Ezekiel 20 commentary

EZEKIEL 20 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Rebellious Israel Purged
1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the
tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to
inquire of the Lord, and they sat down in front of
me.
BARNES, "The elders of Israel - These were as in Eze_14:1, some of Ezekiel’s
fellow-exiles, designated in general terms by the name of Israel, though more properly
belonging to the kingdom of Judah.
CLARKE, "In the seventh year - Of the captivity of Jeconiah, (see Eze_8:1), and
the seventh of the reign of Zedekiah.
The fifth month, the tenth day - That is, according to Abp. Usher, Monday,
August 27, A.M. 3411.
Certain of the elders of Israel - What these came to inquire about is not known.
They were doubtless hypocrites and deceivers, from the manner in which God
commands the prophet to treat them. It seems to have been such a deputation of elders
as those mentioned Eze_8:1; Eze_14:1.
GILL, "And it came to pass in the seventh year,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and of the
captivity of Jeconiah; from whence the dates of Ezekiel's visions and prophecies are
taken, Eze_1:2; two years, one month, and five days, after Ezekiel began to prophesy,
and eleven months and five days after the preceding prophecy:
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in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month; the month Ab, which answers to
our July and August; on this day afterwards Jerusalem was twice destroyed, first by the
Chaldeans, and then by the Romans:
that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord; by the prophet;
these were either some of the elders that were carried captive, who came to inquire how
long they should continue in this state; or what methods they should use to free
themselves from it; or what they should do while they were in it; whether it would be
advisable that they should conform to the customs of the Heathens among whom they
were; or what would be the case of those that were left in Judea: or else these were sent
by Zedekiah to pay the king of Babylon his tax, or to negotiate some affair with him
relating to the captives; and who took this opportunity of consulting the Lord by the
prophet what methods should be taken to throw off the yoke, and to know what was the
mind of God in it; but these things are uncertain, as are also the persons the inquirers;
though the Jews say (e) they were Ananias, Azarias, and Misael; which is not probable,
since they were good men, whereas these seem to be hypocritical persons:
and sat before me; with great seriousness and devotion seemingly, waiting for an
answer.
HENRY 1-4, “Here is, 1. The occasion of the message which we have in this chapter.
That sermon which we had ch. 18 was occasioned by their presumptuous reflections
upon God; this was occasioned by their hypocritical enquiries after him. Each shall have
his own. This prophecy is exactly dated, in the seventh year of the captivity, about two
years after Ezekiel began to prophesy. God would have them to keep account how long
their captivity lasted, that they might see how the years went on towards their
deliverance, though very slowly. Certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the
Lord, not statedly (as those Eze_8:1), but, as it should seem, occasionally, and upon a
particular emergency. Whether they were of those that were now in captivity, or elders
lately come from Jerusalem upon business to Babylon, is not certain; but, by what the
prophet says to them (Eze_20:32), it should seem, their enquiry was whether now that
they were captives in Babylon, at a distance from their own country, where they had not
only no temple, but no synagogue, for the worship of God, it was not lawful for them,
that they might ingratiate themselves with their lords and masters, to join with them in
their worship and do as the families of these countries do, that serve wood and stone.
This matter was palliated as well as it would bear, like Naaman's pleading with Elisha for
leave to bow in the house of Rimmon, in compliment to the king; but we have reason to
suspect that their enquiry drove at this. Note, Those hearts are wretchedly hardened
which ask God leave to go on in sin, and that when they are suffering for it. They came
and sat very demurely and with a show of devotion before the prophet, Eze_33:31. 2.
The purport of this message. (1.) They must be made to know that God is angry with
them; he takes it as an affront that they come to enquire of him when they are resolved
to go on still in their trespasses: As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by
you, Eze_20:3. Their shows of devotion shall be neither acceptable to God nor
advantageous to themselves. God will not take notice of their enquiries, nor give them
any satisfactory answers. Note, A hypocritical attendance on God and his ordinances is
so far from being pleasing to him that it is provoking. (2.) They must be made to know
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that God is justly angry with them (Eze_20:4): “Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt
thou judge them? Thou art a prophet, surely thou wilt not plead for them, as an
intercessor with God; but surely thou wilt pass sentence on them as a judge for God. See,
I have set thee over the nation; wilt thou not declare to them the judgments of the Lord?
Cause them therefore to know the abominations of their fathers.” So the orders run
now, as before (Eze_16:2) he must cause them to know their own abominations.
Though their own abominations were sufficient to justify God in the severest of his
proceedings against them, yet it would be of use for them to know the abominations of
their fathers, that they might see what a righteous thing it was with God now at last to
cut them off from being a people, who from the first were such a provoking people.
JAMISON, "Eze_20:1-49. Rejection of the elders’ application to the prophet:
exposure of Israel’s protracted rebellions, notwithstanding God’s long-suffering
goodness: yet will God restore his people at last.
seventh year, etc. — namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (Eze_1:2; Eze_
8:1). This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently the hope
of the restoration promised them in seventy years; for, when prospects are hopeless,
years are not computed [Calvin].
elders ... came to inquire — The object of their inquiry, as in Eze_14:1, is not
stated; probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national calamities and the time of
their termination, as their false prophets assured them of a speedy restoration.
K&D, "The date given in Eze_20:1 applies not only to Ezekiel 20, but also to Ezekiel
20-23 (compare Eze_24:1); the prophetic utterances in these four chapters being bound
together into a group of connected words of God, both by their contents and by the
threefold repetition of the expression, “wilt thou judge?” (vid., Eze_20:4; Eze_22:2, and
Eze_23:36). The formula ‫ט‬ ‫פּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ת‬ֲ‫ה‬, which is only omitted from the threat of punishment
contained in Ezekiel 21, indicates at the same time both the nature and design of these
words of God. The prophet is to judge, i.e., to hold up before the people once more their
sinful abominations, and to predict the consequent punishment. The circumstance
which occasioned this is narrated in Eze_20:1-3. Men of the elders of Israel came to the
prophet to inquire of the Lord. The occasion is therefore a similar one to that described
in the previous group; for we have already been informed, in Eze_14:1, that elders had
come to the prophet to hear God's word from him; but they had not gone so far as to
inquire. Here, however (Ezekiel 20), they evidently address a question to the prophet,
and through him to the Lord; though the nature of their inquiry is not given, and can
only be gathered from the answer, which was given to them by the Lord through the
prophet. The ground for the following words of God is therefore essentially the same as
for those contained in Ezekiel 14-19; and this serves to explain the relation in which the
two groups stand to each other, namely, that Ezekiel 20-24 simply contain a further
expansion of the reproachful and threatening addresses of Ezekiel 14-19.
In Ezekiel 20 the prophet points out to the elders, in the form of a historical survey,
how rebellious Israel had been towards the Lord from the very first, even in Egypt (Eze_
20:5-9) and the desert (Eze_20:10-17 and Eze_20:18-26), both the older and the later
generations, how they had sinned against the Lord their God through their idolatry, and
how it was only for His own name's sake that the Lord had not destroyed them in His
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anger (Eze_20:27-31). And as Israel hath not given up idolatry even in Canaan, the Lord
would not suffer Himself to be inquired of by the idolatrous generation, but would refine
it by severe judgments among the nations (Eze_20:32-38), and sanctify it thereby into a
people well-pleasing to Him, and would then gather it again out of the dispersion, and
bring it into the land promised to the fathers, where it would serve Him with sacrifices
and gifts upon His holy mountain (Eze_20:39-44). This word of God is therefore a more
literal repetition of the allegorical description contained in Ezekiel 16.
Date, occasion, and theme of the discourse which follows. - Eze_20:1. And it came to
pass in the seventh year, in the fifth (moon), on the tenth of the moon, there came men
of the elders of Israel, to inquire of Jehovah, and sat down before me. Eze_20:2. Then
the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze_20:3. Son of man, speak to the elders of
Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Have ye come to inquire of me?
As I live, if I suffer myself to be inquired of by you, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah.
Eze_20:4. Wilt thou judge them? Wilt thou judge, O son of man? Make known the
abominations of their fathers to them. - If we compare the date given in Eze_20:1 with
Eze_8:1, we shall find that this word of God was uttered only eleven months and five
days after the one in Ezekiel 8; two years, one month, and five days after the call of
Ezekiel to be a prophet (Eze_1:2); and two years and five months before the blockading
of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Eze_24:1). Consequently it falls almost in the middle of
the first section of Ezekiel's prophetic work. ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ‫דּ‬ ‫ת‬ ֵ‫א‬ , to seek Jehovah, i.e., to ask a
revelation from Him. The Lord's answer in Eze_20:3 is similar to that in Eze_14:3.
Instead of giving a revelation concerning the future, especially with regard to the speedy
termination of the penal sufferings, which the elders had, no doubt, come to solicit, the
prophet is to judge them, i.e., as the following clause explains, not only in the passage
before us, but also in Eze_22:3 and Eze_23:36, to hold up before them the sins and
abominations of Israel. It is in anticipation of the following picture of the apostasy of the
nation from time immemorial that the sins of the fathers are mentioned here. “No reply
is given to the sinners, but chiding for their sins; and He adds the oath, 'as I live,' that
the sentence of refusal may be all the stronger” (Jerome). The question ‫ט‬ ‫פּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ת‬ֲ‫ה‬, which
is repeated with emotion, “gives expression to an impatient wish, that the thing could
have been done already” (Hitzig). The interrogative form of address is therefore adopted
simply as a more earnest mode of giving expression to the command to go and do the
thing. Hence the literal explanation of the word ‫ט‬ ‫פּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ת‬ֲ‫ה‬ is also appended in the form of
an imperative (‫ם‬ֵ‫יע‬ ִ‫ד‬ ‫.)ה‬ - The prophet is to revert to the sins of the fathers, not merely
for the purpose of exhibiting the magnitude of the people's guilt, but also to hold up
before the sinners themselves, the patience and long-suffering which have hitherto been
displayed by the Lord.
CALVIN, " Here he does not narrate a vision but an event which really happened.
It is a simple historical narrative, that some of the elders of Israel were chosen to
interrogate him. We know this to be customary, and when God separates His people
from the profane nations, he opposes his prophets to the soothsayers and magi,
augurs and astrologers. For he says that the Gentiles inquire what concerns them in
various ways, and so interrogate their deities; but that he prescribes to the chosen
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people but one method: I will raise for them a prophet from the midst of their
brethren, says Moses, (Deuteronomy 18:18;) that is, they need not wander about,
like the wretched gentiles, destitute of counsel, first to their soothsayers, then to
magi, and then to astrologers: there is no end to them’ but I will meet them, says he,
by my prophets, who shall always exist among the people. In this sense Ezekiel says
that the elders of Israel came to consult God. The verb, ‫,דרש‬ deresh, properly
signifies “to seek” but it is here received for “to consult” or “inquire into,” as in
many other places. Now it is not surprising that the elders came by public consent to
the Prophet: for the Israelites were already worn out by long weariness, and thought
that they had almost perished through their long exile. But there was another
reason, since false prophets, as we saw, tickled the ears of the simple by offering
them daily some new hope. Since therefore they were agitated between hope and
fear, and the devil scattered false prophecies which distracted the minds of the
vulgar, it is probable that the elders of Israel came and were sent to inquire
concerning either the prosperous or disastrous event of their captivity. They come
therefore to the prophets; he says it happened in the seventh year, that is, after the
captivity of Jehoiakim. They reckoned the years from that change, and deservedly
so: for so remarkable an act of God’s vengeance ought to be kept constantly in
remembrance. There was also another reason, since God gave some hope of
restoration. The reckoning of the years, then, which the Israelites dated from
Jehoiakim’s exile, had a twofold use and end, first, that God’s judgment might
remain fixed in their minds, and next, that they might nevertheless refresh their
spirits by the hope of good. Hence as often as they dated the first year or the second,
it was just as if they kept before their eyes that slaughter by which God testified
himself grievously offended. But for another reason they ought to cheer their spirits
by good hopes, because if the kingdom had been utterly abolished and no promise
added to lighten their sorrow, that reckoning was superfluous, since in a state of
desperation we do not take an account of years: but when seventy years were fixed,
they nourished and cherished hope in this way, because they renewed the
remembrance of their liberty, which had been promised them by the mouth of
Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 25:12, and Jeremiah 29:10.) Now therefore we understand why
he simply says the seventh year he mentions also the day and the month.
Now the Clause which I have noticed contains some useful instruction, — the elders
of Israel came to consult God and sat before the Prophet. We see, then, as far as
concerns outward forms, that they followed what God had commanded in his law;
lest you should say, Who shall ascend above the clouds? who shall descend into the
abyss? who shall cross the sea? The word is ever there, in thy heart and in thy
5

mouth. (Deuteronomy 30:12; Romans 10:6.) Since therefore God in some way
brought himself forward whenever he instructed his servants by the spirit of
prophecy, so when the elders of Israel came to the Prophet, they are said to come to
God himself, because God was unwilling to utter his own oracles either from heaven
or by means of angels, but he appointed his servant by whom he would speak, and
suggested what he should say. Hence we gather that our faith is not rightly founded
unless when we listen to God alone, who only deserves and claims us as listeners.
But at the same time, we must remark that faith was joined with humility and
modesty. Hence if any one desires to ascend to the clouds to inquire what God will
answer, he departs far from him, although he pretends to approach him. Hence this
moderation is to be observed, that our faith may acquiesce in the authority of the
one God, and not be carried hither and thither by the will of men; and yet it should
not object to here God speak through his servants, but calmly submit itself to the
prophets. It now follows —
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
EZEKIEL 20-23
FINAL PROPHECIES BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
REHEARSAL OF THE SINS OF ISRAEL
It is impossible to include in this work any complete study of all that comes to view
in this chapter. The Holy Bible itself is devoted in a large measure to the record of
the sins of the Chosen People, who repeatedly, murmured, rebelled, rejected and
disobeyed God's commandments. It would be nearly impossible just to count the
apostasies that repeatedly marked Israel's history, and the numberless times when
God overlooked their transgressions, renewed the covenant with a succeeding
generation, or even blessed them (when justice required their punishment), doing so
"for his name's sake," that is, to avoid what would have been the cry of pagan
nations that Jehovah was unable to preserve and bless Israel.
6

Therefore, we shall handle much of the material here in an abbreviated form. A
great many of the sins of Israel mentioned in this chapter have already received
extensive comment in our Commentaries on the Pentateuch, the Minor Prophets, the
Major Prophets, and the Book of Joshua. "The date of this chapter is July-August.
591 B.C.";[1]
"And this is also the date of what follows through Ezekiel 23."[2] "This date was
only eleven months and five days after the date given in Ezekiel 8:1, twenty-five
months and five days after Ezekiel's call to the prophetic office (Ezekiel 1:2), and
twenty-nine months after the blockading of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel
24:1)."[3] This record of the sins of the Chosen People constitutes, "A literal
presentation of that which is described figuratively in Ezekiel 16."[4]
It is an amazing historical coincidence that, "According to Jewish tradition, the fifth
month on the tenth day of the month was the date of the `Sentence of Wandering'
pronounced upon Israel in Numbers 14:29, also the date upon which the Temple
was burnt by the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 52:12,13); and, according to Josephus, the
date when the Romans burnt the Temple in 70 A.D."[5]
The historical background of this section (through Ezekiel 23) found the Jews of the
captivity rejoicing over the victory of the Egyptians in the Sudan, and in the rumors
that Pharaoh-Passammetic would soon conquer Palestine. This news, coupled with
the knowledge that Zedekiah would soon transfer his loyalty to Pharaoh instead of
Nebuchadnezzar, heightened their hope that their captivity would soon end.[6]
The text does not reveal the nature of the question that the elders intended to ask
Ezekiel, but it very likely originated in their vain hope of an early end of their
captivity.
Ezekiel 20:1-4
7

"And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the
month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before
me. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the
elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Is it to inquire of
me that ye are come? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by
you. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know
the abominations of their fathers."
Whatever the question of the elders might have been, it was certainly unworthy of
the Lord's attention. The wickedness of the whole nation from its beginning until
that instant was so great that they deserved no communication whatever from the
Lord.
"Wilt thou judge them, wilt thou judge them ..." (Ezekiel 20:4)? The true meaning is
this emphatic command is given in the next clause. "Cause them to know the
abominations of their fathers." "The Hebrew word here does not mean merely `to
judge.'"[7] It also includes the meaning of prosecuting a cause before a tribunal;
and that was what Ezekiel was instructed here to do.
These four chapters constitute the demonstration that, "The wickedness of Judah
was now full."[8] Under the figure of a great fire that would burn up the whole land
of Israel, Ezekiel outlined in the concluding portion of the chapter the inevitable
result of their overflowing wickedness. The purpose of rehearsing all the sins of
Israel was twofold. (1) It showed the absolute necessity and justice of their
punishment; and (2) it also showed the infinite patience, longsuffering, forbearance
and mercy of God so tenderly exhibited during long centuries of his dealings with
them.
COKE, "Ezekiel 20:1. It came to pass in the seventh year— That is, from the
captivity of Jeconiah: see chap. Ezekiel 8:1. The occasion of the prophesy in the
present chapter was this. The Jews, by certain of their elders, had, as was usual in
their distresses, recourse to the God of Israel for direction and assistance. On this,
we are informed, Ezekiel 20:3 that the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel,
8

commanding him to tell the elders, that God would not be inquired of by them; for
that their continued rebellions, from their coming out of Egypt to that time, had
made them unworthy of his patronage and protection. Their idolatries are then
recapitulated, and divided into three periods: the first, from God's message to them
in Egypt to their entrance into the Promised Land; the second period contains all
the time from their taking possession of the land of Canaan, to their immediate
condition when this prophesy was delivered; the third period concerns the iniquities
and the consequent punishment of the present generation, which had now applied to
him in their distresses. See Div. Leg. vol. 3: and Calmet.
ELLICOTT, "Ezekiel 20:49. Doth he not speak parables?— Though these
prophesies were clear enough, if they would have given themselves the trouble to
have considered and compared them with the state of things; yet, as the
understanding of them would have obliged the people to a change of conduct, the
source of their obscurity is very discernible therein. It was hence that the Jews,
dazzled with the evidence of what Jesus said to them, and surprised with the
splendour of his miracles, demanded of him with importunity, and with a spirit of
malice, that he would tell them plainly who he was; as if his doctrine and his actions
did not sufficiently declare it. How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the
Christ, tell us plainly. John 10:24. See Calmet.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The date of this prophesy is in the seventh year of Jeconiah's
captivity and Zedekiah's reign, the fifth month, the tenth day; and it was delivered
on occasion of the elders of Israel, whether of the captivity or from Jerusalem,
coming to consult the prophet, as some suppose, whether they might not, to
ingratiate themselves with their heathen masters, conform to their heathen worship:
certain it is, that whatever was the cause of their coming, their hearts were
hypocritical, and the answer of God to them is full of wrath.
1. God refuses to be required of by them; for they who draw near to God
hypocritically, can expect no mercy at his hands; their very prayers will be turned
into sin.
2. The prophet must arraign and condemn them; no more their advocate, but their
9

accuser; and now constituted their judge to pronounce sentence upon them for all
their own and their fathers' abominations.
2nd, God begins to recapitulate the provocations of Israel; and they commenced
from the day when he began to form them into a people.
1. He reminds them of the wonders of his grace shewn to them above all nations. He
chose them for a peculiar people, in the time of their deepest affliction, and most
abject wretchedness, in the land of Egypt; he made himself known unto them, by his
name JEHOVAH, and by the miracles that he wrought for their deliverance;
confirming his favour towards them by an oath, and assuring them of the
inheritance that he had provided for them in a land flowing with milk and honey,
the glory of all lands, which he espied for them, singled out with peculiar care, as the
happy spot appointed for their abode. Note; None truly know God, but those in
whom he is revealed.
2. The commands that he gave them were most reasonable and easy. They were
enjoined to cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and not defile
themselves with the idols of Egypt. And this he enforces with the most cogent
reason, I am the Lord your God, the only worthy object of worship, and to whom
they were bound by unnumbered obligations.
3. They notwithstanding wilfully rebelled, and refused to hearken to God's
commands, continuing in their abominations, and cleaving to the idols of Egypt; not
deterred by all the plagues which they beheld.
4. By his prophets he threatened to destroy them with the Egyptians. As they had
joined in their idolatry, they deserved to share their ruin. But,
5. For his name's sake he wrought, that the heathen might not blaspheme, as if he
was unfaithful to his promises, or unable to accomplish them.
10

3rdly, The mercies of God, and the ingratitude and disobedience of the Jewish
people, are displayed.
1. God's mercies toward them were amazingly great and singular. He brought them
forth from Egypt with a high hand; led them into the wilderness, where they lived
by daily miracles; and gave them his law, with the statutes and judgments of his
worship, by the observance of which they might expect to live long, and enjoy the
promised inheritance: he gave them also his sabbaths, the weekly sabbath, and the
sabbatical and jubilee years, signs of his favour towards them, memorials of their
deliverance from Egypt, pledges of their entrance into the rest of Canaan, and
figures of the eternal rest which remains for the faithful in a better world: thus God
distinguished them from all nations, and intended to make them know that he their
Lord sanctified them; these holy days appointed for his immediate service, having
then, as they still have, the most blessed influence upon the souls of those, who
conscientiously sanctify their sabbaths to keep them holy.
2. Their ingratitude and undutifulness were most provoking. In the wilderness,
where they were surrounded with mercies and miracles, they rebelled, cast off God's
government, despised his ordinances, polluted his sabbaths, and sunk into idolatry.
3. Offended with such baseness, God threatened utterly to consume them in his fury.
But for his own glory, that the heathen might not dishonour his name, as if he was
unable to bring his people into the land of Canaan, he resolved to fulfil his promise:
yet, not to leave such wickedness without a mark of his severe displeasure, he sware
in his wrath concerning the men of that generation, that they should never enter
into his rest; and, in consequence thereof, their carcases fell in the wilderness. Let us
therefore fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should
come short of it, and perish after the same example of unbelief and disobedience.
4. God did not make an utter end of them, but spared their children, and solemnly
warned them, by their fathers' ruin, against their sins, not to walk in their statutes,
or copy their worship or manners, but to flee from idolatry, to know the Lord to be
their God, to worship him according to his own prescription, observant of his
11

sabbaths, and obedient to his laws. Note; Children should take warning by their
parents' ill example, and be peculiarly careful to abstain from their sins.
5. They notwithstanding rebelled against God, and trod in the steps of their ungodly
fathers; sabbath-breakers, disobedient, idolaters; rejecting their own mercies, they
provoked that wrath which would have destroyed them, had not God for his own
glory restrained his arm, after making them feel some heavy strokes of his
displeasure in the wilderness. And though, according to his promise, he brought
them into the land of Canaan, he foretold the fearful dispersion to which at last they
would be doomed for their transgressions. Note; (1.) Sinners are self-murderers:
they might have lived, if they would have been obedient; but they prefer sin and
death. (2.) They who walk in the ways of their wicked ancestors, must expect their
judgments.
6. He gave them up to their own inventions. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that
were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. He gave them up to the
idolatrous customs of the nations, and suffered them to follow the vain traditions of
their apostate forefathers. Though some interpret this of the judgments that he sent
upon them; others of the rites of the ceremonial law, on which depending for
acceptance with God without any reference to the Messiah, they became a
stumbling-block to them, instead of leading them to Christ, &c. (See the
Annotations.) And I polluted them in their own gifts, suffering them to offer
sacrifices to idols, even the inhuman oblations of the first-born to Moloch, to make
them desolate: thus weakened by their own more than savage conduct, they became
an easy prey to their enemies: to the end that they might know that I am the Lord,
righteous in the punishments inflicted upon them. Note; (1.) A greater curse cannot
fall upon the sinner, than to be left of God to the wickedness of his own heart. (2.)
God will make himself known to sinners: if they will not receive him as their Lord
and Saviour, they shall prove him to be God the avenger.
4thly, Their provocation ceased not in the wilderness; but when they came into the
land of Canaan the same abominations were practised.
1. When God had fulfilled his promise to them, and brought them into the good
12

land, they trespassed yet more and more. Instead of confining themselves to God's
altar, they, in conformity to the customs of the heathen, chose hills and groves for
their places of worship, and offered there their sacrifices, incense and libations,
which, if offered to the God of Israel, were contrary to his precept: but probably
they rather there served their idols, which made the provocation of their offering
greater. And, though warned of the folly and sin of their idolatrous services, when
they had God's altar to go to, they persisted in their perverseness; and the high
places were to the last frequented: it is called Bamah, that is, the high place, unto
this day. So inveterately rooted is the love of sin in the heart of the sinner.
2. Even after all the judgments executed upon them, the present generation
committed the same abominations, polluting themselves with idols, and causing
their children to pass through the fire to Moloch; with the folly and wickedness of
which God justly upbraids them; and how then could they dare inquire of him? or
what answer of peace could they expect from him? he swears by himself, that
neither their persons nor petitions should be regarded; and their schemes of
currying favour with their heathen masters, by compliances with their worship, and
incorporating with them by intermarriages, he will blast: either they shall refuse to
admit them to join with them, or despise them for their perfidy. Note; (1.) Little is
ever got by sinful compliances: the very enemies of religion will honour those who
shew steadiness and integrity; while they treat apostates with contempt. (2.) They
who by a religious profession have once forfeited the world's favour, may despair of
ever recovering it again.
5thly, Since they would not bow to the sceptre of his righteous government, God
threatens,
1. To rule them with a rod of iron, disappointing their schemes, and pouring out his
fury upon them: they shall not be suffered to mingle with the heathen, among whom
they are scattered, but thence will God collect them: when the Babylonians shall
have subdued these nations, they shall be brought into the wilderness of the people,
be carried captives into Chaldea, and there God will judge and punish them, as he
had punished their fathers in the wilderness, after they came out of Egypt. Note;
They strive in vain, who seek to frustrate God's holy counsels.
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2. There is mercy in reserve for a remnant, when the rebels are purged out by his
judgments.
[1.] The rebels shall be for ever cut off from the congregation of the Lord; shall
never more enter the land of Israel, given up to their idolatries, and totally excluded
from God's worship; so that they shall pollute his holy name no more, by joining
him with their idols; and at the same time that they pretended to honour him with
their gifts, still continuing in their idolatry. Note; (1.) The rebellious sinner will be
eternally separated at last from the congregation of the just, and never enter the rest
of glory. (2.) That soul is completely miserable, which God abandons. (3.) Pretences
to religion, when the heart is enslaved by idol lusts, do but add profaneness and
hypocrisy to iniquity.
[2.] The faithful shall be separated, and blessed with God's regard. They shall pass
under the rod, visited with corrections; and recovered in the furnace of affliction.
They shall be brought again into the bond of the covenant, be acknowledged as
God's people, be restored again from their dispersion to their own land, and serve
God in his Zion, his holy mountain. Their oblations and their worship shall be
accepted, they penitently acknowledging, bewailing, and abhorring themselves for
their former transgressions; and God will be sanctified in them before the heathen,
who will confess his faithfulness to his promises, his power and grace displayed in
their recovery; and they shall know that he is the Lord, by experience of these his
dispensations of mercy towards them, wrought not for their sakes, who deserved
nothing but to perish in their iniquities, but for his own name's sake, most eminently
to display his glory, as the promise-keeping and sin-pardoning God. Note; (1.)
Afflictions are blessed means of good to those who are not incorrigibly impenitent.
(2.) When God accepts our persons in Christ Jesus, then our poor services become a
sweet savour through the Beloved. (3.) The sinner that returns to God and finds
favour, sees in the glass of God's love the baseness, malignity, and ingratitude of sin,
and loaths himself for all his abominations. (4.) We never know God truly, till by
experience, coming to him as lost sinners, we prove the wonders of his pardoning
love. (5.) All our salvation flows, not from our deserts, but God's rich mercy; and as
he designs his own glory herein, to the praise of the glory of his grace it must be
wholly ascribed.
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6thly, We have in this chapter another prophesy, which would most properly have
begun the next chapter. The subject of both is the same, the threatened ruin of
Judah and Jerusalem.
1. The forest of the south field, toward which the prophet is commanded to set his
face and drop his word, is the city of Jerusalem, full of inhabitants, unfruitful as the
trees of the wood, and the haunt of wicked men fierce and ravenous as the beasts of
the forest.
2. God threatens to kindle a fire in it, a fire of wrath; and the conflagration shall be
universal, devouring and destroying all ranks, young and old without distinction,
from one end of the land to the other; and none can quench it; a destruction so
terrible shall mark the finger of divine vengeance, and even the surrounding
heathens shall acknowledge that this is Jehovah's doing.
3. Ezekiel makes his complaint to God. Ah! Lord God, they say of me, Doth he not
speak parables? they scoffed at the message that he brought them, as unintelligible;
and counted it not worth their attention. Note; They who have no inclination to
profit by the word of God, will always have some fault to find with the delivery of it.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 20:1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth [month],
the tenth [day] of the month, [that] certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of
the LORD, and sat before me.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass.] This chapter fitly followeth the former. There these
malcontents had complained that the fathers had sinned and the children suffered.
Here is evinced that there was never a better of them, that a viperous brood they
had been from the first, that they were some of them naught all. (a)
In the seventh year,] scil., Of Jeconiah’s captivity: and every year seemed seven, till
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the seventy were expired. The years of our misery we reckon; not so of our
prosperity, which yet we should duly prize and improve.
That certain of the elders of Israel.] Not Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, as the Jews
fable: but worse men, rank hypocrites.
Came to inquire.] But were resolved of their course, and had made their conclusion
before they came. [Ezekiel 20:32] Either the prophet should chime in with the false
prophets, who told them they should be sent home ere long, or else they would, for
peace sake, worship idols and comport with the Babylonians; which yet, if they had
done, it might have proved nothing better with them than it did with those renegade
Christians in Turkey, who, falling down, many thousands of them, before Solyman
II, and holding up the forefinger, as their manner is, in token of their conversion to
Mohammedanism, he asked what moved them to turn? they replied, it was to be
eased of their heavy taxations. He, disdaining that baseness, or not willing to lose in
tribute for an unsound accession in religion, rejected their conversion, and doubled
their taxations. (b)
PETT, “Introduction
Chapter Ezekiel 20:1-44 A History and Prophesy of God’s Dealings with Israel.
In this chapter we are given a detailed description of the history of what God had
done for His people, and how they had not responded to Him, beginning with their
experiences in Egypt, continuing in the wilderness, and then in the land of Canaan.
It continues by speaking of what God’s purposes and intentions for His people are.
In each example He reveals how He showed His goodness towards them, how they
then rebelled against Him, how He purposed to reveal His anger on them, and how
in the end He spared them for the sake of His own name and reputation. Then He
reveals that in the end He will restore His people so that through them He might be
revealed to the world, again for the sake of His own repute.
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Verse 1
The Approach of the Elders of Israel.
‘And so it was in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month,
that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.’
The date given is in August 591/0 BC. Like the majority of the dates in Ezekiel it is
related to the date of Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel 1:2). On that day some of the
elders of Israel with him in captivity in Babylonia came to Ezekiel, and sat before
him. Their purpose was to ‘enquire of Yahweh’.
Ezekiel was divided up into major sections by these datings. Ezekiel 1:2 is dated
July 592 BC, Ezekiel 8:1 is dated September 592/1 BC, Ezekiel 20:1 is dated August
591/0 BC, Ezekiel 24:1 is dated January 588 BC, Ezekiel 33:21 is dated January
586/5 BC and Ezekiel 40:1 is dated April 573 BC, which are in chonological order.
(The oracles against nations were also dated (Ezekiel 26:1 to Ezekiel 32:32), but not
in chronological order).
No other reason is given for their enquiry, and no information about the content of
their enquiry. It may simply mean that they wanted to know whether God had any
message for them. But elsewhere ‘enquiring of Yahweh’ meant securing a divine
revelation concerning a particular event (see 1 Kings 14:5-18; 1 Kings 22:7-28; 2
Kings 8:8-15; 2 Kings 22:13-20; Jeremiah 21:2-14; Jeremiah 37:7-10). So it may be
that they were enquiring about the situation in Jerusalem and as to how long their
exile would continue, especially having regard to Zedekiah’s attempted alliance with
Egypt.
As we have seen there was a huge amount of intrigue between Jerusalem and Egypt.
Who made the first contact we do not know, probably Egypt under Pharaoh
Hophra, seeking to foment trouble among the smaller states for their own benefit,
and seeking assistance in their own plans against Assyria. But Zedekiah saw his
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chance to break for freedom and ‘rebelled against the king of Babylon’ (2 Kings
24:20). This was contrary to Yahweh’s words through Jeremiah (Jeremiah
27:12-15). He sent to Egypt for assistance in the form of soldiers and horses (see
Jeremiah 37:5), but the assistance would be shortlived.
We have independent confirmation of such intrigues in the Lachish letters, a
collection of twenty one ostraca found in the ruins of Lachish. ‘Konyahu, the son of
Elnathan, commander of the army, has gone down on his way to Egypt’.
Or it may be that they were seeking confirmation of the acceptability of an attempt
to syncretise their worship of Yahweh with the worship of the gods of the land
where they found themselves (see Ezekiel 20:32, and note the words ‘that which
comes into your mind’).
PULPIT, “Ezekiel 20:1
A new date is given, and includes what follows to Ezekiel 23:49. The last note of time
was in Ezekiel 8:1, and eleven months and five days had passed, during which the
prophecies of the intervening chapters had been written or spoken. We may note
further that it was two years one month and five days after the prophet's call to his
work (Ezekiel 1:1-28.), and two years and five months before the Chaldeans
besieged Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:1). The immediate occasion here, as in Ezekiel 8:1,
was that some of the elders of Israel bad come to the prophet to inquire what
message of the Lord he had to give them in the present crisis. Whether any stress is
to be laid on the fact that here the elders are said to be "of Israel," and in Ezekiel
8:1 "of Judah," is doubtful (see note on Ezekiel 14:1). Ezekiel seems to use the two
words as interchangeable. Here, however, it is stated more definitely that they came
to inquire, probably in the hope that he would tell them, as other prophets were
doing, that the time of their deliverance, and of that of Jerusalem, was at hand.
Passing into the prophetic state, Ezekiel delivers the discourse that follows.
SBC 1-4, “. There is no evidence that the elders showed penitence in coming to inquire
of the Lord. Ezekiel did not send the hungry empty away; he alone as God’s ambassador
refused to answer those who would not leave their sins behind them when they entered
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into the temple of God. But there is another thing also to be said concerning the visit of
these elders: they made a mere convenience of the oracle of God; whereas they had a
prophet always amongst them, and might if they pleased have inquired of God often or
continually, they did nothing of the kind; but when they found themselves in distress
and knew not which way to turn, then they presented themselves before God’s prophet.
II. True religion is emphatically a walking with God, not a mere occasional coming to
Him. We say that religion is a life, and we rightly describe it so—it is not a series of
spasmodic efforts, not an inquiry of God now and then, not a coming to His prophet in
the sixth year and the sixth month, and again in the seventh year and the fifth month,
but an inquiry in all years and all months and all days, a habit of opening our hearts and
consciences to Him, and of guiding our conduct by the answers which we are able to
obtain.
III. The example of the elders of Israel shows us most plainly the need of leaving our sins
behind us when we come to inquire of God. Self-examination and self-condemnation,
perhaps, and earnest efforts to forsake the evil and do the good, must ever be the
preparations for successful inquiry of God.
IV. Another lesson which this history brings before us is that prayer, or indeed coming to
God in any way, must not be made a mere matter of convenience, but must be regarded
as a matter of constant spiritual necessity.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 3rd series, p. 106.
BI 1-4, “Certain of the elders . . . sat before me.
The elders before Ezekiel
1. True religion is emphatically a walking with God, not a mere occasional coming to
Him. The precise manner in which the date is given may possibly be taken as
conveying a reproof to those who, instead of making it their constant business to
know God’s will, were contented to let a year elapse between two successive visits to
the prophet.
2. The need of leaving our sins behind us when we come to inquire of God. The
severe answer which the elders received was due chiefly to the fact that they canto
without first repenting and bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance
3. Prayer, or indeed coming to God in any way, must not be made a mere matter of
convenience, but must be regarded as a matter of constant spiritual necessity. These
elders came when they thought it would answer their purpose; they forgot God when
all went well, they sought Him when they were at their wits’ end; they did not look
upon communion with God as the one great spiritual need of their souls. Were they
singular in this? The habitual lives of nine out of ten persons in this Christian
country would rise up and contradict us if we said that they were. I am not now
contemplating the case of notoriously evil men, but only that of easy-going worldly
persons who live without church, prayer, Scriptures, passing a quiet animal kind of
life, with no cares except those of getting daily bread. These persons will, many of
them, cry to the Lord in trouble; put them upon a sickbed, and they will say their
prayers for the most part vigorously enough, and the prayers so offered up may
possibly be the beginning of a more Christian life, yet I do not at all the less maintain
that this is no right use of prayer, but a most egregious and unchristian abuse. (Bp.
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Harvey Goodwin.)
Cherished sin disqualifies for prayer
Manton says, “Empty the bucket before you go to the fountain.” Wise advice. If the pail
be full of the best and cleanest water it is idle to carry it to the well, for its fulness
disqualifies it for being a receiver. Those who think themselves full of grace are not likely
to pray aright, for prayer is a beggar’s trade, and supposes the existence of need. What
does a full bucket want with the well? Let it stay where it is. Fitness for mercy is not
found in self-sufficiency, but in emptiness and want. He can and will receive most of the
Lord who has least of his own. If the bucket is full of foul water, it is wise to throw it
away as we go to the crystal spring. We must not come to the Lord with our minds full of
vanity, lust, covetousness, and pride. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me.” He will not make His grace the medium of floating our unclean desires. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
2 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
GILL, "Then came the word of the Lord unto me,.... While the elders were sitting
before him, by an impulse upon his mind, dictating things unto him:
saying: as follows:
PETT. “Verse 2
‘And the word of Yahweh came to me saying.’
Ezekiel remained in his house under his enforced silence (Ezekiel 3:26), only
speaking when ‘the word of Yahweh’ came to him. Silently he watched their
assembly, and then the word of Yahweh came to him.
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3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and
say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely
as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares
the Sovereign Lord.’
BARNES, "Enquire - As to the hope of deliverance from the Babylonians.
CLARKE, "I will not be inquired of by you - I will not hear you. I will have
nothing to do with you.
GILL, "Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them,....
Give them this for an answer from me:
thus saith the Lord God, are ye come to inquire of me? no; not seriously,
heartily, and in good earnest, determining to abide by the advice and counsel that might
be given; or how can you have the face to inquire of me, when guilty of such
abominations?
as I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you; knowing their
wickedness and hypocrisy, which were detestable to him, and therefore would not hear
what they had to say, nor give them any answer, or direct them what they should do. Sad
is the case of persons when the Lord will not be inquired of by them! it is plain he has no
favours to bestow upon them; for, when he has, he will put them upon inquiring of him
for them, to do them unto them, Eze_36:37; this was the case of Saul, whom God, when
he inquired of him, would not answer in any of his usual ways, 1Sa_28:6.
JAMISON, "The chapter falls into two great parts: Eze_20:1-32, the recital of the
people’s rebellions during five distinct periods: in Egypt, the wilderness, on the borders
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of Canaan when a new generation arose, in Canaan, and in the time of the prophet.
I will not be inquired of by you — because their moral state precluded them from
capability of knowing the will of God (Psa_66:18; Pro_28:9; Joh_7:17).
CALVIN, " Here the Prophet is ordered to blame those elders, although they
pretended to rare piety in inquiring of him: God says that they did not come with a
right disposition. Many translate otherwise — if I shall be found, or be en-treated
by you, or if I shall answer: thus they take the word, ‫,דרש‬ deresh, in a double sense:
in the first clause, for to seek or interrogate; but when it is added, as I live, etc., they
do not take the word by “to be sought” or “interrogated,” but by “to answer” or “be
entreated.” But this seems far-fetched and in Ezekiel 14:3, a phrase not unlike this
was explained; and hence we may gather, that God rather inveighs against the
people’s hypocrisy than rejects them, and refuses to answer. There the Prophet said
that the elders came to consult him, as if they had been his best disciples; but as
Ezekiel might be deceived by that deceptive picture, God meets him, and says, Do
you think that they come to inquire of me? They are fixed upon their idols; for their
heart is towards them, and they raise their eyes to their own abominations: As I live,
if they seek me, says he; that is, it is easy to convict them of bad faith, when they
come suppliantly to inquire of thee. For if they truly and heartily sought me, they
would renounce their idols, and would no longer partake of their abominations; but
they do not repent, but remain obstinate in their wickedness. It is certain, therefore,
that they are by no means sincere: there is no reason why you should delay them, or
trouble yourself about them, since their conduct is mere dissimulation. So, therefore,
in this passage God pronounced by his Prophet, are you come to seek me? that is, to
consult me. I will not be inquired of by you, says he: the reason is, because, as we
saw in the Ezekiel 14:0 th, they always remained the same, since therefore they were
at the greatest distance from God, and remained wrapped up in their own
abominations, their seeking God was only fallacious. The conclusion is, that God
rejected them, because, though they pretended a holy zeal, they were still perverse in
their disposition; hence God refuses to discharge the office of a master towards them
since they did not come to learn: this is one point. He then says, if I shall be inquired
of by you. And because their hypocrisy was stained by various colors, God swears
that their disposition was perverse, and that they did not come with pious and holy
affections, and were neither docile nor obedient, nor desirous of making progress,
and hence were unworthy of having him for a teacher. Now let us go on.
ELLICOTT, "(3) I will not be enquired of by you.—As in Ezekiel 14:3. St. Jerome
thus comments on the words:—“ To the holy, and to those who ask for right things,
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the promise is given, ‘While they are yet speaking, I will say, Here I am;’ but to
sinners, such as these elders of Israel were, and as those whose sins the prophet
proceeds to describe, no answer is given, but only a fierce rebuke for their sins, to
which He adds His oath,. ‘As I live,’ to strengthen His solemn refusal.”
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 20:3 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.
Ver. 3. Are ye come to inquire of me?] q.d., I scorn the motion, I loathe your false
looks, be packing with your putrid hypocrisy. God will detect and shame gross
hypocrites, as he did Jeroboam’s wife, the rotten hearted Pharisees, Ananias and ,
“Sapphira, that sorry couple, that consented to "tempt the Holy Ghost," as these
elders also did - that is, to make trial whether he be omniscient, and able to detect
and punish them.
I will not be inquired of by you.] "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how
much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?" as these did. [Proverbs 21:27]
PETT, “Verse 3
“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord
Yahweh, Have you come to enquire of me? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will
not be enquired of by you.’ ”
Note the continued use of ‘son of man’. It was a constant reminder to Ezekiel that he
was but an earthly man, and yet we must also see in it that he was a man who was
special to God, a man apart, a chosen instrument, a man set apart for God’s service.
Its frequency was such that it became a semi-title.
But the reply that he had to give to the elders was an indirect one. It was no oracle
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responding to their questions, but a declaration of why they were in their present
condition, and a refusal to acknowledge their right to ask Him anything.
It is most people’s assumption that when they are in some kind of trouble they can
come to God and he is always ready to listen. Here, however, we learn differently.
These men who represented ‘His people’ had come with that assumption, and they
now learned that God would not speak with them. He would not resolve their
problems. They were in rebellion against Him, revealed by the abominations they
committed (see Ezekiel 18:10-13; Ezekiel 18:24), therefore He was deaf to their
pleas.
PULPIT, “As I live, saith the Lord God, etc. The inquirers are answered, but not as
they expected. Instead of hearing of the "times and seasons" of the events that were
in the near future, the prophet at once enters on his stern work as a preacher. The
general principle that determines the refusal to answer has been given in Ezekiel
14:3.
4 “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son
of man? Then confront them with the detestable
practices of their ancestors
BARNES, "Wilt thou judge them? - We should rather say, Wilt thou not judge
them? i. e., wilt thou not pronounce sentence upon them? Compare Eze_22:2.
CLARKE, "Wilt thou judge them - If thou wilt enter into any discussion with
24

them, show them the abomination of their fathers. The whole chapter is a consecutive
history of the unfaithfulness ingratitude, rebellion, and idolatry of the Jews, from the
earliest times to that day; and vindicates the sentence which God had pronounced
against them, and which he was about to execute more fully in delivering them and the
city into the hands of the Chaldeans.
GILL, "Wilt thou judge them, son of man?.... Excuse them, patronise them,
defend their cause, and plead for them? surely thou wilt not; or rather, wilt thou not
reprove and correct them, judge and condemn them, for their sins and wickedness? this
thou oughtest to do:
wilt thou judge them? this is repeated, to show the vehemency of the speaker, and the
duty of the prophet:
cause them to know the abominations of their fathers: the sins they committed,
which were abominable in themselves, and rendered them abominable unto God, and
what came upon them for them; by which they would be led to see the abominable evils
which they also had been guilty of, in which they had imitated their fathers, and what
they had reason to expect in consequence of them.
JAMISON, "Wilt thou judge? ... judge — The emphatical repetition expresses,
“Wilt thou not judge? yes, judge them. There is a loud call for immediate judgment.” The
Hebrew interrogative here is a command, not a prohibition [Maurer]. Instead of
spending time in teaching them, tell them of the abomination of their fathers, of which
their own are the complement and counterpart, and which call for judgment.
CALVIN, " The context flows very well if we embrace this sense, that God swears
that the Israelites did not come to be subject to his Prophet, and to submit
themselves modestly to his instructions. If this sense pleases, it is well added, shall
you judge them? that is, shall you spend thy breath in arguing with them? He means
that they are rather to be dismissed than instructed; as Christ says, You shall not
cast pearls before swine. (Matthew 7:6.) And we know what God pronounces: My
Spirit shall not always strive with man, because he is flesh. (Genesis 6:3.) He now
means that there was no need of any dispute, since there was no means of carrying it
on; so in this passage, since the Prophet was dealing with men utterly broken down,
who never listened to wise counsels, nor obeyed any admonitions, nor were softened
by any chastisement, he adds, therefore, shall you judge them? Some indeed coldly
and insipidly explain this of taking away the part of a judge, since God rather
wishes them to be called to repentance than to be condemned. But here judging
embraces within itself all reproaches and threats. On the whole, since they acted
deceitfully, and by no means proposed to submit themselves to God, hence he uses
25

this bitterness, What! are they worthy of your judging them? that is, of your
contending with them? for the Prophet’s duty is to argue with sinners, to threaten
them, and to cite them to God’s tribunal. God, therefore, pronounces them
unworthy of such disputing, because they are not only deaf, but, hardened by
abandoned obstinacy. Now, therefore, we understand the sense of the words, wilt
you judge them? will you judge them? The repetition is emphatic, that God may
strongly express the obstinacy of that desperate people. He afterwards adds, If this
be done, then show them the abominations of their fathers. God here mitigates the
asperity which he had used, and by means of a correction descends to a reason for
it, namely, that he may for once try whether or not they are curable. If then they are
to be judged, that is, if he chooses to enter into any dispute, and to argue with them,
he says that he ought to begin not with themselves, but with their fathers. God
wishes them to be judged, not only on account of the wickedness of a few years, but
because before they were born their fathers were obstinately attached to their
abominations. In fine, God shows that the wound was deep, and could not be cured,
unless the hidden poison was carefully examined, which otherwise would cause
putrid matter, from which at length inflammation would arise. For many think that
they have properly discharged their duty when they have but lightly probed their
wounds: but sometimes it is necessary to penetrate to the inmost parts, as the people
had not only provoked God lightly, and for a short time, but their impiety had been
growing for ages, and their sins had become a kind of inheritance to them. Since,
then, this hidden poison existed, which could not be cured either easily or by any
slight remedy, hence God orders them to begin with their fathers. Show them,
therefore, the abominations of their fathers. It follows —
COKE, "Ezekiel 20:4. Wilt thou judge them, &c.?— Wilt thou not judge them, &c.?
Lowth. Make thyself, son of man, make thyself their judge: declare to them the
abominations, &c. Houbigant. This whole chapter is a kind of decree; in which the
prophet, after having set forth the crimes of the Jews, pronounces against them their
rejection, and the things which God will do to a faithful people, who shall serve him
truly on his holy mountain. See Ezekiel 20:40 and Calmet.
ELLICOTT, "(4) Wilt thou judge them?—The form of the repeated question is
equivalent to an imperative—judge them. Instead of allowing their enquiry and
entreaty for the averting of judgment, the prophet is directed to set before them
their long series of apostasies and provocations. “Judge” is used in the sense of
26

“bring to trial,” “prefer charges.”
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 20:4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge [them]?
cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
Ver. 4. Wilt thou judge them?] Or, Wilt thou excuse them? or, Wilt thou intercede
for them? If thou hast never so good a mind to do so, yet do it not; rather reprove
them for, and convince them of, their sins; spare thy charity, and exercise thine
authority of "having in readiness to revenge their disobedience." [2 Corinthians
10:6] An causam ageres eorum? Abigendi sunt potius quam docendi. Ostendit
Dominus ulcus profundum esse.
Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.] By themselves avowed,
abetted, augmented; their fathers’ iniquity they have drawn together with cart ropes
of vanity.
PETT, “Verse 4
“Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the
abominations of their fathers.”
Instead Ezekiel must pass His judgment on them. He was to show them why, as with
their fathers before them, they could not expect any response from God.
‘Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them?’ Ezekiel was there in his
silent vigil before God, and as he looked at the elders he was wondering what he
could say to them about why God would not reply to their questions. What
judgment could he give? God simply said, remind them of their history, a history of
disobedience and rejection in the face of all that God had done for them, a
disobedience and rejection that still continued. There were no grounds for it. God
had been continually good to them. Indeed He had persevered in His goodness long
27

after they had revealed that they did not deserve it.
WHEDON, “Verse 4
4. Wilt thou judge — “The interrogation seems to have the sense of an impatient
imperative, and the repetition gives stronger impression to the imperative (compare
Ezekiel 22:2; Ezekiel 23:36); ‘judge’ is explained by ‘cause them to know the
abominations of their fathers.’ To rehearse the history of their fathers is to hold the
mirror up to themselves.” — Davidson.
PULPIT, “Wilt thou judge them, etc.? The doubled question has the force of a
strong imperative. The prophet is directed, as it were, to assume the office of a
judge, and as such to press home upon his hearers, and through them upon others,
their own sins and those of their fathers. He is led, in doing so, to yet another survey
of the nation's history; not now, as in Ezekiel 16:1-63; in figurative language, but
directly.
5 and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign
Lord says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with
uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and
revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted
hand I said to them, “I am the Lord your God.”
BARNES, "
28

The children of Israel in Egypt were warned to abstain from the idolatry of the pagan.
This purpose they lost sight of, yet God spared them and brought them into another
state of probation.
Eze_20:5
Lifted up mine hand - i. e., sware, because the hand was lifted up in adjuration.
CLARKE, "I chose Israel - They did not choose me for their God, till I had chosen
them to be my people.
I lifted up mine hand - I bound myself in a covenant to them to continue to be their
God, if they should be faithful, and continue to be my people. Among the Jews the juror
lifted up his right hand to heaven; which explains Psa_144:8 : “Their right hand is a
right hand of falsehood.” This is a form used in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
GILL, "And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Here begins the account
of their fathers; of God's unmerited goodness to them, and of their sins and
transgressions against him, and how it fared with them:
in the day when I chose Israel; to be his peculiar people, above all people on the face
of the earth; when he declared his choice of them, and made it appear that he had
chosen them, and distinguished them, by special blessings and favours bestowed on
them:
and lifted up mine hand to the seed of the house of Jacob; the posterity of
Jacob or Israel, to whom the Lord swore that he would do such and such things for
them; of which the lifting up the hand was a token; it is a gesture used in swearing, Dan_
12:7; and so the Targum,
"and I swore unto them by my word:''
and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt: by his name Jehovah;
by the prophets he sent unto them, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and by the miracles he
wrought among them:
when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God:
making promise of it, declaring it unto them, confirming it with an oath; see Heb_6:17.
HENRY5-9, “The history of the ingratitude and rebellion of the people of Israel here
begins as early as their beginning; so does the history of man's apostasy from his Maker.
No sooner have we read the story of our first parents' creation than we immediately meet
with that of their rebellion; so we see here it was with Israel, a people designed to
represent the body of mankind both in their dealings with God and in his with them.
Here is,
I. The gracious purposes of God's law concerning Israel in Egypt, where they were
29

bond-slaves to Pharaoh. Be it spoken, be it written, to the immortal honour of free grace,
that then and there, 1. He chose Israel to be a peculiar people to himself, though their
condition was bad and their character worse, that he might have the honour of mending
both. He therefore chose them, because they were the seed of the house of Jacob, the
posterity of that prince with God, that he might keep the oath which he had sworn unto
their fathers, Deu_7:7, Deu_7:8. 2. He made himself known to them by his name
Jehovah (a new name, Exo_6:3), when by reason of their servitude they had almost lost
the knowledge of that name by which he was known to their fathers, God Almighty.
Note, As the foundation of our blessedness is laid in God's choosing us, so the first step
towards it is God's making himself known to us. And whatever distance we are at,
whatever distress we are in, he that made himself known to Israel even in the land of
Egypt can find us out, and follow us with the gracious discoveries and manifestations of
his favour. 3. He made over himself to them as their God in covenant: I lifted up my
hand unto them, saying it, and confirming it with an oath. “I am the Lord your God, to
whom you are to pay your homage, and from whom and in whom you are to expect your
bliss.” 4. He promised to bring them out of Egypt; and made good what he promised. He
lifted up his hand, that is, he swore unto them, that he would deliver them; and, they
being very unworthy, and their deliverance very unlikely, it was requisite that the
promise of it should be confirmed by an oath. Or, He lifted up his hand, that is, he put
forth his almighty power to do it; he did it with an outstretched arm, Psa_136:12. 5. He
assured them that he would put them in possession of the land of Canaan. He therefore
brought them out of Egypt, that he might bring them into a land that he had spied out
for them, a second garden of Eden, which was the glory of all lands. So he found it, the
climate being temperate, the soil fruitful, the situation pleasant, and every thing
agreeable (Deu_8:7; Deu_11:12); or, however this might be, so he made it, by setting up
his sanctuary in it.
II. The reasonable commands he gave them, and the easy conditions of his covenant
with them at that time. Having told them what they might expect from him, he next tells
them what was all he expected from them; it was no more than this (Eze_20:7): “Cast
you away every man his images that he uses for worship, that are the adorations, but
should be the abominations, of his eyes. Let him abominate them, and put them out of
his sight, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt.” Of these, it seems, many of
them were fond; the golden calf was one of them. It was just, and what might reasonably
be expected, that, being delivered from the Egyptian slavery, they should quit the
Egyptian idolatry, especially when God, at bringing them out, executed judgment upon
the gods of Egypt (Num_33:4) and thereby showed himself above them. And, whatever
other idols they might have an inclination to, one would think they should have had a
rooted aversion to the gods of Egypt for Egypt's sake, which had been to them a house of
bondage. Yet, it seems, they needed this caution, and it is backed with a good reason: I
am the Lord your God, who neither need an assistant nor will admit a rival.
III. Their unreasonable disobedience to these commands, for which God might justly
have cut them off as soon as ever they were formed into a people (Eze_20:8): They
rebelled against God, not only refused to comply with his particular precepts, but shook
off their allegiance, and in effect told him that they should be at liberty to worship what
God they pleased. And even then when God came down to deliver them, and sent Moses
for that purpose, yet they would not forsake the idols of Egypt, which perhaps made
them speak so affectionately of the onions of Egypt (Num_11:5), for among other things
the Egyptians worshipped an onion. It was strange that all the plagues of Egypt would
not prevail to cure them of their affection to the idols of Egypt. For this God said he
30

would pour out his fury upon them, even while they were yet in the midst of the land of
Egypt. Justly might he have said, “Let them die with the Egyptians.” This magnifies the
riches of God's goodness, that he was pleased to work so great a salvation for them even
when he saw them ripe for ruin. Well might Moses tell them, It is not for your
righteousness, Duet. Eze_9:4, Eze_9:5.
IV. The wonderful deliverance which God wrought for them, notwithstanding. Though
they forfeited the favour while it was in the bestowing, and when God would have healed
them then their iniquity was discovered (Hos_7:1), yet mercy rejoiced against
judgment, and God did what he designed purely for his own name's sake, Eze_20:9.
When nothing in us will furnish him with a reason for his favours he furnishes himself
with one. God made himself known to them in the sight of the heathen when he ordered
Moses publicly to say to Pharaoh, Israel is my son, my first-born, let them go, that they
may serve me. Now, if he had left them to perish for their wickedness as they deserved,
the Egyptians would have reflected upon him for it, and his name would have been
polluted, which ought to be sanctified and shall be so. Note, The church is secured, even
when it is corrupt, because God will secure his own honour.
JAMISON 5-6, “The thrice lifting up of God’s hand (the sign of His oath, Rev_10:5,
Rev_10:6; Exo_6:8, Margin; Num_14:30; to which passages the form of words here
alludes) implies the solemn earnestness of God’s purpose of grace to them.
made myself known unto them — proving Myself faithful and true by the actual
fulfillment of My promises (Exo_4:31; Exo_6:3); revealing Myself as “Jehovah,” that is,
not that the name was unknown before, but that then first the force of that name was
manifested in the promises of God then being realized in performances.
K&D 5-9, “Election of Israel in Egypt. Its resistance to the commandments of God. -
Eze_20:5. And say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day that I chose Israel,
and lifted my hand to the seed of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of
Egypt, and lifted my hand to them, saying, I am Jehovah, your God: Eze_20:6. In that
day I lifted my hand to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which
I sought out for them, which floweth with milk and honey - it is an ornament of all
lands: Eze_20:7. And said to them, Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes,
and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Jehovah, your God. Eze_20:8.
But they were rebellious against me, and would not hearken to me. Not one of them
threw away the abominations of his eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt.
Then I thought to pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my anger upon them in
the midst of the land of Egypt. Eze_20:9. But I did it for my name's sake, that it might
not be profaned before the eyes of the nations, in the midst of which they were, before
whose eyes I had made myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. -
Eze_20:5 and Eze_20:6 form one period. ‫ם‬ ‫יּ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ‫ֳרי‬‫ח‬ ָֽ‫בּ‬ (Eze_20:5) is resumed in ‫ם‬ ‫יּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬
‫הוּא‬ ַ‫ה‬ (Eze_20:6), and the sentence continued. With ‫א‬ָ‫שּׂ‬ ֶ‫ָא‬‫ו‬ the construction with the
infinitive passes over into the finite verb. Lifting the hand, sc. to heaven, is a gesture
employed in taking an oath (see the comm. on Exo_6:8). The substance of the oath is
31

introduced by the word ‫ֹר‬‫מ‬‫א‬ֵ‫ל‬ at the close of Eze_20:5; but the clause '‫ע‬ ַ‫ָד‬‫וּ‬ ִ‫ָא‬‫ו‬ ‫וגו‬ (and
made myself known) is previously inserted, and then the lifting of the hand mentioned
again to indicate the importance of this act of divine grace. The contents of Eze_20:5
and Eze_20:6 rest upon Exo_6:2., where the Lord makes Himself known to Moses, and
through him to the children of Israel, according to the nature involved in the name
Jehovah, in which He had not yet revealed Himself to the patriarchs (Exo_6:3). Both
‫י‬ ִ‫את‬ָ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ָד‬‫י‬ (I lifted my hand) and ‫י‬ִ‫ֲנ‬‫א‬ ‫ָה‬ ‫ה‬ְ‫י‬ are taken from Exo_6:8. The word ‫י‬ ִ‫תּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,תּ‬ from
‫,תּוּר‬ to seek out, explore, also belongs to the Pentateuch (compare Deu_1:33); and the
same may be said of the description given of Canaan as “a land flowing with milk and
honey” (vid., Exo_3:8, etc.). But ‫בי‬ ְ‫,צ‬ ornament, as an epithet applied to the land of
Israel, is first employed by the prophets of the time of the captivity - namely, in Eze_
20:6 and Eze_20:15 of this chapter, in Jer_3:19, and in Dan_8:9; Dan_11:16, Dan_
11:41. The election of the Israelites to be the people of Jehovah, contained eo ipso the
command to give up the idols of Egypt, although it was at Sinai that the worship of other
gods was for the first time expressly prohibited (Exo_20:3), and Egyptian idolatry is
only mentioned in Lev_17:7 (cf. Jos_24:14). Ezekiel calls the idols “abominations of
their eyes,” because, “although they were abominable and execrable things, they were
looked upon with delight by them” (Rosenmüller). It is true that there is nothing
expressly stated in the Pentateuch as to the refusal of the Israelites to obey the command
of God, or their unwillingness to give up idolatry in Egypt; but it may be inferred from
the statements contained in Exo_6:9 and Exo_6:12, to the effect that the Israelites did
not hearken to Moses when he communicated to them the determination of God to lead
them out of Egypt, and still more plainly from their relapse into Egyptian idolatry, from
the worship of the golden calf at Sinai (Ex 32), and from their repeated desire to return
to Egypt while wandering in the desert.
(Note: The remarks of Calvin upon this point are very good. “We do not learn
directly from Moses,” he says, “that they had been rebels against God, because they
would not throw away their idols and superstitions; but the conjecture is a very
probable one, that they had always been so firmly fixed in their abominations as to
prevent in a certain way the hand of God from bringing them relief. And assuredly, if
they had embraced what Moses promised them in the name of God with promptness
of mind, the execution of the promise would have been more prompt and swift. But
we may learn that it was their own obtuseness which hindered God from stretching
out His hand forthwith and actually fulfilling all that He had promised. It was
necessary, indeed, that God should contend with Pharaoh, that His power might be
more conspicuously displayed; but the people would not have been so tyrannically
afflicted if they had not closed the door of divine mercy.”)
Nor is there anything said in the Pentateuch concerning the determination of God to
pour out His wrath upon the idolatrous people in Egypt. We need not indeed assume on
this account that Ezekiel derived his information from some special traditional source,
as Vitringa has done ObservV. ss. I. 263), or regard the statement as a revelation made
by God to Ezekiel, and through him to us. The words do not disclose to us either a
particular fact or a definite decree of God; they simply contain a description of the
attitude which God, from His inmost nature, assumes towards sinners who rebel against
His holy commandments, and which He displayed both in the declaration made
concerning Himself as a zealous, or jealous God, who visits iniquities (Exo_20:5), and
also in the words addressed to Moses when the people fell into idolatry at Sinai, “Let me
alone, that my wrath may wax not against them, and that I may consume them” (Exo_
32

32:10). All that God expresses here, His heart must have felt in Egypt towards the people
who would not desist from idolatry. For the words themselves, compare Eze_7:8; Eze_
6:12; Eze_5:13. ‫שׂ‬ַ‫ע‬ ַ‫ָא‬‫ו‬ (Eze_20:9), “but I did it for my name's sake.” The missing object
explaining what He did, namely, abstain from pouring out His wrath, is to be gathered
from what follows: “that I might not profane my name.” This would have taken place if
God had destroyed Israel by pouring out His wrath; in other words, have allowed them
to be destroyed by the Egyptians. The heathen might then have said that Jehovah had
been unable to liberate His people from their hand and power (cf. Num_14:16 and Exo_
32:12). ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ֵ‫ה‬ is an infin. Niphal of ‫ל‬ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫ח‬ for ‫ל‬ ַ‫ח‬ ֵ‫ה‬ (cf. Lev_21:4).
CALVIN, " God confirms what I said before, that the Jews were not to be reproved
for beginning lately to sin: it was not sufficient to bring recent offenses before them;
but God orders the Prophet to begin with their fathers, as if he had said that the
nation was abandoned from the very beginning, as Stephen reproaches them:
Uncircumcised in heart, you still resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers always did.
(Acts 7:51.) And Christ had said the same thing before: You fill up the measure of
your fathers. (Matthew 23:32.) We know also how frequently rebukes of this kind
occur in the Prophets. God therefore says, that from the time when he chose the seed
of Israel, he had experienced both the wickedness and obstinacy of the people; for
he says that they were not drawn aside by either error or ignorance, but because
they were unwilling to hear, when they were over and over again admonished as to
their duty. Hence three things are to be marked, namely, that the people were bound
to God, since he had gratuitously adopted them; for God here commends his
gratuitous election, together with the singular benefits which he had conferred on
that people: this is one point. The second is, that he not only took them once to
himself, but showed them what was right, so that they could not mistake, except
knowingly and willfully: this is the second point. Then the third is, that they
rebelled purposely, because they would not listen: for if they had been left at the
meeting of two roads, their error had been excusable if they had turned to the left
instead of the right. But if God by his law so shone before them, that he was
prepared to direct them straight to the mark, and they turned aside; thus their
obstinacy and rebellion is plainly detected. This is the sense.
Now as far as words are concerned, he says, that he had chosen Israel. But election,
as I have already briefly touched upon, is opposed to all merits: for if anything had
been found in the people which should cause them to be preferred to others, it
would be improperly said that God had elected them. But since all were in the same
condition, as Moses says in his song (Deuteronomy 32:8,) there was scope for God’s
33

grace, since he separated them from others of his own accord: for they were just like
the rest, and God did not find any difference between them; we see, then, that they
were bound to God more sacredly, since he had joined them to himself gratuitously.
He now adds, that he lifted up his hand to the seed of Jacob. The lifting up the hand
seems to be taken here in different senses. Since it was a customary method of
swearing, God is said sometimes to lift up his hand when he swears. That is indeed
harsh, since the lifting up the hand does not suit God: for we lift up the hand when
we call God to witness; but God swears by himself, and cannot raise his hand above
himself. But we know that he uses forms of speech according to the common
customs of men: hence there is nothing absurd in this phrase, he lifted up his hand,
that is, he swore. Hence, if we may so explain it, this was a confirmation of the
covenant, when God by interposing a oath promised himself to be Israel’s God. But
since he shortly afterwards adds, that he was known, the other sense suits pretty
well, since it refers to the benefits which he had conferred upon the people. And
truly experimental knowledge is intended, since God really proved himself to be
worthy of credit, and thus illustrated his own power in preserving the people. Hence
I said that to lift up the hand is to be received variously in this chapter, since, if we
read the two clauses conjointly, I lifted up my hand unto the seed of the house of
Jacob, and was made known to them, truly the lifting up the hand will imply a
display of power. That also has been said by means of a simile; but shortly
afterwards the lifting up of the hand must be taken for to swear, by the figure of
rhetoric called catachresis, which is the use of a word in a different signification,
and yet there is no absurdity.
I have raised my hand, therefore, to the seed of the house of Jacob, saying, I
Jehovah am your God. (Ezekiel 20:5.)
We see, then, that God raised his hand to sanction the covenant which he had made;
for when he pronounces himself their God, he binds them to himself, and claims
them for his peculiar people, and thus confirms his covenant. But at the same time
he had raised his hand or arm by so many miracles performed in freeing the people.
He says, in that day I raised my hand to, or towards them, to bring them out. Again,
the raising the hand refers to God’s power, since he brought them forth by an
extended arm from that miserable slavery. Since, therefore, he so raised his hand, he
acquired them as his own, that they should no longer be free, but belong altogether
to him. He afterwards adds other benefits, since he not only snatched them from the
tyranny of Pharaoh, but brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey,
34

which he had espied for them. We see how briefly God enlarges upon that
remarkable benefit which he had bestowed upon his people. Not only was he their
Redeemer, but he looked out for a place of residence for them, not only
commodious, but abounding with plenty; for this phrase is common enough with
Moses. In that same day in which I led them out of Egypt, I brought them into a
land, the desire of all lands; that is, which is desirable and superior to all other
lands. It is true, indeed, that other nations were not less fruitful; but God, in thus
praising the land of Canaan. considers it, clothed and adorned by his bounty. But
there was no region under heaven to be compared with the land of Canaan in one
point, namely, God’s choosing it as his earthly dwelling place. Since the land of
Canaan excelled all others in this respect, it is deservedly called the desire of all
lands, or desirable beyond all lands.
Another clause now follows, that God instructed the Jews in piety, and withdrew
them from all the idolatries to which they had been devoted. Instruction then went
before, which showed them the right way of salvation, and recalled them from their
superstitions. The meaning is, that when God adopted the people, he gave them the
rule of living piously, that they should not be tossed about hither and thither, but.
have an aim, to which they might direct the whole course of their life. I said,
therefore, to each of them: this seems more emphatic than if he had spoken to all
promiscuously and generally: but this familiar invitation ought to penetrate more
into their minds, when he speaks to each individually, just as if he said, let each of
you cast away your abominations, and not pollute himself anymore with the idols of
Egypt. When therefore God thus attached them to himself, he shows that he could
not be rightly worshipped by them unless they bid their idolatries farewell, and
formed their whole life according to the rule of his law. He calls their enticements
defilements or idols of the eyes: but we know that the Prophet often speaks thus,
that unbelievers should consider their idols. Hence it is just as if God recalled them
from all the wiles of Satan in which they were enticed, and were so devoted to them
as to have their eyes exclusively fixed on them. He speaks by name of the idols of
Egypt: whence it easily appears that they were corrupted by depraved desires, so as
for the most part to worship the fictitious gods of Egypt. Yet they knew themselves
elected by the true God, and boasted in circumcision as a symbol of divorce from all
nations. Yet though they wished to be thought illustrious on the one hand, they
afterwards prostituted themselves so as to differ in nothing from the Egyptians. We
see then that the desire of piety was almost extinct in their hearts, since they had so
contaminated themselves with the superstitions of Egypt. That he might retain them
the better, he says at the same time that he was their God: for without this principle
35

men are tossed hither and thither, for we know that we are lighter than vanity.
Hence the devil will always find us subject to his fallacies unless God restrains us in
our duty, until he appears to us and shows himself the only God: we see then the
necessity for this remedy, lest men should be carried away by idolatries, namely, the
knowledge of the true God. The third clause will follow afterwards, but we shall
explain it in its turn.
COFFMAN, "Verse 5
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; In the day when I chose Israel,
and sware unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in
the land of Egypt, when I sware unto them, saying, I am Jehovah your God; in that
day, I sware unto them to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that
I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all
lands. And I said unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes,
and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Jehovah your God. 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. 9
But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the
nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in
bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt."
ISRAEL'S ANCESTORS WERE IDOL WORSHIPPERS IN EGYPT
No other scripture pinpoints this phase of Israel's history; but there is ample
evidence of the truth of it throughout the Bible. The worship of the Golden Calf was
nothing but a throwback to Egyptian idolatry (Exodus 32).
"A land that I had searched out for them ..." (Ezekiel 20:6). The land of Canaan is
called, "the glory of all lands," both here and again in Ezekiel 20:15. From the
standpoint of its location, this is especially true, being in fact adjacent to three
continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. Also, the ancient fertility and productivity of
Palestine were, at one time, the best on earth. Many changes since those early times
36

have no doubt altered that situation today.
"I wrought for my name's sake ..." (Ezekiel 20:9). This is a reference to the fact that
God on several occasions did not judge Israel according to what they certainly
deserved; but, that in order to prevent the pagan nations from questioning God's
ability to protect his people, simply went on and blessed them in spite of their sins.
Two examples of this are found in Exodus 32:12 and in Numbers 14:16.
There are at least two examples of Israel's rebellion in Egypt: (1) the first, when
they demanded of Moses, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? and the
second, when they rebelled against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:11).
"The idols of Egypt they did not forsake ..." (Ezekiel 20:8). Joshua, the great leader
who led the Chosen People into Canaan speaks of this (Joshua 24:14).
The problem, from God's standpoint, in this chapter was, "How could God
vindicate his moral character by punishing rebellion, and at the same time preserve
his honor in the eyes of the world."?[9] We are happy indeed that Cooke gave the
correct answer to this problem: "The punishment would come, all right, but there
would be a restoration, involving a striking act of power that would prove to all the
world that Jehovah is indeed the only God."[10] That world-shaking event, of
course, was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the establishment of a New Israel of
God, an Israel without any racial tones whatever, but composed of Jews, Gentiles,
and people of every tongue and tribe and nation.
This is a very important admission from one of the most credible of the radical
critics; because it explains why prophecies of blessing, restoration and salvation
always follow the denunciations found so often in the prophets, and that those
prophecies of doom and salvation always came from the mouth of the same prophet,
whoever he was.
COKE, "Ezekiel 20:5. When I lifted up mine hand— Lifting up the hand, was a
37

ceremony used in taking an oath: the meaning here is, "When I entered into a
solemn covenant with them, pursuant to the oath I had sworn to their fathers." But
Houbigant is of opinion, that lifting up the hand, in this place, means the giving
them help and deliverance. See his note. The 15th and 23rd verses, however, seem to
confirm the first explication. Among the Jews, the juror held up his right hand
towards heaven; which explains a passage in the 144th Psalm, Ezekiel 20:8 whose
mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. The same
form is retained in some parts of Scotland still. See Paley on Moral and Political
Philosophy, p. 159. 4to. This manner of taking an oath is allowed by law to a certain
description of protestant dissenters in Ireland called Seceders. 21 & 22 Geo. 3. c.
lvii.
ELLICOTT, " (5) When I chose Israel.—In Ezekiel 20:5-9 the Lord takes up the
first, or Egyptian period of the history* of Israel. The record of that period, as it has
come to us in the Pentateuch, does not contain either any commands against
idolatry, or any notice of the rebellion of the people against such command; but
both are clearly implied. The very mission of Moses to deliver them rested upon a
covenant by which they were to be the peculiar people of Jehovah (Exodus 6:2-4);
the command to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord implies that this was
a duty neglected in Egypt; and their previous habitual idolatries may be certainly
inferred from Leviticus 17:7, while the disposition of their hearts is seen in their
prompt relapse into the idolatry of the golden calf in Exodus 32. Their whole
murmurings and rebellions were but the manifestation of their resistance to having
the Lord for their God, and His will for their guide.
Lifted up mine hand—As the form of taking an oath (see Ezekiel 20:23 and Ezekiel
47:14). The reference is to such passages as Genesis 15:17-21; Exodus 6:8;
Deuteronomy 32:40, &c. The phrase is repeated in Ezekiel 20:6. which is a
continuation of Ezekiel 20:5.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 20:5 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;
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Ver. 5. In the day when I chose Israel.] Declared them to be my firstborn, and so
higher than the kings of the earth. [Psalms 89:27]
When I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God.] This sweet
promise is not so easily, and, indeed, is never enough, believed, and is therefore here
confirmed by God’s solemn oath thrice repeated, "that by two immutable things,
wherein it was impossible for God to lie, his people might have strong consolation."
[Hebrews 6:18]
PETT, “Verse 5-6
God’s Dealings with Them in Egypt.
“And say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, In the day when I chose Israel, and
lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them
in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to them and said, “I am Yahweh
your God”, in that day I lifted up my hand to them to bring them forth out of the
land of Egypt, to the land which I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey,
which is the glory of all lands.”
God depicts His choice of them as occurring when they were in Egypt. Prior to that
His choice had been of individuals and their households, of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. But in Egypt He had chosen Israel as a budding nation, as a people for
Himself.
This reminds us that in spite of Ezekiel’s stress on individual responsibility, God
was sovereignly at work in His people. Indeed He had bound Himself to them by an
oath. To ‘lift up the hand’ was a popular means of swearing an oath.
39

Note the sequence. He chose them, then He swore to them, then He made Himself
known to them, then He delivered them. The actions were all of God. Compare
Exodus 3:6-8; Exodus 6:2-8.
‘In the day when I chose Israel.’ God had previously chosen Abraham and his
descendants (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 18:18-19). But the day when He chose Israel as
a people with their own identity (composed not just of descendants of Abraham but
of all those who had attached themselves to them as descendants of the servants of
Abraham, and of those who had intermarried with them or thrown in their lot with
them) was the day when he called them through Moses (Deuteronomy 4:37;
Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 10:15; Deuteronomy 14:2 compare Amos 3:2;
Psalms 105:6; Psalms 105:9-11). Note that ‘Israel’ is defined as ‘the seed of the house
of Jacob’, but the word ‘seed’ indicates the seed of all who were conjoined with
Jacob in the family tribe, those who were ‘born in his household’ (compare Genesis
14:14).
‘And lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob.’ The ‘lifting up of the
hand’, the swearing of the oath, is spoken of as being before the making of Himself
known to them in order to bring out that it was the act of Yahweh alone in His
divine will. The manifestation of this oath-swearing occurred a number of times,
and especially at Mount Sinai, but these were all the result of His first oath made to
Himself (compare Genesis 22:16; Hebrews 6:13).
‘And made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to
them and said, “I am Yahweh your God”.’ ‘I am Yahweh your God’ was first
declared to them in Exodus 6:7; compare Ezekiel 6:2; Ezekiel 6:8, and confirmed in
Exodus 20:2, compare Psalms 81:10; Hosea 13:4. This was a specific adoption of
Israel by Yahweh as His ‘firstborn’ (Exodus 4:22).
‘In that day I lifted up my hand to them to bring them forth out of the land of
Egypt, to the land which I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which
is the glory of all lands.’ God’s intention in choosing them as His people was that He
might deliver them from Egypt and bring them to a good land, a fruitful land. The
term ‘flowing with milk and honey’, both natural products of the land, is a
40

description regularly used of Canaan describing it as naturally fruitful (Exodus 3:8;
Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3; Jeremiah 11:5; Jeremiah 32:22).
‘To the land which I had espied for them.’ A beautiful picture. He had, as it were,
looked around and selected out a suitable place for them.
‘Which is the glory of all lands.’ That was the Israelite view of it. They saw it as
God’s land, God’s inheritance and therefore highly favoured (compare Jeremiah
3:19; Exodus 15:17; Deuteronomy 4:21; Deuteronomy 15:4. See also Daniel 11:16;
Daniel 11:41; Daniel 8:9).
WHEDON, “Verse 5
THE PROPHET RECITES BEFORE THE ELDERS THE IDOLATROUS
HISTORY OF THEIR FATHERS, Ezekiel 20:5-29.
5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention
of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see
also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66).
Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath
(Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7).
Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; Exodus 6:3; <19A307>
Psalms 103:7).
PULPIT, “Ezekiel 20:5, Ezekiel 20:6
41

In the day that I lifted up mine hand. The attitude was that of one who takes an oath
(Exodus 6:8), and implies the confirmation of the covenant made with Abraham.
The land flowing with milk and honey appears first in Exodus 3:8, and became
proverbial. The glory of all lands is peculiar to Ezekiel. Isaiah (Isaiah 13:19) applies
the word to Babylon.
6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring
them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out
for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the
most beautiful of all lands.
CLARKE, "To bring them forth of the land of Egypt - When they had been
long in a very disgraceful and oppressive bondage.
A land that I had espied for them - God represents himself as having gone over
different countries in order to find a comfortable residence for these people, whom he
considered as his children.
Flowing with milk and honey - These were the characteristics of a happy and
fruitful country, producing without intense labor all the necessaries and comforts of life.
Of the happiest state and happiest place, a fine poet gives the following description: -
Ver erat aeternum, placidique tepentibus auris
Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine semine flores.
Mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat:
Nec renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis.
Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant:
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.
Ovid’s Metam. lib. i., 107.
On flowers unsown soft Zephyr spreads his wing,
And time itself was one eternal spring;
Ensuing years the yellow harvest crowned,
The bearded blade sprang from the untilled ground,
And laden unrenewed the fields were found.
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Ezekiel 20 commentary

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Ezekiel 20 commentary