Ezekiel 7:20

As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) In majesty.—Rather, for pride. That which had been given them “for the beauty of ornament,” viz., their silver and gold (Ezekiel 7:19), they had perverted to purposes of pride. Nay, further, they had even made their idols of it; therefore God “set it far from them.” The same strong word is used here as in Ezekiel 7:19 = made it filth unto them. The singular and plural pronouns, “he,” “his,” “they,” “their,” “them,” all alike refer to the people.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 7:20-22. As for the beauty of his ornament — The temple and all that pertained to it, which was the beauty and glory of the Jewish nation, and accounted so by them; he set it in majesty — God commanded that it should be a stately, beautiful, and magnificent structure; but they made the images of their abominations therein — Set up their idols in his temple, and provoked him, their Maker and their husband, with their spiritual adulteries committed before his face; therefore have I set it far from them — I have parted between it and them, have removed them far from the temple: or, I have given it into the hands of the Gentiles to profane and pollute it: see the marginal reading, and Ezekiel 7:21. My face will I turn from them — Either from the Jews or from the Chaldeans, neither relieving the former nor restraining the latter. And they (the Chaldeans) shall pollute my secret place — My temple, and even the holy of holies. For the robbers shall enter into it — The Chaldean soldiers shall break open all doors, and rush forward, and enter there, where neither the people, nor the Levites, nor the priests, except only the high-priest, were allowed to enter.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:16-22 Sooner or later, sin will cause sorrow; and those who will not repent of their sin, may justly be left to pine away in it. There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin; and the gaining the world is the losing of their souls. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. God's temple shall stand them in no stead. Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness, who will not be governed by its power.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or, And "the beauty of his ornament, he" (the people) turned "it" to pride.

Have I set it far from them - Rather, as in the margin - therefore have I made it their defilement and their disgrace.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. beauty of his ornament—the temple of Jehovah, the especial glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery used by God as to the temple, Eze 16:10, 11). Compare Eze 24:21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."

images … therein—namely, in the temple (Eze 8:3-17).

set it far from them—God had "set" the temple (their "beauty of ornament") "for His majesty"; but they had set up "abominations therein"; therefore God, in just retribution, "set it far from them," (that is, removed them far from it, or took it away from them [Vatablus]). The Margin translates, "Made it unto them an unclean thing" (compare Margin on Eze 7:19, "removed"); what I designed for their glory they turned to their shame, therefore I will make it turn to their ignominy and ruin.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The beauty of his ornament; their riches, the ornament of a nation, their silver, gold, &c. Or rather the temple and ark, and all that pertained to it, which was the beauty and glory of that nation, and they accounted it so.

He set it in majesty; God commanded it should be stately, beautiful, and rich; very magnificent, said Solomon, great, 2 Chronicles 2:5, and God gave the riches with which it was built, 1 Chronicles 29:11-16.

They made the images; either set up their idols which God so much abhorred in his temple, and provoked him with spiritual adulteries to his face, as if a wife should commit adultery before the eye of her husband; or, made their idols, those abominable images, those detestable things, of the silver and gold which I adorned them with.

I have set it far from them; I have parted between them; sent them from the temple, and their gold and silver from them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty,.... Or, "for pride" (i). 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, they converted it to their own pride and luxury: or rather the temple, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, is meant; which was a beautiful structure, and adorned with gifts, and set for glory, majesty, and excellency by the Lord; yea, where his excellent Majesty dwelt himself:

but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein; or, "of it" (k); that is, of their gold and silver, which is another bad use they put their riches to: or rather "in it" (l); that is, the temple; where, having made their idols, they placed them; see Jeremiah 7:30;

therefore have I set it far from them; that being destroyed, and they being carried away captive into a strange land, far from that.

(i) "in superbiam", V. L. Calvin, Starckius. (k) "ex eo", Tigurine version. (l) "In eo". Pagninus, Montanus, Polanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Starckius.

Geneva Study Bible

As for the beauty of his {p} ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things in it: therefore have I set it far from them.

(p) Meaning, the sanctuary.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. Read: and the beauty of their ornament they turned into pride, and they made the images … thereof; therefore will I make it unto them a thing unclean. The thing spoken of is still their silver and gold; this they not only turned into pride, but made also images of it. Hosea 2:8, I multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal; Ezekiel 8:4, Of their silver and gold have they made them idols, that they might be cut off. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 16:11; 2 Samuel 1:24; Jeremiah 4:30.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - As for the beauty of his ornament. The latter word is commonly used of the necklaces, armlets, etc., of women (Exodus 33:4-6; Isaiah 49:18; Jeremiah 2:32; Jeremiah 4:30). So again in Ezekiel 16:7, 11; Ezekiel 23:40. The singular is used of the people collectively, or of each man individually, like German man or French on. He set it in majesty; better, he - or to give the sense they - turned it to pride. Wealth and art had ministered, as in Isaiah 2:16, first to mere pride and pomp; then they made out of their ornaments the idols which they worshipped, and which were now, the same emphatic word being repeated, as a pollution to them. Ezekiel 7:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Third strophe

Thus will they fall into irresistible destruction; even their silver and gold they will not rescue, but will cast it away as useless, and leave it for the enemy. - Ezekiel 7:15. The sword without, and pestilence and famine within: he who is in the field will die by the sword; and famine and pestilence will devour him that is in the city. Ezekiel 7:16. And if their escaped ones escape, they will be upon the mountains like the doves of the valleys, all moaning, every one for his iniquity. Ezekiel 7:17. All hands will become feeble, and all knees flow with water. Ezekiel 7:18. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and terrors will cover them; on all faces there will be shame, and baldness on all their heads. Ezekiel 7:19. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be as filth to them. Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them in the day of Jehovah's wrath; they will not satisfy their souls therewith, nor fill their stomachs thereby, for it was to them a stumbling-block to guilt. Ezekiel 7:20. And His beautiful ornament, they used it for pride; and their abominable images, their abominations they made thereof: therefore I make it filth to them. Ezekiel 7:21. And I shall give it into the hand of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, that they may defile it. Ezekiel 7:22. I shall turn my face from them, that they defile my treasure; and oppressors shall come upon it and defile it. - The chastisement of God penetrates everywhere (Ezekiel 7:15 compare with Ezekiel 5:12); even flight to the mountains, that are inaccessible to the foe (compare 1 Macc. 2:28; Matthew 24:16), will only bring misery. Those who have fled to the mountains will coo - i.e., mourn, moan - like the doves of the valleys, which (as Bochart has correctly interpreted the simile in his Hieroz. II. p. 546, ed. Ros.), "when alarmed by the bird-catcher or the hawk, are obliged to forsake their natural abode, and fly elsewhere to save their lives. The mountain doves are contrasted with those of the valleys, as wild with tame." In כּלּם המות the figure and the fact are fused together. The words actually relate to the men who have fled; whereas the gender of המות is made to agree with that of כּיוני. The cooing of doves was regarded by the ancients as a moan (hâgâh), a mournful note (for proofs, see Gesen. on Isaiah 38:14); for which Ezekiel uses the still stronger expression hâmâh fremere, to howl or growl (cf. Isaiah 59:11). The low moaning has reference to their iniquity, the punishment of which they are enduring. When the judgment bursts upon them, they will all (not merely those who have escaped, but the whole nation) be overwhelmed with terror, shame, and suffering. The words, "all knees flow with water" (for hâlak in this sense, compare Joel 4:18), are a hyperbolical expression used to denote the entire loss of the strength of the knees (here, Ezekiel 7:17 and Ezekiel 21:12), like the heart melting and turning to water in Joshua 7:5. With this utter despair there are associated grief and horror at the calamity that has fallen upon them, and shame and pain at the thought of the sins that have plunged them into such distress. For כּסּתה פלּצוּת, compare Psalm 55:6; for אל־כּל־פנים בּוּשׁה, Micah 7:10; Jeremiah 51:51; and for קרחה 'בּכל־ראשׁ, Isaiah 15:2; Amos 8:10. On the custom of shaving the head bald on account of great suffering or deep sorrow, see the comm. on Micah 1:16.

In this state of anguish they will throw all their treasures away as sinful trash (Ezekiel 7:19.). By the silver and gold which they will throw away (Ezekiel 7:19), we are not to understand idolatrous images particularly - these are first spoken of in Ezekiel 7:20 - but the treasures of precious metals on which they had hitherto set their hearts. They will not merely throw these away as worthless, but look upon them as niddâh, filth, an object of disgust, inasmuch as they have been the servants of their evil lust. The next clause, "silver and gold cannot rescue them," are a reminiscence from Zephaniah 1:18. But Ezekiel gives greater force to the thought by adding, "they will not appease their hunger therewith," - that is to say, they will not be able to protect their lives thereby, either from the sword of the enemy (see the comm. on Zephaniah 1:18) or from death by starvation, because there will be no more food to purchase within the besieged city. The clause 'כּי assigns the reason for that which forms the leading thought of the verse, namely, the throwing away of the silver and gold as filth; מכשׁול עונם, a stumbling-block through which one falls into guilt and punishment; צבי עדיו, the beauty of his ornament, i.e., his beautiful ornament. The allusion is to the silver and gold; and the singular suffix is to be explained from the fact that the prophet fixed his mind upon the people as a whole, and used the singular in a general and indefinite sense. The words are written absolutely at the commencement of the sentence; hence the suffix attached to שׂמהוּ, Jerome has given the true meaning of the words: "what I((God) gave for an ornament of the possessors and for their wealth, they turned into pride." And not merely to ostentatious show (in the manner depicted in Isaiah 3:16.), but to abominable images, i.e., idols, did they apply the costly gifts of God (cf. Hosea 8:4; Hosea 13:2). עשׂה, to make of (gold and silver); ב denoting the material with which one works and of which anything is made (as in Exodus 31:4; Exodus 38:8). God punishes this abuse by making it (gold and silver) into niddâh to them, i.e., according to v. 19, by placing them in such circumstances that they cast it away as filth, and (v. 21) by giving it as booty to the foe. The enemy is described as "the wicked of the earth" (cf. Psalm 75:9), i.e., godless men, who not only seize upon the possession of Israel, but in the most wicked manner lay hands upon all that is holy, and defile it. The Chetib חלּלוּה is to be retained, notwithstanding the fact that it was preceded by a masculine suffix. What is threatened will take place, because the Lord will turn away His face from His people (מהם, from the Israelites), i.e., will withdraw His gracious protection from them, so that the enemy will be able to defile His treasure. Tsâphuun, that which is hidden, the treasure (Job 20:26; Obadiah 1:6). Tsephuunii is generally supposed to refer to the temple, or the Most Holy Place in the temple. Jerome renders it arcanum meum, and gives this explanation: "signifying the Holy of Holies, which no one except the priests and the high priest dared to enter." This interpretation was so commonly adopted by the Fathers, that even Theodoret explains the rendering given in the Septuagint, τὴν ἐπισκοπήν μου, as signifying the Most Holy Place in the temple. On the other hand, the Chaldee has ארעא בּית שׁכינתי, "the land of the house of my majesty;" and Calvin understands it as signifying "the land which was safe under His (i.e., God's) protection." But it is difficult to reconcile either explanation with the use of the word tsâphuun. The verb tsâphan signifies to hide, shelter, lay up in safety. These meanings do not befit either the Holy of Holies in the temple or the land of Israel. It is true that the Holy of Holies was unapproachable by the laity, and even by the ordinary priests, but it was not a secret, a hidden place; and still less was this the case with the land of Canaan.We therefore adhere to the meaning, which is so thoroughly sustained by Job 20:26 and Obadiah 1:6 - namely, "treasure," by which, no doubt, the temple-treasure is primarily intended. This rendering suits the context, as only treasures have been referred to before; and it may be made to harmonize with בּאוּ בהּ which follows. בּוא ב signifies not merely intrare in locum, but also venire in (e.g., 2 Kings 6:23; possibly Ezekiel 30:4), and may therefore be very properly rendered, "to get possession of," since it is only possible to obtain possession of a treasure by penetrating into the place where it is laid up or concealed. There is nothing at variance with this in the word חלּל, profanare, since it has already occurred in Ezekiel 7:21 in connection with the defiling of treasures and jewels. Moreover, as Calvin has correctly observed, the word is employed here to denote "an indiscriminate abuse, when, instead of considering to what purpose things have been entrusted to us, we squander them rashly and without selection, in contempt and even in scorn."