8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? 4 For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”
9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, 5 for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 6
20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, 7 if you will not listen to me. 8 But my holy name will not be profaned 9 again by your sacrifices 10 and your idols.
1 sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.
2 sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.
3 tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”
4 tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”
8 sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.
10 sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.
11 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.
12 sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.
13 tn Or “gifts.”