PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Ezekiel
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 319,055 words · 620 reading sections
Ezekiel 1:1
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Ezekiel 1:1 INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL This book is rightly placed after Jeremiah; since Ezekiel was among the captives in Chaldea, when prophesied; whereas Jeremiah began to prophesy long before that captivity, and concerning it. The name of this prophet signifies, as it is …
2,081 wordsSECTION 2Ezekiel 1:2
Ezekiel 1:2 Ver. 2. In the fifth [day] of the month,.... The month Tammuz, as before: (which [was] the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity); the same with Jeconiah and Coniah, as he is sometimes called; he was taken by the king of Babylon, when he had reigned but three months, and his captivity held seven and thirty…
62 wordsSECTION 3Ezekiel 1:3
Ezekiel 1:3 Ver. 3. The word of the Lord came expressly,.... Or, "in being was" {d}; which phrase denotes the reality, certainty, substantiality and evidence of the word of the Lord to him: unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi; which Buzi, some say, was Jeremiah. Kimchi observes, that, in the Jerusalem Targum, th…
260 wordsSECTION 4Ezekiel 1:4
Ezekiel 1:4 Ver. 4. And I looked,.... Being under the influence of the Spirit and power of God: and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north; which some understand of Nebuchadnezzar and his army coming from Babylon, which lay north of Judea: see Jer 1:14; but it seems to me to be, with what follows, only an apparat…
732 wordsSECTION 5Ezekiel 1:5
Ezekiel 1:5 Ver. 5. Also out of the midst thereof,.... The fire; or out of the whole that was seen; the whirlwind, cloud, fire, and the brightness about it: [came] the likeness of four living creatures; not really four living creatures; they appeared like to such they were in the form of such; by which we are to unde…
374 wordsSECTION 6Ezekiel 1:6
Ezekiel 1:6 Ver. 6. And or but everyone had four faces,.... Which are described, See Gill on "Eze 1:10". The Targum multiplies the faces in a strange monstrous manner, paraphrasing the words thus, "each had four faces, and there were four faces to everyone "of them", and every creature had sixteen faces; the number o…
286 wordsSECTION 7Ezekiel 1:7
Ezekiel 1:7 Ver. 7. And their feet [were] straight feet,.... And they went straight forward, as in Eze 1:12; they made straight paths for their feet, and walked uprightly, according to the truth of the Gospel; did not go into crooked paths, or turn to the right hand, or the left; and having put their hand to the ploug…
251 wordsSECTION 8Ezekiel 1:8
Ezekiel 1:8 Ver. 8. And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides,.... "Hands of a man" denote action, according to knowledge; ministers of the Gospel are men of practice and business, as well as have the theory and knowledge of things; and they act like men in a rational way, according to th…
431 wordsSECTION 9Ezekiel 1:9
Ezekiel 1:9 Ver. 9. Their wings [were] joined one to another,.... "A woman to her sister" {n}, in the Hebrew; denoting the concord, harmony, and agreement of Gospel ministers, and their affection to one another; they preach the same Gospel; administer the same ordinances; do the same work of the Lord; have the same ze…
216 wordsSECTION 10Ezekiel 1:10
Ezekiel 1:10 Ver. 10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man,.... For these living creatures are men, redeemed from among men by the blood of Christ; their business lies with men, to preach the Gospel to them: and they should be humane, kind, and tender in their behaviour towards them; wou…
508 wordsSECTION 11Ezekiel 1:11
Ezekiel 1:11 Ver. 11. Thus [were] their faces: and their wings [were] stretched upward,.... The former clause, "thus [were] their faces", either belongs to Eze 1:10; and the meaning is, this, as now represented, was the likeness of their faces, and this the position of them: or it may be read in connection with the fo…
395 wordsSECTION 12Ezekiel 1:12
Ezekiel 1:12 Ver. 12. And they went everyone straight forward,.... Or, "over against his face" {q}; for, which way soever they went, whether forward or backward, or on either side, they had a face to go before them, to direct the way, and steer their course; so the ministers of the Gospel have a face to go by and foll…
5,034 wordsSECTION 13Ezekiel 2:1
Ezekiel 2:1 INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 2 This chapter contains me prophet's call, commission, and instruction to prophesy. The preparation to it is in Eze 2:1; being fallen upon his face, he is bid to stand upon his feet, with a promise to speak to him; and the Spirit entering into him, he is set by him on his feet, and…
604 wordsSECTION 14Ezekiel 2:2
Ezekiel 2:2 Ver. 2. And the spirit entered into me,.... Not his own spirit or soul; for it does not appear that that went out of him upon the sight of the vision; nor any of the ministering spirits, the angels, who are never said to enter into the prophets or people of God; but the Holy Spirit of God; the same Spirit …
287 wordsSECTION 15Ezekiel 2:3
Ezekiel 2:3 Ver. 3. And he said unto me, son of man,.... Now follow his mission and commission, and an account of the persons to whom he was sent: I send thee to the children of Israel; that were captives in Babylon, in Jehoiakim's captivity; so Christ was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mt 15:24;…
228 wordsSECTION 16Ezekiel 2:4
Ezekiel 2:4 Ver. 4. For [they are] impudent children,.... "Hard of face" {w}; as is commonly said of impudent persons, that they are brasen faced; they had a whore's forehead, and refused to be ashamed, and made their faces harder than a rock, Jer 3:3; they declared their sin as Sodam, and hid it not; they sinned open…
237 wordsSECTION 17Ezekiel 2:5
Ezekiel 2:5 Ver. 5. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,.... Or "cease" {y}; that is, from hearing, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; or from sinning, as the Targum. The sense is, whether they would hear the word of the Lord, as spoken by the prophet, attend unto it, receive it, and obey it…
251 wordsSECTION 18Ezekiel 2:6
Ezekiel 2:6 Ver. 6. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them,.... Of any of them, the greatest among them, their princes and nobles; who, by their grandeur and authority, their stern looks, and big words, might awe and terrify him; wherefore it follows: neither be afraid of their words; of their calumnies, revilin…
351 wordsSECTION 19Ezekiel 2:7
Ezekiel 2:7 Ver. 7. And thou shall speak my words unto them,.... Not his own words, but those the Lord should put into his mouth. The Targum is, "and thou shall prophesy the words of my prophecy unto them:'' whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; See Gill on "Eze 2:5"; for they are most rebellious; o…
96 wordsSECTION 20Ezekiel 2:8
Ezekiel 2:8 Ver. 8. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee,.... Which was necessary because he was to speak not his own words, but the Lord's, and therefore ought to hear before he spoke; and indeed those that speak in a public way, for the instruction of others, ought to hear and learn of Christ first: be n…
232 wordsSECTION 21Ezekiel 2:9
Ezekiel 2:9 Ver. 9. And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me,.... Not of an angel, but of Christ himself, in a visionary way; for this was not a real hand, but the likeness of one, as in Eze 8:3; and so the Targum here, "and I saw, and behold, the likeness of a hand stretched out on the side to me.'' Th…
161 wordsSECTION 22Ezekiel 2:10
Ezekiel 2:10 Ver. 10. And he spread it before me,.... Unrolled it, that what was written in it might he seen and read; that so, understanding it, he might deliver the contents of it to the people: thus the Gospel, and the mysteries of it, must be explained by Christ to his ministers; and their understandings must be o…
337 wordsSECTION 23Ezekiel 3:1
Ezekiel 3:1 INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 3 This chapter contains a further account of the prophet's call and mission; of his preparation of him for is work; of, the persons to whom he was sent; of what happened to him upon this; of the nature of his office, and the work of it; and of what followed upon the renewal of his …
861 wordsSECTION 24Ezekiel 3:2
Ezekiel 3:2 Ver. 2. So I opened my mouth,.... To take in the roll, and eat it; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; he did all that he could towards eating it, but was not sufficient of himself; and therefore it follows: and he caused me to eat that roll; he, the Lord, put it into his mouth, caused him to e…
131 wordsSECTION 25Ezekiel 3:3
Ezekiel 3:3 Ver. 3. And he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat,.... Or "devour" {f}, and consume; that is, concoct and digest; do not cast it out of thy mouth, as soon as thou hast tasted of it; but let it go down into the stomach, and there digest it; and from thence into the belly, that so, upon the who…
520 wordsSECTION 26Ezekiel 3:4
Ezekiel 3:4 Ver. 4. And he said unto me, son of man, go,.... After he had eaten the roll; for then was he qualified to prophesy: get thee unto the house of Israel; to whom he was to prophesy: and speak with my words unto them: not with his own words; nor with the words of men, the enticing words of man's wisdom; but…
143 wordsSECTION 27Ezekiel 3:5
Ezekiel 3:5 Ver. 5. For thou [art] not sent to a people of a strange speech,.... "Deep of lip" {g}, or "speech"; difficult to be got at and understood: and of a hard language: or "heavy of tongue" {h} of a barbarous and unknown language, whom he could not understand, nor they him; and so would have been barbarians to…
238 wordsSECTION 28Ezekiel 3:6
Ezekiel 3:6 Ver. 6. Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language,.... The prophet was sent, not to different nations, of different languages; but to one nation of the same language; indeed several of his prophecies concern other nations, as the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Tyrians, Philistines, Egy…
454 wordsSECTION 29Ezekiel 3:7
Ezekiel 3:7 Ver. 7. But the house of Israel would not hearken unto thee,.... "They are not willing" {l}; they have no desire, no inclination, to hear and hearken; but the reverse; they were capable of hearing and understanding his speech and language, and though he was sent unto them by the Lord: and indeed the reason…
285 wordsSECTION 30Ezekiel 3:8
Ezekiel 3:8 Ver. 8. Behold, I have made the, face strong against their faces,.... Not that the prophet should have the same sort of impudence and confidence they had; but that God would "give" {n} him such a face, as it is in the Hebrew text, such spirit and courage, that he should neither be ashamed of the words of t…
194 wordsSECTION 31Ezekiel 3:9
Ezekiel 3:9 Ver. 9. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead,.... Or, "than a rock" {o}; the "adamant" has its name in Greek, because it cannot be conquered or subdued, neither by the hammer, nor by fire; the one cannot break, nor this other consume it; land it is called "shamir" in Hebrew, from its pr…
172 wordsSECTION 32Ezekiel 3:10
Ezekiel 3:10 Ver. 10. Moreover he said unto me, son of man,.... The same glorious Person as before continued speaking to him, and added, as follows: all my words that I shall speak unto thee; not only what he had spoken to him, but what he should hereafter; for he did not tell all at once what he should say, but grad…
151 wordsSECTION 33Ezekiel 3:11
Ezekiel 3:11 Ver. 11. And go, get thee to them of the captivity,.... Not in the times of Hoshea king of Israel, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, for these were placed in the cities of the Medes, 2Ki 17:6; but in the times of Jeconiah king of Judah, Eze 1:2; unto the children of thy people; the Jews, which were in the …
102 wordsSECTION 34Ezekiel 3:12
Ezekiel 3:12 Ver. 12. Then the spirit took me up,.... Not the wind, nor an angel, but the Spirit of God; who took up the prophet from the ground, from the place where he was, among the captives by the river Chebar, and had seen the glorious vision described in the first chapter; and had had his call and mission, as ex…
349 wordsSECTION 35Ezekiel 3:13
Ezekiel 3:13 Ver. 13. [I heard] also the noise of the wings of the living creatures,.... Which they clapped, when they uttered the preceding words; See Gill on "Eze 1:24"; that touched one another; or "kissed, a woman her sister" {r}; denoting their affection and agreement in the doxology or ascription of glory to Go…
171 wordsSECTION 36Ezekiel 3:14
Ezekiel 3:14 Ver. 14. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away,.... Lifted him up from the earth, and carried him through the air:and I went in bitterness; full of trouble and sorrow, that the Lord was departing from the temple; that his people had been guilty, of such crimes they had, and were such an impudent, a…
3,851 wordsSECTION 37Ezekiel 4:1
Ezekiel 4:1 INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 4 This chapter contains a prophecy of the siege of Jerusalem, and of the famine that attended it. The siege is described by a portrait of the city of Jerusalem on a tile, laid before the prophet, Eze 4:1; by each of the actions, representing a siege of it, as building a fort, casti…
526 wordsSECTION 38Ezekiel 4:2
Ezekiel 4:2 Ver. 2. And lay siege against it,.... In his own person, as in Eze 4:3; or draw the form of a siege, or figure of an army besieging a city; or rather of the instruments and means used in a siege, as follows: and build a fort against it: Kimchi interprets it a wooden tower, built over against the city, to …
267 wordsSECTION 39Ezekiel 4:3
Ezekiel 4:3 Ver. 3. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan,.... Which Kimchi thinks, for its metal, represented the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; and, for its colour, the blackness of their sins: though others are of opinion, this being a pan in which things are fried, it may signify the miseries o…
278 wordsSECTION 40Ezekiel 4:4
Ezekiel 4:4 Ver. 4. Lie thou also upon thy left side,.... Some think this was not in reality, but in vision, as Kimchi observes; and so Maimonides {c}; and in like manner they understand his eating and drinking by measures and preparing food, as he is directed in a following part of this chapter: but others are of opi…
755 wordsSECTION 41Ezekiel 4:5
Ezekiel 4:5 Ver. 5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity,.... Or the iniquity which for so many years they have been guilty of; that is, the punishment of it: according to the number of the days; a day for a year; three hundred and ninety days; which signify three hundred and ninety years; and so ma…
576 wordsSECTION 42Ezekiel 4:6
Ezekiel 4:6 Ver. 6. And when thou hast accomplished them,.... The three hundred and ninety days, by lying so long on the left side, bearing the sins of the house of Israel in this way; or, as Cocceius renders the words, "and thou shall accomplish them, and thou shalt lie", &c. {g}, that is, thou shalt so accomplish th…
329 wordsSECTION 43Ezekiel 4:7
Ezekiel 4:7 Ver. 7. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege at Jerusalem,.... All the while he was lying either on the left side or the right, his face was to be directed to the siege of Jerusalem, portrayed upon the tile, and to all the preparations made for that purpose, to show that all had reference to …
272 wordsSECTION 44Ezekiel 4:8
Ezekiel 4:8 Ver. 8. And, behold, I will lay hands upon thee,.... Representing either the besieged, signifying that they should be taken and bound as he was; or rather the besiegers, the Chaldean army, which should be so held by the power and providence of God, that they should not break up the siege until they had tak…
336 wordsSECTION 45Ezekiel 4:9
Ezekiel 4:9 Ver. 9. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches,.... The first of these was commonly used to make bread of; in case of want and poverty, barley was used; but, for the rest, they were for cattle, and never used for the food of men but in a time of great s…
250 wordsSECTION 46Ezekiel 4:10
Ezekiel 4:10 Ver. 10. And thy meat which thou shall eat [shall be] by weight, twenty shekels a day,.... To eat bread by weight was a sign of a grievous famine; see Le 26:26; a shekel, according to Josephus {i}, weighed four Attic drachms, or half an ounce, wherefore twenty shekels weighed ten ounces; so that the bread…
129 wordsSECTION 47Ezekiel 4:11
Ezekiel 4:11 Ver. 11. Thou shall drink also water by measure,.... Not wine, but water; and this not as much as he would, but a certain measure; which shows great want of it, and expresses a very distressed condition see La 5:4; the sixth part of an hin; a hin held twelve logs, or seventy two egg shells, or about thre…
126 wordsSECTION 48Ezekiel 4:12
Ezekiel 4:12 Ver. 12. And thou shalt eat it [as] barley cakes,.... That is, the bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches, was to be made in the form of barley cakes, and to be baked as they; not in an oven, but under ashes; and these ashes not of wood, or straw, or turf, but as follows: and t…
189 wordsSECTION 49Ezekiel 4:13
Ezekiel 4:13 Ver. 13. And the Lord said, even thus shall the children of Israel,.... Not the ten tribes only, or those who were among the other two, but all the Jews in captivity: eat the defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them; so called, not because mixed, but baked in the above manner; which wa…
141 wordsSECTION 50Ezekiel 4:14
Ezekiel 4:14 Ver. 14. Then said I, ah, Lord God!.... The interjection "ah" is expressive of sighing and groaning, as Jarchi; or of deprecation, as the Targum, which paraphrases it, ""and I said", receive my prayer, O Lord God:'' behold, my soul hath not been polluted; not meaning that his soul had not been polluted …
233 wordsSECTION 51Ezekiel 4:15
Ezekiel 4:15 Ver. 15. Then he said to me,.... The Lord hearkened to the prophet's prayer and argument, and makes some abatement and alteration in the charge he gave him: lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung: that is, allowed him to make use of the one instead of the other, in baking his mingled bread: tho…
125 wordsSECTION 52Ezekiel 4:16
Ezekiel 4:16 Ver. 16. Moreover he said unto me, son of man,.... What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time o…
351 wordsSECTION 53Ezekiel 5:1
Ezekiel 5:1 INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 5 This chapter is of the same argument with the former; and contains a type of Jerusalem's destruction; an explanation of that type; what were the reasons of God's judgments on that city; and the nature, rise, and end of them. The type is in Eze 5:1; the explanation of that type is…
426 wordsSECTION 54Ezekiel 5:2
Ezekiel 5:2 Ver. 2. Thou, shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city,.... Of Jerusalem, as portrayed upon the tile, Eze 4:1; or the prophet was now in Chaldea. The burning of the third part of the hair with fire denotes such who were destroyed by the pestilence and famine during the siege; see La 5:10;…
237 wordsSECTION 55Ezekiel 5:3
Ezekiel 5:3 Ver. 3. Thou shall also take thereof a few in number,.... These are they that were left in the land of Judea by Nebuzaradan, for vinedressers and husbandmen, and such as returned out of Egypt into the land of Judah, Jer 44:28; and bind them in thy skirts; in the pockets of them; signifying both the very s…
90 wordsSECTION 56Ezekiel 5:4
Ezekiel 5:4 Ver. 4. Then take of them again,.... Of that small number preserved: and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire: this was fulfilled in Gedaliah and the Jews that were with him, over whom the king of Babylon had made him governor, who were slain by Ishmael, Jer 41:1; [for] thereof…
204 wordsSECTION 57Ezekiel 5:5
Ezekiel 5:5 Ver. 5. Thus saith the Lord God, this [is] Jerusalem,.... A type or sign of it; it may refer to both the former and latter type. It is the city of Jerusalem that is designed by the city portrayed upon the tile; and the same is signified by the head of the prophet that was to be shaved; that being not only …
421 wordsSECTION 58Ezekiel 5:6
Ezekiel 5:6 Ver. 6. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations,.... So they changed their glory for that which did not profit; and the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man; and the truth of God into a lie, Jer 2:11; or, "for wickedness" {q}; for judgmen…
311 wordsSECTION 59Ezekiel 5:7
Ezekiel 5:7 Ver. 7. Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Having observed their sins, and which are still enlarged upon, the Lord proceeds to denounce his judgments against them: because ye multiplied more than the nations that [are] round about you; not in numbers, nor in wealth and riches, or in blessings and priv…
410 wordsSECTION 60Ezekiel 5:8
Ezekiel 5:8 Ver. 8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, even I, [am] against thee,.... Or, "behold, I [am] against thee, even I" {u}; who am the Lord God omnipotent, great King, and a dreadful one; and a terrible thing it is for a people to have the mighty God against them; or for any to fall into the hands of …
176 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.