Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 33:10
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins [be] upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
10. If our transgressions ] Better, direct: our transgressions are upon us. The people had come to regard their calamities as due to their sins and evidence of them. They had come round to the prophet’s view of their history, for they saw his predictions fulfilled. But the new view came with a crushing weight upon them. The calamities of their country were unparalleled (Lam 1:12; Lam 2:13; Lam 2:20; Lam 3:1; Lam 4:6; Lam 4:9), and equally unparalleled must have been their guilt (Lam 1:9; Lam 1:14; Lam 2:14; Lam 4:13; Lam 5:7). And their calamities seemed final, their sin was expiable only by their complete destruction.
we pine away ] Or, waste away. The word expresses not mental but physical wasting away, ending in complete dissolution. See the very similar figures, Isa 10:18; Isa 17:4; cf. Eze 4:17; Eze 24:23; Lev 26:39.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10 20. Despondency of the people, making the prophet’s appeals to them of none effect. Removal of the despair by two gracious words from the Lord.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. If our transgressions and our sins be upon us] They are upon us, as a grievous burden, too weighty for us to bear: how then can we live under such a load?
We pine away in them] In such circumstances how consoling is that word: “Come unto me, all ye who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Speak, declare from me,
unto the house of Israel; the residue of the two tribes, which are brought to Babylon; or else to those already there, and here their brethren are on the way thitherward, since Jerusalem was taken.
Thus ye speak; thus ye discourse among themselves, object against God, and his prophet, and your own duty, some of you out of infirmity, others out of perverseness.
If our transgressions and our sins be upon us; the unpardoned guilt and the unsupportable punishment of our sins, who were warned and took not warning, do thus, as in the wasting our country, burning our city, abolishing the public worship of God, come upon us, we shall pine away, consume; it is too late to hope it will be better with us now, we should have heard and followed the counsel earlier, if we would have delivered our own souls. If the prophet spake true at first, there is no hope, say the weaker; if there be hope now after so peremptory menaces and so great execution, the prophet did not speak truth, say the perverse, and so concluded they would as they were run the hazard.
How should we then live? how can it be better with us? if the threats be true and sure, it will be worse; if not true, how are his promises to be rested on, that it will be better.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. be upon usthat is, theirguilt remain on us.
pine away in themif wesuffer the penalty threatened for them in Eze24:23, according to the law (Le26:39).
how should we . . . live?asThou dost promise in Eze 33:5(compare Eze 37:11; Isa 49:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel,…. Such of them as were with him in the captivity: thus ye speak, saying; reasoning and arguing within and among themselves; which the Lord heard, and made known to the prophet, who is bid to repeat it to them in order to give an answer:
if our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them; as the prophet said they should, Eze 24:23, with which he had concluded his prophecies to them; and now they take it up, and argue against themselves, and against him; if our sins and transgressions are laid upon us, and we must answer for them; if the guilt of them is charged on us, and they are unexpiated and unatoned for; and the punishment of them is, or will be, inflicted on us, and we do, and must pine away, and be consumed in them, and by them:
how should we then live? as thou promisest us upon repentance; it is all over with us; there is no hope for us; what signify our repentance, or thy promises of life unto us? these things can never hang together, that we should live, and yet pine away in our sins; so that these are the words of persons both despairing, and making the prophet to say things opposite and contradictory, and which would not admit of a reconciliation; see Eze 37:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As watchman over Israel, Ezekiel is to announce to those who are despairing of the mercy of God, that the Lord will preserve from destruction those who turn from their sin, and lead them into life. – Eze 33:10. Thou then, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Ye rightly say, Our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and in them we vanish away; how, then, can we live? Eze 33:11. Say to them, As truly as I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the sinner; but when the sinner turneth from his way, he shall live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways! for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Eze 33:12. And thou, son of man, say to the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and the sinner will not fall through his sin in the day that he turneth from his sin, and the righteous man will not be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. Eze 33:13. If I say to the righteous man that he shall live, and he relies upon his righteousness and does wrong, all his righteousnesses will not be remembered; and for his wrong that he has done, he will die. Eze 33:14. If I say to the sinner, Thou shalt die, and he turns from his sin, and does justice and righteousness, Eze 33:15. So that the wicked returns the pledge, restores what has been robbed, walks in the statutes of life without doing wrong, he will live, not die. Eze 33:16. All his sins which he has committed shall not be remembered against him; he has done justice and righteousness, he will live. Eze 33:17. And the sons of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not right; but they – their way is not right. Eze 33:18. If the righteous man turneth from his righteousness and doeth wrong, he shall die thereby; Eze 33:19. But if the wicked man turneth from his wickedness and doeth right and righteousness, he will live thereby. Eze 33:20. And yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not right. I will judge you every one according to his ways, O house of Israel. – In Eze 33:10 and Eze 33:11 the prophet’s calling for the future is set before him, inasmuch as God instructs him to announce to those who are in despair on account of their sins the gracious will of the Lord. The threat contained in the law (Lev 26:39), , of which Ezekiel had repeatedly reminded the people with warning, and, last of all, when predicting the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (compare Eze 4:17 and Eze 24:23), had pressed heavily upon their heart, when the threatened judgment took place, so that they quote the words, not “in self-defence,” as Hvernick erroneously supposes, but in despair of any deliverance. Ezekiel is to meet this despair of little faith by the announcement that the Lord has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but desires his conversion and his life. Ezekiel had already set this word of grave before the people in Eze 18:23, Eze 18:32, accompanied with the summons to salvation for them to lay to heart: there, it was done to overthrow the delusion that the present generation had to atone for the sins of the fathers; but here, to lift up the hearts of those who were despairing of salvation; and for this reason it is accompanied with the asseveration (wanting in Eze 18:23 and Eze 18:32): “as truly as I live, saith the Lord,” and with the urgent appeal to repent and turn. But in order to preclude the abuse of this word of consolation by making it a ground of false confidence in their own righteousness, Ezekiel repeats in Eze 33:12-20 the principal thoughts contained in that announcement (Eze 18:20-32) – namely, first of all, in Eze 33:12-16, the thought that the righteousness of the righteous is of no avail to him if he gives himself up to the unrighteousness, and that the sinner will not perish on account of his sin if he turns from his wickedness and strives after righteousness ( , Eze 33:12, as in Hos 5:5; Jer 6:15; compare Eze 18:24-25, and Eze 18:21, Eze 18:22; and for Eze 33:14 and Eze 33:15, more especially Eze 18:5 and Eze 18:7); and then, secondly, in Eze 33:17-20, the reproof of those who find fault with the way of the Lord (compare Eze 18:25, Eze 18:27, Eze 18:29-30).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Cavils of the People Answered. | B. C. 587. |
10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
These verses are the substance of what we had before (ch. xviii. 20, c.) and they are so full and express a declaration of the terms on which people stand with God (as the former were of the terms on which ministers stand) that it is no wonder that they are here repeated, as those were, though we had the substance of them before. Observe here,
I. The cavils of the people against God’s proceedings with them. God was now in his providence contending with them, but their uncircumcised hearts were not as yet humbled, for they were industrious to justify themselves, though thereby they reflected on God. Two things they insisted upon, in their reproaches of God, and in both they added iniquity to their sin and misery to their punishment:– 1. They quarrelled with his promises and favours, as having no kindness nor sincerity in them, <i>v. 10. God had set life before them, but they plead that he had set it out of their reach, and therefore did but mock them with the mention of it. The prophet had said, some time ago (ch. xxiv. 23), You shall pine away for your iniquities; with that word he had concluded his threatenings against Judah and Jerusalem; and this they now upbraided him with, as if it had been spoken absolutely, to drive them to despair; whereas it was spoken conditionally, to bring them to repentance. Thus are the sayings of God’s ministers perverted by men of corrupt minds, who are inclined to pick quarrels. He puts them in hopes of life and happiness; and herein they would make him contradict himself; “for” (say they) “if our transgressions and our sins be upon us, as thou hast often told us they are, and if we must, as thou sayest, pine away in them, and wear out a miserable captivity in a fruitless repentance, how shall we then live? If this be our doom, there is no remedy. We die, we perish, we all perish.” Note, It is very common for those that have been hardened with presumption when they were warned against sin to sink into despair when they are called to repent, and to conclude there is no hope of life for them. 2. They quarrelled with his threatenings and judgments, as having no justice or equity in them. They said, The way of the Lord is not equal (Eze 33:17; Eze 33:20), suggesting that God was partial in his proceedings, that with him there was respect of persons and that he was more severe against sin and sinners than there was cause.
II. Here is a satisfactory answer given to both these cavils.
1. Those that despaired of finding mercy with God are here answered with a solemn declaration of God’s readiness to show mercy, v. 11. When they spoke of pining away in their iniquity God sent the prophet to them, with all speed, to tell them that though their case was sad it was not desperate, but there was yet hope in Israel. (1.) It is certain that God has no delight in the ruin of sinners, nor does he desire it. If they will destroy themselves, he will glorify himself in it, but he has no pleasure in it, but would rather they should turn and live, for his goodness is that attribute of his which is most his glory, which is most his delight. He would rather sinners should turn and live than go on and die. He has said it, he has sworn it, that by these two immutable things, in both which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. We have his word and his oath; and, since he could swear by no greater, he swears by himself: As I live. They questioned whether they should live, though they did repent and reform; yea, says God, as sure as I live, true penitents shall live also; for their life is hid with Christ in God. (2.) It is certain that God is sincere and in earnest in the calls he gives sinners to repent: Turn you, turn you, from your evil way. To repent is to turn from our evil way; this God requires sinners to do; this he urges them to do by repeated pressing instances: Turn you, turn you. O that they would be prevailed with to turn, to turn quickly, without delay! This he will enable them to do if they will but frame their doings to turn to the Lord, Hos. v. 4. For he has said, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, Prov. i. 23. And in this he will accept of them; for it is not only what he commands, but what he courts them to. (3.) It is certain that, if sinners perish in their impenitency, it is owing to themselves; they die because they will die; and herein they act most absurdly and unreasonably: Why will you die, O house of Israel? God would have heard them, and they would not be heard.
2. Those that despaired of finding justice with God are here answered with a solemn declaration of the rule of judgment which God would go by in dealing with the children of men, which carries along with it the evidence of its own equity; he that runs may read the justice of it. The Jewish nation, as a nation, was now dead; it was ruined to all intents and purposes. The prophet must therefore deal with particular persons, and the rule of judgment concerning them is much like that concerning a nation, Jer. xviii. 8-10. If God speak concerning it to build and to plant, and it do wickedly, he will recall his favours and leave it to ruin. But if he speak concerning it to pluck up and destroy, and it repent, he will revoke the sentence and deliver it. So it is here. In short, The most plausible professors, if they apostatize, shall certainly perish for ever in their apostasy from God; and the most notorious sinners, if they repent, shall certainly be happy for ever in their return to God. This is here repeated again and again, because it ought to be again and again considered, and preached over to our own hearts. This was necessary to be inculcated upon this stupid senseless people, that said, The way of the Lord is not equal; for these rules of judgment are so plainly just that they need no other confirmation of them than the repetition of them.
(1.) If those that have made a great profession of religion throw off their profession, quit the good ways of God and grow loose and carnal, sensual and worldly, the profession they made and all the religious performances with which they had for a great while kept up the credit of their profession shall stand them in no stead, but they shall certainly perish in their iniquity, Eze 33:12; Eze 33:13; Eze 33:18. [1.] God says to the righteous man that he shall surely live, v. 13. He says it by his word, by his ministers. He that lives regularly, his own heart tells him, his neighbours tell him, He shall live. Surely such a man as this cannot but be happy. And it is certain, if he proceed and persevere in his righteousness, and if, in order to that, he be upright and sincere in it, if he be really as good as he seems to be, he shall live; he shall continue in the love of God and be for ever happy in that love. [2.] Righteous men, who have very good hopes of themselves and whom others have a very good opinion of, are yet in danger of turning to iniquity by trusting to their righteousness. So the case is put here: If he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, and come to make a trade of sin–if he not only take a false step, but turn aside into a false way and persist in it. This may possibly be the case of a righteous man, and it is the effect of his trusting to his own righteousness. Note, Many eminent professors have been ruined by a proud conceitedness of themselves and confidence in themselves. He trust to the merit of his own righteousness, and thinks he has already made God so much his debtor that now he may venture to commit iniquity, for he has righteousness enough in stock to make amends for it; he fancies that whatever evil deeds he may do hereafter he can be in no danger from them, having so many good deeds beforehand to counterbalance them. Or, He trust to the strength of his own righteousness, thinks himself now so well established in a course of virtue that he may thrust himself into any temptation and it cannot overcome him, and so by presuming on his own sufficiency he is brought to commit iniquity. By making bold on the confines of sin he is drawn at length into the depths of hell. This ruined the Pharisees; they trusted to themselves that they were righteous, and that their long prayers, and fasting twice in the week, would atone for their devouring widows’ houses. [3.] If righteous men turn to iniquity, and return not to their righteousness, they shall certainly perish in their iniquity, and all the righteousness they have formerly done, all their prayers, and all their alms, shall be forgotten. No mention shall be made, no remembrance had, of their good deeds; they shall be overlooked, as if they had never been. The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him from the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, in the day of his transgression. When he becomes a traitor and a rebel, and takes up arms against his rightful Sovereign, it will not serve for him to plead in his own defence that formerly he was a loyal subject, and did many good services to the government. No; he shall not be able to live. The remembrance of his former righteousness shall be no satisfaction either to God’s justice or his own conscience in the day that he sins, but rather shall, in the estimate of both, highly aggravate the sin and folly of his apostasy. And therefore for his iniquity that he committed he shall die, v. 13. And again (v. 18), He shall even die thereby; and it is owing to himself.
(2.) If those that have lived a wicked life repent and reform, forsake their wicked ways and become religious, their sins shall be pardoned, and they shall be justified and saved, if they persevere in their reformation. [1.] God says to the wicked, “Thou shalt surely die. The way that thou art in leads to destruction. The wages of thy sin is death, and thy iniquity will shortly be thy ruin.” It was said to the righteous man, Thou shalt surely live, for his encouragement to proceed and persevere in the way of righteousness; but he made an ill use of it, and was emboldened by it to commit iniquity. It was said to the wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, for warning to him not to persist in his wicked ways; and he makes a good use of it, and is quickened thereby to return to God and duty. Thus even the threatenings of the word are to some, by the grace of God, a savour of life unto life, while even the promises of the word become to others, by their own corruption, a savour of death unto death. When God says to the wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, die eternally, it is to frighten him, not out of his wits, but out of his sins. [2.] There is many a wicked man who was hastening apace to his own destruction who yet is wrought upon by the grace of God to return and repent, and live a holy life. He turns from his sin (v. 14), and is resolved that he will have no more to do with it; and, as an evidence of his repentance for wrong done, he restores the pledge (v. 15) which he had taken uncharitably from the poor, he gives again that which he had robbed and taken unjustly from the rich. Nor does he only cease to do evil, but he learns to do well; he does that which is lawful and right, and makes conscience of his duty both to God and man–a great change, since, awhile ago, he neither feared God nor regarded man. But many such amazing changes, and blessed ones, have been wrought by the power of divine grace. He that was going on in the paths of death and the destroyer now walks in the statues of life, in the way of God’s commandments, which has both life in it (Prov. xii. 28) and life at the end of it, Matt. xix. 17. And in this good way he perseveres without committing iniquity, though not free from remaining infirmity, yet under the dominion of no iniquity. He repents not of his repentance, nor returns to the commission of those gross sins which he before allowed himself in. [3.] He that does thus repent and return shall escape the ruin he was running into, and his former sins shall be no prejudice to his acceptance with God. Let him not pine away in his iniquity, for, if he confess and forsake it, he shall find mercy. He shall surely live; he shall not die, v. 15. Again (v. 16), He shall surely live. Again (v. 19), He has done that which is lawful and right, and he shall live thereby. But will not his wickednesses be remembered against him? No; he shall not be punished for them (v. 12): As for the wickedness of the wicked, though it was very heinous, yet he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness. Now that it has become his grief it shall not be his ruin. Now that there is a settled separation between him and sin there shall be no longer a separation between him and God. Nay, he shall not be so much as upbraided with them (v. 16): None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him, either as a clog to his pardon or an allay to the comfort of it, or as any blemish and diminution to the glory that is prepared for him.
Now lay all this together, and then judge whether the way of the Lord be not equal, whether this will not justify God in the destruction of sinners and glorify him in the salvation of penitents. The conclusion of the whole matter is (v. 20): “O you house of Israel, though you are all involved now in the common calamity, yet there shall be a distinction of persons made in the spiritual and eternal state, and I will judge you every one after his ways.” Though they were sent into captivity by the lump, good fish and bad enclosed in the same net, yet there he will separate between the precious and the vile and will render to every man according to his works. Therefore God’s way is equal and unexceptionable; but, as for the children of thy people, God turns them over to the prophet, as he did to Moses (Exod. xxxii. 7): “They are thy people; I can scarcely own them for mine.” As for them, their way is unequal; this way which they have got of quarrelling with God and his prophets is absurd and unreasonable. In all disputes between God and his creatures it will certainly be found that he is in the right and they are in the wrong.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
B. The Possibilities of Repentance 33:1020
TRANSLATION
(10) And as for you, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, Thus you have said: Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them; how then can we live? (11) Say unto them, As I live (oracle of the Lord GOB) surely I do not delight in the death of the wicked one, but rather when the wicked one turns from his way and lives. Turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? (12) Now as for you, son of man, say unto the children of your people: The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked man he shall not be made to stumble by it in the day he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous man be able to live thereby in the day of his sin. (13) When I say to the righteous man that he shall surely live; if he trust in his righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered, but he shall die in his iniquity which he has done. (14) And when I say to the wicked man: You shall surely die. and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right; (15) if the wicked man returns what has been taken in pledge, if he restores what has been seized by robbery, walks in the statutes of life, so that he does not do iniquity; be shall surely live, he shall not die. (16) None of his sins which be has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. (17) Yet the children of My people say: The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for them, their way is not equal. (18) When the righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die in them. (19) And when the wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live on account of them. (20) But you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. I will judge each man according to his ways, O house of Israel.
COMMENTS
Despair engulfed the exilic community after the fall of Jerusalem. For the first time the captives faced up to the enormity of their sin. There could be no other explanation of the disastrous overthrow of their holy city and shrine. How can we live? they asked in desperation (Eze. 33:10). The Jewish nation seemed doomed to extinction. Life more abundant and life eternal seemed remote for such sinners.
God had good news for those captives, as He always does for those who honestly face up to the sin problem in their lives. He underscores this good news by an oath (as I live!). God is not vindictive. He does not desire to see His enemies die in their sins. Divine chastisement is designed to move wicked people to repentance so that they might escape the ultimate consequences of their sin. Why will you die? The prophet responds to the despairing question of the preceding verse with a question of his own. The death of the wicked can be averted by repentance. Ezekiel urges the hearers to turn from their evil ways, for that is always the key to life (Eze. 33:11).
Eze. 33:12-20 set forth a great truth, that a mans past does not of itself determine future relations with the Lord. A backslider who formerly lived by the righteous law of God will not live, i.e., escape punishment, when he casts his lot with the wicked. By the same token, a penitent sinner will not stumble, i.e., suffer punishment or recrimination, because of his past life (Eze. 33:12).
Gods promises to the righteous are conditional. The righteous man must continue to trust in God, not in his own goodness. Should he deliberately commit iniquity he would die for that iniquity (Eze. 33:13). Neither are the threats made to the wicked absolute. God has decreed that death physical, spiritual, eternal is the penalty for wickedness. But if the wicked man turns from sin to pursue a righteous and lawful life, that death threat is cancelled (Eze. 33:14). The repentance envisioned here is more than contrition for sin. The penitent person must (1) restore articles which had been pawned to him and which he had illegally retained; (2) restore that which had been taken by violence from another; and (3) walk in the statutes of life, i.e., those laws of God which lead to life more abundant and ultimately life eternal (Eze. 33:15), If the former sinner manifests this genuine repentance God would not hold his past against him and he would live (Eze. 33:16).
Some Jews argued against the proposition being set forth by Ezekiel. They argued that Ezekiels teaching would make out God to be inconsistent in His rulership of the world. The wax of the Lord is not equal, they said. But to this reasoning the prophet replies that it is not God who makes the change, but man (Eze. 33:17). Righteous men do in fact turn from righteousness and pay the consequences (Eze. 33:18). Wicked men sometimes do repent and reap the reward (Eze. 33:19). God deals with men as they are in the present, not as they were in the past (Eze. 33:20).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(10) How should we then live?Formerly, when the prophet had given them warning of impending judgments, the people had refused to believe: now, however, when those judgments had been realised, they despaired, and cried out, If all this is in punishment for our sins, how can there yet be any hope for us?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10-20. Compare notes Eze 18:23-32. The people have ceased to excuse themselves, and now “pine away” in utter despair because of their sins. Whereupon the prophet reaffirms for their comfort the principles of God’s moral government, which he had previously announced in order to convict them of sin (Eze 18:23-32). They have indeed sinned, but the way of life is still open. God does not punish arbitrarily. He wishes all men to repent and live, and they have power to do this. It is sin that brings death, and each man’s destiny is determined by himself. Here is a splendid announcement of God’s justice and of man’s moral agency. Davidson has said that “this emancipation of the individual soul, whether from a doom inherited from a former generation or from one entailed on it by its own evil past, was perhaps the greatest contribution made by Ezekiel to the religious life and thought of his time.” The chief thought, which is intended to bring relief to the now hopeless people, is that the past is not irrevocable. There need be no doubt that Ezekiel intended these principles to awaken a national as well as an individual hope. The life of the nation, like that of the individual, is dependent upon its attitude toward righteousness. “Life,” according to the prophet, did not mean mere existence; but contained a spiritual element. (See Eze 20:11, etc.) No nation or individual could really live who was not doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. Yet ye say (Eze 33:17; Eze 33:20) Not in the same spirit as Eze 18:23; Eze 18:29. They then said that their heredity and their connection with the nation, not their personal transgressions, were to blame for their captivity and other calamities, but now (Eze 33:10) they acknowledge: “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us” (R.V.). The prophet seeks to show that in their despair they are now making the same evil charge against Jehovah, by denying his power to lift them out of their sin and trouble, which they had previously made by denying that their trouble was the consequence of their sins.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And you son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus you speak, saying, ‘Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then should we live?”
God puts a question in the mouths of Israel, a question which suggests a certain level of conviction of sin. It suggests that they have recognised that they deserve to be declared guilty, and that that causes them great grief. For they have recognised that it means that they do not deserve to live. Rather they deserve to die. Their thought is of a cessation of life because of their sins, a loss of all that is good. Their cry has in it a sense of hopelessness. They see no way of escape.
‘How then should we live?’ Their conviction of sin is such that they recognise that they do not deserve to live. They do not see how a righteous God can forgive them, especially as they now have no sacrificial system to turn to. the loss of their sacrificial system was probably no small one to many of them. It raised the question as to whether they could be properly forgiven without it. God will assure them that they can.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 33:10. If our transgressions, &c. Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can it be possible that we should live? These are supposed to be the words of impious persons, who, pretending to despair of God’s mercies, take encouragement thence to continue in their sins.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
That I may not swell the bulk of this Commentary more than necessary, I refer the Reader to the observations made on Eze 18 of this same prophecy, from Eze 18:23 to the end; for the scripture itself is much to the same purport in both Chapters, and the remarks there made will for the most part be equally applicable to these verses here.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins [be] upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
Ver. 10. Thus ye speak. ] a But not well, while ye have hard thoughts of God and heavy thoughts of yourselves, as if your sins were unpardonable, and that ye were already ruined beyond relief; whereas true repentance is a ready remedy, a plank after shipwreck, that would set you safe, and render you right again. This they had been told before, Eze 18:25-32 but to little purpose: the word was not mingled with faith in their hearts, and did therefore run through them, Heb 2:1 as water runs through a riven vessel.
And we pine away in them.
a Refricat verba desperantium. Omnis restitutionis species et spes a Deo nobis praecisa est.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 33:10-16
10Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?’ 11Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, 15if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.
Eze 33:10 say It is characteristic for an IMPERATIVE (BDB 55, KB 65, Qal IMPERATIVE) to designate the beginning of YHWH’s new message through Ezekiel (i.e., Eze 33:10-12).
Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them In chapter 18 the people were blaming their forefathers for God’s judgments, but here in chapter 33 they acknowledge their personal and corporate rebellion.
The phrase rotting away is from the curses of Lev 26:39-42. This phrase is found three times in Ezekiel (cf. Eze 4:17; Eze 24:23; Eze 33:10).
then can we survive This is literally live (BDB 310, KB 309, Qal IMPERFECT). We must see the devastating mental and physical anguish that the destruction of Jerusalem caused to the covenant people. Ezekiel, in chapters 33-39 after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, begins to reassure the covenant people that YHWH is still their Covenant God (cf. Isa 49:14-15) and that He will forgive and restore them, physically and spiritually (cf. Eze 37:11-14).
Eze 33:11 ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD This is an oath related to the name of the Covenant God, YHWH, from the Hebrew VERB to be (see Special Topic: Names for Deity ). It is the ever-living, only-living God who swears by His own life (cf. Eze 5:11).
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked This is a repetition of Eze 18:23; Eze 18:32. The heart of God is love, not judgment (cf. Joh 3:16; Mat 11:28-30). God wants all men to turn and respond to Him (cf. Joh 3:16; Joh 4:42; 1Ti 2:4; Tit 2:11; 2Pe 3:9; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 4:14) by repentance and faith (cf. Mar 1:15; Act 2:38; Act 2:41; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21).
turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why will you die, Oh house of Israel The VERB (BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERATIVE) is repeated for emphasis (cf. Eze 3:19-20; Eze 14:6[thrice]; Eze 18:21; Eze 18:23-24; Eze 18:26-28; Eze 18:30[twice],32; Eze 33:9; Eze 33:11[twice],12,14,19). Repentance is a crucial spiritual requirement.
Repentance primarily is a turning from self and a turning toward God. Special Topic: Repentance in the Old Testament . The Hebrew word (BDB 996) speaks of a change of action, while the Greek speaks of a change of mind. Both are involved (cf. Eze 18:31; Jer 31:33).
house of Israel Israel in this context refers specifically to Judah. See Special Topic: Israel (the name) . Ezekiel uses this designation to foreshadow the coming unity of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Eze 33:12 The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression This does not refer to cumulative guilt or acquired merit (cf. chapter 18), but lifestyle relational faith! What a terrible warning! What a wonderful invitation (cf. Eze 33:10)! See Special Topic: Righteousness .
Eze 33:13 and he will surely live This is the INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (BDB 310, KB 309, cf. Eze 33:15-16), which expresses intensity or emphasis (see note at Eze 33:8).
and he so trusts in his righteousness This is always a danger of religious humanity. The believer must trust in God, not in oneself or one’s performance. His/her trust must issue from an initial faith and repentance to an ongoing faith and repentance. Biblical faith is a daily relationship! Obedience does make a difference (cf. Eze 33:16; Eze 33:31-32; Deu 4:1; Hab 2:4) and is the natural result of a dynamic faith.
Eze 33:14 practices justice and righteousness Notice that there is no distinction in this context between secular and sacred because all belongs to God. This is a truth that moderns need to hear. All life and all relationships are sacred because of Gen 1:26-27.
Eze 33:15 restores a pledge This term, a pledge, (BDB 286, KB 285) basically means to bind. When one borrows he is obligated to repay. To secure this repayment (without interest to a fellow Israelite) the creditor could take something of value and hold it.
1. grinding stone, Eze 24:6
2. garments, Eze 24:17; Exo 22:25-27; Job 24:7; Job 24:10
3. ancestral land and houses, Neh 5:3 (possibly Job 24:2)
4. an essential animal, Job 24:3
5. essential help, the children, Exo 21:7; Lev 25:39-43; 2Ki 4:1; Job 24:9
Each of these items was a necessary part of daily agricultural existence. To remove any one of these jeopardized the family, even life itself. YHWH’s compassion and care for Israel was to be emulated by those Israelites who had resources. God would bless them for their compassion. They would be given more so that they could share more (cf. Eze 33:13; 2Co 9:6-10).
pays back what he has taken by robbery Robbery is discussed in Exo 22:1-4; Lev 6:4-5. The stolen items must be returned with a penalty.
walks by the statutes The VERB (BDB 229, KB 246, Qal PERFECT) is an idiom of lifestyle faith. Faith is personal and communal. The first can be seen and evaluated by how we treat others!
Notice that the statutes (see Special Topic: Terms for God’s Revelation ) of God are meant to bestow life (another INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and IMPERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 310, KB 309). God’s laws were to protect humanity during this period of fallenness (i.e., Deu 30:16).
Eze 33:16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him What a tremendous promise of the forgiveness of God (cf. Eze 18:22; Psa 103:12; Isa 1:18; Isa 38:17; Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22; Mic 7:18-19)! When God forgives, God forgets!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
transgressions. Hebrew. pasha. App-44.
sins. Hebrew. chata. App-44.
pine away, &c. Ref: to Pentateuch. See notes on Eze 4:12 with Eze 24:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 33:10-16
Eze 33:10-16
“And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he hath committed, therein shall he die. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he hath taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.”
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM
OF DISCOURAGEMENT
(Eze 33:10-16)
“How then can we live …” (Eze 33:10)? The blunt and effective answer to this question rising in the hearts of the discouraged captives is given in the very next verse. Repent and live; why will ye die?
“Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways …” (Eze 33:11). In order to encourage such repentance upon the part of the captives, Ezekiel assured the people that God had no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he rejoiced in the turning of the wicked from their evil ways.
“If the righteous commit iniquity … if the wicked turn and do right …” (Eze 33:12-16). The principle enunciated here stresses what a man is at the present time, not what he had been in the past. Here was a glorious challenge for the captives to renounce and turn away from the wickedness that had resulted in their terrible punishment and to turn to God with their whole heart. Bunn summarized this thus: “God condemns the righteous when he sins, and forgives the sinful when he repents.” Thus, the two things Ezekiel stressed here are (1) the grace of God (Eze 33:11), and (2) the importance of one’s present state, rather than his past record.
God had at this point in the chapter dealt effectively with the problem of the discouragement of the captives, mentioned above in the introduction to the chapter. It yet remained for him to address those conceited self-styled “sons of Abraham” in Judea. That will be taken care of in Eze 33:23 ff.
Evil men try to justify themselves and find it easy to criticize and find fault with the just judgments of the Lord.
The problem resident in that human error was next addressed…
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
If our: The impenitent Jews seem to have charged the prophet’s messages with inconsistency: for whilst he warned them to repent, and assured the penitent of forgiveness, he also predicted that the people “would pine away in their transgressions.” The prediction, however, merely implied that God foresaw that the people in general would be impenitent, though some individuals would repent and be pardoned. Eze 24:23, Lev 26:39
how: Eze 37:11, Psa 130:7, Isa 49:14, Isa 51:20, Jer 2:25
Reciprocal: Lev 26:16 – consume 1Ki 21:29 – I will not 2Ki 6:33 – this evil is of the Lord Ezr 9:15 – in our trespasses Lam 4:9 – for Eze 3:18 – the same Eze 18:20 – righteousness 1Co 15:17 – ye are
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 33:10. This verse is a complaint of the house of Israel. They seem to think that the Lord is asking that which is impossible for them. They are expected to live in the service of God and yet He causes them to waste away in their sins. Their conclusion is that God wishes them to die, but that will be denied in the next verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 33:10-11. If our transgressions be upon us, &c. If the unpardoned guilt of our sins lie upon us, and we be punished for them in the wasting of our country, the burning of our city, the abolishing the public worship of God, &c.; and we pine away in them Experience their bitter consequences in famine and disease, and in a variety of other calamities; how shall we live? How then can the promises of life belong to us? How can such assurances be true as were given us Eze 18:17-32? What ground can we have to hope for a recovery of our former condition? Or, how canst thou promise the continuance or restoration of any mercy to us? How can it be better with us than it is? If thy threatenings be true, it will be worse with us, and not better; and if they be not true, how can we trust thy promises of recovery? These are supposed to be the words of impious persons, who, pretending to despair of Gods mercies, take encouragement from thence to continue in their sins. Say, As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked For an elucidation of this and the following verses to the 20th, compare chap. 18.; and see the notes there.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak to the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins [are] upon us, and we pine away in them, {e} how should we then live?
(e) Thus the wicked when they hear God’s judgments for their sins, despair of his mercies and murmur.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. An exhortation to turn from evil 33:10-20
This part of Ezekiel’s warning to the exiles is similar to Eze 18:21-32.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Israelites seem to have taken on more personal responsibility for their sufferings than they had earlier (cf. ch. 18). They wondered how they could survive God’s judgments. This is the first indication in the book that they were conscious of their own sins. The Lord affirmed again that He took no pleasure in putting people to death for their sins (cf. Eze 18:23; Eze 18:32). He much preferred for them to turn from their sin and live (cf. 2Pe 3:9). He also appealed again to the people to do just that: to repent of their wicked ways and live (cf. Eze 18:30-31).
"We must correctly distinguish regret, remorse, and true repentance. Regret is an activity of the mind; whenever we remember what we’ve done, we ask ourselves, ’Why did I do that?’ Remorse includes both the heart and the mind, and we feel disgust and pain, but we don’t change our ways. But true repentance includes the mind, the heart, and the will. We change our mind about our sins and agree with what God says about them; we abhor ourselves because of what we have done; and we deliberately turn from our sin and turn to the Lord for His mercy.
"When Peter remembered his sin of denying Christ, he repented and sought pardon; when Judas remembered his sin of betraying Christ, he experienced only remorse, and he went out and hanged himself." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 223.]