_Wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Wilt thou plead_ for it? Or rather, _Wilt thou not judge?_ see note on Ezekiel 20:4. The expression is doubled to awaken the prophet more fully, and to quicken him to his work. Jerusalem is termed _the bloody city_, Hebrew, עיר הדמים, _the city of b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the princes of Israel_, &c. Probably the members of the great sanhedrim, or the king's counsellors and chief officers, are here intended; _every one in thee_ Not one to be found of a more merciful temper; _to their power_ According to their ability; _to shed blood_ Every one of the princes... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain,_ &c. Therefore I have expressed my indignation against thy avarice and unjust practices: I have called for punishment to come upon thee, and have animated and encouraged thy enemies to destroy thee. _Can thy heart endure?_ Will not thy heart f... [ Continue Reading ]
_The house of Israel is to me become dross_ “Their filthiness may be fitly compared to the mixture of dross and baser metals with the pure silver: and as that is purified by being melted in a furnace or crucible, so Jerusalem, when it is set on fire, shall be the furnace into which I will cast them... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art the land that is not cleansed nor rained upon_, &c. Though God's judgments have been as violent floods, and as hottest fires, thou hast not been cleansed from thy wickedness by the punishments I have sent upon thee, nor purified by the instructions and admonitions which I have given thee b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Her priests have violated my law_ Which they ought to have observed, and to have taught the people to observe; _and have profaned my holy things_ The gifts and sacrifices offered in my service; either by offering them in an undue manner, as the sons of Eli did, 1 Samuel 2:15, or without due purific... [ Continue Reading ]
_Her princes are like wolves_ The chief officers of state stick at no method of injustice and oppression whereby they may increase their substance, though it be by taking away the lives and estates of the innocent: see the margin. _And her prophets have daubed them_, &c. Have daubed over the evil pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people of the land_ The common people; _have used oppression_ Have wronged each other by acts of fraud and violence, and have greatly and cruelly oppressed each other. _And have vexed the poor and needy_ By these frauds and oppressions, instead of relieving them, which they ought to have done.... [ Continue Reading ]