*THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL

Ezekiel 11

1Ezekiel is shewed the presumption of the princes of Judah: 4he declareth their sin, and the manner of their punishment. 13He is terrified at the sudden death of Pelatiah. 14God sheweth him his purpose of restoring the captives with favour, and of punishing the idolaters. 22The glory of God leaveth the city. 24Ezekiel carried back by the spirit prophesieth to them of the captivity.


1MOREOVER 1the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the 2east gate of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate 3five and twenty men; among whom I saw 4Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and 5Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, 6princes of the people.

1 Understand the Spirit of God, Who showed him this vision. See Ezek. 8 on verse 3.

2 See Ezek. 10 on verse 19.

3 It is conceived that they were the very same men who are mentioned in Ezek. 8:16. However, this is most certain that they were men of great regard among the people, and especially those whose names are hereafter expressed. They come here out of the house of the Lord, from the service of the idols, which they had performed to the sun, and discourse together about fortifying the city.

4 Distinguish this one from another Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, Ezek. 8:11.

5 This Pelatiah is also to be distinguished from another of this name, 1 Chron. 3:21; 4:42.

6 That is, the most excellent persons, who, excelling in the government of the land, were greatly respected by the people, and consequently ought to have been examples of piety unto them. Compare Exod. 3:16; Lev. 4:15; 2 Kings 23:1, and the annotations.

2Then said 7he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and 8give wicked counsel in this city:

7 Namely, the Spirit, Who carried him. It appears from this that the word must not be understood of the wind. Others understand by this speaking Person, the Lord, Who showed Himself over the cherubims, Ezek. 10:19.

8 Namely, not to surrender the city into the hand of the Chaldeans, against the counsel of the prophet Jeremiah, but to defend it against them.

3Which say, It is not 9near; let us build houses: 10this city 11is the 12caldron, and we be the flesh.

9 Namely, near the city, that is, in the suburbs.

10 That is, Jerusalem.

11 That is, the Chaldeans, coming to besiege this city, might conveniently dwell in the houses of the suburbs, and as a fire cause the city, being as a pot, to seethe and consume us, who would be in it as the flesh, by famine. Compare Ezek. 24:3, etc. They scoff at Jeremiah’s prophecy, Jer. 1:13, which they, by their counsel, go about to discredit and to prove it to be disgraceful and false. Other, Our destruction is not near, let us build houses, namely, to remain and to dwell here; and thus: let this city be the pot, and we the flesh. For, if we are the flesh in the pot, we must stay in it; so that Jeremiah prophecies against himself when he tells us that we shall be carried away.

12 Namely, of which Jeremiah has prophesied, Jeremiah 1.

4¶Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

5And the Spirit of the LORD 13fell upon me, and 14said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; 15Thus have ye said, O house 16of Israel: for I know the 17things that come into your mind, every one of them.

13 See Ezek. 1 on verse 3.

14 See on verse 2.

15 Namely, as is related immediately before verse 3.

16 That is, Judah. See 2 Chron. 15:17; 21:2 with the annotations.

17 Hebr. the ascensions of your spirit, that is, whatsoever ascends into the thoughts of your heart. See of the same manner of speech Jer. 7 on verse 31.

618Ye have multiplied 19your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

18 Namely, princes and rulers of the city, of whom see on verse 1.

19 That is, those whom ye have oppressed in the city by all manner of injustice. Compare Ezek. 7:23; 9:9.

7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 20Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I 21will bring you forth out of the midst 22of it.

20 What the Jews said in derision of Jeremiah’s words, Ezekiel turns against them, as if he said: Indeed the city of Jerusalem is the pot, but the flesh, which boils in it, are those whom ye have cruelly oppressed in it, for which cause and all your impieties, God’s wrath shall devour you, and such as you are, yet more fearfully than hitherto it has done.

21 Namely, by means of the Chaldeans, who would take them captive, and punish them according to their deserts. See the four following verses.

22 Namely, the city Jerusalem. Other, he shall, or they shall cause you to go forth. Understand the enemy.

8Ye have feared the 23sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

23 That is, war. See Lev. 26 on verse 6.

9And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands 24of strangers, and will execute 25judgments among you.

24 Namely, of the Chaldeans.

25 See Ezek. 5 on verse 8.

10Ye shall fall 26by the sword; I will 27judge you in the 28border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

26 That is, perish by war. See Lev. 26 on verse 7.

27 That is, punish. Compare Gen. 15 on verse 14. Also here in the next verse.

28 Namely, in Riblah. See of this city 2 Kings 23 on verse 33; 25:6. It was situated in the land of Hamath, which was north on the border of Palestine, Num. 34:8; Joshua 13:5.

11This city shall not be your 29caldron, 30neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I 31will judge you 32in the border of Israel:

29 Namely, to seeth in it, that is, to stay in it, and to bear your greatest punishment, touching this life.

30 The word neither is a continued negation of the first clause.

31 As in verse 10.

32 See the fulfillment hereof, 2 Kings 25:21; Jer. 52:10.

12And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the 33manners of the heathen that are round about you.

33 Or, rites. Understand their idolatrous rites, which God had forbidden His people to follow in any wise, Lev. 18:3; 20:23; Deut. 12:29, 30; 18:14. In Ezek. 5:7 the Jews are reproved because they lived not according to the judgments of the heathen; but see Ezek. 5 on verse 7.

13¶And it came to pass, when I 34prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then 35fell I down upon my face, and cried with a 36loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! 37wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

34 It seems that this prophesying of Ezekiel and the death of Pelatiah first happened in that vision and afterward in actual fact, so that Ezekiel immediately declared unto the Israelites, who were in Chaldea, what he had seen and done in the spirit, and that the death of Pelatiah then also immediately happened, for the confirmation of this prophecy.

35 Namely, through astonishment, and to pray for the remnant of the people. Compare Num. 14 on verse 5.

36 Hebr. great.

37 In this complaint the prophet does not refer to Pelatiah, who was a wicked man, but to the few who were yet left, conceiving, that if the Lord would go on as such, He would suddenly make an end, whereas He had promised to reserve a remnant. See of this phrase Jer. 4 on verse 27.

14Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

15Son of man, 38thy 39brethren, even thy 40brethren, the men of 41thy kindred, and all the house of Israel 42wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem 43have said, 44Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

38 Understand those who, with Jehoiachin, had been removed as exiles into Chaldea by Jeremiah’s counsel , 2 Kings 24:12, etc.

39 That is, thy kinsmen and near of kin. See Gen. 24 on verse 27.

40 This repetition is made to express the zeal of God and the weightiness of the matter.

41 Hebr. of thy redemption, that is, those who by virtue of their kindred had right to redeem thy goods, and consequently are thy nearest kinsman. See Lev. 25:25.

42 Namely, that was there in Chaldea, belonging for the most part to the tribe of Judah.

43 Namely, mocking them, because they had left their own country, and dwelt like banished men in Chaldea, whereas they, on the other side, still possessed and enjoyed the land which God had given unto their fathers for an inheritance.

44 As if they said: We only are God’s people who inhabit His land which He gave unto our fathers. We have nothing to do with you who are gone away from us, and you shall have no share with us in this land which you have abandoned.

16Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although 45I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a 46little sanctuary 47in the countries where they shall come.

45 Namely, those whom He had in the previous verse called the prophet’s brethren and the house of Israel. Also in the sequel.

46 Or, I am to them a little while a sanctuary. Other, I will be to them a little sanctuary, namely, instead of the visible temple in Jerusalem, which was a token of My presence, will I be a little while with them, without that external sign, dwelling among them by My Spirit and grace, hearing their prayers and protecting them. Other, a sanctuary of fewness, that is, of a few. Compare Isa. 8:14.

47 Namely, the land of Chaldea and other countries wherein they are scattered.

17Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 48I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and 49I will give you the land of Israel.

48 Which was fulfilled when the Jews came back out of the Babylonian captivity into their own country, and yet more fully when the Lord Christ has gathered His congregation out of all nations by the ministry of the apostles.

49 Namely, after the captivity of seventy years.

18And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the 50detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

50 That is, idols, which men ought to detest and of which one needs to have an abomination.

19And I will give them 51onea52heart, and I will put a 53new spirit within you; and I will 54take 55the stony heart out of 56their flesh, and will give them 57an heart of flesh:

51 That is, such as is not double, nor false, but upright, unfeigned, cleaving only unto Me, and not divided between Me and the idols. See further Jer. 32:39 with the annotation.

a Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 36:26.

52 That is, will, inclination, motion. Thus the word heart is for the most part taken when it is placed with the word spirit, which then signifies the mind, understanding and thoughts of man, Psalm 51:10; Ezek. 18:31; 36:26.

53 That is, another mind and other thoughts than were in you before. Understand a change of the spirit, not in substance and essence, but in qualities and powers. Compare the indicated places, likewise Rom. 7:6; 12:2; 2 Chron. 4:13; Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:10.

54 Namely, by rooting out of the soul the evil qualities, powers and faculties, wherewith, through their own corrupt nature, they oppose Me, and by taking them away from them by the Spirit of regeneration that they may no more rebel against Me.

55 Hebr. the heart of stone, that is, a stony heart. The heart of the unregenerate man is here likened to a stone, in regard of its natural hardness. The resemblance consists also herein that as a stone of its own nature has no power to change or turn itself into flesh, so neither has an unregenerate man, by his own unregenerate nature, power to turn unto God; but as God is even able to raise up children unto Abraham of stones, Mat. 3:9, as such He is also able to soften stony hearts by His saving and sanctifying Spirit.

56 That is, out of their body, wherein the soul dwells. See Job 12 on verse 10.

57 Or, a fleshy heart. Hebr. an heart of flesh. The heart of a regenerate man is here resembled to flesh, which is not hard as a stone, but is flexible, soft and permits itself willingly to be led by God’s Spirit. Such is the heart of man after God has taken away the stony heart, and has given a new heart.

2058That they may walk in my statutes, and 59keep mine ordinances, and do them: 60and they shall be my people,b and I will be 61their God.

58 He does not say: That they may be able, or, may have power to walk, etc., but He speaks of actual obedience, which the regenerate yields unto God.

59 This word refers to the certain perseverance of those who are truly converted to God.

60 See Lev. 26 on verse 12.

b Jer. 24:7; 30:22; 31:1; 32:38.

61 See Gen. 17 on verse 7; Lev. 18 on verse 2.

2162But as for them whose heart 63walketh after 64the heart of their 65detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way 66upon their own heads,c saith the Lord GOD.

62 Other, But whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestations and their abominations.

63 Compare 1 Kings 11 on verse 5.

64 That is, which they conceive that their idols do wish and desire.

65 That is, idols.

66 See Ezek. 9 on verse 10.

c Ezek. 9:10.

22¶Then did the 67cherubims lift up 68their wings, and the 69wheels beside them; and the 70glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

67 See Ezek. 1:5 on the word creatures.

68 Namely, wherewith they flew. See Ezek. 1 on verse 6.

69 See Ezek. 1 on verse 15.

70 See Ezek. 1 on verse 28. Also in the next verse.

23And the glory of the LORD 71went up from the midst of the city, and 72stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

71 Compare Ezek. 10 on verse 4.

72 That is, stayed or went and stood, or set itself upon the mountain. Understand the Mount of Olives, of which see 2 Sam. 15:30; Zech. 14:4; Mat. 24:3.

24¶Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision 73by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of 74the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up 75from me.

73 That is, in a vision which was shown me by the Spirit of God. Compare Ezek. 4 on verse 4. The sense is, that all this happened to him in a vision of his spirit, not really in his body, which still remained in Chaldea.

74 Hebr. captive carrying away. Also in the next verse. See Ezek. 1 on verse 1.

75 That is, ceased, or vanished.

25Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the 76things that the LORD had shewed me.

76 Or, matters, words.