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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
6:1-7:27 Oracles against the "Land." These two extended oracles share the feature of being addressed to "geography": the "mountains" (6:2) and "land" (Hb. ’adamah; lit., "ground"; 7:2) of Israel, a feature also shared with 20:46; 21:2; 35:2; and 36:1, 6. Although in both cases the real audience is human (see 6:6), this form of address must have some significance beyond being simply symbolic. A deliberate connection of both "mountains" and "land" is found in ch. 36--one of the most theologically important chapters in the book, which forms a counterpart to chs. 6 and 7. Chapters 6 and 7 both describe coming punishment, but each addresses a different theme.
6:1-14 Against the Mountains of Israel. The address to the "mountains of Israel" (v. 2)--a phrase unique to Ezekiel in the OT--does more than strike a nostalgic note, although it does that as well. The hills were inherently linked to illicit worship (see 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Chron. 21:11; Jer. 3:6), and this is Ezekiel's focus. Variations of the "recognition formula" ("you shall know that I am the Lord," Ezek. 6:7; cf. vv. 10, 13, and 14) structure the chapter.
6:1-7 prophesy against them. Here the focus is on the death of idolaters.
6:2 set your face. Another favorite phrase of Ezekiel, expressing determination, reflects God's own orientation in Jer. 44:11 and that of the "servant" in Isa. 50:7. Luke used it of Jesus in Luke 9:51.
6:3 The treaty curses of Leviticus 26 lurk in the background. This is especially clear in the threat to bring a sword upon you, used five more times in Ezekiel (5:17; 11:8; 14:17; 29:8; and 33:2) and once in Lev. 26:25, but only in three other places in the entire OT. The high places (Hb. bamot) were not just the crests of hills. They were constructed cultic installations that could, therefore, be destroyed.
6:8-10 leave some of you alive. Complete annihilation is moderated with the promise of a remnant (cf. 5:3). The remorse of the survivors is matched by the striking description of the effect that idolatry had on God: I have been broken (6:9) uses the same term of God as was used in v. 6 ("idols broken"), and indicates God's deep sorrow at the people's sin.
6:11-13 The prophet's nonverbal actions here indicate the force with which the oracle is to be delivered. This catalog of illicit cultic locations occurs elsewhere in the OT and has its roots in Deut. 12:2.
6:14 The place name Riblah, a correction of the Masoretic text's "Diblah," is based on some Hebrew evidence (the mistake of d for r was very easy in both paleo-Hebrew as well as later square script). The area being described stretches from the Negev to northern Syria.
7:1-27 Against the Land of Israel. The address to the "land [soil] of Israel" (v. 2) links this chapter to the previous one against the "mountains of Israel" (6:2). Two features of this chapter pull in different directions: the Hebrew is at points quite obscure and translation is difficult (see the "uncertain" readings in ESV footnotes); yet the imagery is striking and the overall sense plain. Although laid out as prose, many see Ezekiel's diction here inclining to poetry, as short staccato lines echo content. As in ch. 6, the "recognition formula" (7:4, 9, 27; cf. Introduction: Style) gives internal shape to the oracle, which falls into two main parts (vv. 1-9, 10-27). Together they form a "sermon" whose text is Amos 8. The resonance of language and overlap of themes and sequence between these chapters is impressive, and it seems likely that Ezekiel's oracle develops Amos's earlier prophecy.
7:1-9 The end has come (v. 2). This first section itself further divides in two, with introductory and concluding formulas framing vv. 1-4 and 5-9, with strong parallels between them: cf. vv. 2 and 5-6; 3 and 8; 4 and 9. Is this a first and second "edition," both of which were preserved? The "odd man out," v. 7, finds its echo in the second section at v. 12. These verses are mostly framed in the first person, as God announces the imminent outpouring of his wrath.
7:2 The address to the land (lit., "soil") of Israel uses a phrase unique to Ezekiel (found
7:3 abominations (also vv. 4, 8, 9; plural of Hb. to‘ebah). These are offenses repugnant to God that defile and that demand elimination. This is very frequent language in Ezekiel (mentioned
7:7 The time and day point forward to the second part of the chapter, and indicate a moment of reversal.
7:10-27 Behold, the day! (v. 10). The "day of the Lord" is a prominent theme in the Hebrew prophets, with origins in Amos 5:18-20 (see notes on Isa. 13:5-6; Amos 5:18-20). Ezekiel's development relates most closely to Amos 8:9-10. It was a time of great expectation but was turned to bitter anguish at the hands of God, who was wrongly assumed to be coming in blessing. Among the many motifs shared between Ezekiel 7 and Amos 8 are the "day" itself, violence and wealth, agricultural metaphors, foiled commerce, desecration of holy things, and withholding of divine direction. In contrast to the first-person oracle of Ezek. 7:1-9, the action of vv. 10-27 is mostly carried by third-person descriptions of the coming disaster.
7:12-13 The transactions described here connect with the laws of Lev. 25:26-27. There is no opportunity to redeem property because death will come first.
7:17 all knees turn to water. The Hebrew formulation suggests a loss of bladder control with the onset of panic (LXX, "all thighs will be defiled with moisture").
7:20 The beautiful ornament is an obscure reference, but imagery of the temple is probably in mind.
7:26 Loss of divine direction from the prophet, priest, and elders forges another link to Jeremiah, where the oblivious Judeans assume that such guidance will always be forthcoming (Jer. 18:18).
