Ezekiel 20:11

gave them … statutes Reference is to the Sinaitic legislation. The fact of the legislation is, confirmed by the prophet, but his language "statutes and judgments" does not enable us to form an opinion how extensive it was, nor what particulars it embraced besides the law of the sabbath (Ezekiel 20:12), and of course the law that Jehovah was God alone of Israel, because he uses the phrase "statutes and judgments" very generally, for example of the conduct and principles of the people in the wilderness themselves (Ezekiel 20:18).

shall even live in them Or, shall live by them. Obedience to them will issue in "life," the word being used in its natural sense, Deuteronomy 4:40, "thou shalt keep his statutes … that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the land," Deuteronomy 5:16 (fifth commandment). The precepts of Jehovah given to the people were such that obedience to them would ensure prosperity and life, while disobedience would cause calamity and death, and this not only in the mere government of them by their God, but because the statutes were in themselves "good," cf. Ezekiel 20:25; Amos 5:14; Hosea 8:3; Micah 3:2; Micah 6:8.