_ACCORDING TO THE DUTY OF A WATCHMAN, IN WARNING THE PEOPLE, EZEKIEL IS ADMONISHED OF HIS DUTY. GOD SHEWETH THE JUSTICE OF HIS WAYS TOWARDS THE PENITENT, AND TOWARDS REVOLTERS; HE MAINTAINETH HIS JUSTICE. UPON THE NEWS OF THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM, EZEKIEL PROPHESIETH THE DESOLATION OF THE LAND. GOD'S... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF MAN— The reader will find in the third chapter, from Ezekiel 33:17 what is here repeated in the ten first verses of this chapter. Instead of, _Of their coasts,_ Houbigant reads, _from among them._ _OF THEIR COASTS_— _Out of their borders:_ The proper places to station watchmen. When the prop... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE THAT TAKETH WARNING— _But had he taken warning, he had delivered his soul._... [ Continue Reading ]
IF OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, &C.— _Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can it be possible that we should live?_ These are supposed to be the words of impious persons, who, pretending to despair of God's mercies, take encouragement thence to continue in their sin... [ Continue Reading ]
IF HE TRUST TO HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS— "If he rely upon the good works which he has done, and think that some kind of worth in them will over-balance his evil deeds." This seems to have been the opinion of the later Jews, who lay it down for a rule in their Mishna, that all Israel shall have a share... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE WICKED RESTORE, &C.— Robbery and violence would be too gainful a trade, if a man might quit all scores by repentance, and detain all he has gotten; or if the father's repentance might serve the turn, and the benefit of the transgression be transmitted as an inheritance to the son. If the pled... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, &C.— The news of the taking and burning of Jerusalem was brought to that part of the Babylonish dominions where the Jewish captives were placed, in about a year and four months after the calamity happened, though some say much sooner. Many commentators think that this messenger... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM WAS ONE— "If Abraham, being only a single person, had the whole country of Judaea given him, there is much greater reason to conclude, that God will preserve the possession of it to us, who are a numerous part of Abraham's posterity." These men speak after the vain manner of the Jews, who fo... [ Continue Reading ]
YE STAND UPON YOUR SWORD— _You stand in your highway,_ or _the corners of the streets, and commit your abominations._ Houbigant. This expression seems to refer to their public and open profession of idolatry. Those who understand the expression as translated in our version, suppose the meaning to be... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT ARE IN THE WASTES— _They that_ [_trust_] _in the swords._ The _forts_ and _caves_ here mentioned, mean the strong-holds formed by nature in the rocks, or cut in the sides of the mountains. Palestine abounded with these, as we have had occasion to remark heretofore; particularly in the hist... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO, THOU SON OF MAN— Bishop Pococke informs us, that the Coptics spend their holy days in sauntering about and _sitting under their walls in winter,_ and under the shady _trees_ in summer. This, doubtless, is to be understood of those of the poorer sort, who have no places more proper for conversa... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU ART UNTO THEM, &C.— That is to say, they come to hear thee solely for their entertainment, not for their edification and improvement. This, it is to be feared, is not a complaint peculiar to Ezekiel, but one which many of those who deliver even the glad tidings of salvation through a crucified... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THIS COMETH TO PASS, &C.— _Therefore when these things come to pass,_ (_they shall come to pass immediately,_) _then,_ &c. "When you see my prophesies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem actually come to pass, as will immediately be the case; then you will be convinced of the truth of m... [ Continue Reading ]