This chapter contains a prophecy of the speedy destruction of the Jews, as being just at hand; of the particular judgments that should come upon them; of the horror that should seize them, and the distress that all ranks of men among them should be in, a few only escaping, who are described as in…

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. ] Or again, as the Arabic version; for this is a distinct prophecy from the former; though of the same kind with it; and was delivered out, either immediately upon the former; or, however, some time between that and the following in the next…

Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel The inhabitants of it; not the ten tribes, who were already carried captive; but the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and those that were with them, who dwelt in the land.

Now is the end come upon thee This is repeated for the confirmation of it, and for the sake of application of it to the people of Israel, of whom he had before spoken in the third person; but now in the second, in order to arouse them, and excite attention: and I will send mine anger upon thee; the…

And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity, &c.] Though the punishment will be heavy, and the lamentation will be great; see ; but I will recompense thy ways upon thee; the evil of punishment for the evil of sin, the righteous demerit of their actions: and thine abominations shall…

Thus saith the Lord God Here should be a stop, a colon, requiring attention to what follows, it being something awful and terrible: an evil, an only evil, behold, it cometh; meaning the destruction of the city and temple; which, though but one, was such an one as was never known before nor was…

An end is come, the end is come These words, so often repeated, show the eagerness and concern of the prophet’s mind; the speed and haste destruction was making; and the great stupidity of the people, which required such a frequent repetition: it watcheth for thee; that is, their damnation…

The morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land That is, early ruin was come, or was coming, upon the inhabitants of Judea, which before is said to be awake, and to watch for them; and now the day being broke, the morning come, it hastened to them.

Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee It might be very well said to be shortly, or near at hand, that the Lord would bring down his judgments upon this people; since it was some time in the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity that this prophecy was delivered; and it was in the ninth…

And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity This verse is the same with ; only instead of “I will recompense thy ways upon thee”, here it is, I will recompense thee according to thy ways upon thee and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; which have both the same sense,…

Behold the day, behold, it is come That is, the day of trouble and distress, said to be near, ; the morning is gone forth; (See Gill on Ezek. 7:7); the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded; both these phrases may be understood of Nebuchadnezzar; he was the rod, with which the Lord smote his…

Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness Some understand this of the Chaldeans, who came with great violence against the Jews, and were a rod in the hand of the Lord, to scourge them for their wickedness; and this seems to be the sense of the Targum, “spoilers are risen up to visit the…

The time is come, the day draweth near According to the Targum, the time of the recompence of iniquities, and the day of punishment of sins; of the sins of the Jews, by the Chaldean army, which no doubt is true; but it seems chiefly to refer to what follows: and the sense is, the time was coming…

For the seller shall not return to that which is sold In the year of jubilee, because he shall be in captivity: according to the law in , when a man had sold his possession, he returned to it again, if alive, in the year of jubilee; let it come sooner or later, within thirty, or twenty, or ten…

They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready That is, the Jews, when they understood that the enemy was approaching, blew the trumpet, to give the inhabitants of their several cities and towns warning of it; that they might gather together, provide themselves with armour, and put themselves…

The sword is without Without the city, where the enemy was besieging; so that those that went without, in order to make their escapes fell into their hands: and the pestilence and the famine within; within the city; so that such who thought themselves safe in their own houses died by those…

But they that escape of them shall escape Some few should escape the pestilence, famine, and sword, and flee to the mountains, where they should live a very miserable and uncomfortable life; so that this is no contradiction to the wrath of God being upon the whole multitude, (Ezek. 7:12, Ezek.

All hands shall be feeble No strength in them, to lay hold on weapons of war to defend themselves, or fight the enemy; no heart nor courage in them, to go forth and meet him; and even afraid to lift up their voice in mourning, lest they should be heard, and pursued, and taken: and all knees shall…

They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth As a token of mourning, ; and horror shall cover them: either the horror of a guilty conscience, or the perpetual dread and terror of the enemy: and shame shall be upon all faces; because of their sins and transgressions, which they shall now be…

They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed As being of no use unto them to preserve them from famine and pestilence, and as being an hinderance to them in their flight from the enemy.

As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty Or, “for pride” [[8]]. The gold, silver, jewels, riches, and treasure, which the Lord gave to this people, they made a bad use of; and instead of contributing to the support of his worship and interest, and of giving liberally to the poor,…

And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, &c.] The Babylonians, who lived in a foreign country, and were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel; the temple was suffered of the Lord to fall into their hands as a prey; who spoiled it of all its riches and glory, and carried away…

My face will one turn also from them Deny them his presence, and withdraw his protection from them; show them no favour, nor afford them any help and succour in their distress, when they cry unto him; so the Targum, “I will cause my Shechinah to remove from them:” unless the Chaldeans are meant, as…

Make a chain To bind them; not the robbers, the Chaldeans, but the Jews; in order either to bring them to the bar to be tried for capital crimes hereafter mentioned, or to be led bound in chains into captivity; see ; for the land is full of bloody crimes; or, “judgment of bloods” [[11]]; capital…

Wherefore I will bring the worst of the Heathen The Chaldeans, notorious for their cruelty, savageness, and barbarity: and they shall possess their houses; which they have built, and thought to have lived and died in, and left them to their children for an inheritance; but the Chaldeans, and not…

Destruction cometh Upon the temple, city, nation, and people; the king of Babylon, the destroyer of the Gentiles, and now of the Jews, being on his way, ; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none; that is, the Jews will seek to make peace with the Chaldeans; but the latter will not…

Mischief shall come upon mischief One misfortune or calamity after another; first one unhappy event, and then another, as was Job’s case. The Targum is, “breach upon breach shall come [[13]]:” and rumour shall be upon rumour; that the Chaldean army is in such a place; and then that it is in another…

The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation Meaning one and the same person, Zedekiah not being able to save himself and his people; and who falling into the hands of the king of Babylon, his children were slain before him; then his own eyes put out, and he bound in…