“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore 3 to the descendants 4 of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore 5 to them, “I am the Lord your God.” 20:6 On that day I swore 6 to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out 7 for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, 8 the most beautiful of all lands.
1 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
2 sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.
3 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
4 tn Heb “seed.”
5 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
5 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand to them.”
6 tn Or “searched out.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the activity of the spies in “spying out” the land of Canaan (Num 13-14); cf. KJV “I had espied for them.”
7 sn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a figure of speech describing the land’s abundant fertility, occurs in v. 15 as well as Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Josh 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:23 (see also Deut 1:25; 8:7-9).