Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 20:7
Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.
7. abominations of his eyes ] Those to which his eyes and desires were directed, the idols, cf. Eze 18:6; Num 15:39. The prophet charges Israel with idolatry in Egypt (ch. Eze 23:3). Though history as we have it says little of such a thing, it may be assumed as certain, considering the people’s receptivity to the worship of their neighbours throughout their history. The same view, Jos 24:14; cf. Lev 18:3.
The question how far Jehovah was known and worshipped in Egypt is an obscure one. The name could not have been altogether unknown or the people could not have been rallied by Moses to his service nor induced to put themselves under his protection. That his worship, however, was mixed with impurities may be assumed. How far the people partook in the worship of Egyptian deities cannot be ascertained.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. Cast ye away – the abominations] Put away all your idols; those incentives to idolatry that ye have looked on with delight.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then, Heb. And, which connects the words; and though we read it then, this doth not point out the time when God spake this, though it is certain, when he had brought them out of Egypt he gave them his ordinances and laws of worship; nay, it is sufficiently included, in that they were to go out that they might serve the Lord.
Cast ye away every man; let every one of you, man by man, and family by family, cast away with abhorrence and indignation; the word is used Eze 18:31.
The abominations of his eyes; which your eyes should have abhorred, but you rather lifted up your eyes to them, and looked for help from them; and it includes their own voluntary act in this idolatry.
Defile not yourselves with the idols: this explains the former passage.
Of Egypt; which were in veneration among the Egyptians, and with whose worship too many of them had been insnared and polluted while they were in Egypt.
I am the Lord your God; the only true God, and therefore you should worship none other. See Eze 20:6. You are my covenant people, and therefore ought to have no other God as Exo 20:3. Thus God prepared them, by his mercies and by his law, for himself.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Moses gives no formalstatement of idolatries practised by Israel in Egypt. But it isimplied in their readiness to worship the golden calf (resembling theEgyptian ox, Apis) (Ex 32:4),which makes it likely they had worshipped such idols in Egypt. Also,in Le 17:7, “They shall nomore offer their sacrifices unto devils (literally, seirim,‘he-goats,’ the symbol of the false god, Pan), after whom they havegone awhoring.” The call of God by Moses was as much to them toseparate from idols and follow Jehovah, as it was to Pharaoh to letthem go forth. Exo 6:6; Exo 6:7;Jos 24:14, expressly mention theiridolatry “in Egypt.” Hence the need of their being removedout of the contagion of Egyptian idolatries by the exodus.
every manso universalwas the evil.
of his eyesIt was notfear of their Egyptian masters, but their own lust of the eyethat drew them to idols (Eze 6:9;Eze 18:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then I said unto them,…. Having promised and swore to do such great and good things for them; which must lay them under an obligation to regard what he should command them: promises and blessings of goodness are great incentives to duty, and lay under great obligation to it:
cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes; which should be so, meaning idols; but which his eyes were taken with, and were lifted up unto, as his gods; though they ought to have been rejected with the utmost abhorrence, as abominable:
and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; their “dunghill gods”, as the word f signifies; which to worship, as it was an abomination to God, was defiling to themselves; yet these they were fond of, and prone to worship them; their eyes and their hearts were after them; and they needed such cautions and instructions as these, backed with the following strong reason against such idolatry:
I [am] the Lord your God; their Creator and Benefactor, their covenant God; the only Lord God, and whom only they ought to serve and worship; to whom they were under ten thousand obligations; and who was infinitely above all the idols of Egypt.
f “stercoreis diis”, Junius Tremellius, Polanus “stercoribus”, Piscator, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt The animal worship of Egypt, with its unexampled multitude of “graven images,” ought to have been a most offensive abomination to the eyes of the Hebrews, but, instead of this, the people who had been especially chosen by Jehovah to champion the cause of monotheism on the earth fell headlong into Egyptian idolatry (Eze 23:3; Lev 18:3; Jos 24:14). It is a significant fact, illustrating the meaning of the “golden calf” in the wilderness (Exodus 32) that there has recently been discovered a hieroglyphic inscription stating that at Pithom (the frontier city built by the Israelites, Exo 1:11, and probably the last city to be seen by them as they fled from Egypt) it was the custom to dedicate annually to the god of the city a silver statue of six hundred pounds’ weight (Brugsch, Steininschrift und Bibelwort).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And I said to them, ‘Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God’.”
In Egypt the people had not been faithful to the God of their fathers, and had worshipped many gods. This is not mentioned in Exodus 1-15 although subsequent events confirmed it (see Exo 32:1-4; Exo 32:8; Exo 32:23 compare Lev 18:3 which assumes it, and Exo 33:5 where the ornaments would be connected with idolatrous practises). These would include Baal and Asherah among others, for the Canaanite gods were worshipped by many in the Goshen area. And God had commanded them to do away with them, and not to worship them.
‘The abominations of his eyes’, those abominable things to which they looked. All this helps to explain the mystery of why God allowed the descendants of Abraham to suffer so in Egypt. They had been unfaithful to Him and had followed after idolatry and the perverse lifestyle connected with it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 20:7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.
Ver. 7. Then said I unto them, ] viz., While yet in Egypt. This we find not in Exodus; it is enough that we find it here. See Job 5:9 . See Trapp on “ Job 5:9 “
Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
every man. Heb. ‘ish. App-14.
abominations. Put by Figure of speech metonymy (of Cause, App-6, for that which Jehovah abominated.
defile not yourselves, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 18:3). App-92.
idols = manufactured gods.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Cast: Eze 20:8, Eze 18:6, Eze 18:15, Eze 18:31, Isa 2:20, Isa 2:21, Isa 31:7
the abominations: Eze 6:9, Eze 14:6, 2Ch 15:8
defile: Eze 23:3, Eze 23:8, Lev 17:7, Lev 18:3, Deu 29:16-18, Jos 24:14
I am: Eze 20:19, Exo 16:12, Lev 11:44, Lev 20:7
Reciprocal: Gen 35:2 – clean Exo 6:6 – I am the Lord Lev 18:2 – General Jos 5:9 – I rolled away Neh 9:18 – General Psa 50:7 – I am Jer 4:1 – put away Eze 16:26 – with the Eze 20:18 – defile Eze 23:7 – with all their Eze 23:19 – in calling
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 20:7. The Egyptians were idol worshipers and during a stay among them of several centuries the Israelites had taken up with the corrupt practices. As they were leaving that country the Lord admonished them to cut off the evil manner of life. I am the Lord your God should have been sufficient reason for their giving up the vain gods of the heathen from whom they had just been rescued.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 20:7-9. Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes The idols to which your eyes are lifted up. One of the chief allurements to the worship of images is, that by way of indulgence to mens imagination, they exhibit a visible object of adoration. This was what the Israelites were so fond of, when they said to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us, Exo 32:1. And defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt It is generally supposed that the Israelites, while they dwelt in Egypt, learned the idolatry of that country: the fact indeed is not recorded in the books of Moses; but it may be collected from their proneness to that sin in the wilderness. But they rebelled against me The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel begins as early as their beginning. So does the history of mans apostacy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation than we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in Gods dealings with them. Then I said, I threatened, I will pour out my fury upon them Such a threatening as this is nowhere recorded in the Scriptures no more than that which follows Eze 20:23 of this chapter. Without question God might have justly cut them off in Egypt for their idolatries and other sins which they had committed, and never exerted his power for their deliverance. But I wrought for my names sake For the glory of my mercy and faithfulness. That it should not be polluted before the heathen Reproached and blasphemed. This is elsewhere assigned as the reason why God did not punish the Israelites according to their deserts, namely, because it would have turned to Gods dishonour in the judgment of the heathen world, as if he had not been able to make good those promises which he had given them. This was a proper consideration to check the vain presumption of the Jews, who imagined that Gods gracious dealings with them were owing to their own merits.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
20:7 Then said I to them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, {d} and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.
(d) God had forbidden them to make mention of the idols, Exo 23:13, Psa 16:4 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord had told the Israelites to abandon the detestable, defiling gods of Egypt because He was their God, but they rebelled against Him and refused to do so (cf. Exo 5:19-21; Exo 6:9; Lev 17:7; Lev 18:3; Lev 26:30; Deu 29:16-17; Jos 24:14). He purposed to judge His people in Egypt for their rebellion, and their enslavement there was partially a judgment for their idolatry. Some expositors believed that this is a reference to God judging the Israelites at Mt. Sinai because of the Golden Calf incident. [Note: E.g., Greenberg, pp. 365-66; and Cooper, p. 201-2.] However it seems clear that the Lord was referring to Israel’s idolatry in Egypt before the Exodus, which is not revealed as explicitly elsewhere in Scripture. Then He chose to bring them out of Egypt for the sake of His reputation among the other nations (cf. Gen 15:13-16).
"Though Israel had failed to sanctify the name of the Lord among the nations, the Lord himself would do so by his deliverance of Israel from Egypt [cf. Exo 7:5; Psa 106:8-12]." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 834.]