20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, 1 if you will not listen to me. 2 But my holy name will not be profaned 3 again by your sacrifices 4 and your idols.
1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, 5 so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.
15:9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 6
11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! 7 You give a tenth 8 of your mint, 9 rue, 10 and every herb, yet you neglect justice 11 and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. 12
1 sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.
2 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.
3 sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.
4 tn Or “gifts.”
5 sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.
6 sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.
7 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).
8 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
9 sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).
10 tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
11 sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).
12 tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.