Commentary on the Old Testament Volume 2-4, Biblical commentary 7 · Ezekiel · Chapter 24 – Chapter 27
CHAP. XXIV.
IN this chap. the Lord biddeth Ezekiel set down the yeer, monethmonth and day in which Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem, viz. three yeers after he had begun to prophesie unto them, which was the sixth yeer of Jehoiakins captivity, Ch. 1. 1.this the tenth yeer, the tenth monethmonth, the tenth day of the monethmonth. And now his prophesie of their destruction began to work, and this the Lord would most probably have him note, after which it is also noted in the history 2 King. 25.upon what day and monethmonth after the City was taken, that it might be certainly known at what time the seventy yeers of their continuing in captivity spoken of by Jeremiah began, and consequently their end, that they might be comforted the more in looking for deliverance at that time, and the more confidently praying for it, as Daniel did.
For the contents of this chapter: The miserable case of the Jews is herein set forth under the similitude of a pot, wherein flesh and bones chopt in pieces being set over an hot burning fire are boiled till they be consumed and wasted all. Of the like similitude see Jer. 1. 13. The pot here spoken of was Jerus. the parts or peices of flesh to be sodden away in it were the Jews; flocking thither from all parts for the defence of the City; the bones were V. 3. 4.the stoutest and most expert warriours, and the boiling of them all, that they might be consumed, intimated a long continued siege, by reason whereof they should be wasted, some after, others by famine and pestilence, the fire made under with much wood served to set forth the Caldees army which V. 10.was to them as this fire, and finally with fire burnt down the City. But what meaneth he by saying, burn the bones under it? not as some expound it, V. 5.saith Lyra, beccuse bones make a more ardent fire then wood, for the contrary is true, but as R. Salomon hath it, the putting of the bones under was the Lyra.putting of them under the pieces of flesh, the flesh being laid upon them and born up by them lying at the bottom of the pot: and hereby was set forth, how the strong and valiant should bear the greatest brunt of this war, but yet their strength and valour should not save them; the stronger they were the more fiery heat should come neerer to them to consume them.
Woe to the bloody City, to the pot, whose scum is in it, bring it out piece by piece, let … lot fall upon it. Here it is made plaine, that the City was the pot having abundance V. 6.of corruption therein, set forth by scum, and the pieces to be brought forth, upon which no lot should fall, were the people, whereof none should be preserved, but he burnt and consumed by the fire of Gods wrath, as the contrary to which is used to be done, when the enemy spares some; by lots casting, distinguishing thus betwixt those that should dye or not, it is meant that it should not now be so with them, but all should suffer alike, that is, all but some poor of the land left to till the ground, the rest that escaped the sword, famine and pestilence, being carryed away to Babylon to endure greater misery, and such as remained not tarrying long after, but being carryed into Egypt to perish there, as the history, Jer. 43. sheweth, which yet is to be restrained to the body of reprobates, the elect often set forth by the name of a remnant being every where spared.
Her blood is in the midst of her, she set it upon the top of a rock, and covered it not: V. 7.Here their impudency in sinning is set forth, oppressions and murthers were committed openly, they not caring who saw them in practising so great abominations, and he alludeth to the law of God, which was, that blood being let out of a beast should be covered in the ground. But they in stead of doing so, shed mens blood, and not in secret, but openly, and a rock is spoken of, as opposite to the earth, which hath dusts or moulds to cover the blood shed withal, whereas rocky and stony ground hath none, and therefore by the Vulg. it is rendred, lympidissima rupes. Thus they shed the blood of the prophets, and of their children, whom they offered openly to Molok, and Abimeleck according to the letter is said to have slaine his brethren being Judg. 9. 5.seventy upon a stone, and Es 3. 9. They are open in their sins with Sodom, they hide them not. And this is the height of sinning, when blood is shed by power, or other horrible wickedness is committed, and justified, as if the proceedings were righteous, because they that do this have power, and they to whom, Note. have no power to resist. But the judge who is the righteous judge of all the world threateneth revenge by doing the like to all such. v. 8. I have set her blook V. 8.upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered, as they have murdered openly combining together so to do, as the foresaid Abimeleck, and the Jews more lately, so they shall suffer by the shedding of their blood in like manner in the sight of all men, as both Abimelek did by a piece of a milstone cast down upon his head, and beating out his braines, and the Jews most cruelly murthered by the Caldeans, and the chief of them being brought forth and judged and slaine by the king of Babylon at Riblah, the King Zedekiah himself not directly, but with much more paine, his eyes being put out, and then he being carryed into Babylon and dying there.
Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, spice it well and let the bones be V. 10.burnt. The Vulg. for spice it well, hath c…qu…tur tota compositio, let the whole composition be boiled, The word foreign here used signifieth to make a composition of spices and to boile them, and therefore it is best rendred by the Vulg. Lat. boile the composition of spices, use them as the Apothecary doth his Aromatical stuffe of divers sorts keeping them upon the fire a long time till all the vertue be boiled out. To shew the long continuance of the judgement upon them, he addeth this metaphor to the former of boiling flesh and bones.
Then set it empty upon the coales, that the brass thereof may be hot and burn. He goeth V. 11.in his allegory, shewing that the inhabitants of the City being consumed and such as remained taken out to be carryed into captivity, and so the whole 2 Kings 25.City emptyed, fire should be put to to burn the buildings, as it was by Nebuzaradan shortly after who was steward of the King of Babylon.
Because I purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged any more, V. 13.&c. that is, thy judgements sent upon thee formerly and prophets to threaten and exhort thee, whereby thou mightst have been brought to repentance and newness of life; this being called a purging, because a most effectual means thus to purge a nation. And for this way of purging, what grievous sufferings they had, may be seen in the days of Manasseh, against whom the Caldeans came and took and carryed him away into Babylon, then in the dayes of Jehoaaz by the King of Egypt, of Jehoiakim▪ by the Babylonians again taking and binding him, then of Jehoiakin when they suffered most, and lastly of Zedekiah, against whom bands of divers enemies came before this fatal overthrow of the whole Kingdom now threatened; and for prophets, they had Isaiah, and Hosheah long before, and now Jeremiah and Ezekiel. So that they were purged, that is, had all means of purgation administred unto them although they wrought not, therefore no more such purging must be expected but utter destruction, Gods fury seazing upon a people so desperately wicked: v. 16. I will take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroake, &c. Here the V. 16.Lord further sheweth in the example of Ezekiel, that the destruction of the people should be so great, and the danger still so continuing to the survivors, that they should be so overwhelmed with grief therefore, that they should not make any mourning, as they had in times past used to do for the death of their dearest friends.
For this end his wife was smitten by death and he was forbidden to mourn for her, and being asked the reason he telleth them, that so it should be with them, v. 20, 21, 22. As his wife was the desire of his eyes, whom V. 20. 21. & …he dearly loved, so was the sanctuary to them, as taking their chief glory to lye therein, and if any of them were not so much affected to it, yet surely they were to their sons and daughters, but their sanctuary should be burnt and their children dye, yet they should be as men so overgone with sorrow, that they should have no more tears to shed for this, all the mourning, that they could now make, being little enough for their mutual miseries, who were still living in comparison of whom they should think the dead happy. A like thing unto this was injoyned Jeremiah before, ch. 16. 6, 7, 8. the exposition whereof may serve for this also.
But what meaneth he by saying, Yee shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men, your tires shall be upon your head and your shoes upon your feet. The Vulg. for V. 22. 23.covering lips, hath covering ora, faces, or mouths, and for not eating the bread of men, the bread of mourners, and for tyre upon their heads, Corona, a crown, expounded by Lyra of black which close mourners weare about their heads covering also their faces therewith, and of an austere diet, to which mourners for the time Lyra.tyed themselves, refusing the daintyer, and more liberal for sorrow. The crown of tyre sets forth nothing else, but that which they did commonly wear upon their heads for the greater decency, and of shoes keeping on upon their feet he speaketh, because in time of sorrow they went bare footed, as we may see in David full of forrow for the conspiracy of Absalom against him, 2 Sam. 15. 30.He went with his head covered and barefoot, that is, his crown, or other tire, which he commonly used, being laid off, that he might put on a mourning habit covering head and face. The Hebr. word foreign here used signifieth the haire upon the lip, as foreign doth the lip or ora, as the Vulg. hath it, and if it be rendred the lip, by a Synecdoche, the whole being named for the part, the upper lip for the haire growing upon it, it is all one, because the face being all covered, that is covered also. But for the word rendred by the Vulg. mourners, Hebr. is foreign, men, but it must necessarily be understood of men, that mourn, it being meant of feasts made at burials, as I have further shewed upon Jer. 16 8. for now the Jews should be in so great perplexity, that they should make no solemn funerals, as at other times they had done, wherein they used to eat and drink to the father, or husband, or son of the deceased in a cup of a consolation, as Jeremy calleth it, to chear him up, after some time by him before spent in abstinence through his great sorrow. v. 25. when I take away their sirength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon V. 25.they set their minds. Here the prophet to conclude the Chapter summeth up their losses, when their City should be destroyed and their temple especially, called before, the excellency of your strength, and the desire of your eyes, v. 21. when this should be taken away by being burnt with fire, their strength should faile because the place of meeting to plant Religion which is the temple, being prophaned, as is there said, or cruelly demolished, which is done, when the house of God is made no more account of then a barn or a stable, or any room in a mans own house, we are in danger of losing Gods protection, and consequently our joy, glory, desire of our eyes, &c. that is, all comfort, and contrariwise to lye exposed to all misery and sorrow. For then is a Nation in an happy case, when they make the house of God amongst them their chief strength, the maintaining of that, and the reverent worshipping of God their joy and glory, no object is so pleasing to them, as to see the beauty of the sanctuary, neither are they so well satisfied in their souls with any thing, as when they have been there to worship, and to hear Christ teaching in the Ministry of his word for the divine consolation that they have hereby. The words rendred wherein their soul resteth, are foreign, the elevation or burthen of your souls, that is, the thing about which your mindes are most charged with care and fear, being sollicitous for it, as Eli was for the Arke of God, when it was carryed out against the Philistims, lest the place or worship there exhibited should be any way perverted or corrupted. And the rendring by burthen in this sense is rather to be preferred, then elevation, because this as their joy and glory was spoken of before. A passage worthy our consideration, amongst whom the houses of God are so much vilified and undervalued, Note other meeting houses being rather preferred before them, and they turned into prisons, stables, lodging roomes, and what not? some to ruinous heaps. As corrupt as the Jews wene, they abhorred from such prophaneness, it was the barbarous Caldee that knew not God, who did this. Their strength and glory being thus taken away, the Lord telleth him, that some who escaped V. 26. 27.with their lives should come and tell him thereof in the Caldees countrey, and then he should be no more dumb, but open his mouth and speak, and they should know, that he was the Lord, and that Ezekiel had not been a portentum or signe unto thern in vaine, all things being come to pass, which he by parables before prophesied of, but he was then notwithstanding no otherwise thought upon, but as a dumb man, but now he sheweth, that he should speak, and the Jews schooled by sufferings should thenceforth hearken willingly to his instructions, being hereby brought to know and fear God, which they would not formerly do. And of the fulfilling of this, see ch. 33. 21, 22. whence note, that they who are unteachable, whilst they are in a prosperous estate, being moved to repentance by no kind of teaching either plain or parabolical, Note. are in danger by smart through judgements to be compelled to that, from which they are most averse otherwise, that we may rather shew our selves like good scholars, docible, by the means of teaching by God vouchsafed unto us, then by hardening our hearts bring so severe a rod upon our selves; so the Prophet Esay threateneth the indocible with teaching by men of another Esa. 28. 11.tongue to their cost, and with a lisping lip, intimating their deriding them.
CHAP. XXV.
THe Prophet having hitherto declared the judgements to come upon Israel, and touched a little upon the Ammonites, chap. 21. 28. now prophesieth again, both against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites and Philistims, because they rejoyced at the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, as bearing alwayes a deadly hatred against the Jews for the Religious sake. Whence note Note. how great a sin it is for the wicked and seduced by errour in Religion to hate the professours of the truth. For this the wrath of God shall burn against them untill they be destroyed, and likewise it shall be to all wicked men that rejoyce at the fall of Gods people, although for their sins worthy to be so severely corrected, because this is to rejoyce at the dishonor of the true God, and at the pulling down of the Religion, which he hath set up to the incouraging of men in a false Religion, as being nothing inferiour to the true, yea rather superiour, which the living God will never endure. Whereas v. 4. V. 4.the Lord threateneth to deliver the Ammonites into the hands of the men of the East; some hereby understand the Medes and the Persians, some the Arabians, who dwelt Eastward from Ammon, and abounded with cattel, and specially with Camels, for which it is further said v. 5. I will give Rabbah to be stables for Camels, that is, the Ammonites chief City. But Jerom by the men of Hieron.the East understandeth the Caldees, whose King Nebuchadnezzar sought divinations to go either against Jerusalem first or against Rabbah of the Ammonites Jer. 49. Ioseph. Antiq. l. 10. c. 11. V. 9.ch. 21. 21. and having destroyed Jerusalem, he with in five yeers after went against and destroyed Ammon, as Joseph. saith, but of the Arabians doing it we no where read. v. 9. I will open the side of Moab from his Cities, which are on his frontiers, the Vulg. for side hath shoulder, as wherein a mans chief strength lyeth, the meaning is, that as the side being opened an entrance is given into the body through the ribs for the destruction thereof because the strongest defence is taken away, so the frontier Cities of Moab, which were strongest should not hinder the Caldeans from entring the countrey, and therefore it should not be able to stand against their forces, but be subdued and overthrown. Thus the two peoples that came of Lot, for their hatred and inhumanity against the Israelites their kindred, were adjudged to destruction.
And next unto them the posterity of Esau or Edom, which stood in neerer V. 12.relation to them, for Esau was Israels brother, and here it is laid to their charge, that they took revenge upon Judah, that is, helping the Caldees in destroying Jerusalem, as is said, Obadiah v. 14. and Psal. 137. Therefore the Lord threatneth revenge against them by the hand of Israel, which how it is to V. 14.be understood, see Jerem. 49. 2.
The Philistims are also threatened, as old enemies, as also Obad. v. 19. and Jer. 47. where enough hath been spoken of Gods judgements upon V. 15.them, and their subduing afterwards to Israel. The word rendred South is Teman signifying the South, and was the chief City of the Edomites.
The Cherethim v. 16. which he saith, he would cut off; speaking by a Paranomasie, for foreign signifieth to cut off, were a people of the Philistims, V. 16.who came with David from thence, and were together with the Pelethites his guard, of whom see 2 Sam. 15. Note.
CHAP. XXVI.
THis whole Chap. is a prophesie against Tyrus a strong and proud City upon the sea, of which it hath been often spoken, especially Esa. 23. and the cause of the destruction thereof was the same that brought Ammon and Moab, &c. to ruine, her rejoycing at the fall of Jerusalem.
I will also scrape her dust from her and make her like the top of a rock. This is spoken to shew the utter ruine of Tyre, being so overturned, as that not V. 4.so much as any earth should be left there, but as the City was built upon a rock, and the earth that was about it was brought from other places to make gardens, so that being now thrown down into the sea, it should be left, as a bare rock, as it was at the first. v. 6. her daughters shall be slaine in the feild, V. 6.that is, Zidon and other Cities in subjection to Tyrus, as the mother City.
Whereas it is threatened, that Tyrus should be built no more, yet Esa. 23. 15. it is said, that it should be built after seventy yeers, the meaning is, not V. 14.to be the head of a Kingdom, for although it were built againe in the time of the Persians, yet neither was it built by Tyrians, the posterity of the old inhabitants, but by others, neither was it a Kingdome, or free City any more but tributary.
He speakes of great waters brought upon her, meaning great forces, but called waters in alluding to the situation of Tyre, which was upon the V. 19.sea. For although the foundation of the City were an high rock, yet it is said to be overflown with waters, and to go into the pit, because places drowned are never any more seen, but ly perpetually in the bottom of the sea, as in a pit.
The going down of Tyre into the pit, is further illustrated by comparing her going down with that of the old world long agoe, intimating hereby, V. 20.at Jerom hath it, the Tyrians destruction both temporally and eternally in the pit of hell, When I shall set glory in the land of the living, that is, I shall glorifie my servants and bless them with eternal life in my heavenly Kingdom.
CHAP. XXVII.
IN this Chap. that the ruine of Tyrus might appear to be the greater, the prophet setteth forth at large the wealth and magnificence of that City, and the great command thereof over other places, so that it might seem to be of imcomparable strength and invincible. Here is nothing that needeth exposition, till we come to v. 11. The Gammadims were upon thy towers, whereby because the word signifieth a cubit, some saith Junius, understand men but Junius.one cubit high, viz. the pygmies, but how probable this is, let the reader judge, forsomuch as they are spoken of as part of the forces, which stood to defend Tyre. He therefore conjectureth, that the word is not proper, but appellative, by Gammadim cubit men, strong armed men being understood to draw the bow and shoote most mightily. Yet there were a people of this name, who as Pliny saith inhabited a region in Phenicia lying upon the sea Plin. nat. hist. l. 2. c. …1.in the form of a cubit, being from thence called Gammadim, which region was devoured long agoe by the sea.
Touching wheat of Minnith, v. 17. this was a City of the Ammonites smitten V. 17.by Iphtah and brought under long agoe, see Judg. 11. 35. and the wheat here growing most probably was of the finest sort, and of panag, that is Phenicia, as Junius hath it, Panag also signifieth balsome, whereby the Vulg. therefore rendereth it, or it is the proper name of a place, or signifieth a kind of pothearb, and for wheat of Minnith, the Vulg. hath triticum primum, the principal wheat, respecting rather the sense, then the word or name.
The wine of Helbon is by the Vulg. called fat wine, the Scholiast thinketh the V. 18.City Malmasia to be meant, which afforded a most delicate wine called Malmsey, but then it must be of Damascus in Syria, of which he is speaking, not of Crete.
For Mosel the Sept. hath vagabundus, as if some sort of merchants were V. 19.meant that for traffick went up and down to all parts, the word foreign signifieth translated, N. Tr. agreeably to this, going to and fro.