The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 99

datfons of th.- tc-:s:t. I in<'linc- to l'('~t s~ioue reproduction of It. Tho scorn CLnd satisfied with the Authorized Yc-!'>'i,n1, nnd mockery of the heathen who rejoice,! in her to e:s:plsin it by <'h. x,;. 2i. The wor,.I im- humiliation were to ho the keenest pnng in plies not Clllly the d('('rense. but the entire the puni•hmcnt of the guilty city. with<lrnwa.l nf .Tehornh's fa.-onr. Possibly Ver. 15.-A reproaoh and a taunt, oto. there is on implfod rcfrren<'C to the command An echo of Dent. xxviii. 87. 'fhe nccmnu- or Deut. h-. 2; xii. 32. Jerusalem had lation of synonyms in hoth elo.nses of the "dirnini8hoo" from the Law of God, had, oa verse ie eminently cbarncteristii, of Ezekiel'e it W<'rc, enised the commandments which style. Word follow~ word, like tile strokes "·ere of supr<'me obligation, and theroforc, of n sledge-hammer. 'l'ho word for '' instruc- os by n lc:r talioniB, God would diminish her. tion " ie that ,v hioh occurs so often in the Ji'eiibor will I have any pity. The words Book of Proverbs (I. 2, 8, ond in twenty-two RI\•. of ruursc, nnthropomorphic, nnd have other passages). tu Dont. xi. 12; IB0,. !iii, thL'l\'1orc to be received with the neoossary ,5; Jer. xxi:. H, the Authorized Version 1·00- liruitlition~. As the earthly minister of jns- d<'.J'S it "ohostisemen t," ond thnt senBe is ti<'<' must not );eld to a Wt'ak pity which manifestly implied here. Jerusalem wos, oe ,rnnlJ k iurompatible with tbe nsserlion of it were, to be the gN'CLt objort-lesson in tk ('l<'rnRl law of righteousness, so neither God's education of mnuldnd. And the final will th..- Supreme Judge. There is a time bi.roke of o.11 is thnt the words were not the for all t:,iugs, and justice must do its work prophet's own. but "I the Lord have spoken tir.:t, in orJer tLat there may be room for it." The words renppear iu ver. 17. pity aftenruds. For other assertions., which Ver. 16.-The evil arro,ra of fa.mine, eto. se,c::as &tnlnge to us. of this unpitying cha- The thought of the "arrows" of God's judg- n..ctn of God, see eh. ru. 4, 9 ; Tiii 18; ll. ment may hnve been taken from Dent. uxii. rn. et al.; Jer. x:ili. H. 23, 42, and occnrs frequently also in the Y1::r. 12.-.&. Lhird put of thee, etc. (1me Psalms(Ps. vii. 18; i:uviii 2, etal.). Clothed r,ot.c cm ver. 2). The Etrange eymholic act in the language of poc-try, the attributes i, no.- interpreted. I will draw out a nrord, of Jehovah included tbOBe of the Far-darUir ,-tc. The ptl1'BB(; re:cun in eh. i:ii. H, and ia of the Greeks. Which shall be for their found iI., LeT. xxvi. :1:>.-n eeho, like IIO many dostrnction, et.c.; bet1cr, aa Uevil!Cd Version, other paaaage11 in Ez,Jd,:J, from .-hat teL-ID8 that are for de8truction. Ewald looks on tt, have b,,.-,u hie favourite 11torehoute of the noun as a perwmiflcation, like Abaddon, thought and language (Lev. i:vii.-uvi.). 11l ao translated "destructirm" in Job i:xviii. Yer. 13.-I will caue my fury to rest upon 22 and Prov. xv. ll, nod renders the words, them, etc. ; Revised Yersinn, I u:ill aatiafy, " that are from hell;" but there seems no etc. The phruac meets us again in eh. x,·i. apccinl reason for o.eeuming eueh n menning 42; x.ti.. 17; DU\". 13. To" rest" Lcre is to bore. It is noticcnble that, ea in tho sym- " repose" mlher t.hll.n to "abide." The bolism of eh. iv. 9-17, tho famine is more thought is that a ri,g-Lteous anger, like that prominent in Ezekiel's thoughts thnn the of Jehonh, rests (i.e. ie quieied) when it other punishments. ha;; done ite work. and tl,at in tl,i~ sense Ver. 17.-Evil beasts, etc. These appear G'ld li "oon..f'lrted," either as rejoieing in in like eonnection in Ezekiel'e favourite text- 1.1c pon.i.wment ,,r en! for ita own sake (as books (comp. Lev. i:xvi. 6, 22; Deut. xxxii. in Dent. xuiii. 63; La. i. 2-l), or because 24). They reappear in eh. xiv. 15, 21. His- th-c: pnnisb-,!:>t doe;, it.I 11rork in leading torically, we have an example of the suffering 1-:i ir, ~~tanl"e. I=d"1 may be c,Jiofort,.-d, tLus C3UIIC!d in the lious of 2 Kin!?B xvii. 25, l~t:15e God ie comforkd a.a he e8'!:8 that hie when towns anrl villagi,s were deserted, and jod;=~nta have don!: their work, and t~t the unburied eurClallell c,f those who had died J-,i~ uatb can find repose. Kave spoken m by famine, or pestilence, or the sword, wore my seal The thought implied ie that what everywhere to attract them from o.fnr. 'l'his ia spoken in the earnest purpose of " zeal " wll8, of course, the nnturnl and inevitnblo will auuredly be mrried into execution result. l'elltilence and blood, etc. As this (comp. Isa. ix. 7; xnvii 32). Me,,n might is followed by the work of the sword, deride the prophet's warning ea an idle "blood" probably points to some special form thr<::at. It would prove itself to have come of plague, possibly dysentery (Aote xxviii. from God. 8, Itcvisc•d Version), or cnrbunclee, lilce Ver. H.-In the light of them that paBB Hczekinh's boil (Iso. xxxviii. 21). 'fho sn.me by. The µh1ase remind!! us of Lam. i. 12; combir11tion 11,ppenre in eh. xiv. 19; xx.vili. ii. 15; o.nd tLe lu.tt.er \\'WI probably o, con- 23. <lll, V, 1-17.] 'l'Ilm IlOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. A7