall, lament, and burial. See also Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4; Joel 3:4–5; Amos 1:9–10; Zech 9:2–4.

26:1 eleventh month of the twelfth year . . . first day of the month. The fifth date in the book (1:1; 8:1; 20:1; 24:1). As the NIV text note indicates, the Masoretic Text (the traditional Hebrew text) does not have “month of the twelfth.” Thus, it reads “eleventh year,” which dates between Apr. 23, 587 and Apr. 13, 586 BC. If the Masoretic Text is the correct text, the prophecy must date from the end of that year, i.e., in the 11th (Feb. 13, 586) or the 12th month (Mar. 15, 586). But there is a problem with these dates: this prophecy describes Tyre’s gloating over the destruction of Jerusalem (v. 2), yet Jerusalem did not fall until July 18, 586 (see note on 2 Kgs 25:3) and was not burned until Aug. 14, 586 (see note on 2 Kgs 25:8)—several months after the date given here for Tyre’s celebration of the fact that Jerusalem “now . . . lies in ruins” (v. 2). To solve the problem, many interpreters believe that the probable reading of the original Hebrew text is “in the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month” and that the words “month of the twelfth” must have been inadvertently omitted by a copyist (hence the NIV reading). The restored reading would yield the date Feb. 3, 585, which would nicely fit the chronology in 33:21 (see note there). If, on the other hand, the Masoretic Text is correct, then the Lord (through Ezekiel) was prophesying what Tyre’s response to Jerusalem’s fall would be and how the Lord, in turn, would judge Tyre.

26:3 I will bring many nations against you. God’s agents of destruction against Tyre are “like the sea casting up its waves.” The great army blends together the nations Babylon conquered (v. 7).

26:4 a bare rock. Tyre, an easily defendable, preeminent center of sea trade, the most powerful city on the Phoenician coast, will become “a bare rock” (Tyre in Hebrew means “rock”).

26:5 a place to spread fishnets. Tyre will be reduced to nothing more than a place to fish.

26:7 From the north. The direction from which the enemy usually comes in Ezekiel (see note on 1:4). Nebuchadnezzar’s army will move up the Euphrates River valley into Syria in a northward direction to descend on Tyre (Jer 1:13). king of kings. Nebuchadnezzar (605–562 BC). He leads a military force merged from the nations he conquered. This title amplifies his power over a powerful nation (29:18–19; 30:10).

26:13 noisy songs . . . heard no more. Expresses the curse of a city’s desolation (Lev 26; Deut 28–32; Isa 24:8).

26:14 never be rebuilt. Tyre will never be built up again in the same way; its heyday has come and gone, only a modest population with little influence will remain. This is fulfilled by Alexander the Great’s devastating siege of Tyre in 332 BC.

26:16 Mainland cities and their princes (or kings; 27:35) respond to Tyre’s fall. lay aside their robes . . . Clothed with terror. A fear-based grief grips the coastlands as they dread Nebuchadnezzar yet mourn the loss of the most influential and defendable city of the Mediterranean world. Mourning typically involved tearing clothing, a change in posture, and speechlessness (see 3:15; Ezra 9:3–4; Job 2:8, 12; Isa 3:26; Lam 2:10; 3:28; Jonah 3:6). sit on the ground. A posture of ritual mourning. appalled. Speechless and in shock because of the distress of Tyre’s fall.

26:17–18 This short lament song was a typical way to express grief (cf. 19:1; 27:2; 28:12). Lament songs, especially those for destroyed cities, often included eulogy-like words about the city’s great past (v. 17). But they also included words about the city’s present devastation (see ch. 27 for a fuller lament). As was customary, this lament song utilizes the second person (“you”/“your”) to address dead Tyre.

26:19–21 Tyre’s burial place is appropriate for this port and trading city: the ocean depths. Tyre drowns at sea and plunges to the pit, or grave, where she shares the fate of those long dead (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6). The “pit” (v. 20; 32:18; see note on Ps 88:4) is a synonym for hell, reserved for those whom death has separated from communion with God (Isa 38:18). Thus, Tyre’s fall, lament, and burial is secured.

27:1–36 Lament Over Tyre the Ship. Portrays Tyre as a proud, self-exalting, spectacular merchant ship. This lauds the ship’s beauty and crew and discusses the lands with which the ship trades.

27:2 take up a lament. God prophetically anticipates the lament song that will be sung when Tyre “dies.” It illumines Ezekiel’s mourning role, established in 3:1–15 (see note on 3:1, 3).

27:3–11 This passage personifies Tyre as a beautiful ship. Her “beauty” (vv. 3b, 11) frames vv. 3b–11.

27:5–6 From Lebanon, Bashan, and the coasts of Cyprus came wood products (juniper, cedar, oak, and cypress wood) to make the ship’s mast, oars, and deck.

27:5 Senir. An Amorite name for Mount Hermon, which includes an area of substantial tree growth. The builders and those adorning the ship did not compromise; they exported high-value products from exotic places to achieve their goals.

27:6 Bashan. The broad fertile region east and northeast of the Sea of Galilee; known for its rich pastureland and prize cattle.

27:7 Egypt . . . Elishah. Areas well-known for textiles, from which prized linens came to make the ship’s sail and deck awnings. Elishah. A Cypriot-Phoenician port on the coast of Cyprus.

27:8-9 Sidon . . . Arvad . . . Tyre . . . Byblos. Key Phoenician cities from which the ship’s crew (“oarsmen,” “sailors,” and “craftsmen”) came. This native, all-Phoenician crew demonstrates Tyre’s control over the coastal region.

27:8 Sidon. City in southern Phoenicia. Arvad. City in northern Phoenicia. Tyre. Main seaport of Phoenicia (see note on 26:1—28:26).

27:9 Byblos. Important Phoenician seaport located between Sidon and Arvad.

27:10 Persia. East of Mesopotamia. Lydia. Asia Minor or Anatolia. Put. Libya in North Africa, west of Egypt. From these distant lands foreigners staffed Tyre with a mercenary army. The builders, the sailors, and the mercenary army all contributed in making the ship’s beauty complete.

27:12–25a These verses describe the vast scope of Tyre’s shipping and trading business by recording as many as 23 locations, some very distant (e.g., Tarshish and Persia), following a roughly west-to-east pattern. These places and the list of choice products shuttled through Tyre underscore Tyre’s role as an international economic superpower and display its wealth, contributing to its pride.

27:12 Tarshish. Southern Spain or the island of Sardinia, a long way from the Canaanite coast (Jonah 1:3; see 1 Kgs 10:22 and NIV text note there).

27:13 Tubal and Meshek. Asia Minor; modern-day Turkey.

27:14 Beth Togarmah. In eastern Asia Minor; modern-day Armenia.

27:15 Rhodes. An eastern Mediterranean island; a gateway to the Aegean islands.

27:16 Aram. Modern-day Syria. Since Damascus, the capital of Aram, is mentioned in v. 18, perhaps Edom is meant here (see NIV text note).

27:18 Damascus. Capital of Aram.

27:19 Izal. Area between Harran and the Tigris River. cassia. Like the cinnamon tree; it is in a list of aromatic plants in Exod 30:24. calamus. An aromatic reed.

27:20-22 Dedan . . . Arabia . . . Kedar . . . Sheba . . . Raamah. Regions in Arabia (see note on Gen 10:7).

27:23 Harran, Kanneh. In northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).

27:25b–28 Because of its great prestige through trade, the ship Tyre is “filled with heavy cargo” (v. 25). But the ship and all its crew will sink—not because of the heavy cargo but because of “the east wind” (v. 26). From ship to shore their cries for help will be heard (v. 28). The imagery of the shipwreck speaks of the disaster that Nebuchadnezzar, coming from the east (17:10; 19:12; Jonah 4:8), will bring upon Tyre.

27:29–36 These verses develop 26:17–18 (see note there) and describe mourning the sunken ship. As a mourner, Ezekiel prophetically creates this lament (v. 2). He envisions mourners arriving for Tyre’s funeral and singing the accompanying lament song. The lament song has notes of fear-based grief as funeral participants anticipate their own end (v. 35; cf. 26:18). But the “merchants among the nations” (v. 36), those vying for business alongside Tyre, gloat over the city’s death.

28:1–19 Lament Over Tyre’s King. This section concerns Tyre’s arrogant king; it uses images mainly from Gen 1–3 (creation and Eden), as well as the mountain of God image (the location of God’s dwelling), to expose the arrogance of the king of Tyre (Ittobaal III).

28:2 I am a god. The king’s prideful heart frames this literary section (vv. 2, 5). The elevation of his pride is comparable to deity-like claims about himself, noted by the repetition of the term “god” (four times in v. 2).

28:3 Are you wiser than Daniel? See note on 14:14. This rhetorical question anticipates no answer. It exposes the king’s pride. The question and indictment that follow, therefore, acknowledge the king’s wisdom, natural leadership abilities, and their benefit to Tyre (vv. 4–5)—but in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.

28:6–10 The consequences of pride and wrong self-perceptions.

28:7 foreigners . . . the most ruthless of nations. The Babylonians, whom God employs as his agents of destruction (cf. 30:11; 31:12; 32:12). They will kill the king (cf. 26:19–21).

28:10 uncircumcised. Those not part of God’s covenantal people. Used here in the sense of “barbarian.”

28:11–19 The final word to the king of Tyre. Although this passage describes his pride and fall, the imagery of creation causes some to understand these verses as a reference to Satan’s pride, fall, and curse (Gen 3:1–15; cf. Isa 14:12–15). The king of Tyre is compared to a second Adam, a created being (vv. 13, 15), and also to a cherub (v. 14) dwelling in the garden (v. 13) and on the mountain of God (v. 14). A proud heart causes his downfall (v. 17). Ezekiel adapts the Genesis passage for use in this lament because it fits the general characteristic of the lament genre, which magnifies the life of the deceased and then describes the magnitude of the loss.

28:12 take up a lament. See also 19:1; 27:2. seal of perfection. Mark of authority and authenticity (Jer 22:24; Hag 2:23).

28:13 You were in Eden. A created, Adam-like figure placed in God’s Eden sanctuary. The king of Tyre owes his entire existence to God as creator and sovereign over all.

28:14 as a guardian cherub. God’s ordained purpose for the king is likened to cherubim guarding the way to the divine presence in the garden (Gen 3:24) and God’s dwelling “on the holy mount of God” (Exod 19:16–23). God’s purpose for his creation was to serve the Creator. Both Adam and the king of Tyre failed.

28:15 You were blameless. An allusion to the pre-fall conditions of Gen 1–2; the king of Tyre’s character before wealth and arrogance marked him.

28:16 you sinned. The king of Tyre is a fallen, Adam-like figure. This attributes his fall to dishonest trade that led to pride and arrogance.

28:17 I threw you to the earth. The consequence of his sin: being driven away to experience death. As with the expulsion of Adam from the garden (cf. Gen 3:1–19), pride came before the king of Tyre’s fall. The judgment on Tyre represents more than just God’s wrath on Tyre for its treatment of Jerusalem when it fell. The figurative and exaggerated language about Tyre’s wealth and pride suggests the possibility of something more. Moreover, Tyre’s judgment is lengthy, second only to the subsequent prophecy against Egypt (chs. 29–32). This lengthy judgment represents the culmination of God’s judgment on the Canaanites. The coastal Canaanite city of Tyre personifies Canaan’s pride and arrogance, a negative influence on God’s people.

28:19 horrible end . . . be no more. The fall of this economic superpower shocks observers.

28:20–24 Prophecy Against Sidon. God will also judge Sidon, another important Phoenician city, along with Tyre. This passage does not specify why God is against Sidon other than calling Sidon one of Israel’s “malicious neighbors” (v. 24). But it does specify what happens when God confronts Sidon and all of Israel’s neighbors: God’s glory and holiness are displayed (vv. 22–23), God gets name recognition (vv. 22–24), and God comforts Israel (v. 24; cf. Num 33:55; Josh 23:13). Only after Israel receives comfort can mourning end and Israel’s restoration process begin.

28:25–26 Israel’s Restoration. This restoration, placed unexpectedly after prophecies against the nations, points forward to this theme in chs. 33–48. This restoration includes holiness, safety in the land, and God’s name recognition. Once God destroys Israel’s enemies, God’s covenantal promises can advance. People will observe that God is manifesting his holiness because his people will be gathered, not scattered. Israel will be safe and secure in the promised land. Above all, God’s people will recognize and acknowledge afresh his loyalties as their God (v. 26).

29:1—32:32 Prophecy Against Egypt. The prophecy against Egypt is the largest of the prophecies against the nations in the book. The date formula (ranging from 587 to 571 BC) separates the prophecy into seven literary units (with the exception of 30:1, which has no date). The prophecy (actually seven small prophecies) begins with Pharaoh’s fall (ch. 29) and concludes with his burial in “the pit” (32:18), the final resting place reserved for God’s enemies (ch. 32). During some of these years, the Egyptian king encouraged Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar (17:15; Jer 37:5–8; 42:1—43:13). Egypt was Israel’s early oppressor and Babylon’s continual enemy. As a military superpower Egypt flexed its muscles to control Canaan, as did Babylon. Israel was landlocked between these two powers fighting for international control on their soil. This is why Israel repeatedly appealed to Egypt for either military or economic help against the Babylonians, which displeased God (e.g., see 17:7; 19:4 and notes; 1 Kgs 3:1; 2 Kgs 18:21; Isa 30:1–3). Egypt’s military power also explains its deep-seated national pride.

29:1–16 Egypt a Doomed Monster. The first of seven prophecies against Egypt addresses why God is against Egypt and its king, Hophra (589–570 BC). As with Tyre’s king (28:1–10), God confronts Egypt’s elevated pride.

29:3 you great monster. The metaphor pictures Pharaoh as a large fish or sea animal, possibly a crocodile (cf. 32:2), dwelling in the Nile delta and its canals (Isa 7:18; 19:6; 37:25). God will go “fishing” in the Nile and “catch a big one” (v. 4). Pharaoh will be food for land and air creatures (v. 5). You say, “The Nile belongs to me.” The rationale for the fishing trip is the king’s arrogant boasting as creator and owner of the Nile (v. 9).

29:6 all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. The result of God’s “fishing trip” (see v. 3 and note). staff of reed. Hophra’s limp, useless support when Jerusalem was under siege (Jer 37:5–11; cf. 2 Kgs 18:21–22).

29:10 from Migdol to Aswan. Suggests geographic totality of the land’s desolation (from north to south; see 30:6), similar to “from Dan to Beersheba” to describe all Israel (see Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20 and notes).

29:11, 12 forty years. The duration of Egypt’s desolation and exile is reminiscent of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness; it symbolizes a long period of hardship to counter rebellion (cf. 4:6 and note).

29:13–15 God will return the Egyptians to Upper Egypt (southern Egypt; 30:14; Isa 11:11), where Egypt will be a weak nation unable to rule again, an act of humiliation more than an act of mercy. This return occurs under Cyrus in 539 BC.

29:16 Purposes for restoring Egypt: humiliating Egypt, warning others, and recognizing God’s sovereign hand over the nations.

29:17–21 Egypt a Payment to Nebuchadnezzar. This is the second of seven prophecies against Egypt but the latest prophecy in the book, dated to spring 571 BC.

29:17 twenty-seventh year . . . first month . . . first day. Apr. 26, 571 BC, during the 27th year of exile.

29:18 hard campaign. The Babylonians besieged Tyre for 13 years (586–573 BC). got no reward. Gained little plunder because the siege was so long (cf. 26:12).

29:19-20 as pay . . . as a reward. God will pay the Babylonian army at Egypt’s expense. Nebuchadnezzar attacks Egypt in 568 BC (Jer 43–44).

29:21 On that day. Suggests a general but unspecified time associated with the punishment of Egypt by Babylon (see vv. 19–20 and note). horn. See NIV text note. God will restore his people. I will open your mouth among them. Even after 571 BC (when Ezekiel gives this prophecy) and after 568 Ezekiel will have a word for Israel, suggesting the ongoing nature of Ezekiel’s ministry to the exiles.

30:1–19 The Day of the Lord for Egypt and Her Allies. This is the third of seven prophecies against Egypt. Through imagery of the day of the Lord, a day when God breaks through to deal with his enemies (see note on Amos 2:16), this prophecy describes the shock waves in the land when the Babylonians confront this military superpower.

30:2 Wail. This is a time for lamenting, because God will negatively intervene in Egypt’s affairs.

30:3 day is near. Announces the day of the Lord (cf. 7:10–27; Isa 2:12–17; Joel 2:1–11; Amos 5:18–20; Zeph 1:14–18). day of clouds. Disaster will roll in (cf. Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15).

30:4 sword. Symbolizes war, which will sweep across the country, slaying Egypt and its neighbors.

30:5 people of the covenant land. Jewish mercenaries apparently living in Egypt (Jer 24:8; 44).

30:6 allies of Egypt will fall. Reflects the effects of Egyptian military power. No one in association with Egypt is safe from the sword and fire, not even those far from Egypt. God’s far-reaching judgment mirrors Egypt’s far-reaching military power. From Migdol to Aswan. See note on 29:10.

30:11 most ruthless of nations. Babylonia (see note on 28:7; cf. Hab 1:6).

30:13–19 God emphasizes his initiative in Egypt’s fall by repeatedly saying, “I will” (vv. 13, 14, 15, 16, 19). The list of geographic locations unpacks the scope of the devastation and illustrates the meaning of the day of the Lord for Egypt. Devastation will be total: from Egypt’s largest city (Memphis, v. 13) to its strategically located fortress cities (Pelusium and Tahpanhes, vv. 15, 18), and God will get the glory he deserves (v. 19).

30:20–26 Pharaoh’s Arms Broken. This is the fourth of seven prophecies against Egypt.

30:20 eleventh year . . . first month . . . seventh day. Apr. 29, 587 BC.

30:21 arm. Symbolizes power. Pharaoh Hophra offered help to Judah when Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem (Jer 37:5–11), but Hophra gave only temporary relief (588 BC) to Judah (Jer 37:17; 38:2). The Babylonian resistance weakened Egypt (Pharaoh’s arm was “broken”). That was the beginning of the end for Egypt, the first “break.”

30:22 God will break Pharaoh’s “good arm” in 568 BC (cf. 29:12).

30:24 God will transfer power from Egypt to Babylon (cf. ch. 21).