29<\/strong>. The word bamah<\/em>, “high-place,” has no certain etymology, though often used and at an early period, e.g. in David’s elegy on Saul (2Sa 1:19<\/span>), and in Moabite (Mesha’s inscrip.). The prophet here introduces a punning and contemptuous derivation of the word. Jehovah asks “what ( mah<\/em>) is the high place whereunto ye go ( ba<\/em>),” and the prophet seems to consider the word composed of these two syllables. Some have supposed that “go” has the sense of “go in,” and that the allusion is to the immoralities practised on the high places (Amo 2:7<\/span>; Hos 4:13-14<\/span>). This idea does not seem expressed in the words; neither is there much probability in the conjecture that the words are borrowed by Ezek. from some older prophet (Ew.).<\/p>\n The prophet’s view of the generation of the exodus differs from that of earlier prophets, e.g. Hos 9:10<\/span>; Jer 2:2<\/span>. The generation in the wilderness was probably not a homogeneous one, and the narratives which we possess represent its conduct as various at different times. Two views might be taken of it, and Ezek. as his manner is takes the severer view.<\/p>\n Verse 29<\/span>. What<\/B><\/I> is <\/B>the high place<\/B><\/I>] mah habbamah<\/I>, “what is the high place?” What is it good for? Its being a high<\/I> place<\/I> shows it to be a place of idolatry<\/I>. I called it bamah<\/I>, to mark it with infamy<\/I>; but ye continue to frequent it, even while it is called bamah<\/I>, to the present day!<\/P> <\/p>\n Then; <\/B>when they were intent upon this horrid course of sin, God pleaded by his messengers, and prophets, and law, and some faithful priests, What mean you, that ye go to the high place? should you not go to the altar of God, and bring your sacrifices to the temple? Or what God better than Abrahams do you expect there? What profit by attending upon those sacrifices offered daily? How often have you by such-like means poured contempt on God and his law! <\/P> Whereunto ye go; <\/B>leaving my temple, and the service I prescribed, and in other places, unrequited, doing their supposed duties. <\/P> Bamah; <\/B>high place: the very word tells them their wickedness, that they acted against the express will of God, and framed themselves to idolaters of the nation. <\/P> Unto this day; <\/B>and this they did with obstinacy continue in to the days of Josiah, 2Ch 34:3<\/span>. Thus far the narrative of their great wickednesses. <\/P> <\/p>\n 29. What is the high place whereuntoye go?<\/B>What is the meaning of this name? For My altar<\/I> isnot so called. What excellence do ye see in it, that ye go there,rather than to My temple, the only lawful place of sacrificing? Thevery name, “high place,” convicts you of sinning, not fromignorance but perverse rebellion. <\/P> is called . . . unto thisday<\/B>whereas this name ought to have been long since laid aside,along with the custom of sacrificing on high places which itrepresents, being borrowed from the heathen, who so called theirplaces of sacrifice (the Greeks, for instance, called them by acognate term, Bomoi<\/I>), whereas I call mine Mizbeaach,<\/I>“altar.” The very name implies the place is not thatsanctioned by Me, and therefore your sacrifices even to ME there(much more those you offer to idols) are only a “provocation”to Me (Eze 20:28<\/span>; Deu 12:1-5<\/span>).David and others, it is true, sacrificed to God on high places, butit was under exceptional circumstances, and before the altar was setup on Mount Moriah.<\/P><\/p>\n Then I said unto them<\/strong>,…. By his prophets that he sent unto them:<\/p>\n what is the high place where, unto you go<\/strong>? what is the name of it? what is the use of it? to what end do you go there? is there not an altar built by my order and command to sacrifice upon is this high place better than that? does it answer a better end and purpose?<\/p>\n and the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day<\/strong>; or a high place. The Septuagint also leaves the word untranslated, and calls it Abama; and the Arabic version Abbana; so they called their altars after the Gentiles, by whom they are called ; nor were they ashamed of it, but persisted in so calling them, from the first use of them to the present time. These are often called, Bamah and Bamot in the books of Kings. Jarchi says it is a term of reproach, as if it was said, Bamah—-in what is it to be accounted of?<\/p>\n Although there is no ambiguity in the Prophet’s words, yet the sentence seems frigid, and interpreters, in my judgment, have not understood the Prophet’s meaning. It may seem spiritless, that God should ask, what is the high place? But it means that they were not deceived through ignorance, since he had often cautioned them against profaning the true and genuine worship, for he often endeavored to draw them back again when he saw them wandering after their own superstitions. Hence they are continually rebuked by the prophets; and their obstinacy is the more apparent, since, nevertheless, they followed their own perverseness. But because all these reproaches were useless, God here enlarges upon their crime, since they were deaf. I have said, therefore; that is, by means of prophets. For we know how constantly the prophets discharged their duty, by urging them to worship at one altar only. For this reason the people’s wickedness was greater; whence God says, What is this? and why do you so greatly desire your high places when they displease me, and you know my commands? your ears are deaf, and obstructed by wickedness. On the whole, he asks how could such madness seize upon them as to approach these high places, since he had pointed out a place where he was to be sought and invoked. My temple, says he, is neglected; meanwhile you run to high places, and yet it is known by the name of a high place. There is no mystery in this word; but God means that no reproaches or threats of his prophets could prevent the people from worshipping on these high places. He says, then, that the name was still used, since the same dignity and religious regard for them still flourished, when their remembrance ought to be utterly abolished. If God had only once pronounced that those high places were not approved by him, all ought to have changed their course instantly: he, exclaimed against them long and vehemently by his prophets, and yet the name “high places” was constantly in everybody’s mouth; it was famous among them, as if God ought to be sought there. Now therefore we see that the Jews were condemned for too much pride, because they not only failed to desert their high places when repeatedly admonished, but they perniciously wished to oppose those places to God’s sanctuary, although they were so many pollution’s. Hence we gather the condemnation of the people’s obstinate malice, since fathers handed down the name to their sons, so that through a continued posterity they opposed these high places to the only sanctuary of God. It follows — <\/p>\n (29) Is called Bamah.<\/strong>Bamah itself means high place. <\/em>Some have fancied that the word is derived from the two words go and where, and therefore that it contains a play upon the question in the first part of the verse; but this etymology must be considered fanciful.<\/p>\n 29<\/strong>. <\/strong> Bamah <\/strong> Hebrews, “high place.” That there is intended here some contemptuous turn upon the word cannot be doubted. “What ( mah<\/em>) is the high place ( bamah<\/em>) whereunto ye go ( ba<\/em>)?” Such puns upon names often given as serious explanations of their origin are not uncommon in the contemporaneous literature of Babylonia and Egypt. (See, e.g., p. 9, author’s Egypt According to the Monuments.<\/em>) If we had a better knowledge of the Canaanitish dictionary we would probably see a sharp point here which is now hidden from our dull eyes. The name Bamah must, as Adam Clarke saw, be a veiled name of infamy. So the Church of Rome made fun of Calvin, who was bald, by calling him “Calvinus Calcus,” meaning either Calvin the bald or Calvin the schismatic. Ewald and Smend see in the word “go,” or “go into,” a reference to the literal as well as the spiritual prostitution indulged in by the Baal worshipers (as used also in Gen 16:2<\/span>; Gen 19:31<\/span>, etc.).<\/p>\n “Then I said to them, ‘What does the high place mean to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.<\/p>\n This sentence is a play on words. ‘Bamah’ means ‘high place. But ‘ba’ means ‘go’ and ‘ma’ means ‘what’. In it God is challenging what the significance was to them of these high places. He wanted to sting them into recognising the folly of their behaviour.<\/p>\n Idolatry was worldwide outside Israel. By their idols, made usually with their own hands, they saw themselves as bringing the gods to some extent under their control. Here they could deal with their gods, worship them, influence them, and by destroying other men’s idols weaken their gods. Then they could go away and forget them, leaving them on their shelves or in their high places. And those gods were regularly depicted as creatures of the earth, with all their bestial ways. This was all in contrast with the invisible God of Israel Who was free to go where He would, was not restricted to a place, was transcendent and not a part of creation, and Who could not be manipulated but required obedience wherever they went. Let them think about that!<\/p>\n Eze 20:29<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Then I said unto them<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> And though I said unto them, What is the high place in which you assemble? yet the high place retained its name even to this day. <\/em>Houbigant. <\/p>\n See commentary on Eze 20:27<\/span><\/p>\n The Lord is still expostulating with His people for their transgressions; and the Lord shows the folly, as well as the sin, of Israel in going to those high places for sacrifice, for what could any or the whole of those dunghill gods do in a way of comfort or help? All and everyone of them may well be called Bamah, an high place of vanity and disappointment; for where God in covenant is not, all is vanity. But I beg the Reader to mark the grace of the Lord in the midst of His people’s undeservings. He will bring them into wilderness straits; but it shall be to give them mercies there. He will bring them to pass under the rod; but it shall be the rod of the covenant. Still in grace; all in mercy. The Lord’s corrections of his children are all of this kind. Hence one saith, and saith very blessedly, Thy loving corrections shall make me great. Psa 18:35<\/span> . See Hos 2:14-15<\/span> , etc. Psa 89:30-35<\/span> .<\/p>\n Eze 20:29 Then I said unto them, What [is] the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.<\/p>\n Ver. 29. And the name thereof is called Bamah,<\/strong> ] i.e., <\/em> A high place; a name good enough in itself, but, as used by them, as odious to all good hearts as a brothel house is to a chaste matron. She is the worse to pass by it, and spitteth at it. So should we in like case. Exo 23:13 <\/em> Psa 16:4 <\/em> Hos 2:16-17 <\/em> Zec 13:2 <\/em> Deu 12:2 <\/p>\n What is the high place . . . ? Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew oath habhamdh, for emphasis, to mark the contrast between this idolatrous high place and Zion the true high and holy mountain (Eze 20:40). <\/p>\n I said: etc. or, I told them what the high place was, or, Bamah. And the. Eze 16:24, Eze 16:25, Eze 16:31 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Deu 12:2 – possess 1Ki 11:7 – build an high 1Ki 14:23 – built 2Ki 16:4 – on the hills 2Ki 18:4 – removed Psa 78:58 – their high Isa 57:7 – General Hos 4:13 – sacrifice<\/p>\n Eze 20:29, Bamah Is a word of Indefinite origin and occurs only in this place. It is used in a derisive manner with reference to the high places that were approached hy idolatrous worshipers.<\/p>\n 20:29 Then I said to them, What [is] the high place to which ye go? And its name is called {o} Bamah to this day.<\/p>\n (o) Which signifies a high place, declaring that they vaunted themselves of their idolatry and were not ashamed of it, though God had commanded them expressly that they should have no altar lifted on high by stairs, Exo 20:26 .<\/p>\n The Lord had confronted His people with their use of the high places on hilltops for idolatry. The name of the high places, Bamah, had a double significance. It meant "high place," but it also meant literally "go where" or "go what" (Heb. ba mah<\/span>). Thus Bamah became a contemptuous pun. When the people went to the high places to worship idols, where were they going? They were going nowhere of any significance to do nothing of any importance since these idols were nonentities and could not help them. The name Bamah said more about these places than just identifying them as high places of worship, and the Lord had perpetuated the name Bamah for this reason.<\/p>\n "In the world of the Old Testament, everyone worshiped by using idols. It was unthinkable not to. Idols were thought to be absolutely necessary for proper worship in the same way that wings are thought necessary for an airplane today. The practice of idolatry was based on what is sometimes called ’sympathetic magic,’ that is, the ability to influence reality by manipulating an image of that reality." [Note: Ibid., p. 172.] <\/span><\/p>\n Then I said unto them, What [is] the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. 29. The word bamah, “high-place,” has no certain etymology, though often used and at an early period, e.g. in David’s elegy on Saul (2Sa 1:19), and in Moabite (Mesha’s inscrip.). The prophet … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 20:29”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20935\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"