Ezekiel 33:23 Ulasan

The prophet has now come off his circuit, which he went as judge, in God's name, to try and pass sentence upon the neighbouring nations, and, having finished with them, and read them all their doom, in the eight chapters foregoing, he now returns to the children of his people, and receives further instructions what to say to them. I. He must let them know what office he was in among them as a prophet, that he was a watchman, and had received a charge concerning them, for which he was accountable (Eze 33:1-9). The substance of this we had before, Eze 3:17, etc. II. He must let them know upon what terms they stand with God, that they are upon their trial, upon their good behaviour, that if a wicked man repent he shall not perish, but that if a righteous man apostatize he shall perish (Eze 33:10-20). III. Here is a particular message sent to those who yet remained in the land of Israel, and (which is very strange) grew secure there, and confident that they should take root there again, to tell them that their hopes would fail them because they persisted in their sins (Eze 33:21-29). IV. Here is a rebuke to those who personally attended Ezekiel's ministry, but were not sincere in their professions of devotion (Eze 33:30-33).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 33 This chapter treats of the prophet's duty, and the people's sins; contains a vindication of the justice of God; a threatening of destruction to those who remained in the land after the taking of the city; and a detection of the hypocrisy of the prophet's hearers. The duty of a watchman in general is declared, Eze 33:1, an application of this to the prophet, Eze 33:7, the sum of whose business is to warn the wicked man of his wickedness; and the consequence of doing, or not doing it, is expressed, Eze 33:8, an objection of the people, and the prophet's answer to it, Eze 33:10, who is bid to acquaint them, that a righteous man trusting to his righteousness, and sinning, should not live; and that a sinner repenting of his sins should not die, Eze 33:12, the people's charge of inequality in the ways of God is retorted upon them, and removed from the Lord, and proved against them, Eze 33:17, then follows a prophecy, delivered out after the news was brought of the taking of the city, threatening with ruin those that remained in the land, confident of safety, and that for their sins, which are particularly enumerated, Eze 33:21, and the chapter is closed with a discovery of the hypocrisy of those that attended the prophet's ministry, Eze 33:30.

Wherefore say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Send them this message in writing, as from the Lord; for the prophet was now in Chaldea, and could not deliver it by word of mouth to those that inhabited the wastes of Israel; but he could tell it to the messenger that came to him, who had escaped from Jerusalem; or send it by him, or some other: ye eat with the blood; or rather "upon", or "by" the "blood" (l); contrary to the law in Lev 19:26 which is a different law from that in Gen 9:4, and from that in Lev 3:17 and refers to an idolatrous practice of the Heathens, which these Jews imitated; who, having slain and offered their sacrifices to devils, sat down round about the blood of them, and ate their food or part of their sacrifice by it, as Kimchi on the text observes. The account Maimonides (m) gives of the Zabians is this, "you must know (says he) that the blood is reckoned very unclean and impure by the Zabians, yet is eaten by them, because they think it is the food of devils; and that he that eats it by this means obtains some communications with them; so that they converse familiarly with him, and reveal things future to him, which the vulgar commonly attribute to devils: notwithstanding there were some among them, with whom it seemed very grievous and difficult to eat blood (for it is a thing which the nature of man abhors); these used to slay some beast, and take its blood, and put it in a vessel, or in a hole dug in the earth, and eat the slain beast, sitting in a circle about the blood; imagining to themselves, in so doing, while they ate the flesh the devils ate the blood, and that this is their food; and by this means friendship, fraternity, and familiarity were contracted between them, because they all ate at one table, and sat on one seat; besides, they were of opinion that the devils appeared to them in dreams, and told them things to come, and were of much advantage to them;'' and accordingly it follows: and lift up your eyes towards your idols; make your devotion, and pray unto them, and worship them, and expect help and assistance from them: and shed blood; innocent blood, as the Targum; they were guilty of murder as well as of idolatry, or shedding of blood, in sacrifice to idols: and shall ye possess the land? can such wretches as you, such gross idolaters and murderers, ever think that you are the children of Abraham, and have a right to the inheritance of this land, or shall long continue in the possession of it, living in such abominable iniquities as these? (l) "super sanguinem", Munster, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius; "juxta sanguinem"; so some in Vatablus. (m) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46. p. 484.

(Verse 23 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, those who dwell in these ruined places in the land of Israel speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he possessed the land; but we are many, the land has been given to us as a possession. Therefore, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: You who eat with blood and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, shall you inherit the land? You have stood with your swords, you have committed abominations, and each of you has defiled his neighbor's wife, and you will possess the land by inheritance? This you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who dwell in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and caves shall die by pestilence. And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of its strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that no one will pass through. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I make their land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. Firstly, it must be understood that approximately eight verses prior to the place which we have established: Those who partake in blood, and lift up your eyes to your impurities, until the place where it is written: These things you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God, are not found in the Septuagint, which, along with many others, have neglected these things, or as they have been interpreted by them, gradually removed from the writings due to error. And our Latin, or rather, envious Christians, or to say it more plainly, heirs of the Grunnian faction, bark against us, because we discourse according to the Hebrew: as if food were being imposed unwillingly, and not feasts being prepared for those who receive them with thanksgiving. Certainly, if they don't trust me, let them read other editions, Aquila's, Symmachus's, and Theodotion's; let them interrogate the Hebrews from different provinces, not just one place, so they don't boast that they have been bought by me; and when they see that all agree with my error or ignorance, then let them understand that they are too wise and desire to sleep rather than to learn; and let them live in the seventy cells of the Alexandrian lighthouse, so they don't lose their sails from the ships and don't sigh for damages to the ropes. Now let us discuss what we have proposed. After Jerusalem was captured and the temple destroyed, the poor of the land, of whom Jeremiah writes, were left alone in Jerusalem to cultivate vineyards and fields and to dwell in the ruins of the burned city. And although they should have repented for the reasons for their captivity, they deceived themselves with empty hope, saying: Our father Abraham was one, and yet he possessed this land as an inheritance, not because he himself possessed it, but because his descendants received the land of promise. If, therefore, he alone was multiplied into so many peoples, we who are left behind in the land of Judea, and dwell in desolate and ruined cities, will certainly be multiplied much more, so that we may possess more than he possessed alone. To this the Lord responded: Abraham possessed the land of promise by faith. For Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:8). However, these people, who are occupied with disbelief and wickedness, even if they are many, will not be able to possess. At the same time he lists the six kinds of sins that offend God, namely, those who eat in blood, and lift up your eyes to uncleanness, that is, to your idols, and pour out blood, that is, perpetrate murder: Could you, doing these things, be able to hold the land by inheritance? Nor are you content with this end of wickedness, but you stand daily in your swords, ready for killing, and imitating Esau, who stood, and lived in his sword, you do incredible abominations, namely, the shameful lusts of indecency, and each one defiles the wife of his neighbor; that you may be more wicked in that, that you have defiled the wife of your friend and neighbor. And when you do these things, do you think you will inherit the land? Therefore, answer them, O prophet, and reveal this sentence about them from my words. I swear by myself that those who dwell in ruins and walls will fall by the sword, and those who are in the fields or the plain will be devoured by beasts, and those who are in fortified places or caves cannot escape the wrath of God but will die of hunger and pestilence. And I will make the land of Judah into a desert, and its proud strength will fail, which once was its strength. But God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Even the mountains and everything will be deserted, and it will become such a great solitude that no one will pass through them, and then those who remained will no longer trust in their multitude, but will realize the magnitude of the solitude and know that I am the Lord, who made the land a desert because of all the abominations they have done. Let these words be spoken against those who, after Jerusalem was captured and the entire region of the Jews devastated, dwelt in ruins and in deserted cities and villages. Now let us turn to tropology, and according to our custom, let us engage in a broad discussion rather than a mere dissertation. Every heretic dwells in walls and deserts, and believes himself to possess the land of Israel, and says: If Abraham, by his faith alone, came into such great blessedness that his descendants were multiplied like the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven, how much more will we, who are many, possess the land of Israel, that is, those who see God, and the confession of the Lord's Day? To whom the Lord replied: He deservedly possessed the land of faith; but your infidelity, or rather blasphemy, will not be able to possess the land of Israel, that is, the Church. For first you eat in blood, shedding their blood whom you scandalize. Then you lift your eyes to your impurities or abominations, which you have fixed in your mind: when you ought to imitate the ecclesiastical man, and say: To you I lift up my eyes, you who dwell in heaven (Ps. CXXII, 1). Thirdly, you shed blood, not giving life to those whom you have deceived, but killing them. It is not enough for you to have done these three things, but you stand with your swords, that is, you persevere in the wickedness of your opinions, and you are ready for murder, and you commit abominations, doing those things in your beds which are shameful to speak of, and you defile the wife of your neighbor, namely, the ecclesiastical conversation, eagerly snatching away those who are daily deceived from the embrace of Christ. And when you have done these things, do you think you will possess the land of Israel as an inheritance? To whom God speaks, that whoever dwells in the ruinous assemblies of heretics will fall by the sword of Ecclesiasticus, concerning which it is written: 'Double-edged swords are in their hands' (Ps. 149:6). And in the Gospel: 'I did not come to bring peace, but a sword' (Matthew 10). And the servant who indulges in luxury and idleness will be divided, that is, he will be struck with a sword, and his portion will be placed with the unbelievers' (Luke 12). And whoever is in the field or in the countryside, will be handed over to beasts for devouring, which the prophet, desiring to avoid them, prays: Do not hand over to beasts the soul confessing to you (Ps. LXXIII, 19). But whoever is in strongholds and fortified places, of which it is written: The righteous ascends strong cities, and destroys their fortifications, in which the wicked trusted (Prov. XXI, 22); and he resides in caves, of which it is said: It is written, My Father's house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves (Matt. XXI, 33): this person will die of the hunger of the word of the Lord, and of pestilence, and all the land of heretics will be turned into a desert, so that their pride is broken and the mountains are turned into a desert, which promised themselves the height of knowledge. Those mountains are called Israel, for under the name of Christ they deceive and overthrow everyone; no one will be able to pass through them, nor will anyone be able to say what Moses said: 'When I pass by, I will see this great vision' (Exodus 3:1). For the inhabitants of these perverse mountains are not strangers or visitors, but rather residents. And when they have suffered these things, then they will know that He is the Lord who has made their land a desert because of the abominations they have committed.

Jerusalem is captured and the temple is destroyed, and the poor earth of which Jeremiah wrote was left behind in Jerusalem. Those who kept vines and tilled the land live in the ruins of burned city; when they ought to repent of the things that had brought about their captivity, they blind themselves with a false hope by saying, “Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land.”

The prophet, after having addressed several other nations, returns now to his own; previously to which he is told, as on a former occasion, the duty of a watchman, the salvation or ruin of whose soul depends on the manner in which he discharges it. An awful passage indeed; full of important instruction both to such as speak, and to such as hear, the word of God, Eze 33:1-9. The prophet is then directed what answer to make to the cavils of infidelity and impiety; and to vindicate the equity of the Divine government by declaring the general terms of acceptance with God to be (as told before, chap. 18) without respect of persons; so that the ruin of the finally impenitent must be entirely owing to themselves, Eze 33:10-20. The prophet receives the news of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, about a year and four months after it happened, according to the opinion of some, who have been led to this conjecture by the date given to this prophecy in the twenty-first verse, as it stands in our common Version: but some of the manuscripts of this prophet consulted by Dr. Kennicott have in this place the Eleventh year, which is probably the genuine reading. To check the vain confidence of those who expected to hold out by possessing themselves of its other fastnesses, the utter desolation of all Judea is foretold, Eze 33:21-29. Ezekiel is informed that among those that attended his instructions were a great number of hypocrites, against whom he delivers a most awful message. When the Lord is destroying these hypocrites, then shall they know that there hath been a prophet among them, Eze 33:30-33.

RENEWAL OF EZEKIEL'S COMMISSION, NOW THAT HE IS AGAIN TO ADDRESS HIS COUNTRYMEN, AND IN A NEW TONE. (Eze. 33:1-33) to the children of thy people--whom he had been forbidden to address from Eze 24:26-27, till Jerusalem was overthrown, and the "escaped" came with tidings of the judgment being completed. So now, in Eze 33:21, the tidings of the fact having arrived, he opens his heretofore closed lips to the Jews. In the interval he had prophesied as to foreign nations. The former part of the chapter, at Eze. 33:2-20, seems to have been imparted to Ezekiel on the evening previous (Eze 33:22), being a preparation for the latter part (Eze 33:23-33) imparted after the tidings had come. This accounts for the first part standing without intimation of the date, which was properly reserved for the latter part, to which the former was the anticipatory introduction [FAIRBAIRN]. watchman-- Eze 33:1-9 exhibit Ezekiel's office as a spiritual watchman; so in Eze 3:16-21; only here the duties of the earthly watchman (compare Sa2 18:24-25; Kg2 9:17) are detailed first, and then the application is made to the spiritual watchman's duty (compare Isa 21:6-10; Hos 9:8; Hab 2:1). "A man of their coasts" is a man specially chosen for the office out of their whole number. So Jdg 18:2, "five men from their coasts"; also the Hebrew of Gen 47:2; implying the care needed in the choice of the watchman, the spiritual as well as the temporal (Act 1:21-22, Act 1:24-26; Ti1 5:22).

Preaching of Repentance after the Fall of Jerusalem The first word of God, which Ezekiel received after the arrival of the fugitive with the intelligence of the destruction of Jerusalem, was not of a consolatory, but of a rebuking nature, and directed against those who, while boasting in an impenitent state of mind of the promise given to the patriarchs of the everlasting possession of the Holy Land, fancied that they could still remain in possession of the promised land even after the destruction of Jerusalem and of the kingdom of Judah. This delusion the prophet overthrows by the announcement that the unrighteous are to have no share in the possession of the land of Israel, but are to perish miserably, and that the land is to be utterly waste and without inhabitants (Eze 33:23-29). The Lord then shows him that his countrymen will indeed come to him and listen to his words, but will only do that which is pleasant to themselves; that they will still seek after gain, and not do his words; and that it will not be till after his words have been fulfilled that they will come to the knowledge of the fact that he really was a prophet (Eze 33:30-33). We perceive from these last verses that the threat uttered in Eze 33:24-29 was to form the basis for Ezekiel's further prophecies, so that the whole of this word of God has only the force of an introduction to his further labours. But however the two halves of this word of God may appear to differ, so far as their contents are concerned, they are nevertheless closely connected. The state of heart disclosed in the first half, with reference to the judgment that has already fallen upon the land and kingdom, is to preclude the illusion, that the fact of the people's coming to the prophet to hear his words is a sign of penitential humiliation under the punishing hand of God, and to bring out the truth, that the salvation which he is about to foretell to the people is only to be enjoyed by those who turn with sincerity to the Lord. Eze 33:23-29 False reliance upon God's Promises Eze 33:23. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 33:24. Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins in the land of Israel speak thus: Abraham was one, and received the land for a possession; but we are many, the land is given to us for a possession. Eze 33:25. Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Ye eat upon the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, and would ye possess the land? Eze 33:26. Ye rely upon your sword, do abomination, and one defileth another's wife, and would ye possess the land? Eze 33:27. Speak thus to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, By my life, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field him do I give to the beasts to devour, and those who are in the fortresses and caves shall die of the pestilence. Eze 33:28. And I make the land devastation and waste, and its proud might shall have an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be waste, so that no one passeth through. Eze 33:29. And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I make the land devastation and waste because of all the abominations which they have done. - This threat is directed against the people who remained behind in the land of Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem. ישׁבי are the Israelites who dwelt amidst the ruins of the Holy Land, the remnant of the people left behind in the land. For it is so evident as to need no proof that Kliefoth is wrong in asserting that by החרבות we are to understand the district bordering on the Chaboras, which was not properly cultivated; and by the inhabitants thereof, the exiles who surrounded Ezekiel. It is only by confounding אמר and דּבּר that Kliefoth is able to set aside the more precise definition of the inhabitants of these ruins contained in the words על אדמת ישׂראל, and to connect ישׂ 'על אד with אמרים, "they speak concerning the land of Israel;" and in Eze 33:27 it is only in a forced manner that he can generalize החרבות and take it as referring to the waste places both in the Holy Land and on the Chaboras. The fact, moreover, that Eze 33:30-33 treat of the Israelites by the Chaboras, is no proof whatever that they must also be referred to in Eze 33:24-29. For the relation in which the two halves of this word of God stand to one another is not that "Eze 33:30-33 depict the impression made upon the hearers by the words contained in Eze 33:24-29," so that "the persons alluded to in Eze 33:30-33 must necessarily be the hearers of Eze 33:24-29." Eze 33:30-33 treat in quite a general manner of the attitude which the prophet's countrymen would assume towards his words - that is to say, not merely to his threats, but also to his predictions of salvation; they would only attend to that which had a pleasant sound to them, but they would not do his words (Eze 33:31, Eze 33:32). It is quite in harmony with this, that in Eze 33:23-29 these people should be told of the state of heart of those who had remained behind on the ruins of the Holy Land, and that it should be announced to them that the fixed belief in the permanent possession of the Holy Land, on which those who remained behind in the land relied, was a delusion, and that those who were victims of this delusion should be destroyed by sword and pestilence. Just as in the first part of this book Ezekiel uttered the threatened prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah in the presence of his countrymen by the Chaboras, and addressed them to these, because they stood in the same internal relation to the Lord as their brethren in Jerusalem and Judah; so here does he hold up this delusion before them as a warning, in order that he may disclose to them the worthlessness of such vain hope, and preach repentance and conversion as the only way to lie. The meaning of the words spoken by these people, "Abraham was one," etc., is, that if Abraham, as one solitary individual, received the land of Canaan or a possession by the promise of God, the same God could not take this possession away from them, the many sons of Abraham. The antithesis of the "one" and the "many" derived its significance, in relation to their argument, from the descent of the many from the one, which is taken for granted, and also from the fact, which is assumed to be well know from the book of Genesis, that the land was not promised and given to the patriarch for his own possession, but for his seed or descendants to possess. They relied, like the Jews of the time of Christ (Joh 8:33, Joh 8:39), upon their corporeal descent from Abraham (compare the similar words in Eze 11:15). Ezekiel, on the other hand, simply reminds them of their own sinful conduct (Eze 33:25, Eze 33:26), for the purpose of showing them that they have thereby incurred the loss of this possession. Eating upon the blood, is eating flesh in which the blood is still lying, which has not been cleansed from blood, as in Lev 19:26 and Sa1 14:32-33; an act the prohibition of which was first addressed to Noah (Gen 9:4), and is repeatedly urged in the law (cf. Lev 7:26-27). This is also the case with the prohibition of idolatry, lifting up the eyes to idols (cf. Eze 18:6), and the shedding of blood (cf. Eze 18:10; Eze 22:3, etc.). עמד, to support oneself, or rely (עמד, used as in Eze 31:14) upon the sword, i.e., to put confidence in violence and bloodshed. In this connection we are not to think of the use of the sword in war. To work abomination, as in Eze 18:12. עשׂיתן is not a feminine, "ye women," but ן is written in the place of מ on account of the ת which follows, after the analogy of פּדיון for פּדיום (Hitzig). On the defiling of a neighbour's wife, see the comm. on Eze 18:6. Such daring sinners the Lord would destroy wherever they might be. In v. 37 the punishment is individualized (cf. Eze 14:21). Those in the חרבות shall fall by the חרב (the play upon the word is very obvious); those in the open country shall perish by wild beasts (compare Kg2 17:25; Exo 23:19; Lev 26:22); those who are in mountain fastnesses and caves, where they are safe from the sword and ravenous beasts, shall perish by plague and pestilence. This threat is not to be restricted to the acts of the Chaldeans in the land after the destruction of Jerusalem, but applies to all succeeding times. Even the devastation and utter depopulation of the land, threatened in Eze 33:28, are not to be taken as referring merely to the time of the Babylonian captivity, but embrace the devastation which accompanied and followed the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. For גּאון ע, see the comm. on Eze 7:24. For Eze 33:29, compare Eze 6:14. Eze 33:30-33 Behaviour of the People Towards the prophet Eze 33:30. And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people converse about thee by the walls and in the house-doors; one talketh to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come and let us hear what kind of word goeth out from Jehovah. Eze 33:31. And they will come to thee, like an assembly of the people, and sit before thee as my people, and will hear thy words, but not do them; but that which is pleasant in their mouth they do; their heart goeth after their gain. Eze 33:32. And, behold, thou art unto them like a pleasant singer, beautiful in voice and playing well; they will hear thy words, but they will not do them. Eze 33:33. But when it cometh - behold, it cometh - they will know that a prophet was in the midst of them. - This addition to the preceding word of God, which is addressed to Ezekiel personally, applies to the whole of the second half of his ministry, and stands in obvious connection with the instructions given to the prophet on the occasion of his first call (Eze 3:16.), and repeated, so far as their substance is concerned, in Eze 33:7-9, as Kliefoth himself acknowledges, in opposition to his assumption that vv. 1-20 of this chapter belong to the prophecies directed against the foreign nations. As God had directed the prophet's attention, on the occasion of his call, to the difficulties connected with the discharge of the duties of a watchman with which he was entrusted, by setting before him the object and the responsibility of his vocation, and had warned him not to allow himself to be turned aside by the opposition of the people; so here in Eze 33:30-33, at the commencement of the second section of his ministry, another word is addressed to him personally, in order that he may not be influenced in the further prosecution of his calling by either the pleasure or displeasure of men. His former utterances had already induced the elders of the people to come to him to hear the word of God (cf. Eze 14:1 and Eze 20:1). But now that his prophecies concerning Jerusalem had been fulfilled, the exiles could not fail to be still more attentive to his words, so that they talked of him both secretly and openly, and encouraged one another to come and listen to his discourses. God foretells this to him, but announces to him at the same time that this disposition on the part of his countrymen to listen to him is even now no sign of genuine conversion to the word of God, in order that he may not be mistaken in his expectations concerning the people. Kliefoth has thus correctly explained the contents, design, and connection of these verses as a whole. In Eze 33:30 the article before the participle נדבּרים takes the place of the relative אשׁר, and the words are in apposition to בּני עמך, the sons of thy people who converse about thee. נדבּר is reciprocal, as in Mal 3:13, Mal 3:16, and Psa 119:12. But ב is to be understood, not in a hostile sense, as in the passage cited from the Psalms, but in the sense of concerning, like דּבּר ב in Sa1 19:3 as contrasted with דּבּר ב in Num 21:7, to speak against a person. The participle is continued by the finite ודּבּר, and the verb belonging to בּני follows, in the ויבאוּ of Eze 33:31, in the form of an apodosis. There is something monstrous in Hitzig's assumption, that the whole passage from Eze 33:30 to Eze 33:33 forms but one clause, and that the predicate to בּני עמך does not occur till the וידעוּ of Eze 33:33. - אצל , by the side of the walls, i.e., sitting against the walls, equivalent to secretly; and in the doors of the houses, in other words publicly, one neighbour conversing with another. חד, Aramean for אחד, and אישׁ by the side of אחד, every one; not merely one here or there, but every man to his neighbour. כּמבוא־עם, lit., as the coming of a people, i.e., as when a crowd of men flock together in crowds or troops. עמּי is a predicate, as my people, i.e., as if they wished, like my people, to hear my word from thee. But they do not think of doing thy words, i.e., what thou dost announce to them as my word. עגבים are things for which one cherishes an eager desire, pleasant things in their mouth, i.e., according to their taste (cf. Gen 25:28). Hvernick is wrong in taking עגבים to mean illicit love. The word בּפיהם is quite inapplicable to such a meaning. The rendering, they do it with their mouth, is opposed both to the construction and the sense. בּצעם .esnes , their gain, the source from which they promise themselves advantage or gain. In Eze 33:32 a clearer explanation is given of the reason why they come to the prophet, notwithstanding the fact that they do not wish to do his words. "Thou art to them כּשיּר עגבים;" this cannot mean like a pleasant song, but, as מטב נגּן (one who can play well) clearly shows, like a singer of pleasant songs. The abstract שׁיּר stands for the concrete שׁר, a singer, a man of song (Hitzig). In Eze 33:32, "they hear thy words, but do them not," is repeated with emphasis, for the purpose of attaching the threat in Eze 33:33. But when it cometh - namely, what thou sayest, or prophesiest - behold, it cometh, i.e., it will come as surely as thy prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; then will they know that a prophet was among them (cf. Eze 2:5), that is to say, that he proclaimed God's word to them. Therefore Ezekiel is not to be prevented, by the misuse which will be made of his words, from preaching the truth. - This conclusion of the word of God, which points back to Eze 2:5, also shows that it forms the introduction to the prophecies which follow.