Commentary on the Old Testament Volume 2-4, Biblical commentary 7 · Ezekiel · Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
AN end is come, and not the sounding again of the mountains. In this ch. the same V. 7.judgments are inculcated, being spoken so often over, because he had to doe with a people that would beleeve nothing, and be moved at nothing; all things are here easy to be understood. That which is more then was said before is a most vehement assertion of the approach of the time of the destruction of Jerusalem; and this, he saith, in this ver. should be with a tumult of many enemies coming, and not with an empty sound beating the air, as an eccho from the mountains. v. 10. The rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. Here the Prophet V. 10.proceedeth not onelyonly in shewing the earlinesse of the judgments threatned, in the morning, after the night of their security, as thinking all their wickednesse to be hidden, as in the dark of the night, that destruction shall immediately come, as the morning follows the night; but also by whom this destruction shall come, viz. the rod of God, Nebuchadnezzar, as Salmanasar the King of Assyria is called Esay 10. 5. and this rod he saith was now blossomed, and therefore it would not be long before the bringing forth of this fruit, their fearfull ruin. And hence Calvin noteth, that the Lord proceedeth Calvin.to judgment with deliberation, and not rashly and suddenly, so soon Note. as he is provoked, but as a tree springeth in time, and then blossometh, and after in due time fructifieth; so doth he bring forth the fruit of his wrath, space of repentance being first given to the most wicked people that are. Not much unlike unto this was the Almond rod seen by Ieremiah, foreshewing the Jer. 1. 11.same. But what is the budding of pride, that next followeth? Sol. This is spoken of the pride of the Jews causing this rod; for through it they despised all admonition, as making account that their power and the strength of their City was so great, that none could prevail against them; but hereby they laid the foundation of this rods blossoming; and by their oppressions and proud carriage towards the poor. Whence note, that practising such wickednesses is as it were a planting and watering of a rod, which being grown, shall yeeld Note. the fruit of grievous beating to the wicked, and this to bee meant is shewed, v. 11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickednesse; that is, amongst the Jews oppressing V. 11.one another; wherefore he saith, they shall perish and none shall lament them, the words are, None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor any of theirs, neither shall there be wailing for them, Hebr. it is, not of them, so likewise the Vulg. Lat. the words shall remain being inserted to make up the sense; and so it is by Lyra expounded, but restrainedly, as meant of Zedekiah 2 King. 25.and his children, who had his eyes put out, and his children slain at Riblab by the King of Babylon, and so none of his stock remained; for then violence or oppression coming from pride before spoken of, grew to a rod, or proved a rod of wickednesse; that is, to punish such wickednesse to the full by the Caldees: Junius renders it, none of them, nor of their multitude, or of their Thrasoes Junius.shall remain; saying, that here is a distinction made of them all into two, the Nobility and the Common people; of them first it is here prophesyed, that there shall be such a generall destruction, as that none of them shall be left, but either slain or captived of the common people, although some be left, as the History sheweth there were, to till the land; yet they should not remain long before that they were carryed out of the land also, as it fell out, when by means of Ishmael and his companions who had slain Gedaliah, they were all carryed into Aegypt, and Johanan and Jezaniah, &c. who were as vain-glorious Jer. 41.Thrasoes, for their pride went thither with them, in hope to live safely there, but they were deceived, because Jeremy threatned them with destruction, and so they had no rest even in that land, as is added according to the Vulg. There shall be no rest in them; and as the word foreign most properly signifieth, for which cause Noah had his name as Propheticall, touching rest from the former great toil that men had in tilling the ground; which name cometh from the same radix, onelyonly it is to be noted, that here is foreign for foreign; but Je… reads it with foreign, others with foreign, and foreign signifyeth to lament; and Junius renders it also by this word; the Sept. species, vel decor, comelinesse, as deriving it from foreign an habitation or beauty; if it be taken for Lament, the meaning is, so great and universall a destruction shall be made of them that there shall bee none surviving to keep their funerall obsequies with lamentation, as Ier. 16. 4. 25. 35. Now the latters foreign and foreign are so near one the other, that it is hard to distinguish them, and so one might wel in divers Copies be put for the other, and so most probably in the Copy followed by Jerome it was foreign; and this agreeth best, because it is not said in the next word for them, but foreign in them, there shall be no rest in them, or amongst them, as they had none in Aegypt, as they thought to have had, when they went down thither: Lastly, for these words, of any of theirs; Heb. it is foreign of them them; that is, the proudest amongst them set forth by them, doubled the great conceit which they had of themselves.
Let not the buyer rejoyce, nor the seller mourn. This is spoken further to expresse V. 12.the confusion that should be in that land; so that buyers should have no cause of joy, as they commonly have upon good purchases made; nor the sellers of sorrow for parting with their houses or lands; because the one should not enjoy that which he had bought, nor the other be in a worse condition then he, for both at the coming of the Caldees should be alike destitute of habitations in their own land. There is something like this said, 1 Cor. 7. 29. Let him that buyeth be as if he possessed not, &c. but to another end, viz. because these worldly things are flitting and transitory, and therefore our hearts must not be set upon them.
For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although he were yet alive: V. 13.The Vulg. Their life yet in the living, in viventibus; expounded by Lyra, Let him think it well that he hath escaped away with his life, if he may doe, and that Lyra.reading is word for word according to the Hebrew. And the meaning is, there should be so great a destruction of men, that few should be preserved alive; and of them that were, none must make account to tarry in the land to another year of Jubilee, to return to his possession again, which he had sold, because the land should be in the possession of their enemies, and so that law of the Jubilee should stand them in no stead, who were stil alive after others destroyed: And a man shall not strengthen his soul in his iniquity, and the vision concerning the whole multitude shall not return; that is, this Propheticall threatning shall by no means be made void, so that any of so great a multitude may hope to escape, and hereof this is given for a reason, they were all full of sin and iniquity, and therefore they should have no power to escape.
They have blown the trumpet, but none maketh ready to the battel. Their destruction being shewed in the former words, here he beginneth to shew that V. 14.they shall not be able by any means to keep it away, not by arming themselves, set forth by blowing the trumpet; for so they might doe to gather company together, but all in vain, for they should not have the courage to goe forth to battell: neither by keeping within the walls of the City, for the V. 15.famine and 'pestilence should destroy there. Then in amplifying their misery further, hee saith, they that escape of them shall flee as the doves to the V. 16.mountains; that is, being fall of fear and trembling, to save their lives they shall flee to dry and barren places, and there mourn as doves in the want of all things necessary for the sustentation of life, and so their lives shall be unto them more grievous then death, they pining away in desert places, through grief, want, and poverty. At the first sight here might seem to bee a contradiction to that which was said before, that none of them should remain; but now the words being thus understood agree very well. From hence the Prophet proceedeth in further describing their sad estate; Ʋpon all loins shall V. 17. 18.be sackcloth, and upon all heads baldnesse; for this was a sign of sorrow amongst the Jews for to pluck off their hair, which at other times they nourished, whether men or women, although in other nations women onelyonly; and amongst the Romans in times of sorrow contrariwise they suffered their hair Plutar. c. probl. 13.to grow, but in times of joy they cut it off, thus Plutarch; but Mephibosheth a Jew, when he sorrowed for David let his hair grow, whereby it should seem that the Jews did herein like the Romanes, and Deut. 14. 1. they are forbidden to pluck off their hair in times of mourning, it being censured as an Heathenish thing.
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed. The Vulg. Their gold shall goe to the dunghill: Hebr. foreign shall be to commotion, V. 19.or uncleannesse, for the word foreign is added, shall be, therefore is best to render it Uncleannesse, the meaning being, it should come into the Heathen Caldees hands, for which it should bee accounted by the Jews unclean, whereas before there had been such a cursed hunger after it in them: And for their silvers casting into the street; hereby was meant, they should count it then vile and base, as being of no worth either to redeem their lives at their enemies hands, or to sustain them in the time of famin, there being nothing to be had for money to feed their famishing bodies, as is shewed in the next words, Their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; for this sheweth of how little worth their gold should be to redeem their lives, and they shall not satisfie their souls, nor fill their bowels; which sheweth, that hereby no food should be gotten therewith in that extremity of famine; for it is the stumbling block of their iniquity; that is, the occasion of sin unto them, as the next words shew, v. 20. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in Majesty, but they made the images of their abominations, and of their detestable things therein: Vulg. and they have turned ornamentum monilium suorum in superbiam, and of it have made images of their abominations and idols; Hebr. they have made the ornament of its delectable things thereof into pride, and with it shadows or representations, &c. and this no man can doubt but it was a turning of their gold into an occasion of falling into most foul sins, for which it was just with God to make it as an unclean thing, as was both said before, and followeth: and to give it into the hands of their enemies V. 21. Calvin.to be polluted, v. 21. yea, and the sanctuary also, wherein the Jews V. 22.so greatly gloryed, to be polluted by them, as v. 22. Thus also Calvin. And then it is not to be understood according to Lyra, when hee saith, It was the stumbling block of their iniquity; their iniquities made them fall into this great misery. Note hence, that gold and silver abused shall prove a greater judgment then a blessing in the end; and the abusing of it Note. to pride and other wickednesse, giveth advantage to barbarous enemies to come and to take it away, and so to leave the owners thereof in want, and extream misery. Wherefore, let every one take heed, that hee use his wealth well, and not in pride, or excesse of ryot, to whoring or vain pleasures.
Make a chain, for the Land is full of bloudy crimes: Heb. of the judgment of V. 23.blouds, there being much innocent bloud shed therein. For these words, make a chain, the Vulg. hath, make a conclusion; as if it were meant, shut up this prophesie of destruction to come, as by a decree irrevocable: But forsomuch as the word signifieth a Chain, the meaning is, make a chain in Lyra.token of their being led chained into captivity, as Lyra hath it, or before Gods judgment, as prisoners are brought chained to the Bar, as Calvin.Calvin.
Then they shall seek a vision from the Prophet, but the law shall perish from the V. 26.Priest, and wisdome from the ancient. This was verified, when King Zedekiah sought to Jeremiah, at the coming of Nebuchadnezzar against him; but his seeking proved vain, because he followed not his counsell; and likewise when Johanan a Captain and his fellows sought to him afterwards, but followed not his directions. The law perished from the Priest, when Jer. 42. & 43.by the same Nebuchadnezzar the books of the law were burnt; and wisdome from the ancient, when the Elders were also by him slain, because they Lyra.counselled Zedekiah to break his oath made to him, so Lyra according to the Hebrews. Hereby also we may understand, that Prophets and Visions should after the Judgments of God coming upon them, which were before spoken of, fail and be no more, and so their estate should be most uncomfortable. For as long as Prophets remain amongst a people, there is Calvin.something, whereby their miseries may be lightened, viz. the comfort of the Word; but these being gone, all comfort is gone, and then misery is importable. But both for this, and the law perishing from the Priests, and wisdome from the ancient, see how well it is adaptated to them, who are brought in out of their presumption and carnall confidence; saying, The law shall not perish from the Priest, nor wisdome from the Ancient, &c. Jerem. 18.Jer. 18. 18.