Ezechiele 6:10 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. A threatening of the destruction of Israel for their idolatry, and the destruction of their idols with them (Eze 6:1-7). II. A promise of the gracious return of a remnant of them to God, by true repentance and reformation (Eze 6:8-10). III. Directions given to the prophet and others, the Lord's servants, to lament both the iniquities and the calamities of Israel (Eze 6:11-14).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 6 This chapter contains a prophecy of the desolation of the whole land of Israel, and a promise that a remnant should escape, with a lamentation for the sad destruction, signified by some gestures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy is in Eze 6:1; the several parts of the land of Israel or Judea, to which the prophecy is directed, are signified by mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, on which the sword should be brought, Eze 6:3; the desolation is described, and the cause of it suggested, the idolatry of the people, Eze 6:4; the promise of a remnant that should escape, who should remember the Lord, loath themselves for their sins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not in vain, is in Eze 6:8; the lamentation, signified by the prophet's smiting with his hand, and stamping with his foot, for the sins of the people, and the judgments that should come upon them, is in Eze 6:11; a particular enumeration of these judgments follows, and of the places where they should be executed, Eze 6:12; the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, against whom they had sinned and offended by their idolatry, as the places where their slain fell would show, Eze 6:13; and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring this desolation on them, Eze 6:14.

Thus saith the Lord God, smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot,.... These are gestures of persons in distress and agony, who, to show their trouble and grief, smite one hand against the other; or smite with the hand upon the thigh, as in Jer 31:19; and "stretch out", or "make a distension with the foot" (d); as it is in the Hebrew text; extend their thighs; throw out their feet; stamp with them; beat the earth, and make it shake, as the Syriac version; all expressive of anguish and sorrow: and say, alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! the word "alas", or "woe", as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, an interjection of mourning and lamentation, explains the above gestures; and what follows shows the cause of all; namely, the sins and abominations committed by the house of Israel; which they being insensible of, and unconcerned about, the prophet is ordered to take such a method to awaken them out of their stupidity and lethargy; and the rather, since the heaviest of judgments were coming upon them: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; which are threatened in Eze 5:12; and the persons on whom they should be separately executed are mentioned in Eze 6:12. (d) "extende pede tuo", Pagninus, Montanus, Polanus; "fac distensionem cum pede tuo", Munster; "divarica pedes tuos": Calvin.

(Verse 9, 10) Because I have broken their heart by committing adultery and turning away from me, and their eyes are adulterous, looking after their idols. And they will displease each other with the evils they have done in all their abominations. And they will know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain, in order to bring harm upon them. Many things from this chapter have been omitted by the Septuagint, and that part has been changed. I have sworn to their adulterous heart: therefore we have put: I have broken their heart by committing adultery. But he swore and determined that he would do what he had shown through his actions; or he deceived by fornicating and turning away from God, concerning those about whom the Lord speaks through Hosea: They have been seduced by the spirit of prostitution (Hosea 4:12). And they fornicated their eyes after idols, through whose windows it is said that death entered. For this reason, in the book of Daniel, two elder men commanded that Susanna be revealed, so that they could enjoy the beauty of her naked body (Dan. 13). And the Lord spoke not in vain, when He brought evil or evils, when those who were subject to His sentence repent. But if the heart is hard and untamable, not even feeling the punishments of the correcting benefactor, it is said to them: I struck your children without cause: you have not received discipline. (Jeremiah 2:30). However, it is beneficial even to heretics, that their heart be broken, the worst treasure of perverse doctrines, because they have turned away from the Lord, and their eyes commit adultery after their own inventions. Those who remember the Lord will be displeased with all their abominations and those who understand the truth of the true faith will know that He is the Lord. Therefore, He often brings tribulation, which seems harmful and evil to the patient, so that they may be converted to repentance.

In this chapter, which forms a distinct section, the prophet denounces the judgments of God against the Jews for their idolatry, Eze 6:1-7; but tells them that a remnant shall be saved, and brought to a sense of their sins by their severe afflictions, Eze 6:8-14.

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT. (Eze 6:1-14) mountains of Israel--that is, of Palestine in general. The mountains are addressed by personification; implying that the Israelites themselves are incurable and unworthy of any more appeals; so the prophet sent to Jeroboam did not deign to address the king, but addressed the altar (Kg1 13:2). The mountains are specified as being the scene of Jewish idolatries on "the high places" (Eze 6:3; Lev 26:30).