Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 24:21
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
21. excellency of your strength ] i.e. your proud boast, or, your boasted stronghold ( Eze 24:25). The temple is referred to.
that which pitieth ] Or, spareth, i.e. holds dear, Eze 36:21; Job 20:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now he is commissioned to declare the meaning of that he did.
Speak unto the house of Israel; to them at Babylon by word of mouth, but to them at Jerusalem by letter, or messenger.
Profane my sanctuary; cast off, and put into the hands of heathens, who will regard it no more than any other common building, though it is and hath been long my sanctuary; but you, O Jews, first profaned it with your sins, and now, in my just displeasure against you, I will suffer it to be profaned by the Chaldeans.
The excellency of your strength; so it was whilst Gods presence was there, and whilst the Jews kept it undefiled; it was their confidence, and they trusted in it, though they were fallen from God, Jer 7.
The desire of your eyes; as much your desire as my wife was mine, saith the prophet, most dear to you, as she to me, but this shall be burnt.
Your sons and your daughters; the children which survive to you after these grievous calamities, and in whom you hoped for comfort and posterity, shall die by the conquerors sword too, Eze 23:47.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. excellency of yourstrength(compare Am 6:8).The object of your pride and confidence (Jer 7:4;Jer 7:10; Jer 7:14).
desire of . . . eyes(Ps 27:4). The antitype toEzekiel’s wife (Eze 24:16).
pitiethloveth, as pityis akin to love: “yearned over.”
Profanean appropriateword. They had profaned the temple with idolatry; God, in justretribution, will profane it with the Chaldean sword, that is, lay itin the dust, as Ezekiel’s wife.
sons . . . daughters . . .leftthe children left behind in Judea, when the parentswere carried away.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Speak unto the house of Israel,…. By word of mouth, to those who were upon the spot with him in Chaldea: and by a messenger, or a letter, to them that were in Judea:
thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will profane my sanctuary; the temple, built for him, and where he dwelt, and was worshipped; where duties performed and holy sacrifices offered up formerly; this he now says he would profane, that is, would bring the Chaldeans against Jerusalem, who should take it, and enter into the temple, and so profane it, and make it common, yea, utterly destroy it:
the excellency of your strength, desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; all which is said of the temple; it was the pride and glory of the Jews, what they boasted of, and put their confidence in, and reckoned their strength and security; it was as dear and as desirable to them as Ezekiel’s wife was to him, the emblem of it; the destruction and desolation of which would be pitied by them, and would sensibly affect them upon hearing of it, even in prophecy:
and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword; whom they had left behind them in Judea, when they were carried captive with Jehoiakim, and to whom they hoped to return, as their false prophets had assured them; but so it should not be, for these should die by the sword of the Chaldeans, when the city of Jerusalem should be taken, and the temple profaned; and this should be the case of the sons and daughters of those who then should be carried captive, that should be left in the land; as was the case of Gedaliah, and those that were with him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(21) Profane my sanctuary.Not merely by its destruction, but by the manner of its destruction, the Gentiles being allowed to enter its most sacred precincts, and carry off in triumph its sacred vessels and treasures. It was in the confidence that God would protect this that the last hope of the Jews lay; He tells them that He will Himself profane it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. I will profane my sanctuary The prophet’s wife symbolizes Jehovah’s sanctuary, and what the desire of his eyes was to Ezekiel that the temple was to Jehovah and to Israel. No thought of woman in ancient or modern literature is more noble than this. All of these expressions show not only what the temple was to the Israelites, but what his wife was to Ezekiel. Among no other ancient people was the home so sacred that such comparisons could have been properly made. As to the light which this chapter throws upon the character of Ezekiel see introduction to chapter and general Introduction, “Ezekiel’s Personality.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 24:21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
Ver. 21. Behold, I will profane my sanctuary. ] I will put it into the hands of profane persons to be spoiled and polluted, for a punishment of your manifold pollutions of it.
The excellency of your strength.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
desire . . . pitieth. Note the Figure of speech Paronomaeia (App-6), to call attention to the emphasis. Hebrew. mahmad. . . mahmal.
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
left = left behind.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will: Eze 7:20-22, Eze 9:7, Psa 74:7, Psa 79:1, Isa 65:11, Jer 7:14, Lam 1:10, Lam 2:6, Lam 2:7, Dan 11:31, Act 6:13, Act 6:14
the excellency: Psa 96:6, Psa 105:4, Psa 132:8
the desire: Eze 24:16, Psa 27:4, Psa 84:1
that which your soul pitieth: Heb. the pity of your soul, your sons. Eze 23:25, Eze 23:47, Jer 6:11, Jer 9:21, Jer 16:3, Jer 16:4
Reciprocal: Gen 3:6 – pleasant Lev 26:31 – and bring 1Ki 9:7 – this house Isa 47:6 – I have polluted Isa 64:11 – holy Jer 12:7 – I have given Jer 14:21 – disgrace Jer 15:7 – children Jer 25:27 – because Jer 51:51 – for strangers Jer 52:13 – burned Lam 1:6 – all Lam 2:1 – the beauty Eze 16:40 – and thrust Eze 24:25 – their strength Eze 33:28 – and the pomp Hos 9:16 – the beloved fruit Amo 6:8 – the excellency Amo 6:10 – Hold Zep 3:11 – that rejoice Hag 1:4 – and Zec 11:3 – for their Zec 11:10 – Beauty Mat 12:5 – profane
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 24:21. Ezekiel continued the explanation of his strange conduct upon the death of his wife. In doing so we are given a clue as to the purpose of both the death of the prophets wife and of the conduct he was directed to maintain. It was a symbol of what was to befall the people of Judah and the attitude they were to manifest. They, like the prophet, were to lose something that was dear to them namely, their capital city with its citizens. Profane my sanctuary means the holy city and temple were to be given over into the hands of the heathen who would strip them of their belongings and put a stop to the sacred ceremonies.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
24:21 Speak to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will {s} profane my sanctuary, the {t} excellence of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
(s) By sending the Chaldeans to destroy it, as in Geneva “Eze 7:22”.
(t) In which you boast and delight.