Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
TJie Ei}i)fitfance of the Escaped. EZEKIEL VIII. The Idolatries Practised in Jerusalem.
jubilee, and which is now to cease through the nation's .niquity, let none think to bring about by liis iniquity. W:. they Itavc Ulown—ratlier, " Blow the trumpet," or, "Let tliem blow the trumpet" to collect soldiers as they will, "to make all reaJy" for encountering the foe, it will be of no avail: none will have the courage to go to the battle i,cf. Jeremiah G. 1). [Calvin.] 13. No security Bhoiild anywhere be found (Deuteronomy 32. 25). Fulfilled (Lamentations 1.20); aUo at the Roman invasion (Matthew 2i. 16-lS). 16. (Ch. 6. G.) like doves—which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher (Psalm 11. 1). So Israel, once dwelling in his peaceful valleys, shall flee from the foe to tl:e mountains, which, as being the scene of his idolatries, were justly to be made the scene of his better to understand this of the places dedicated to th/nr idols. As they defiled God's sanctuary, He will defile their self-constituted "sacred places." 25. pence, and. . . none-(l Thessalonians 5. 3.) 26. Mischief npon . . . mlsc Uief—(Deuteronomy 32. 23; Jeremiah 4. 20.) This Is said, because the Jews were apt to fancy at every abatement of suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will accumulate woe on woe. rumour of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty (Matthew 24.
6). seek a vision—to find some way of escape from their difficulties (Isaiah 2G. 9). So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37. 17; 38. 14). law shall perish—fulfilled (ch.
20.1, 3; Psalm 74.0; Lamentations 2.9; cf. Amos 8.11) God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from the priest" (Jeremiah 18. 18). ancients-the ecclesiastical rulers of the people. 27. people of . . . land the general multitude, as distinguished from the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks. The king, whose duty it was to animate others, and find a remedy for existing evils, shall himself be In the utmost an.xiety; a mark of the desperate state of flight and sluime. The plaintive note of the dove (Isaiah
59. IJ) represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter (Zeoliariah 12. 10-12). 17. sliall be weak uis water lit., shatl f/o (as) ivaiers ; incapable of resistance (Joshua?.
5; Psalni 22. H; Isaiah 13.7). 18. cover tliein—as a garment, baldness—a sign of mourning (Isaiah 3. 2t ; Jeremiah -IR. 37; Jlioali 1. IG). 19. cast . . . silver in . . . streets —just retribution ; thfy had abused their silver and gold by converting them into idols, "the stumbling-block of their iniquity" (ch. 14. 3, 4, /. e., an occasion of sinning); so these silver and gold idols, so far from " being able to deliver them in tlie day of the Lord's wrath" (see Proverbs 11. i), shall, in despair, be cast by them into the streets as a prey to the foe, by whom they shall be "removed" (Grotil'S tratislntes as Margin, "shall be despised as an unclean thing"); or rather, as suits the parallelism, "shall be put away from them" 6^ the Jews. [C'ALVix.] "They (the silver and gold) shall not satisfy their souls," i. e., their cravings of appetite and other needs. S30. beauty of liis ornameut—tlie temple of Jehovah, the especial glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery used by God as to the temple, ch. Hi. 10, 11). Cf. ch. 2!. 21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes." ima-^es . . . tiierelii viz., in the temple (ch. 8. 3-17). set It far from fliem—God had "set" the temple (their " beauty of ornament") "for His majesty;" but they had setup "abominations therein;" therefore God, in just retribution, "set it far from theni,"(i. e., removed them far from it, or took it away from them. [VAi'AiiLUS.J Margin atl'airs. clothed with desolation—Clothing is designed to keep ofl' shame; but in this case shame shall be the clothing, after. . . way—because of their wicked ways. Avserts—lit., judgments, i. e., what just judgment awards to them; used to implj' the exact correspondence of God's judgment with the judicial penalties they had incurred: they oppressed the poor, and deprived them of liberty; therefore they shall be oppressed, and lose their own liberty.
CHAPTER VIII.
Ver. 1-18. This eighth chapter begins a new stage of Ezckiel's prophecies, and continues to the end of the eleventh chapter. The connected visions from ch. 3. 12 to the end of ch. 7. comprehended Judah and Israel; but the visions (ch. S.-ll.) refer immediately to Jerusalem and the remnant of Judah under Zedekiah, as distinguished from the Babylonian exiles. 1. sixth year viz., of tlie captivity of Jehoiachin, as in ch. 1. 2, the "fifth year" is specified. The lying on his sides 390 and 40 days (cli. 4. 5, G) had by this time been completed, at least in vision. That event was naturally a memorable epoch to the exiles; and the computation of years from it was to humble the Jews, as well as to ^how their perversity in not having repented, though so long and severely chastised, eltlers viz., those carried away with Jehoiachin, and now at the Cheljar. sat l>efore me—to hear the word of God from me, in the absence of the temple and other public places of sabbath worship, during the exile (ch. 33.80, 31). It was so ordered they were present at the giving of the prophecy, and so translttfcs, " JIade it unto them an vndean l/iing" (cf. Margi)i on V. 19, " removed"); what I designed for their glory they turned to their shame, therefore I will make It turn to tli< ir ignominy and ruin. til. strangers—barbarous and savage nations. 2:2. pollute my secret i>laee—just relrilM'.lion for the Jews' pollution of the temple. " J{obleft without excuse, hand of. . . Lord . . . fell . . . upon me—God's mighty operation /cH, like a thunderbolt, wywn OTt'(in ch. 1.3, it is less forcible, "was upon him"); whatever, therefore, he is to utter is not his own, for he has put ber.i shall enter and defile" the holy of holies, the place of God's manifested presence, entrance into which was <lenied even to the Levites and priests, and was permitted to the high priest only once a year on the great day of atonement. i43. cbaln—symbol of the captivity (cf. Jeremiah 27. 2). As they enchained the land with violence, BO they shall be chained themselves. It was customary to lead away captives In a row with a chain passed from the neck of one to the other. Therefore tramlate as the Hebrew requires, "the chain," viz., that usually employed on such occasions. Calvin explains it, that the Jews should l>e dragged, whether they would or no, before God's tribunal to be tried as culprits in chains. The next words favour this: "bloody crimes," rather, ^'judgment of bloorls," i.e., with blood-sheddings deserving tlie extreme Judicial penalty. Cf. Jeremiah 51. i) : " Her ji/t/r/- meHMcaclieth unto heaven." !44:. worst of . . . Iieathcn oil' the mere man, whilst tlie power of God reigns in him. [Calvin.] 2. likeness—understand, "of a man," !. e., of Messiah, the Angel of the covenant, in the person of whom alone God manifests Himself (ch. 1.26; John 1. IS). The "fire," from "His loins downward," betokens the vengeance of God kindled against the wicked Jews, whilst seai cliing and purifying the remnant to be spared. The " l)rlghtn«'ss" "upward'' betokens His unapproachable majesty (1 Timothy 6. 10). For Hcbrctv, " eesh,"yire, LXX.,
read " ish," a man. colour of amber—the glitter of chasmal [Faii{HAIUN] {Note, ch. 1.4, "polished brass"). 3. Instead of prompt lug him to address directly the elders before him, the Si)lritcarried him away in vision(,nol in person bodily) to the temple at Jerusalem; he proceeds to nport to them what he witnessed: his message thus fall* Into two parts: (1.) The abominations reported in ch. 8.
ivii-UeO of llie iiuli<»is ; the giving up of Israel to their powi'r will convince the Jews that this Is a Hnal overthrow, pomp of . . . strong—the /»i<te wherewith men "slil Tof forelieail" despise the prophet. Iioly places the sacred compartments of the temple (Psalm GS. 35
(2.) The dealings of Judgment and mercy to bo adopted towards the Impenitent and penitent Israelites respectively (ell. 9,-11). The exiles looked hopefully towards Jerusalem, and, so far from believing things there to be on the verge of ruin, expected a return In peace ; whilst those
Jeremiah 51. 51). [Calvin.) God calls it "t/i.rir holy places," because they had so defiled it that He regarded
It no longer as ITis. However, as the defilement of the temple has already been mentioned (u. 20, 22), and "their (incred places" are introduced as a new subject, it seems left In Jerusalem eyed the exiles with contempt, as if cast away from the Lord, whereas they themselves were noai
Tlf T},>/t(/e of Jealousy. EZEKIEL YIIT. Tammva and Sun-worshipperB.
the cause of God ! 12. every man In . . . chambers of
Cfo<l HP.d ensurfd in the pnsspssinns nf Ihc land (ch. 11. 1')).
. . . Imagfry—lhe eldeis ("ancients") are here llie representatives of the people, rather than to be regarded literally. Mostly, the leaders of heathen superstitions laughed at them secretly, whilst publicly professing them in order to keep the people in sulijectiou. Here what is meant is, tiiat the people generally addicted themselves to secret idolatry, led on by tlieir elders; there is no doubt, also, allusion to the mysteries, as in the worship of ISis in Egypt, the Eleusinian in Greece, &c., to which the initiated alone were admitted. "The chambers of imagery" are their osswperoerse imaginations, answering to tlie priests' chambers in the vision, whereon the pictures were portrayed {v. 10.) Ijord . . . forsaken . . . earth —they infer tliis because God has left them to«tlieir mis-
Hciic.f llie vision here of what iitfectca those in Jerusalem 'mmediuteiy was a si'asoi\i\l)le communication to tlie exiles away from it. <loor of . . . iiuier gate—facing the north, thedirectioii in which lie came from Cheliar, called the "altar-gate" (v. 5); it opened into the inner court, wherein .stood the altar of burnt ofl'erin; the inner court
(1 Kings (1.361 was that of the priests; the outer court (ch.
10.5), that of the people, wliere tliey assembled, seat—the pedestal ot the image. Image of jealousy— Astarte, or Asheora (as the Hebrew for "grove" ought to be translated,
2 Kings 21. .3, 7; 2.!. 4, 7), set up by Manasseh as a rival to Jehovah in His temple, and arresting the attention of all worshippers as tliey entered; it was the Syrian Venus, worshipped with licentious rites; the " queen of heaven," wife of Phoiniciaii B.ial. Havernick thinks all the scenes of idolatry in the chapter are successive portions of the eries, without succouring them, so that they seek help from other gods. Instead of repenting, as they ought, they bite the curb. [Calvin.] 1*. From the sea-et abominations of the chambers of imagery, the prophet's eye is turned to the o««er court at the north door; within the outer court women were not admitted, but only to the door, sat—the attitude of mourners (Job 2. 13; Isaiah 3.
festival held in honour of Tammuz or Adonis {v. 14). Probably, liowcver, tlie scenes are separate proofs of Jewish idolatry, rather tlian restricted to one idol. provoketU to jealousy —^calleth lor a visitation in wrath of the "jealous God," wdio will not give His lionour to another
26). Tammuz—from a Hebrew root, " to melt down." Instead of weeping for the national sins, they wept for the idol. Tammuz (the <S'i/»'ian. for Adonis), the pai'amour of Venus, and of the same name as the river flowing from Lebanon ; killed by a wild boar, and, according to the fable, permitted to spend half the year on earth, and obliged to spend the other half in the lower world. An annual feast was celebrated to him in June Oeuce called Tammuz in the Jewish calendar) at Byblos, when the Syrian women, in wild grief, tore off their hair and yielded their persons to prostitution, consecrating the hire of their infamy to Venus; next followed days of rejoicing for his return to the earth; the former feast being calle;! "the disappearance of Adonis," the latter, " the finding of Adonis." This Phoenician feast answered to the similar Egyptian one in honour of Osiris. The idea thus fablel was that of the waters of the river and tlie beauties of spring destroyed by the summer heat. Or else, the eaith being clothed with beauty, during the half year when the sun is in the upper hemisphere, and losing it when be departs to the lower. The name Adonis is not here used, as Adon is the appropriated title of Jehovah. 1.5,16. The next are "i/reater abominations," not in respect to the idolatry, but in respect to the place and persons committing it. In "the inner court,"' immediately before the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, where the priests advanced only on extraordinary occasions (Joel 2. 17), twenty-five men (the leaders of the twenty-four courses or orders of the priests, 1 Chronicles
(cf. the second commandment. Exodus 20. 5). Jerome refers this verse to a statue of Baal, which Josiah had overthrown, and his successors had replaced. 4. The Sliekinab cloud of Jehovah's glory, notwithstanding the provocation of the idol, still remains in the temple, like thatE/.ekiel saw "in the plain" (ch. 3.22, 23); not till ch.
10. 4, IS did it leave the temple at Jerusalem; showing the long-suflering of God, which ought to move the Jews to repentance. 5. gate of . . . altar— the principal avenue to the altar of burnt offering; as to the nortiiern position, see 2 Kings 10. 14. Ahaz had removed the brazen altar from the front of the Lord's house to the north of the altar which he liad lilmiielf erected. The locality of the idol enhances the hciuousuess of the sin, before God's own altsir 6. that 1 viiould (be compelled by their sin tc) go far oft fioni my sanctuary-(Ch. 10.18); the sure precursor of its destruction. 7. door of ti\e courts i. e., of the inner court (v. 3);' the court of tlie pi iestsand Levites, into which now otiiers were admitted in violation of the law. [Gronus.J liole iu . . . wall i.e., an aperture or window in the wall of the priests' chambers, through which he could eee into the various apartments, wherein was the idolatrous shrine. 8. dig—for it had been blocked up during Josiah's reformation. Or rather, the vision is not of au actual scene, but an ideal pictorial representation of the Egyptian idolatries into which the covenant-people had relapsed, practising them in secret places where they shrank from the light of day [FAiRBAiiiN] (John 3. 20). But cf. as to the literal introduction of idolatries into the temple, ch. .5. 11; Jeremiah 7. 30; 32. 34. 10. creeping things . . . beasts—worshipped in Egypt; still found portrayed on tlieir chamber walls ; so among the troglodytie. rottnd about—on every side they surrounded themselves with incentives to superstition. 11. seventy men—the seventy members composing the Sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, the origination of which we find in the Seventy elders, representatives of the congregation, who went up with Moses to the mount to behold the glory of Jehovah, and to witness the secret transactions relating to the establishment of the covenant; also, in the seventy elders appointed to share the burden of the people with Moses. How awfully it aggravates the national sin, that the seventy, once admitte<l to the Lord's secret coun-
24. IS, 19, with the high priest, " the princes of the sanctu. ary," Isaiah 43. 28), representing the whole priesthood, as the seventy elders represented the people, stood with their backs turned on the temple, and their faces towards the east, making obeisance to the rising sun (contrast 1 Kings
8. +1.) Sun-worship came from the Persians, who made the sun the eye of their god Ormuzd. It existed as early as Job (Job 31. 26; cf. Deuteronomy 4. 19). Josiah could only suspend it for the time of his reign (2 Kings 23. 5, 11); it revived under his successors, worshipped— in the Hebreiv a corrupt form is used to exjjress Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship. 17. put . . . branch to . . . nose—proverbial, for " tliey turn up the nose in scorn," expressing their insolent security. [LXX.] Not content with outraging "with their violence" the second table of the law, viz., that of duty towards one's neighbour, " they have returned" (t. e., they turn back afresh) to provoke me by violations of the first table. [Calvin.] Kather, they held up a branch or bundle of tamarisk (called barsom) to their nose at daybreak, whilst singing hymns to the rising sun. [Strabo, 1. 15, p. 733.] Sacred trees were frequent symbols in idol-worship. Calvin translates, "to their own ruin," lit., "to their nose," i. e., with the effect of rousing my anger (of which the Hebrew is "nose") to their ruin. 18. though they cry . . . yet will I not hear—(Proverbs 1.28; Isaiah 1. 15.)
cil (Psalm 25. 14), should now, "in the dark," enter "the secret" of the wicked (Genesis 49. 6), those judicially bound to suppress Idolatry being the ringleaders of it! Jaa-, eanlali-perhaps chief of the seventy: son of Shnphan, the scribe who read to Josiah the book of the law; the spiritual privileges of the son (2 Kings 22. 10-14) increased his guilt. The very name means, "Jehovah hears," giving the lie to the unbelief which virtually said (ch. 9.9), "The Lord seeth us not," <fec. (cf. Psalm 10. 11, 14; 50. 21 ; 94.
7, 9X The offering of Incense belonged not to the elders, but to the priests; this usurpation added to the guilt of the former, cloud of Incense — they spared no expense for their Idols. Oh that there were the same liberality iu