And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
All Commentaries on Ezekiel 20:1 Go To Ezekiel 20
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
; Haydock) and of many in captivity, who were only praise-worthy compared with those at Jerusalem, chap. xi. 15. Ver. 33. Out. I will not allow you to follow idols with impunity. (Calmet) Ver. 35. Of people. That is, a desert, in which there are no people; (Challoner) meaning Judea, to which they should return. Ver. 37. Covenant of the gospel, by the powerful attractions of grace, Luke xiv. 24., John vi. 69., and vii. 46., and 2 Corinthians x. 4. Ver. 38. Israel. They shall continue in exile; or the rebel Jews who will not believe in Christ, shall be cast off. (Calmet) Ver. 39. Walk It is not an allowance, much less a commandment to serve idols; but a figure of speech, by which God would have them to understand, that if they would walk after their idols, they must not pretend to serve him at the same time: for that he would by no means suffer such a mixture of worship. (Challoner) (St. Jerome)
Continue, if you dare, to serve idols. I will still bring you back. (Calmet)
Septuagint, "take away each your devices; and then if you hear me, (Grabe's copy adds, not) and defile not my "(Haydock)
God would rather have idolaters leave him wholly, than halt between two, (3 Kings xviii.) neither hot nor cold; (Apocalypse iii.) for such dishonour God's name the most, Romans ii. 24. (Worthington) Ver. 40. Mountain. The foregoing verse, to make the sense complete, must be understood so as to condemn and reject that mixture of worship which the Jews then followed. In this verse God promises to the true Israelites, especially to those of the Christian Church, that they should serve him in another manner in his holy mountain, the spiritual Sion, and shall be accepted of by him. (Challoner) Ver. 43. Committed. This is a picture of the converts to Christianity. (Calmet) Ver. 46. Of the south. Jerusalem lay towards the south of Babylon, where the prophet then was, and is here called the forest of the south field, and is threatened with utter desolation. (Challoner) See chap. xxi. (Calmet)
In Jerusalem there were good and bad. (Worthington) Ver. 47. Burned, with war and famine, Jeremias xxi. 14. (Calmet)
North, from Egypt to Mesopotamia. (Theodoret)
Nabuchodonosor invaded those parts. (Haydock) Ver. 49. Parables. They were easy enough to understand, but the Jews would not comprehend them no more than our Saviour's words, John x. 24. (Calmet)
Much of this prophecy was so hard, that all seemed to be parables. (Worthington)
