King James Version
Ezekiel 36
38 verses with commentary
The Mountains of Israel to Be Restored
Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **The mountains of Israel.—**The word “mountains” is used for the land and people of Israel, to keep up the connection (by contrast) with the Mount Seir of the previous chapter. The personification is a strong one, by which the mountains represent the people as well as the land.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. put bands upon thee--**not literally, but spiritually, the binding, depressing influence which their rebellious conduct would exert on his spirit. Their perversity, like bands, would repress his freedom in preaching; as in 2Co 6:12, Paul calls himself "straitened" because his teaching did not find easy access to them. Or else, it is said to console the prophet for being shut up; if thou wert...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **The ancient high places.—**This is very nearly the same expression as in Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15, where it is translated “everlasting (or lasting) hills,” and is probably an allusion to those passages. “The enemy” is a general term, which may refer to Edom; but from the following verses it is more likely that it is used for the heathen at large. When Israel’s land had been left deso...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. I will make my tongue ... dumb--**Israel had rejected the prophets; therefore God deprives Israel of the prophets and of His word--God's sorest judgment (1Sa 7:2; Am 8:11, 12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people: Because: Heb. Because for because are: or, ye are made to come up on the lip of the tongue
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **In the lips of talkers, and are an infamy.—**A phrase equivalent to *a by-word and a reproach.* (Comp. Deuteronomy 28:37; 1Kings 9:7, &c.) In the previous clause the words, “have swallowed you up,” should rather be “pant for you,” the word being taken from the snuffing and panting of wild beasts. It was after this fashion that “the residue of the heathen,” all those whom the conquests of Neb...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. when I speak ... I will open thy mouth--**opposed to the silence imposed on the prophet, to punish the people (Eze 3:26). After the interval of silence has awakened their attention to the cause of it, namely, their sins, they may then hearken to the prophecies which they would not do before.
**He that heareth, let him hear ... forbear--**that is, thou hast done thy part, whether they hear ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; rivers: or, bottoms, or, dales
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Idumea** = Edom, as in Ezekiel 35:15, where see Note. For “cast it out,” in the last clause of the verse, read, *empty it out.* The idea of casting out a land for a prey is incongruous, and the other sense is admissible.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Eze 4:1-17. Symbolical Vision of the Siege and the Iniquity-bearing.
**1. tile--**a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. fort--**rather, "watch-tower" (Jr 52:4) wherein the besiegers could watch the movements of the besieged [Gesenius]. A wall of circumvallation [Septuagint and Rosenmuller]. A kind of battering-ram [Maurer]. The first view is best.
**a mount--**wherewith the Chaldeans could be defended from missiles.
**battering-rams--**literally, "through-borers." In Eze 21:22 the same Hebrew is translated...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Divine Oath Formula:</strong> The phrase "I have lifted up mine hand" translates the Hebrew <em>נָשָׂאתִי אֶת־יָדִי</em> (nasati et-yadi), a solemn oath gesture signifying an irrevocable divine promise. This same formula appears in Numbers 14:30 and Deuteronomy 32:40, always indicating God's unbreakable commitment. <strong>Reversal of Fortune:</strong> The principle here is <em>lex talioni...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Lifted up mine hand.—**As in Ezekiel 20:6 = “I have sworn.”
**Shall bear their shame**.—Comp. Ezekiel 36:6. The Israelites have been compelled to bear the reproaches of the heathen, but these now return upon themselves.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. iron pan--**the divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city.
**set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city--**Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through.
**set ... face against it--**inexorably...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Shoot forth your branches.—**The land of Israel, represented by its mountains, is now to put forth its fruit, for the time is at hand when the people will return—a strong and vivid way of setting forth at once the certainty and the nearness of the return.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. Another symbolical act performed at the same time as the former, in vision, not in external action, wherein it would have been only puerile: narrated as a thing ideally done, it would make a vivid impression. The second action is supplementary to the first, to bring out more fully the same prophetic idea.
**left side--**referring to the position of the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, as Jud...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. three hundred and ninety days--**The three hundred ninety years of punishment appointed for Israel, and forty for Judah, cannot refer to the siege of Jerusalem. That siege is referred to in Eze 4:1-3, and in a sense restricted to the literal siege, but comprehending the whole train of punishment to be inflicted for their sin; therefore we read here merely of its sore pressure, not of its resu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. each day for a year--**literally, "a day for a year, a day for a year." Twice repeated, to mark more distinctly the reference to Nu 14:34. The picturing of the future under the image of the past, wherein the meaning was far from lying on the surface, was intended to arouse to a less superficial mode of thinking, just as the partial veiling of truth in Jesus' parables was designed to stimulate...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Will multiply upon you.—**The promises of abundant blessing of this, with the previous and following verses, certainly received a partial fulfilment at the time following the return from the exile, and in the subsequent Maccabean period; yet one cannot but feel that the language of promise, if taken only in a literal sense, goes far beyond the historic fulfilment, and hence that these earth...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. arm ... uncovered--**to be ready for action, which the long Oriental garment usually covering it would prevent (Is 52:10).
**thou shalt prophesy against it--**This gesture of thine will be a tacit prophecy against it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. bands--**(Eze 3:25).
**not turn from ... side--**to imply the impossibility of their being able to shake off the punishment.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Thou land devourest up men.**—Comp. Numbers 13:32, a passage probably in the prophet’s mind, though he uses it for a different reason. Israel had so often sinned, and so often, in consequence, suffered the Divine punishments, that the heathen, not recognising the true cause, superstitiously attributed the result to something in the land itself.
With the promises of this chapter comp. Isaiah...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. wheat ... barley, &c.--**Instead of simple flour used for delicate cakes (Ge 18:6), the Jews should have a coarse mixture of six different kinds of grain, such as the poorest alone would eat.
**fitches--**spelt or dhourra.
**three hundred and ninety--**The forty days are omitted, since these latter typify the wilderness period when Israel stood separate from the Gentiles and their pol...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD. bereave: or, cause to fall
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. twenty shekels--**that is, little more than ten ounces; a scant measure to sustain life (Jr 52:6). But it applies not only to the siege, but to their whole subsequent state.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Cause . . . to fall.—**In the last four verses there is a delicate play upon words which cannot well be expressed in English. Two verbs are used, each of them twice (“bereave” in Ezekiel 36:14 should be *cause to fall,* as in margin), one of them meaning to *bereave,* the other to *cause to fall;* and these verbs have the same radical letters, but with the first two of them transposed.
In r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. sixth ... of ... hin--**about a pint and a half.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. dung--**as fuel; so the Arabs use beasts' dung, wood fuel being scarce. But to use human dung so implies the most cruel necessity. It was in violation of the law (De 14:3; 23:12-14); it must therefore have been done only in vision.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **They defiled it.—**In Ezekiel 36:17-20 the sin of Israel in the past is set forth as the reason of their present condition. “The land” is always regarded in Scripture as peculiarly consecrated to God, and defiled by the sin of the people. (Comp. Leviticus 18:28; Numbers 35:34.) The comparison is with a woman who has been set apart for uncleanness (Leviticus 15:19), who until her purificatio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. Implying that Israel's peculiar distinction was to be abolished and that they were to be outwardly blended with the idolatrous heathen (De 28:68; Ho 9:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14. Ezekiel, as a priest, had been accustomed to the strictest abstinence from everything legally impure. Peter felt the same scruple at a similar command (Ac 10:14; compare Is 65:4). Positive precepts, being dependent on a particular command can be set aside at the will of the divine ruler; but moral precepts are everlasting in their obligation because God cannot be inconsistent with His unchangi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. cow's dung--**a mitigation of the former order (Eze 4:12); no longer "the dung of man"; still the bread so baked is "defiled," to imply that, whatever partial abatement there might be for the prophet's sake, the main decree of God, as to the pollution of Israel by exile among Gentiles, is unalterable.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-19** Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficul...
Read full commentary →And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **When they said to them**.—We are not here to understand that the Israelites profaned God’s name among the heathen in the way spoken of in Romans 2:24, though this also may have been done; but they profaned it by the very fact of their captivity, the consequence of their former sins. The heathen regarded Jehovah as merely the national God of the Israelites, and seeing them dispersed, in dist...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. staff of bread--**bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on (Le 26:26; Psa 105:16; Is 3:1).
**by weight, and with care--**in scant measure (Eze 4:10).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Pity for mine holy name**.—The meaning of this has been already explained in the Note on the previous verse; and in the following verses it is emphasised that God would restore His people, not for their sakes, but for His own.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. astonied one with another--**mutually regard one another with astonishment: the stupefied look of despairing want.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
God explains His motivation for restoration: 'Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.' The emphatic 'not for your sakes... but for mine holy name's sake' removes any grounds for merit-based thinking. Israel's restoration flows from God'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Not . . . for your sakes, . . . but for mine holy name’s sake**.—Comp. Exod. xxxii; Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 9. This is the constant burden of God’s teaching to His people throughout their history. Hence it is an idle objection to the Scripture narrative that it represents Israel as the favourite of heaven, and is thus just like the human legends of every other ancient nation. In fact, this ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. their: or, your
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Before their eyes.—**The Hebrew text as it stands has *your* eyes, as in the margin. Many manuscripts and other authorities have *their.* Either of them admits of an excellent sense; but the reading *your* brings out the important truth that God must first be sanctified in the eyes of the people themselves by their repentance and moral reformation, and then, through them and the consequent ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 5 Eze 5:1-17. Vision of Cutting the Hairs, and the Calamities Foreshadowed Thereby.
**1. knife ... razor--**the sword of the foe (compare Is 7:20). This vision implies even severer judgments than the Egyptian afflictions foreshadowed in the former, for their guilt was greater than that of their forefathers.
**thine head--**as representative of the Jews. The whole hair being shaven off w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
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KJV Study Commentary
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land." This promise of regathering addresses both physical return from exile and spiritual gathering of the elect. The language emphasizes divine initiative: "I will take...I will gather...I will bring." God doesn't merely permit return but actively accomplishes it. Reformed theology ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. Three classes are described. The sword was to destroy one third of the people; famine and plague another third ("fire" in Eze 5:2 being explained in Eze 5:12 to mean pestilence and famine); that which remained was to be scattered among the nations. A few only of the last portion were to escape, symbolized by the hairs bound in Ezekiel's skirts (Eze 5:3; Jr 40:6; 52:16). Even of these some were ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
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KJV Study Commentary
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." This describes spiritual purification, not mere ritual. The "clean water" anticipates Christian baptism, symbolizing regeneration and washing away of sins. God promises cleansing from both external defilement ("filthiness") and internal corruption ("idols"). Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Sprinkle clean water.—**Comp. Hebrews 9:13; Hebrews 10:22. Ezekiel, the priest, here refers to those manifold purifications of the Law (*e.g.,* Numbers 8:7; Numbers 19:9; Numbers 19:17; Leviticus 14:5-7; Leviticus 14:9, &c.) which were performed by means of water; yet he refers to these as a whole, in their symbolical signification, rather than to any one of them in particular. He speaks pr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
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KJV Study Commentary
One of the Old Testament's clearest promises of new covenant regeneration: 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.' The 'new heart' (leb chadash, לֵב חָדָשׁ) represents transformed affections, desires, and will. The 'new spirit' (ruach chadashah, רוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה) connect...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **A new heart.—**Comp. Ezekiel 11:18-20, where the same promise is given, although somewhat less fully than here. On the expression “heart of flesh,” see Note there on Ezekiel 36:19. With this prophetic preaching of the Gospel comp. Jeremiah 31:31-34, and particularly the connection of that passage with the temporal promises in its continuation (Ezekiel 36:35-38).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
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KJV Study Commentary
Continuing the new covenant promise: 'And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' This verse reveals the mechanism of heart transformation—God's Spirit dwelling within believers enables obedience. The phrase 'I will put my spirit within you' (et-ruchi etten beqirbkem, אֶת־רוּחִי אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבְּכֶם) promises the Holy Spi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5-6. Explanation of the symbols:
**Jerusalem--**not the mere city, but the people of Israel generally, of which it was the center and representative.
**in ... midst--**Jerusalem is regarded in God's point of view as center of the whole earth, designed to radiate the true light over the nations in all directions. Compare Margin ("navel"), Eze 38:12; Psa 48:2; Jr 3:17. No center in the ancient h...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
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KJV Study Commentary
"And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." The covenant formula concludes the restoration promises—restored land, restored relationship. For Old Testament Israel, this meant physical return to Canaan. For the church, it means spiritual inheritance of the new creation. The Reformed view sees continuity: what God promised Israel f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Ye shall dwell in the land.—**The Israelites were not yet able to seek the spiritual, except as con. nected with the temporal blessing; and, indeed, the temporal was, in the ordering of Providence, a necessary means to the spiritual. Therefore the promise of earthly restoration must yet be made, and must in due time be literally fulfilled.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5-6. Explanation of the symbols:
**Jerusalem--**not the mere city, but the people of Israel generally, of which it was the center and representative.
**in ... midst--**Jerusalem is regarded in God's point of view as center of the whole earth, designed to radiate the true light over the nations in all directions. Compare Margin ("navel"), Eze 38:12; Psa 48:2; Jr 3:17. No center in the ancient h...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Your uncleannesses.—**In Ezekiel 36:25 they had already been made clean, and in Ezekiel 36:26 a new heart had been given them; why, then, was there yet further need of cleansing? This cannot, therefore, refer to the idolatries from which they had been already purged, but is plain enough if understood of that ordinary sinfulness of man which, being continually renewed, needs continual forgiv...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. multiplied--**rather, "have been more abundantly outrageous"; literally, "to tumultuate"; to have an extravagant rage for idols.
**neither have done according to the judgments of the nations--**have not been as tenacious of the true religion as the nations have been of the false. The heathen "changed" not their gods, but the Jews changed Jehovah for idols (see Eze 5:6, "changed My judgments...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. I, even I--**awfully emphatic. I, even I, whom thou thinkest to be asleep, but who am ever reigning as the Omnipotent Avenger of sin, will vindicate My righteous government before the nations by judgments on thee.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Shall lothe yourselves.—**Comp. Note on Ezekiel 20:43.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9. See on Eze 5:7.
**that which I have not done--**worse than any former judgments (La 4:6; Da 9:12). The prophecy includes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the final one by Antichrist (Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2), as well as that by Nebuchadnezzar. Their doom of evil was not exhausted by the Chaldean conquest. There was to be a germinating evil in their destiny, because there would be, as...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Not for your sakes.—**See Ezekiel 36:22.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. fathers ... eat ... sons--**alluding to Moses' words (Le 26:29; De 28:53), with the additional sad feature, that "the sons should eat their fathers" (see 2Ki 6:28; Jr 19:9; La 2:20; 4:10).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-32** Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!
Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. as I live--**the most solemn of oaths, pledging the self-existence of God for the certainty of the event.
**defiled my sanctuary--**the climax of Jewish guilt: their defiling Jehovah's temple by introducing idols.
**diminish--**literally, "withdraw," namely, Mine "eye" (which presently follows), that is, My favors; Job 36:7 uses the Hebrew verb in the same way. As the Jews had withdrawn ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Statement in plain terms of what was intended by the symbols (Eze 5:2; see Eze 6:12; Jr 15:2; 21:9).
**draw out ... sword after them--**(Le 26:33). Skeptics object; no such thing happened under Zedekiah, as is here foretold; namely, that a third part of the nation should die by pestilence, a third part by the sword, and a third be scattered unto all winds, and a sword sent after them. But th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
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KJV Study Commentary
The result of restoration: 'And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.' The comparison to 'the garden of Eden' depicts complete restoration and blessing—paradise regained. What was destroyed by judgment becomes more glorious than before. The threefold description 'waste and de...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **Like the garden of Eden.—**This may be meant merely to describe the exceeding excellence and prosperity of the land; but, in connection with what has been previously said, it seems rather to point forward to that state in which man shall again be entirely freed from sin, which has been the state for which the Church in all ages has been preparing.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. cause my fury to rest upon them--**as on its proper and permanent resting-place (Is 30:32, Margin).
**I will be comforted--**expressed in condescension to man's conceptions; signifying His satisfaction in the vindication of His justice by His righteous judgments (De 28:63; Pr 1:26; Is 1:24).
**they shall how--**by bitter experience.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. reproach among the nations--**They whose idolatries Israel had adopted, instead of comforting, would only exult in their calamities brought on by those idolatries (compare Lu 15:15).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **I will yet for this be** **enquired of**.—Comp. Ezekiel 14:3-4; Ezekiel 20:3. Formerly God refused to be inquired of by a people whose hearts were far from Him; now that He has given them a new heart He is ready to hear them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. instruction--**literally, "a corrective chastisement," that is, a striking example to warn all of the fatal consequences of sin. For "it shall be"; all ancient versions have "thou," which the connection favors.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD. holy: Heb. flock of holy things
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse points toward God's gracious purposes of restoration despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. The Reformed emphasis on sovereign grace shines through—restoration doesn't depend on Israel's merit or ability but on God's covenant faithfulness and irrevocable purposes (Romans 11:29). This anticipates new covenant promises where God gives a new heart and His Spirit to enable obedience (E...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **The flock of Jerusalem.—**The comparison is with the vast flocks of sacrificial animals accustomed to be carried to Jerusalem at the great annual feasts. The object is to give a vivid idea of the numbers of the people, but there is an especial appropriateness in the simile from the fact that these flocks were devoted to the Lord.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text Courtesy of B...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. arrows of famine--**hail, rain, mice, locusts, mildew (see De 32:23, 24).
**increase the famine--**literally, "congregate" or "collect." When ye think your harvest safe because ye have escaped drought, mildew, &c., I will find other means [Calvin], which I will congregate as the forces of an invading army, to bring famine on you.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 36
Baruch is to write the prophecies of Jeremiah. (Jr 36:1-8) The princes advise them to hide themselves. (Jr 36:9-19) The king having heard a part, burns the roll. (Jr 36:20-32)
**Verses 1-8** The writing of the Scriptures was by Divine appointment. The Divine wisdom directed to this as a proper means; if it failed, the house of Judah would be the more without excuse. The Lord decla...
Read full commentary →