6:46 “Why 1 do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ 2 and don’t do what I tell you? 3
1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects 10 his master. If I am your 11 father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’
1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
2 tn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.
3 sn Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you? Respect is not a matter of mere words, but is reflected in obedient action. This short saying, which is much simpler than its more developed conceptual parallel in Matt 7:21-23, serves in this form to simply warn and issue a call to hear and obey, as the last parable also does in vv. 47-49.
4 tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.
5 tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.
6 tn Heb “do.”
7 tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”
8 tn Heb “goes after.”
9 tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.
10 tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).
11 tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).
12 tn Or “rightly.”
13 tn Grk “and I am these things.”
14 sn I have given you an example. Jesus tells his disciples after he has finished washing their feet that what he has done is to set an example for them. In the previous verse he told them they were to wash one another’s feet. What is the point of the example? If it is simply an act of humble service, as most interpret the significance, then Jesus is really telling his disciples to serve one another in humility rather than seeking preeminence over one another. If, however, the example is one of self-sacrifice up to the point of death, then Jesus is telling them to lay down their lives for one another (cf. 15:13).