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whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured

men.

4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.

6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured

men.

7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

CHAP. XIX.

[and her cubs,

10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters; she was fruitful, and full of branches, by reason of many waters.

11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them,

13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamen- : tation, and shall be for a lamentation. (T)

CHAP. XX.

AND it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the

EXPOSITION.

(T) A lamentation for the princes of Israel.-Ezekiel was a great master of the parabolic kind of writing, of which this chapter contains two beautiful examples: Ver. 1 to 9, the Prophet laments the sad catastrophe of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, and then, ver, 10 to 14, he describes the desolation and captivity of the whole nation. In the first parable, the lioness is the land of Judea, the first of the young

lions is Jehoahaz, deposed by the king of Egypt; and the second lion is Jehoiakim, whose rebellion drew on himself the yengeance of the king of Babylon. (2 Kings xxiv. 1, &c.) In the second parable the vine is the Jewish nation, which long prospered, its land being fertile, its princes powerful, and its people flourishing; but the judgments of God, in consequence of their guilt, had now destroyed a great part of the people, and doomed the rest to captivity.

NOTES.

Ver.7. And he knew, &c.-On the authority of some ancient versions and a few MSS, Newcome and Boothroyd read, "He brought evil on their palaces," the present text, however, seems to admit a very good sense. - He knew-that is, found out, explored, their widowed," i. e. desolate, deserted palaces.

Ver. 8. In their pit. This alludes to a covered pit, employed to snare wild beasts. Ver. 9. Into holds.-Newcome,

i, e. confined him.

66 Strong-holds;"

Ver. 10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood The latter part of this sentence is hard to explain. Some of the Hebrew letters being very similar, has led Newcome and others to suppose, that instead of it, we should read, “As a vine-as a pomegranate;" which is countenanced by the LXX; and other renderings have been suggested, with none of which is the writer satisfied; and if he suggests another, it may

be not more satisfactory to others. It is certain that blood is sometimes used for manure to fruit trees, (see Ency. Brit.) and if so used by the ancients, might, with the waters," be an additional cause of fruitfulness. It is also true that the kingdom of Israel was planted in the blood of the Canaanites, and other enemies. This, however, is only offered in preference to conjectural corrections of the text, which the Editor is always reluctant to admit into the Cottage Bible.

Ver. 11. Strong rods for sceptres.-This implied what was unusual in the vine, (chap. xv. 3.) for sceptres were sometimes used for walking sticks, (Orient. Cust. No. 1118), and even to dig with. See Expos. of Num. xxi. 17, &c.

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EZEKIEL.

The ways of] elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

2 Then came the word of the LORD

unto me, saying,

3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD; I will not be enquired of by you.

4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GoD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;

6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt; then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

9 But I wrought for my 'name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

10 Wherefore I caused them to go

[God justified.

forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

12 Moreover also, I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

14 But I wronght for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.

15 Yet also I lifted up my band unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

16 Because they despised my judg ments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;

20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and

NOTES.

CHAP. XX. Ver. 4. Wilt thou judge them? Marg. "Plead for them?" The word shephot is used very extensively, for the office of an advocate as well as of a judge, and is here differently taken.

Ver.5.1 lifted up my hand—that is, "I sware," as the phrase always signifies, particularly in this chapter.

Ver. 6. A land which I had espied-that is, had

looked out, or selected for them.

Ver. 8. Neither did they forsake, &c. - By this chapter, it is evident that the Jews learnt and praetised idolatry in Egypt.

Ver. 11. Shewed them - Heb. "Made them to know."

Ver. 12. To be a sign—that is, to distinguish them from the heathen, So ver. 20.

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you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.

23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; 24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;

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CHAP. XX.

[God justified.

26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD. (U)

27 T Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.

29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your

EXPOSITION.

(U) Ver.1-26. The Lord refuses to hear the elders of Israel, on account of their national sins. A deputation of the elders of Israel, as was usual in their distress, waits on the Prophet, to inquire of God for them, and plead with Him on their behalf. Their offended God, however, refuses to have any communication with them; but directs his servant Ezekiel, if disposed either to judge or advocate their cause, to lay before them the history of their rebellion, (they and their fathers,) from their redemption in Egypt to the then present time.

The expression, (ver. 25,) "I gave them statutes which were not good," &c. is certainly obscure and much controverted. Dr. S. Clarke and Bp. Warburton understand it of the ceremonial laws, not abso

lutely or of themselves good; but considered by St. Peter as a yoke too heavy to be borne, and therefore abrogated. (Acts xv. 10.) But Abp. Newcome objects to this, that the Mosaic laws are expressly here stated (ver. 11, 18, 21.) to be such, that if a man did, he should live by them. Dr. Boothroyd therefore considers the expressión as elliptical, and thus renders it: "I gave them [up also to observe] statutes that were not good;" that is, idolatrous institutions; and the next verse gives an instance in the sacrifice of children. And though our version here reads, "I polluted them in their own gifts," the learned prelate himself explains this, "I suffered them to pollute themselves."

The following passages may be referred to, as in some measure parallel and elucidatory. Psalm xxxi. 12., cvi. 15.; Acts vii. 42. ; Rom. i. 24, 26., ii. 28.; 2 Thess. ii. 11.

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Ver. 29. The high place (Heb. Bamgh) whereunto ye go?—that is, "Why do ye prefer your high place

to my sanctuary?"-And (or yet) the name thereof is called Bamah (or the high place) to this day. Some think the last clause is a sort of marginal note by the transcriber; otherwise, Secker thinks it must refer to something not now to be explained. See Newcome.

Ver. 30. Commit ye whoredom?-that is, idolatry.

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fathers? and commit ye whoredom their abominations?

after t

31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As 1 live, saith the Lord Gon, I will not be enquired of by you. 32 And that which cometh into your mind, shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:

34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretch ed out arm, and with fury poured out.

35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.

37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

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39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GoD ; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you ont from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for

all

your evils that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel and ye shall know that I, 46 Son of man, set thy face toward am the LORD. the south, and drop thy word toward

45 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

NOTES-Chap. XX. Con.

Ver. 32. Shall not be at all-Heb. "In being shall not be," meaning, that they should not be wholly given up to idolatry, as were the heathen; but should be severely corrected, as in the following verses, in order to their reform and restoration, ver. 33, &c.

Ver. 35. Wilderness (or desert) of the people Michaelis says, this "refers to the desert in the neighbourhood of the Chaldeans," &c. where they were stationed in the captivity.

Ver. 35, 36. There will I plead with, or judge you, as I pleaded with, or judged, your fathers, &c. See Note on ver. 4..

Ver. 37. Cause you to pass under the rod.-An alInsion, probably, to the tithing of a flock. The tenth animal was devoted to the Lord, and may represent those who were brought into the bond (or discipline) of the covenant. See next verse, and compare Levit. xxvii. 32, and Note.

Ver. 38. I will bring them forth out of the country

where they sojourn, and (or but) they shell st enter into the land of Judah.-Newcome thinks this refers to the Jews who fled into Egypt. See Jer. xliv. 14.

Ver. 33. Go ye, &c. See Eccl. xi. 9.

Ver. 43. In mine holy mountains. Comp. Isaiah ii. 2, 3.

Ver. 46, 47. The south.-Three different words are used for the south in these verses. See next chapter, ver. 2. Ezekiel being in the north of Chaiden, the whole of Judea was in the south to him. Ver. 47. The flowing flameHeb. "Flame of faming.-From the south to the north that is, the whole extent of Judea.

Ver. 49. Doth he not speak parables—that is, they pretended not to understand his figurative style.

The whole of this chapter, and all that follows, te ver. 12 of chap. xxviii. is considered prose,

L

Farther threatenings]

.

CHAP. the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord Gon; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? (X)

CHAP. XXI.

AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked,

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therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north;

5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

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

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

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

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

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

11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this

EXPOSITION-Chap. XX. Continued.

(X) 27-49. Farther threatenings to the house of Israel, followed with promises of restoration. As the Lord by his judgments pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Sinai; so he promises to plead with their descendants in the wilderness of their captivity. And as Manasseh in his captivity was greatly humbled, and besought the Lord his God, (2 Chron. xxxiii. 12.) so there is good reason to hope did many others; for there are perhaps more who learn to fear God in the school of affliction than in any other school. Of those Jews, however, who fied to Egypt on the murder of Geda

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liah, though many of them were afterwards carried into Chaldea, very few or none lived to go back to the land of Judah.

When the Jews are told, "Go ye, serve every one his idols," we have a happy exposition of the difficulty considered in the former part of this chapter, and we see how it is that persons may be corrected by their own wickedness, and reproved by their own back slidings. (Jer. li. 19.)

The last five verses of this chapter are evidently connected with the following, and according to Newcome and others should begin it.

NOTES.

CHAP. XXI. Ver. 2, 3. Toward Jerusalem. -This verse seems an exposition of ver. 46, 47, of the last chapter. Jerusalem, the holy places, the land of Israel, Newcome thinks may correspond to the three Hebrew words used for south in ver. 46, 47, of the preceding chapter. Judea may be compared to a forest, not so much for its buildings, as the rough character of its inhabitants-"the green tree and the dry; the righteous and the wicked. Comp. ver. 34

with ver. 47 of the preceding chapter.

Ver. 7. All knees shall be weak as water-Heb. "Shall go into water." See chap. vii. 17, and Note.

Ver. 10. It contemneth the rod - Newcome, "sceptre" of my son; i. e. of Israel; as Exod. iv. 22, 23. Sceptres were originally staves of office; the meaning is, the sword of judgment should no more regard the sceptre of Israel, than a stick of every (or any common) trce.

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