11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders 1 may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
11:10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.
20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, 2 if you will not listen to me. 3 But my holy name will not be profaned 4 again by your sacrifices 5 and your idols.
4:4 “Go to Bethel 6 and rebel! 7
At Gilgal 8 rebel some more!
Bring your sacrifices in 9 the morning,
your tithes on 10 the third day!
4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! 11
Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! 12
For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking!
1 sn The thought is essentially the same as in Exod 7:3-4, but the wonders, or portents, here refer to what is yet to be done in Egypt.
2 sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.
3 tn Heb “and after, if you will not listen to me.” The translation leaves out “and after” for smoothness. The text is difficult. M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:374) suggests that it may mean “but afterwards, if you will not listen to me…” with an unspoken threat.
4 sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.
5 tn Or “gifts.”
6 sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.
7 tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).
8 sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.
9 tn Or “for.”
10 tn Or “for.”
11 sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.
12 tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”