36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: 7 I will multiply their people like sheep. 8
1 sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.
2 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).
3 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.
4 tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.
5 tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.
6 tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.
7 tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”
8 sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”