Commentary on Ezekiel Chapters 1-20 John Calvin (continued)
EZEKIEL
lonis, deduxerunt in munitiones 517 ut non audiatur vox ejus amplius in montibus
Israel.
He pursues the same subject, saying that King Jehoiakim, after being taken captive, was bound with fetters and chains, adding, that he was brought to the king of Babylon; and thirdly, was cast into prison. He shows, therefore, how severely God punished the vicious obstinacy of that nation: for when King Jehoiakim was chastised, it thought to have been enough to correct then; but since the people were not improved by this, the severity was doubled; and here Ezekiel says, that King Jehoiakim was cast into a fortified dungeon. He adds, that his voice, that is, his roaring, should be no longer heard in the mountains of Israel. For although he was reduced to straits, through a great part of his kingdom being cut off, yet he did not desist from his ferocity. The Prophet, therefore, sharply derides his insolence, since he did not cease to cry out, and to roar even in the mountains of Israel. It follows ---
Ezekiel 19:10-12
10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful, and full of branches by reason of many waters.
10. Mater tua tanquam vitis in sanguine tuo super aquas plantata fuit: fructifera et ramosa 518 fuit ob aquas multas.
11. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
11. Et fuerunt illi virgae roboris 519 ad sceptra dominantium: et elevata fuit statura ejus supra, 520 et apparuit in altitudine sua, in multitudine ramorum suorum.
12. But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
12. Et evulsa fuit in furore, 521 terram projecta: et ventus Orientalis arefecit fructum ejus discerpti sunt, 522 et arefacti; virga robusta, 523 ignis voravit eas.
Here Ezekiel places before our eyes the twofold state of the Jews, that they may acknowledge themselves fallen into extreme misery, because they had provoked
God. For they did not sufficiently consider their present state, unless the former dignity and happiness with which they were adorned was brought to their remembrance. Now, in some way they had grown callous to all evils: although scarcely anything remained safe but Jerusalem, they did not look back, but were just as wanton as when their affairs were prosperous. Since they had not yet been humbled by so many slaughters, the Prophet, therefore, on the one hand, reminds them of their former condition, and then shows them how they had fallen. This comparison, then, 517That is, "into a close and well-guarded prison." — Calvin. 518Or, "leafy," as some translate it. — Calvin. 519That is, "strong or robust." — Calvin. 520That is, "on high among the boughs or vine-branches." — Calvin. 521Or, "burning wrath." — Calvin. 522Or, "broken up." — Calvin 523"Its twigs were broken up and withered." — Calvin.