Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 20:27
Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
27. Yet in this ] i.e. the following act, Eze 20:28, cf. Eze 23:38.
have blasphemed ] Past tense: blasphemed they committed. The blasphemy is not in words, but in high-handed disregard of his commands, Num 15:30.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
27 29. The people on their entry and in their abode in Canaan.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The probation in the land of Canaan from their entry to the day of Ezekiel.
Eze 20:27
Yet in this – It was an aggravation of their guilt that they defiled with idolatry the land given them for their glory.
Eze 20:29
Bamah – The Hebrew word for high place. Another instance of the perversion of Gods laws. When the Israelites first entered Canaan they were to set up the tabernacle on a high place, and upon this and upon no other they were to worship Yahweh (1Sa 9:12 ff; 1Ki 3:4). But the Israelites followed the custom of the country, and set up idol-worship on every high hill, and the word high place (Bannah, plural Bamoth) became a by-word (compare Bamoth-Baal, Jos 13:17). Bamoth occurs on the Moabitic stone, which records the erection of high places in honor of Chemosh. The name Bamah was thus a brand of the divine displeasure, and a memorial of the peoples guilt.
Eze 20:30, Eze 20:31
The present state of the people. Those who came to inquire were the representatives of the whole people though belonging to the exiles.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Since all this evil and wicked carriage in Egypt and in the wilderness is too true, and cause of a Divine wrath against them, go on; tell what the deportment of those was whom I brought into the land.
Unto the house of Israel; to those elders that were now come to him, that they might tell others at Jerusalem.
Yet; or further yet, beside all the rest, this is added by them.
Blasphemed me; profanely and frowardly lessened my mercy, my law, my worship, cast a reproach upon it all, as less desirable than that of their own; theirs more august and stately, more taking and pleasing: or thus reproached my wisdom, as if it needed their additions to complete religion and Divine worship; or reproached my bounty, as if not I, but their idols, gave them what they enjoyed, as Hos 2:5,7,8; the word speaks a reproach and blasphemy that comes from a heart full of enmity, as where it is used, Num 15:30; 2Ki 19:22; Psa 44:16; Isa 37:23; 43:28; they spitefully reproached.
Committed a trespass against me; grievously sinned, as the phrase is rendered, Eze 14:13; what this was in particular the next verse will account to us.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27-29. The next period, namely,that which followed the settlement in Canaan: the fathers of thegeneration existing in Ezekiel’s time walked in the same steps ofapostasy as the generation in the wilderness.
Yet in thisNot contentwith past rebellions, and not moved with gratitude for God’sgoodness, “yet in this,” still further theyrebelled.
blasphemed“haveinsulted me” [CALVIN].Even those who did not sacrifice to heathen gods have offered “theirsacrifices” (Eze 20:28)in forbidden places.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them,…. The elders of Israel, Eze 20:1; who came in the name of the whole body, and represented them, and by whom the following message is sent unto them; or the prophet by them might speak unto them, as he is ordered:
thus saith the Lord God, yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me; besides what they did in Egypt, and in the wilderness, when they were come into the land of Canaan, such was their ingratitude, that to all the rest they added this wickedness, to sacrifice to other gods on every high hill, and in all thick trees; which was a blaspheming the name of God, and casting reproach upon him:
in that they have committed a trespass against me; idolatry is meant, described in Eze 20:28; and which they committed, not through ignorance and weakness, but voluntarily, against light and knowledge; and obstinately, notwithstanding all the remonstrances made unto them, and cautions, exhortations, and reproofs given them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Israel committed these sins in Canaan also, and to this day has not given them up; therefore God will not allow the idolatrous generation to inquire of Him. – Eze 20:27. Therefore speak to the house of Israel, O son of man, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Still further have your fathers blasphemed me in this, with the faithlessness which they have shown toward me. Eze 20:28. When I had brought them into the land, which I had lifted my hand to give them, then they looked out every high hill and every thickly covered tree, and offered their sacrifices there, and gave their irritating gifts there, and presented the fragrance of their pleasant odour there, and poured out their drink-offerings there. Eze 20:29. And I said to them, What height is that to which ye go? And its name is called Height to this day. Eze 20:30. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, What? Do ye defile yourselves in the way of your fathers; and go whoring after their abominations; Eze 20:31. And defile yourselves in all your idols to this day, by lifting up your gifts, and causing your sons to pass through the fire; and should I let myself be inquired of by you? As I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I will not let myself be inquired of by you. – The in Eze 20:27 is resumed in Eze 20:30; and there the answer given by God to the elders, who had come to inquire of Him, is first communicated, after an express declaration of the fact that Israel had continued its idolatry in the most daring manner, even after its entrance into Canaan. But the form in which this is done – , “still further in this” – is to be understood as intimating that the conduct of the fathers of the existing generation, and therefore not merely of those who grew up in the wilderness, but also of those who had lived in Canaan, has already been described in general terms in the preceding verses, and that what follows simply adds another novel feature. But this can only be the case if Eze 20:23-26 are taken in the sense given above. is an accusative; and is construed with the accusative both of the person and thing. The more precise definition of is not given in ni nev at the end of the verse, but in the idolatry depicted in Eze 20:28. refers to the faithlessness involved in the breach of the covenant and in idolatry. This is the general description; whilst the idolatry mentioned in Eze 20:28 constituted one particular feature, in which the faithlessness appeared in the form of blasphemy. For the fact itself, namely, the worship on high places, which was practised on every hand, see Eze 6:13; Eze 16:24-25; 1Ki 14:23; 2Ki 17:10.
In the enumeration of the offerings, there is something striking in the position in which stands, namely, between the slaughtered sacrifices ( ) and the increase- and drink-offerings; and this is no doubt the reason why the clause ‘ is omitted from the Cod. Vat. and Alex. of the lxx; and even Hitzig proposes to strike it out. But Theodoret found this reading in the Alex. Version; and Hitzig is wrong in affirming that is used in connection with sacrifices, meat-offerings, and drink-offerings. The meat-offerings are not expressly named, for does not signify meat-offerings, but is used in the law for the odour of all the offerings, both slaughtered sacrifices and meat-offerings, even though in Eze 16:19 it is applied to the odour of the bloodless offerings alone. And in the same way does embrace all the offerings, even the slain offerings, in Eze 40:43, in harmony with Lev 1:2; Lev 2:1, and other passages. That it is used in this general signification here, is evident from the introduction of the word , irritation or provocation of their gifts, i.e., their gifts which provoked irritation on the part of God, because they were offered to idols. As this sentence applies to all the sacrifices (bloody and bloodless), so also does the clause which follows, ‘ , refer to all the offerings which were burned upon the altar, without regard to the material employed. Consequently Ezekiel mentions only slain offerings and drink-offerings, and, by the two clauses inserted between, describes the offering of the slaughtered sacrifices as a gift of irritation to God, and of pleasant fragrance to the idolatrous worshippers who presented them. He does not mention the meat-offerings separately, because they generally formed an accompaniment to the slain offerings, and therefore were included in these. But although God had called the people to account for this worship on high places, they had not relinquished it even “to this day.” This is no doubt the meaning of. Eze 20:29, which has been interpreted in very different ways. The context shows, in the most conclusive manner, that is to be taken collectively, and that the use of the singular is to be explained from the antithesis to the one divinely appointed Holy Place in the temple, and not, as Kimchi and Hvernick suppose, from any allusion to one particular bamah of peculiar distinction, viz., “the great high place at Gibeon.” The question is not expressive of contempt (Hitzig), but “is founded upon the assumption that they would have to give an account of their doings; and merely asks, What kind of heights are those to which you are going? Who has directed you to go thither with your worship?” (Kliefoth). There is no need to refute the trivial fancy of J. D. Michaelis, which has been repeated by Hitzig, namely, that Ezekiel has taken as a derivative from and . Again, the question does not presuppose a word addressed by God to Israel, which Ezekiel only has handed down to us; but is simply a rhetorical mode of presenting the condemnation by God of the worship of the high places, to which both the law and the earlier prophets had given utterance. The next clause, “and their name was called Height” (high place), is not to be regarded as containing merely a historical notice of the name given to these idolatrous places of worship; but the giving of the name is a proof of the continued existence of the thing; so that the words affirm, that notwithstanding the condemnation on the part of God, Israel had retained these high places, – had not abolished them to this day. – Eze 20:30 and Eze 20:31 facilitate the transition from the first part of this word of God to the second. What has already been said in vv. 5-29 concerning the idolatry of the people, from the time of its election onwards, is here expressly applied to the existing generation, and carries with it the declaration to them, that inasmuch as they are defiling themselves by idolatry, as their fathers did, Jehovah cannot permit Himself to be inquired of by them. The thought is couched in the form of a question, to express astonishment that those who denied the Lord, and dishonoured Him by their idolatry, should nevertheless imagine that they could obtain revelations from Him. The lifting up ( , from ) of gifts signifies the offering of sacrifices upon the altars of the high places. For Eze 20:31, compare Eze 20:3. – With this declaration God assigns the reason for the refusal to listen to idolaters, which had already been given in Eze 20:3. But it does not rest with this refusal. God now proceeds to disclose to them the thoughts of their own hearts, and announces to them that He will refine them by severe judgments, and bring them thereby to repentance of their sins, that He may then gather them out of the dispersion, and make them partakers of the promised salvation as a people willingly serving Him. – In this way do Eze 20:32-44 cast a prophetic glance over the whole of the future history of Israel.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Rebellions of Israel. | B. C. 592. |
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. 29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. 30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? 31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you. 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
Here the prophet goes on with the story of their rebellions, for their further humiliation, and shows,
I. That they had persisted in them after they were settled in the land of Canaan. Though God had so many times testified his displeasure against their wicked courses, “yet in this (that is, in the very same thing) your fathers have blasphemed me, continued to affront me, that they also have trespassed a trespass against me,” v. 27. Note, It is a great aggravation of sin when men will not take warning by the mischievous consequences of sin in those that have gone before them: this is blaspheming God; it is speaking reproachfully of his judgments, as if they were of no significancy and were not worth regarding. 1. God had made good his promise: I brought them into the land that I had sworn to give them. Though their unbelief and disobedience had made the performance slow, and much retarded it, yet it did not make the promise of no effect. They were often very near being cut off in the wilderness, but a step between them and ruin, and yet they came to Canaan at last. Note, Even God’s Israel get to heaven by hell-gates; so many are their transgressions, and so strong their corruptions, that it is a miracle of mercy they are happy at last; as hypocrites go to hell by heaven-gates. The righteous scarcely are saved. Per tot discrimina rerum tendimus ad clum–Ten thousand dangers fill the road to haven. 2. They had broken his precept by their abominable idolatries. God had appointed them to destroy all the monuments of idolatry, that they might not be tempted to desert his sanctuary; but, instead of defacing them, they fell in love with them, and when they saw every high hill whence they had the most delightful prospects, and all the thick trees where they had the most delightful shades (the former to show forth their pompous idolatries, the latter to conceal their shameful ones), there they offered their sacrifices and made their sweet savour, which should have been presented upon God’s altar only. There they presented the provocation of their offering (v. 28), that is, their offerings, which, instead of pacifying God, or pleasing him, were highly provoking-sacrifices which, though costly, yet being misplaced, were an abomination to the Lord. 3. They obstinately persisted herein notwithstanding all the admonitions that were given them (v. 29): “Then I told them, by my servants the prophets, told them where the high place was, to which they went; nay, I put them upon considering it, and asking their own consciences concerning it, by putting this question to them, Which is the high place whereunto you go? What do you find there so inviting that you will leave God’s altars, where he requires your attendance, to frequent such places as he has forbidden you to worship in? Do you not know that those high places are of a heathenish extraction, and that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed to devils and not to God? Did not Moses tell you so? Deut. xxxii. 17. And will you have fellowship with devils? What is that high place to which you go when you turn your back on God’s altars? O foolish Israelites, who or what has bewitched you, that you will forsake the fountain of life for broken cisterns, that worship which God appoints, and will accept, for that which he forbids, which he abhors, and which he will punish?” And yet the name is called Bamah unto this day; they will have their way, let God and his prophets say what they please to the contrary. They are wedded to their high places; even in the best reigns those were not taken away; you could not prevail to take away the name of Bamah–the high place, out of their mouths, but still they would have that in the place of their worship. The sin and the sinner are with difficulty parted.
II. That this generation, after they were unsettled, continued under the dominion of the same corrupt inclinations to idolatry, v. 30. He must say to the present house of Israel, some of whose elders were now sitting before him, “Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers? After all that God has said against you by a succession of prophets, and done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no warning? Will you still be as bad as your fathers were, and commit the same abominations that they committed? I see you will; you are bent upon returning to the old abominations; you offer your gifts in the high places, and you make your sons to pass through the fire; either you actually do it or you do it in purpose and imagination, and so you continue idolaters to this day.” These elders seem now to have been projecting a coalition with the heathen; their hearts they will reserve for the God of Israel, but their knees they will be at liberty to bow to the gods of the nations among whom they live, that they may have the more respect and the fairer quarter among them. Now the prophet is here ordered to tell those who were forming this scheme, and were for compounding the matter between God and Baal, that they should have no comfort or benefit from either. 1. They should have no benefit by their consulting in private with the prophets of the Lord; for, because they were hearkening after idols, God would have nothing to do with them (v. 31): As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. What he had said before (v. 3), having largely shown how just it was, he here repeats, as that which he would abide by. Let them not think that they honoured him by their enquiries, nor expect an answer of peace from him, as long as they continued in love and league with their idols. Note, Those reap no benefit by their religion that are not entire and sincere in it; nor can we have any comfortable communion with God in ordinances of worship unless we be inward and upright with him therein. We make nothing of our profession if it be but a profession. Nay, 2. They should have no benefit from their conforming in public to the practice of their neighbours (v. 32): “That which comes into your mind as a piece of refined politics in the present difficult juncture, and which you would be advised to for your own preservation, and that you may not by being singular expose yourselves to abuses, it shall not be at all, it shall turn to no account to you. You say, ‘We will be as the heathen, we will join with them in worshipping their gods, though at the same time we do not believe them to be gods, but wood and stone, and then we should be taken as the families of the countries; they will not know, or in a little while will have forgotten, that we are Jews, and will allow us the same privileges with their own countrymen.’ Tell them,” says God, “that this project shall never prosper. Either their neighbours will not admit them to join with them in their worship, or, if they do, will think never the better, but the worse, of them for it, and will look upon them as dissemblers, and not fit to be trusted, who are thus false to their God, and put a cheat upon their neighbours.” Note, There is nothing got by sinful compliances; and the carnal projects of hypocrites will stand them in no stead. It is only integrity and uprightness that will preserve men, and recommend them to God and man.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISRAEL’S SINS CONTINUED IN CANAAN
Verses 27-32:
Verse 27 calls upon Ezekiel again as the son of man (God’s prophet), to tell the house of Israel that their fathers had also blasphemed Him, after arriving in the land of Canaan, even as their fathers had done in the wilderness. It was a trespass (breach of His law) that could not go unpunished.
Verse 28 then describes the indictments of God against their fathers who had settled in Canaan, provoking Him to jealousy, Deu 32:16-17. Upon seeing the high hill and thick trees, their fathers went up there to offer their sacrifices, in forbidden places, pouring out there their sweet savour, and their drink offerings as a provocation before the Lord, Psa 78:58; Isa 57:4-7; Jer 2:7; Jer 3:6; See also Deu 12:1-14; 1Ki 11:7-11; 1Ki 12:25-32.
Verse 29 recounts the Lord’s inquiry of the house of Israel to tell where they were going to do their worship. It was for the record that He asked them to testify, not for His information, you see? The name of the place is declared to be Bamah, a place of provocation “unto this day,” the day of Ezekiel’s writing, Deu 12:1-5. David and others sacrificed on high places, under exceptional circumstances, before the altar was set up on Mt Moriah, 2Ch 3:1; 1Ki 6:1; 1Ch 21:18-20.
Verse 30 calls upon Ezekiel to question the nation of Israel of his own day, asking them rhetorically, are you not doing the very same sins your fathers did? You are polluting the land with whoredoms and abominations of false gods, are you not? Psa 115:4-8.
Verse 31 continues to charge them with. these heathen religious practices, even to the point of offering their children as burned human sacrifices, to Moloch, chief god of the Moabites, 2Ki 3:26-27. While they are doing such the Lord declares that He will not be inquired of or communicate with or respond to their cries, Jer 7:16; Jer 11:14; Jer 14:10-12.
Verse 32 warns that what they have resolved to do shall not last forever, 1Sa 28:5-6; Pro 1:27-28; Pro 15:8; Pro 28:9; Zec 7:13. They will not persist in their choice of worshipping idol lifeless gods of wood and stone, when He shall have stretched out His hand in measure of full judgment upon them; See Deu 4:28; Deu 28:36; Psa 115:1-8; Psa 135:15-17; Psa 37:19; Psa 44:7; Dan 5:4; Rev 9:20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
He now descends to the wickedness of the people, by which God was provoked after they had taken possession of the land of Canaan, since they despised God after being so carefully warned. He complains, therefore, that this was very disgraceful, since, after he had put them in possession of the land of promise, they had never desisted from purposely insulting him. This disgrace was intolerable, since he had profited nothing by them in the wilderness: this witnessing was sufficiently serious to stir them up. “Walk you not in the decrees of your fathers: I am your God, observe you my law.” Since. therefore, God drew them under obedience to himself, what a mark of pride it was not to attend to that witness-bearing, but to pursue their own mad career? In truth, the crime was the more atrocious when at length they entered the land of Canaan, and had obtained so many victories, that they did not learn by experience how God declared his pourer for the very purpose of binding them closer to himself. For the numerous benefits which God had conferred upon them were but so many bonds by which they were bound more closely to him. This expostulation, then, is not in vain, when he reproaches them by saying, when they dishonored me, or rebelled against me. This was not a single crime, or simple perfidy, but a continual delight in wantonly insulting him; for גדף, gedef, signifies to reject, treat contumeliously, or disdain. God, therefore, by this word wishes to express the deliberate insolence of the people, while they rose so wickedly against him as if they would spit in his face. The full meaning is, that they were not only breakers of treaties and rebels when they contaminated the land of Canaan with their superstitions, but were so petulant that they professedly threw scorn upon God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(Eze. 20:27-29)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.Israel continued to commit these sins in Canaan also, and still refuses to give them up.
Eze. 20:27. Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me. The prophet is addressing the people of his own time, and boldly charges them with committing the same sins as their fathers in the land of Canaan. The sin of the children of Israel in Canaan took a worse form than their sin in the wilderness. It was a more open affront to God, for they deliberately blasphemed His name. They rejected Him contemptuously when they left that one place which He selected to put his name there, and chose places of their own, offering sacrifice on every high hill. They did dishonour to the Holy Place.
Eze. 20:28. They saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. The stricter designation of blasphemy follows in this verse, after it was designated in general at the close of Eze. 20:27. The provocation of their offering the offerings to idols, whereby they provoked the anger of God; comp. Deu. 32:16-17, They provoked Him to jealousy with strange (gods); with abominations they made Him indignant. They sacrificed to lords which were not God, to gods whom they knew not. God says to them in the tone of reproach (1Ki. 9:13), What is the high place whereunto ye go? (Eze. 20:29): How can ye, instead of seeking Me in My true sanctuary, turn to these miserable places, with their miserable gods? And yet these are named high places unto this day, in the sense of sanctuaries, and with the notion that they have something peculiar about them.Hengstenberg. The repetition of the word there three times seems to be an echo of Deu. 12:5-7, Unto His habitation thither thither there (Eze. 20:40).
Eze. 20:29. And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. Bamah, a Hebrew word, signifying High-Place. The tops of high hills were used by the heathen for idolatrous worship; and, in consequence, Moses interdicted the use of them even for the worship of the true God (Deu. 12:1-5).
HOMILETICS
(Eze. 20:27-29.)
I. The nature of the sin of blasphemy. Your fathers have blasphemed Me (Eze. 20:27). This was the trespass which they committed against Jehovah. The essence of blasphemy consists in contempt of God; in deliberately disobeying His commands, especially as to worship. For surely God has the absolute right to lay down the manner in which He shall be approached served, and adored. He appointed the Holy Place for His worship, but Israel served their own Gods in places of their own appointing. When once God has spoken clearly, all mere will-worship is of the nature of blasphemy.
II. Blasphemy is ever the sin of the unregenerate heart. We speak especially of those who have the advantages of a Divine revelation, and who have means therefore for knowing the mind and will of God. Those who have no means of knowing God cannot consciously blaspheme Him
1. The unregenerate heart may recognise the idea of God, and the duty of worship. The Israelites of the prophets time felt that they must worship some divinity. They must have a religion. But
2. The unregenerate heart, though it pretends to a religion, leaves out the true essentials of it. And what are these? A recognition of Gods supreme authority as a righteous Ruler, a Saviour from sin, and a Sanctifier. Such men are ready to recognize the idea of God, but under the pretence of a lofty philosophical religion they practically deny Gods authority, they destroy the foundations of all truth in belief and worship. Sinful man, even when he holds by some prime necessity of religion, is ever prone to exalt his own mind and will.
3. The unregenerate heart has a natural preference for a burdensome and difficult religion. Israel was not satisfied with worshipping God in His holy temple, but preferred travelling great distances and climbing the high hills. Man is ever ready to do some great thing. Gods way is too simple for him. There is something in human nature which is flattered by difficult demands.
III. The sin of blasphemy especially interferes with Gods gracious purposes for mankind. God chose His ancient people that through them all the families of the earth should be blessed. Salvation is of the Jews. Israel was becoming like the heathen, whereas it was Gods purpose that the heathen should become like Israel. Thus by their idolatry and even blasphemy, the chosen people were working against the gracious purposes of the Most High. All manner of blasphemy against God, whether arising from intellectual pride, or superstition, or will-worship hinders the progress of His kingdom.
(Eze. 20:27)
Have blasphemed Me. The Hebrew word signifies, to revile with words, to reproach, and blaspheme. To blaspheme is to hurt the name or fame of any, and is a kind of evil speaking, derogating from the glory of God. Gods glory or name in itself is inviolable, but blasphemy doth what it can to violate it Blasphemy consists
1. In attributing to God what is not congruous to Him. As to say. He is the author of sin; He sees not, He hath forsaken the earth (Eze. 8:12); He is like unto man (Psa. 50:21).
2. In detracting from Him what belongs unto Him. As to deny His providence, His omniscience, His omnipotence, as, can He provide a table in the wilderness? (Psa. 78:19); If He should make windows in heaven could this thing be? (2Ki. 7:2).
3. The doing of such things as cause Gods name to be blasphemed. As, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. As there is practical atheism, so there is practical blasphemy (Tit. 1:16). In that they have committed a trespass against Me. The doubling of the word in the Hebrew notes the greatness of their sin, and progress in their wickedness. They sinned not ignorantly, or of common infirmity, but with a high hand. They spake against the true worship of God, and practised contrary thereunto. Wilful sinning is a reproaching of God, and provokes Him greatly. They have committed a trespass against Me. They have spoken against My worship, and run out to other ways which I forbade them. Other sins they have committed which I could have winked at, but when they sin wilfully, despising Me, My laws, My worship, they reproach, blaspheme, provoke Me so, that they shall hear of it. Son of man, go and speak to the house of Israel; go and tell them how they have dealt with Me, and how I take it. Such sins deserve death (Num. 15:30). The soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord.The Hebrew word here rendered reproacheth is the same as that rendered blasphemed in Eze. 20:27. For he that reproacheth the Lord blasphemes Him, and he that blasphemes Him reproacheth Him: they are joined together (2Ki. 19:22). There was no mercy for those who sinned in that manner (Heb. 10:26-27). Many commit such trespasses in these days, by speaking against providence, ordinances, Scriptures, angels, Christ, God himself; and so sin away mercy and their own souls at once. David prayed that God would keep him back from presumptuous sins (Psa. 19:13); and we have need to do it, for there is that in our natures which carries us on strongly towards them. Solomon saith, Happy is the man that feareth always; but he that hardeneth his heartthat presumeth, that is wilful, pertinaciousshall fall into mischief, into mischievous sins, into mischievous judgments.(Greenhill.)
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. Israel in Canaan 20:2729
TRANSLATION
(27) Therefore speak unto the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have dealt treacherously with Me. (28) For when I brought them to the land which I lifted up My hand to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every leafy tree, and they made sacrifices there, and gave there the provocation of their offering, and placed there their sweet savor, and they poured out their drink offerings. (29) Then I said unto them: What is the high place to which you are going? So its name is called Bamah (high place) unto this day.
COMMENTS
In addition to their wickedness in Egypt and in the wilderness, the fathers had continued their sinning when they were in their own land. In fact they blasphemed, i.e., committed a cardinal sin against the Lord; they dealt treacherously with him, i.e., broke the most solemn kind of commitment to Him (Eze. 20:27). No sooner had they, by Gods mercy, entered the land of Canaan, they promptly appropriated to themselves the heathen hill-top shrines and adopted the Canaanite ways of worship. The leafy trees were desirable for the sinful orgies which accompanied sacrifices to Baal. Their offerings which should have been a sweet savor to the Lord were in reality an irritation or provocation which only engendered the divine anger (Eze. 20:28).
Some day the Jews would have to give an account of their worship conduct. What is the high place to which you are going? Ezekiel asks in Eze. 20:29. Who authorized you to go there? What business do you have there? In spite of the repeated condemnation of high place worship still those shrines existed throughout the land. The bamah or high place was still very much a part of the worship scene in Judah, These prostitution chapels had not yet been abolished in the land.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(27) Your fathers have blasphemed me.The fourth period of Israelitish history, though actually far the longest, is very briefly passed over (Eze. 20:27-29). It includes the whole period of the settlement in Canaan, from the conquest to the prophets own time, and was marked by the same characteristics as before. The particular way here specified by which they blasphemed was by the erection of idolatrous altars on every high place.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. A trespass Rather, unfaithfulness. The most awful blasphemy is seen, not in word, but, as here, in indifference and irreverence (Num 15:30).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Therefore son of man speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, in this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me in that they have committed a trespass against me. For when I brought them into the land, which I lifted up my hand (swore) to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every thick (flourishing) tree, and there they offered their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their sweet savour, and there they poured out their drink offerings.
They compounded their rebellion in that when God actually gave them the land He had promised them, in spite of their rebellion, they made use of it to worship other gods. The very basis of the land, the high hills and the flourishing trees (thickly branched and therefore prominent and flourishing) became the means of worship of false gods. Instead of seeing all that was in the land as the blessing of Yahweh, they offered up sacrifices, presented offerings, offered up incense and poured out drink offerings to the so-called gods of the land, utilising the ancient sanctuaries of the Canaanites. Yahweh was sidelined.
Thus they blasphemed the name of Yahweh, for they implied that it was to these gods that they were indebted and not to Him. All the worship that should have been His was poured out on others. No wonder He spoke of the ‘provocation’ of their offerings.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Israel’s Behavior In Canaan And The Lord’s Sentence
v. 27. Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, v. 28. For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up Mine hand to give it to them, v. 29. Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah, v. 30. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, v. 31. For when ye offer your gifts, v. 32. And that which cometh into your mind, v. 33. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, v. 34. and I will bring you out from the people and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm and with fury poured out, v. 35. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, v. 36. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, v. 37. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, v. 38. and I will purge out from among you the rebels, v. 39. As for you, O house of Israel, v. 40. For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, v. 41. I will accept you with your sweet savor, v. 42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, v. 43. And there shall ye remember your ways and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled, v. 44. And ye shall know that I am the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 20:27-31. Son of man, speak unto the house of Israel This prophesy hitherto contains a declaration of the various punishments inflicted on the rebellious Israelites, from the time of Moses’s mission to the preaching of Ezekiel. We have shewn, that their punishment in the first period was death in the wilderness; their punishment in the second period was the fastening on their necks the yoke of the ritual law. The punishment in the third period is now to be considered; and we shall see, that it consisted in the rendering of the yoke of the ritual law still more galling, by withdrawing from them the extraordinary providence, which once rewarded the studious observers of it with many temporal blessings. The punishment was dreadful; and such indeed the prophet describes it to have been. But we may be assured that their crimes had risen in proportion; and this likewise, he tells us, was the case. Eze 20:27-28 begin with a description of their manners when they had taken possession of the land of Canaan: and such was their continual practice, even till the delivery of this prophesy; at which time their enormities were come to such a height, that they contrived in their hearts to renounce the God of Israel altogether: but being surrounded with calamities, and a powerful enemy at the door, they were willing to procure a present relief from him whom they had so much offended, and at this moment were projecting to offend still more. The singular impudence of this conduct will appear to have been the instant occasion of this famous prophesy. Eze 20:30-31 when joined with those that immediately follow, will convince us, that this recourse to the God of their fathers was only a momentary fit, arising from their pressing necessities. Div. Leg. vol. 3: book 4: p. 405, &c. Instead of blasphemed me, we may read, dishonoured, or affronted me.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here seems a gracious pause, that the Prophet, having brought the many solemn things contained in the preceding part of the chapter, might stand and ponder well the divine forbearance in the midst of such contumacy as Israel manifested towards the Lord, both the fathers with the children.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
Ver. 27. Your fathers have blasphemed me. ] Because they trembled not at my judgments while they hung in the threatenings, but went on wilfully in their wickedness, putting it to the venture. This is a kind of blasphemy. Compare Num 15:30-31 . This is a sin scarce to be expiated with any sacrifice: such a sinner must be cut off.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 20:27-32
27Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me. 28When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.’ 30Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? 31When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. 32What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’
Eze 20:27 Israel was meant to be a light to the nations (cf. Eze 20:9; Eze 20:14; Eze 20:22; Eze 20:41), but idolatry turned their witness into confusion, darkness, and blasphemy (e.g., to throw accusations, BDB 154, KB 180, Piel PERFECT). Their covenant disobedience was seen as unfaithfulness or even treachery (BDB 591, KB 612, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT, cf. Eze 14:13; Eze 17:20; Eze 18:24; Eze 20:27; Eze 39:26) against YHWH.
Eze 20:28 which I swore to give them This refers to the repeated promise by YHWH to give Abraham and his seed the Promised Land (i.e., Canaan).
1. Abraham, Gen 12:1; Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18
2. Isaac, Gen 50:24; Exo 13:11; Exo 33:1; Num 11:12; Num 14:23; Num 32:11; Deu 1:8; Deu 9:5; Deu 29:13
3. Jacob, Gen 26:3
4. Israel, Num 14:16; Deu 4:21; Deu 6:23; Deu 8:1; Deu 11:9; Deu 19:8; Deu 26:3; Deu 26:15; Deu 28:11; Deu 31:7; Deu 31:23; Deu 34:4; Jos 1:6; Jos 21:43-44
See Special Topic: Covenant Promises to the Patriarchs
then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree This refers to the worship of the gods of the Canaanite fertility cult of Ba’al and Ashterah/Astarte. They turned every hill and valley into a place of sexual idolatry (cf. Eze 6:13; Eze 16:23-29; Isa 57:5-8; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6; Jer 3:13; Jer 17:2; Hos 4:13). See Special Topic: Fertility Worship of the Ancient Near East .
NASB, NRSVthe provocation
NKJVprovoked Me
TEVmade Me angry
NJBprovoked My anger
The term (BDB 495) means vexation or anger. It often refers to YHWH’s anger at idolatry (cf. 1Ki 15:30; 1Ki 21:22; 2Ki 23:26).
The phrase they poured out their libations is mentioned as part of pagan rituals which provoked YHWH several times in Jeremiah (cf. Jer 7:18; Jer 19:13; Jer 32:29; Jer 44:17-19). YHWH is a jealous God (cf. Lev 26:30-31). He will not accept rivals!
soothing aroma This (BDB 629) is a metaphor for an acceptable sacrifice (incense or meat, cf. Gen 8:21; Exo 29:18; Exo 29:25; Exo 29:41; Lev 1:9; Lev 1:13; Lev 1:17; Eze 6:13; Eze 16:19; Eze 20:28). It must be stated that this phrase does not imply that sacrifices were seen as a feeding of YHWH, which is part of the Mesopotamian texts (i.e., Gilgamesh Epic). It is an idiom!
poured out their libations This refers to liquid offerings (usually wine), which often accompanied other sacrifices.
SPECIAL TOPIC: ALCOHOL (fermentation) AND ALCOHOLISM (addiction)
Eze 20:29 Bamah This is the Hebrew word for high place (BDB 119). Originally they were local shrines (cf. 1Sa 7:17; 1Sa 9:12-25; 1Sa 10:5; 1Sa 10:13; 1Ki 3:2-4), which were not condemned.
However, the same places became the sites of fertility worship (cf. Num 22:41; 1Ki 11:7; 1Ki 12:31-32; 1Ki 14:23; 1Ki 15:14; 1Ki 22:43; 2Ch 21:11; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35; Hos 4:13; Hos 10:8; Amo 7:9; Mic 1:5). Josiah ordered them to be destroyed (cf. 1Ki 13:2; 1Ki 13:32-33; 2Ki 23:5-20; 2Ch 34:3-4). The centralization of worship in Jerusalem (cf. Lev 17:3-5; Deu 12:13-14) was meant to control this potential abuse.
Eze 20:30-32 The question is to whom does your fathers refer?
1. immediate past generation
2. wilderness wandering generation
3. early settlers in the Promised Land
4. or, collective of all past generations
The specific idols referred to are the fertility gods of Canaan (i.e., Ba’al, Asherah, Molech). Eze 20:32 describes the enormity of the problem in the statement we will be like the nations, like the tribes of the land, serving wood and stone. Remember that the Israelites were given the land of Canaan because of the continuing idolatry of the tribes of the land (cf. Gen 15:12-21). If Israel repeats their abominations, she will also be removed from the land (uniquely dedicated/owned by YHWH). Israel loses that which makes her distinct! Israel cannot be a light to the nations because she has become one of the nations! She was lost as a vehicle of revelation!
Eze 20:32 This statement of desire by the idolatrous Judeans will never come to pass (the Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the Qal IMPERFECT of the VERB to be, BDB 224, KB 243). God’s covenant people cannot be allowed to be like the other people. God desires that He (the only true God) be revealed to the nations through His people! They are His people for this very purpose (see Special Topic: YHWH’s ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN ).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
committed a trespass = trespassed a trespass. Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6), for emphasis = committed a great trespass.
trespass = treachery. Hebrew. ma’al. App-44. As in Eze 14:13 with Eze 15:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 20:27-29
Eze 20:27-29
“Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. For when I had brought them into the land, which I sware to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offerings; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink offerings. Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bama unto this day.”
WICKED ISRAEL’S PREFERENCE
FOR PAGAN SHRINES
Despite the fact of God’s having set up his holy altar at a specific location and having given the most solemn prohibitions against worshipping or sacrificing elsewhere, and in spite of God’s having forbidden the Jews to honor or retain any of the pagan shrines and altars in Palestine, they nevertheless spared all the pagan shrines, and installed others.
Note the fourfold repetition of the word “there” in Eze 20:28. It was especially an affront to the God of Israel that his people would patronize and even prefer to worship at such high places, rather than at God’s true altar. Of course, it was the licentious worship of the pagans which they at once adopted and included along with God’s worship that was the great attraction for Israel. Blasphemy against God? Of course; it was blasphemy of the worst kind, because it connected the holy name of the Lord Jehovah with all the immorality and debaucheries of paganism.
“Bama …” (Eze 20:29). “This is a Hebrew word meaning `High-Place.’ The tops of high hills were used by the pagans for their idolatrous worship; and in response to that, Moses prohibited the use of them even for the worship of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
speak: Eze 2:7, Eze 3:4, Eze 3:11, Eze 3:27
Yet: Rom 2:24, Rev 13:5
committed: Heb. trespassed
Reciprocal: Psa 78:57 – But Isa 65:7 – blasphemed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 20:27. The word translated blasphemed is defined “to revile in the lexicon, and it has also been rendered reproach in other passages in the King James version. God regarded it as a reproach against Him for his own people to take up with idols.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 20:27-29. Therefore, son of man, speak, &c. Here the prophet proceeds with the story of their rebellions for their further humiliation, and shows that they persisted in them after they were settled in the land of Canaan. Thus saith the Lord, Yet in this, &c. Or, Moreover in this, your fathers have blasphemed me Have dishonoured me in acting contrary to my commandments. For when I had brought them into the land, &c. As soon as they were settled in the land promised to Abraham and his seed; then they saw every high hill, &c. When they saw the high hills and shady groves, they made choice of them as proper places whereon to erect altars for the worship of idols. The Jews were wont to offer sacrifices upon mountains or high places to the true God before the temple was built, 1Ki 3:2; 1Ki 3:5. And this custom was afterward, permitted by godly kings, who were zealous in putting down all sorts of idolatry, 1Ki 15:14; and 1Ki 22:43; 2Ch 33:17. But by degrees those places became appropriated to idolatrous worship, and upon that score are severely condemned. There they presented the provocation of their offering There they presented the offerings whereby they provoked me. This, being distinguished from their sacrifices already mentioned, is to be understood of their meat-offerings, of which see the note on Lev 2:1. These were especially styled offerings of a sweet savour. Then I said, What is the high place whereunto ye go? What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave my altar, where I require your attendance, to frequent such places as I have forbidden you to worship in, and which I will avenge? And the name thereof is called Bamah That is, the high place; unto this day Notwithstanding my reproof, the name continues, and the practice, unto this day. So Bishop Newcome, who adds, It may be doubted whether the last six (Hebrew words) of this verse have not been taken into the text from the margin, where they anciently stood as a note. All the old versions have this verse, which yet seems out of its place here. If the verse should stand, it relates to something not to be explained now. Secker.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Israel’s rebellion in the Promised Land and God’s grace 20:27-29
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord instructed Ezekiel to continue speaking for Him. The Israelites’ forefathers had blasphemed (slandered) the Lord with further covenant unfaithfulness (cf. Num 15:30-31). After He had brought them into the Promised Land, they used that good land to practice idolatry.