Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 36:17
Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
16 23. Israel’s past history and the principles which it illustrates
17. When in their own land the people defiled it with their doings. The land was “holy” being sanctified by Jehovah’s presence in it. The sins of the people, idolatry and bloodshed, desecrated it and made it unclean. Holy embraces “clean” under it, as the general does a particular, Jer 2:7; Lev 18:25. Ezek., however, seems to call all sins “uncleanness.” This way of speaking and thinking could hardly have arisen except under the influence of a law of ceremonial defilements (which were real defilements) and purifications.
uncleanness of a removed ] the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. Lev 15:19. The comparison expresses the extreme of loathing, ch. Eze 7:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. When the house of Israel dwelt in their own land] Had they continued faithful to me, they had never been removed from it: but they polluted it with their crimes; and I abhorred the land on that account, and gave both them and it up to the destroyers.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In their own land; in fullness, case, and security, as in days past they did.
They defiled it; brought in much sin and great guilt upon the land, i.e. on themselves who dwelt there, and sinned greatly.
By their own way; leaving my law, despising my counsel, forsaking my worship and temple.
By their doings; by their carriage and practices in their whole conversation.
As the uncleanness, & c.; or as one excommunicate, and cut off from the congregation, because of some great sin. Or, since idolatry is so often compared to fornication and whoredom, possibly it may be here the filthiness of spiritual whoredom. I hated and loathed the filthiness of their ways, as I would the impurity of a whorish woman prostituting herself for gain. The word may include the reward of a whore, as it doth Eze 16:33.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. removed woman (Le15:19, &c.).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land,…. The land of Canaan, which the Lord their God gave unto them; a land abounding with all good things, where they dwelt in great ease, plenty, and prosperity; and which also was a holy land, peculiarly chosen of God for his worship and service:
they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: by their sinful ways and evil works: sin is of a defiling nature; it defiles the bodies and souls of men; it defiles their own, and it defiles others; it defiles a land, and the inhabitants of it, and makes them loathsome and abominable to a pure and holy God:
their way was before me, as the uncleanness of a removed woman: of a menstruous woman in the time of her separation; when she was debarred the company of her husband, and might not enter into the sanctuary of the Lord: this shows what an evil thing sin is, what an uncleanness it is in the sight of God, how abhorrent sinful ways are to him; and though he was the husband of these people, yet, because of their sins, he separated from them, and removed them from and out of their land, as not fit to be in his presence, nor to live there.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(17) They defiled it.In Eze. 36:17-20 the sin of Israel in the past is set forth as the reason of their present condition. The land is always regarded in Scripture as peculiarly consecrated to God, and defiled by the sin of the people. (Comp. Lev. 18:28; Num. 35:34.) The comparison is with a woman who has been set apart for uncleanness (Lev. 15:19), who until her purification was not allowed to come into the sanctuary.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 36:17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
Ver. 17. When the house of Israel. ] Ubique Scriptura vindicat gloriam Dei, maxime autem hoc loco. a This place of Scripture doth singularly set forth the glory of God’s grace, while it showeth that man’s destruction is wholly of himself, his help only of God.
As the uncleanness.
a Oecolamp.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
land = soil.
they defiled it, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 15:19; Lev 18:25, Lev 18:27, Lev 18:30. Num 35:33, Num 35:34). App-92.
as the uncleanness, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 15:19; Lev 15:18, Lev 15:19, &c.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they defiled: Lev 18:24-28, Num 35:33, Num 35:34, Psa 106:37, Psa 106:38, Isa 24:5, Jer 2:7, Jer 3:1, Jer 3:2, Jer 3:9, Jer 16:18, Mic 2:10
as the: Lev 15:19-33, Isa 64:6
Reciprocal: Lev 18:25 – the land Lev 18:28 – General 1Ki 9:9 – Because 2Ch 7:22 – Because they forsook Lam 1:17 – Jerusalem Eze 33:29 – because Eze 36:25 – filthiness Zec 13:1 – uncleanness
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 36:17-19. When the house of Israel dwelt in their own land In fulness of bread, ease, and security, as they did in days past; they defiled it Rendered it abominable before God, and uncomfortable to themselves; by their own way and by their doings By the way of their own choice, their wicked way, forsaking my law, despising my counsel, deserting my worship and temple; and by their unholy conversation and unrighteous practices. Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman As a woman under a legal pollution was forbidden to come within the courts of the temple, or to attend upon Gods worship there; so the defilements which the Jews had contracted by their idolatries, adulteries, murders, and other heinous sins, rendered them unfit to be acknowledged as Gods people, or to offer up any religious service to him. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them These and their other sins were the true causes of the desolation of their country, and of all the miseries which they underwent, and not any thing in the land itself, as the heathen said, Eze 36:13. According to their doings I judged them God frequently repeats that his judgments upon the Jews were no more than what their own ways or doings obliged him to inflict. There was in his dealings with them no arbitrary exercise of sovereignty, but they were dealt with according to their own conduct. And thus God deals with mankind in general: his actions, in regard to them, are not founded in an arbitrary exercise of his absolute sovereignty over them, but in impartial justice, wisdom, and goodness, and he judges them according to their own ways, and not according to the dictates of an arbitrary will.