Ezekiel 11:13 Kommentar

This chapter concludes the vision which Ezekiel saw, and this part of it furnished him with two messages: - I. A message of wrath against those who continued still at Jerusalem, and were there in the height of presumption, thinking they should never fall (Eze 11:1-13). II. A message of comfort to those who were carried captives into Babylon and were there in the depth of despondency, thinking they should never rise. And, as the former are assured that God has judgments in store for them notwithstanding their present security, so the later are assured that God has mercy in store for them notwithstanding their present distress (Eze 11:14-21). And so the glory of God removes further (Eze 11:22, Eze 11:23). The vision disappears (Eze 11:24), and Ezekiel faithfully gives his hearers an account of it (Eze 11:25).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 11 This chapter contains an account of the sins of the princes of Judah; a prophecy of their destruction; some comfortable, promises respecting those of the captivity; and the chapter is closed with the finishing of the vision of the Lord's removing from Jerusalem; and the whole being ended, the prophet related it to the men of the captivity. In Eze 11:1; the prophet, is shown five and twenty men, among whom were two he knew, and are mentioned by name, and were princes of the people; and he is told that these men devised mischief, and gave bad advice to the people, Eze 11:2; wherefore he is bid to prophesy against them, Eze 11:4; which he accordingly did, the Spirit of the Lord falling upon him, Eze 11:5; declaring that their secret evils were known, as well as their public ones; and that, seeing they had multiplied their slain, and had feared the sword, the sword should come upon them; some should fall by it, and others should be carried captive; the consequence of which would be, that God would be known, and his justice acknowledged, it being what their sins deserved, Eze 11:6; upon this prophecy being delivered out, one of the princes before named died immediately; which filled the prophet with great concern, and put him upon expostulating with God, Eze 11:13; wherefore, for his comfort, he is told, that though the inhabitants of Jerusalem had insulted their brethren that were carried captive, and looked upon the land of Israel as their own possession, that God would be a little sanctuary to them; that he would gather them out of all lands, and give them the land of Israel; that they should come thither, and remove all idolatry from it, and should have regenerating and renewing grace given them, to walk in the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, by which they should appear to be his people, and he to be their God, Eze 11:14; but as for such that continued in their abominable idolatries, these should receive a just recompence of reward, Eze 11:21; after which follows an account of the entire removal of the glory of the Lord from the city of Jerusalem, Eze 11:22; and the prophet being, in vision, brought again to Chaldea, reports the whole he had seen to them of the captivity, Eze 11:24.

And it came to pass when I prophesied,.... Or, "as I prophesied" (i); that is, while he was prophesying, or declaring the above things from the mouth of the Lord, concerning the slaughter of the Jews by the sword, and the captivity of the rest: that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died; one of the princes of the people, and was among the five and twenty men the prophet saw at the door of the east gate of the temple, Eze 11:1; this man dropped down dead on a sudden, just as Ananias and Sapphira at the feet of Peter, Act 5:5. It was in a vision Ezekiel saw this, and in the temple; but no doubt at the same time this prince died at his own house, whose death was notified to the prophet in this way; then fell I down upon my face; as greatly surprised at the event, and filled with concern at what would be the issue of this providence; looking upon it as a pledge and earnest, a token and forerunner, of the utter destruction of the people: and cried with a loud voice; expressing the vehemency of his affection, and the earnestness of his supplication: and said, ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? or, "art thou making?" (k) the ten tribes had been carried captive many years ago, and a large number of the other two tribes in Jeconiah's captivity, so that there were but a remnant left in the land; and, upon the sudden and awful death of this prince, the prophet feared the Lord was going to make an utter end of them at once; which he deprecates. (i) "me prophetante", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. (k) "tu faciem", Montanus, Starckius.

(Verse 13) And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Phaltias son of Banajae died. And I fell on my face, crying out with a loud voice, and I said, Alas, alas, alas, Lord God, are you making an end of the remnant of Israel? As the prophet prophesied, one of the two chief princes, Phaltias son of Banajae, dies. He is interpreted as falling ruin, and he is the son of a builder or mason, for οἰκοδόμος cannot be translated into our language otherwise. Another prince is preserved unharmed, Jezonias son of Azur. Jezonias serves as his ears, that which is subaudible to the soul. Azur, on the other hand, serves as his support or help. Therefore, he who falls away from the Lord, and was in a state of very bad construction, falls rightly, as prophesied by him, whom God strengthened. But he who obeys the commands of God, and is sustained and supported by his help, rightly remains in the leadership of the people. We read in Exodus (Chapter II), after Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, died, the sons of Israel groaned from the works of mud, straw, and bricks, and cried out to the Lord, whom they could not cry out to while he was alive. Isaiah also (Chapter VI), after the death of King Uzziah, who was leprous, saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the Seraphim standing around him; and understanding that his lips were unclean, and he dwelt among a people with unclean lips, he deserved to have a hot coal sent from the altar, and his lips were cleansed of impurity. In this situation, with the strength of God prophesying, the prince who had turned away from the service of the Lord falls in order to be elevated by Christ. For if the resurrection is of the Lord, then the downfall is of the devil. In this, it is sought how it is spoken of the Savior. Behold, here He is placed in ruin, and the resurrection of many in Israel (Luke II, 34). In the ruin of those who were standing wickedly, and in the resurrection of those who had fallen. When the prophet saw this, he fell on his face, not by the merit of sinning, but by the affection of lamenting; and with a loud voice, which came from great fervor of faith, he cried out three times, and said, Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, are you bringing about the consummation of the remnant of Israel? And there is this understanding: Even the remnants themselves, which seemed to exist in the people, are destroyed when you are displeased.

This chapter denounces the judgments of God against those wicked persons who remained in Jerusalem and made a mock of the types and predictions of the prophets, Eze 11:1-13; compare Eze 11:3 with Jer 1:13. God promises to favour those who were gone into captivity, and intimates their restoration from the Babylonish yoke, Eze 11:14-21. Then the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, is represented forsaking the city, as in the foregoing chapter it did the temple, Eze 11:22, Eze 11:23; and the prophet returns in vision to the place from which he set out, (Eze 8:1. etc.), in order to communicate his instructions to his brethren of the captivity, Eze 11:24, Eze 11:25.

Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died - Most probably he was struck dead the very hour in which Ezekiel prophesied against him. His death appears to have resembled that of Ananias and Sapphira, Act 5:1, etc.

PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CORRUPT "PRINCES OF THE PEOPLE;" PELATIAH DIES; PROMISE OF GRACE TO THE BELIEVING REMNANT; DEPARTURE OF THE GLORY OF GOD FROM THE CITY; EZEKIEL'S RETURN TO THE CAPTIVES. (Eze. 11:1-25) east gate--to which the glory of God had moved itself (Eze 10:19), the chief entrance of the sanctuary; the portico or porch of Solomon. The Spirit moves the prophet thither, to witness, in the presence of the divine glory, a new scene of destruction. five and twenty men--The same as the twenty-five (that is, twenty-four heads of courses, and the high priest) sun-worshippers seen in Eze 8:16. The leading priests were usually called "princes of the sanctuary" (Isa 43:28) and "chiefs of the priests" (Ch2 36:14); but here two of them are called "princes of the people," with irony, as using their priestly influence to be ringleaders of the people in sin (Eze 11:2). Already the wrath of God had visited the people represented by the elders (Eze 9:6); also the glory of the Lord had left its place in the holy of holies, and, like the cherubim and flaming sword in Eden, had occupied the gate into the deserted sanctuary. The judgment on the representatives of the priesthood naturally follows here, just as the sin of the priests had followed in the description (Eze 8:12, Eze 8:16) after the sin of the elders. Jaazaniah--signifying "God hears." son of Azur--different from Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan (Eze 8:11). Azur means "help." He and Pelatiah ("God delivers"), son of Benaiah ("God builds"), are singled out as Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, in the case of the seventy elders (Eze 8:11-12), because their names ought to have reminded them that "God" would have "heard" had they sought His "help" to "deliver" and "build" them up. But, neglecting this, they incurred the heavier judgment by the very relation in which they stood to God [FAIRBAIRN].

Pelaliah--probably the ringleader of the scorners (Eze 11:1) was an earnest of the destruction of the rest of the twenty-five, as Ezekiel had foretold, as also of the general ruin. fell . . . upon . . . face--(See on Eze 9:8). wilt thou make a full end of the remnant--Is Pelatiah's destruction to be the token of the destruction of all, even of the remnant? The people regarded Pelatiah as a mainstay of the city. His name (derived from a Hebrew root, "a remnant," or else "God delivers") suggested hope. Is that hope, asks Ezekiel, to be disappointed?

And it came to pass, as I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died: then I fell upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said: Alas! Lord Jehovah, dost Thou make an end of the remnant of Israel? - The sudden death of one of the princes of the nation, while Ezekiel was prophesying, was intended to assure the house of Israel of the certain fulfilment of this word of God. So far, however, as the fact itself is concerned, we must bear in mind, that as it was only in spirit that Ezekiel was at Jerusalem, and prophesied to the men whom he saw in spirit there, so the death of Pelatiah was simply a part of the vision, and in all probability was actually realized by the sudden death of this prince during or immediately after the publication of the vision. But the occurrence, even when the prophet saw it in spirit, made such an impression upon his mind, that with trembling and despair he once more made an importunate appeal to God, as in Eze 9:8, and inquired whether He meant to destroy the whole of the remnant of Israel. עשׂה כלה, to put an end to a thing, with את before the object, as in Zep 1:18 (see the comm. on Nah 1:8). The Lord then gives him the comforting assurance in Eze 11:14-21, that He will preserve a remnant among the exiles, and make them His people once more.