18.5–9 The first generation, in which an individual is righteous and lives.
18.6–9 A catalogue of virtues—many are described in negative fashion—consistent with the Decalogue. Both sacral and secular topics are included.
18.6 Eat upon the mountains, i.e., consume food from sacrifices to gods other than Yahweh; cf. 6.13; Hos 4.13. Idols of the house of Israel. Cf. 8.10; 18.6, 15. The phrase does not necessarily involve veneration of deities other than Yahweh.
18.7 Does not oppress. Cf. Lev 25.17. Restores…pledge. See Ex 22.26.
18.8 On debt interest, see Ex 22.25; Deut 23.20. Executes true justice, i.e., comports himself properly in the law court convened in the city gate (Lev 19.15).
18.9 Such a one is righteous, the sort of judgment that might normally have occurred at the temple. Ezekiel, however, lived in Babylonia, which made a judgment of this sort almost revolutionary; and it leads to life.
18.10–13 The second generation, in which an individual is sinful and dies. The righteousness of the father does not affect the fate of the son. The individual is characterized as a shedder of blood (v. 10), a phrase characteristic of Ezekiel (also in v. 13 as blood…upon himself) and influenced by priestly rhetoric (Lev 17.4).
18.11–12 The evildoer behaves conversely from the person in the first generation.
18.14–18 The third generation, in which an individual is righteous and lives.
18.14 This individual reviews the life of his father and acts in a different manner. The behavior of the sinful father does not prejudice the fate of his son.
18.15–17 A repetition of the case of the individual in the first generation, vv. 6–9.
18.18 Instead of concluding with the grandson, this case refers to that of the sinful son.
18.19–20 Ezekiel quotes yet another saying, which sounds more like a response to the foregoing analysis than an epigram; see 2 Kings 14.6; cf. Deut 24.16. Such insistence upon the separate fate of discrete generations reflects the concerns of those in exile. Were they to be punished for the sins of their fathers, who had already been subject to attack?
18.21–24 If the wicked…their sins. Now the case of the wicked is couched in the plural and has meaning for the life of one individual, for one may speak here of repentance that engenders life.
18.24 Conversely, one who had led a righteous life but then commits iniquity will die.
18.25–29 The way of the Lord is unfair (repeated in v. 29; 33.17). It is not clear to which of the numerous foregoing cases this saying might refer. The prophet responds by citing the cases developed in vv. 21–24. If an individual is treated according to what she or he does, then, Ezekiel claims, God is fair.
18.30–32 Repent…get a new heart and a new spirit, i.e., get what enables a new form of life. What has been implicit becomes explicit in words associated with a new covenant.
EZEKIEL 19
Israel Degraded
1As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say:
What a lioness was your mother among lions!
She lay down among young lions, rearing her cubs.
3She raised up one of her cubs;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured humans.
4The nations sounded an alarm against him;
he was caught in their pit;
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5When she saw that she was thwarted,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
6He prowled among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured people.
7And he ravaged their strongholds,a
and laid waste their towns;
the land was appalled, and all in it,
at the sound of his roaring.
8The nations set upon him
from the provinces all around;
they spread their net over him;
he was caught in their pit.
9With hooks they put him in a cage,
and brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him into custody,
so that his voice should be heard no more
on the mountains of Israel.
10Your mother was like a vine in a vineyardb
transplanted by the water,
fruitful and full of branches
from abundant water.
11Its strongest stem became
a ruler’s scepter;c
it towered aloft
among the thick boughs;
it stood out in its height
with its mass of branches.
12But it was plucked up in fury,
cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried it up;
its fruit was stripped off,
its strong stem was withered;
the fire consumed it.
13Now it is transplanted into the wilderness,
into a dry and thirsty land.
14And fire has gone out from its stem,
has consumed its branches and fruit,
so that there remains in it no strong stem,
no scepter for ruling.
This is a lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation.
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a Heb his widows
b Cn: Heb in your blood
c Heb Its strongest stems became rulers’ scepters
19.1–14 Two laments, one using lion imagery and the other vine symbolism, describe the fate of the mother of the princes.
19.1 Lamentation, a dirge or funeral song. The princes. The Greek manuscript tradition reads “a prince.”
19.2–9 The lion may serve as a metaphor for Judah, the territory ruled by the house of David (Gen 49.9–10). Lioness, according to some scholars a symbol for Hamutal, a queen mother and wife of Josiah.
19.3–4 One of her cubs, probably Jehoahaz, son of Josiah and Hamutal, who was captured by the pharaoh Neco and taken to Egypt, where he died (2 Kings 23.31–34).
19.5–9 Another of her cubs, identity uncertain. Jehoiakim, also a son of Hamutal, was not taken into exile, whereas both Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were exiled to Babylon. Cf. Jer 22 for laments on Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. The poem may be read as a general lament over the Davidic lineage without identifying either the lioness or the cubs as specific persons. The poem stresses certain features common to both cubs: he was caught in their pit (vv. 4, 8), the nations responded to both animals (vv. 4, 8), both devoured humans (vv. 3, 6), and both were taken with hooks (vv. 4, 9). Nonetheless, the fate of the second cub receives greater attention than that of the first.
19.7 He ravaged their strongholds, in Hebrew “he knew his widows,” possibly with sexual connotations; cf. the Greek manuscript tradition, “he ravaged his widows.”
19.8 Set upon him from the provinces. Cf. “set against him snares” (RSV). The net was used throughout the ancient Near East as a military implement.
19.10–14 A second lament, which uses vine imagery. Cf. chs. 15, 17.
19.10 Your, singular in Hebrew. Like a vine. In this lament, Ezekiel uses a simile instead of a metaphor. Just as the lioness was grand, so too this vine flourished in an ideal location. In a vineyard, conjectural; cf. the Hebrew, “in your blood.”
19.11 Its strongest stem became a ruler’s scepter, in Hebrew, “its strongest stems became rulers’ scepters,” which accords with the imagery of more than one king in vv. 2–9. Scepter, a ceremonial staff used by the king (Isa 14.5); it could symbolize Judah and the Davidic house (Ps 60.7).
19.12 The vine is destroyed by various means: it is pulled out, dried up by an east wind (cf. 17.10), and consumed by fire. As a result, the stem (and so too the scepter) is also destroyed.
19.13 Transplanted, surely an allusion to the Babylonian exile.
19.14 And fire…for ruling. The emphasis on the entire plant and not just the strongest stem focuses on the demise of the entire Davidic house as a royal line and not just the defeat of one or another king. This is a lamentation underlines the ritual use to which dirges were put as well as the individuals who chanted them; cf. 32.16.
EZEKIEL 20
Israel’s Continuing Rebellion
1In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain elders of Israel came to consult the LORD, and sat down before me. 2And the word of the LORD came to me: 3Mortal, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Why are you coming? To consult me? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you. 4Will you judge them, mortal, will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of their ancestors, 5and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob—making myself known to them in the land of Egypt—I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. 6On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. 7And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. 8But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; not one of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live. 12Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them. 13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not observe my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned.
Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make an end of them. 14But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, 16because they rejected my ordinances and did not observe my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make an end of them in the wilderness.
18I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not follow the statutes of your parents, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19I the LORD am your God; follow my statutes, and be careful to observe my ordinances, 20and hallow my sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I the LORD am your God. 21But the children rebelled against me; they did not follow my statutes, and were not careful to observe my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live; they profaned my sabbaths.
Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22But I withheld my hand, and acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their ancestors’ idols. 25Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. 26I defiled them through their very gifts, in their offering up all their firstborn, in order that I might horrify them, so that they might know that I am the LORD.
27Therefore, mortal, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this again your ancestors blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. 28For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing odors, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29(I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? So it is called Bamaha to this day.) 30Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your ancestors and go astray after their detestable things? 31When you offer your gifts and make your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you.
32What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, “Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.”
God Will Restore Israel
33As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. 34I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; 35and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36As I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord GOD. 37I will make you pass under the staff, and will bring you within the bond of the covenant. 38I will purge out the rebels among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
39As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve your idols, every one of you now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.
40For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred things. 41As a pleasing odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42You shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your ancestors. 43There you shall remember your ways and all the deeds by which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, or corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.
A Prophecy against the Negeb
45b The word of the LORD came to me: 46Mortal, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb; 47say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched. 49Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! they are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of allegories?’”
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a That is High Place
b Ch 21.1 in Heb
20.1–32 Israel’s rebellious past.
20.1–4 Again Ezekiel meets with the elders (8.1; 14.1), who seek God’s word.
20.1 Seventh year…month, August 14, 591 BCE (see note on 1.2), five yea
rs before the temple was destroyed. Ezekiel had been acting as a prophet for two years and had been in exile since 597. Note the prominence of the first-person pronoun me in the mouth of the deity, who is the preeminent actor.
20.2–4 Instead of acting as an intermediary for the people, Ezekiel is commanded by God to judge them; see also 22.2;23.36.
20.5–31 Various periods when Israel rebelled against God. For another version of Israel’s history with God, see Ps 106.
20.5 Chose Israel, virtually royal language since God also “chose” David as king.
20.7–8 In Egypt, Israel had been venerating detestable things, idols of Egypt. Israel’s rebellion involved continuing to worship such objects.
20.9–26 The wilderness experiences.
20.9 For the sake of my name. Ezekiel emphasizes here (and elsewhere, vv. 14, 22; 36.22) that such action is not undertaken because Israel deserves such bounty.
20.10 The exodus and the time in the wilderness are concisely conjoined. Throughout this historical reprise, Ezekiel distills longer accounts.
20.11 The Sinai event is linked immediately to these other epochal episodes. Everyone shall live. Cf. Lev 18.5.
20.12 Sabbaths, remarkably important in this chapter; see vv. 13, 16, 20, 21, 24. Observance of the sabbath is associated with the covenant at Sinai; see Ex 31.13 on the sabbath as a sign. For a contemporaneous prophetic perspective on the sabbath observances, see Jer 17.19–27. The sabbath is to make the people holy, to sanctify them.
20.13–17 After the Sinai event, the people again rebelled, whereupon God was tempted to annihilate them. However, concern for the viability of the deity’s name among the nations prevented this punitive response.
20.18–21 Introduction of the motif of the next generation, their children; cf. ch. 18. These individuals are challenged to obey in a way that their fathers did not obey. And yet they also rebelled, unlike the case in ch. 18.
20.22–26 The generation of children, in the wilderness, is threatened with exile; see also Ps 106.26–27.
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