Ezekiel6
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy unto them,
3and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
4And your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
5And I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
6In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished.
7And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
8Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
9And those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the harlot after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
10And they shall know that I am Jehovah: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
11Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
12He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath upon them.
13And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols.
14And I will stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 6.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Divine judgments for idolatry. (1-7). A remnant shall be saved. (8-10). The calamities are to be lamented. (11-14).
vv1-7
War desolates persons, places, and things esteemed most sacred. God ruins idolatries even by the hands of idolaters. It is just with God to make that a desolation, which we make an idol. The superstitions to which many trust for safety, often cause their ruin. And the day is at hand, when idols and idolatry will be as thoroughly destroyed from the professedly Christian church as they were from among the Jews.
vv8-10
A remnant of Israel should be left; at length they should remember the Lord, their obligations to him, and rebellion against him. True penitents see sin to be that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Those who truly loathe sin, loathe themselves because of sin. They give glory to God by their repentance. Whatever brings men to remember Him, and their sins against him, should be regarded as a blessing.
vv11-14
It is our duty to be affected, not only with our own sins and sufferings, but to look with compassion upon the miseries wicked people bring upon themselves. Sin is a desolating thing; therefore, stand in awe, and sin not. If we know the worth of souls, and the danger to which unbelievers are exposed, we shall deem every sinner who takes refuge in Jesus from the wrath to come, an abundant recompence for all contempt or opposition we may meet with.
Key Words
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
שׂוּם: to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
הַר: a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
נָבָא: to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse)
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
Cross References
Ezekiel 6Direct Mosaic precursor predicting destruction of high places and casting carcasses on broken idols.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Precedent of a prophet addressing inanimate objects (mountains/altar) because the people are completely unresponsive.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Pentateuchal source warning against 'going a whoring' after one's own heart and eyes.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills Moses' prediction that survivors in exile would pine away and loathe themselves for iniquities.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's parallel prophecy of the future remnant loathing themselves for their abominable sins.
Supported by JFB
Parallel command to strike hands and stamp feet to symbolize unstoppable impending judgment.
Supported by JFB
Prophetic parallel describing the necessary destruction of idolatrous high places and images.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical reform under Josiah fulfilling this judgment by breaking images and scattering bones.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Ezekiel repeats the self-loathing motif as a mark of true repentance.
Supported by JFB
Post-exilic promise of a scattered people who will remember God in far countries.
Supported by JFB
Identifies the location of 'Diblath' or Diblathaim, confirming the wilderness geography.
Supported by JFB
God preserves a small remnant from the sword, famine, and pestilence.
Supported by JFB
Jeremiah's parallel predicting a small escaping remnant returning from captivity.
Supported by JFB
Tripartite division of judgment: sword, famine, and pestilence repeated from chapter five.
Supported by JFB