10:26 Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes, 1
so is the sluggard to those 2 who send him.
26:6 Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence, 3
so is sending 4 a message by the hand of a fool. 5
23:13 The Lord says, 6 “I saw the prophets of Samaria 7
doing something that was disgusting. 8
They prophesied in the name of the god Baal
and led my people Israel astray. 9
23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem 10
doing something just as shocking.
They are unfaithful to me
and continually prophesy lies. 11
So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,
with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. 12
I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,
and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. 13
23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all, 14
have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: 15
‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering
and drink the poison water of judgment. 16
For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason 17
that ungodliness 18 has spread throughout the land.’”
23:16 The Lord who rules over all 19 says to the people of Jerusalem: 20
“Do not listen to what
those prophets are saying to you.
They are filling you with false hopes.
They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,
not something the Lord has given them to say. 21
33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman 27 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ 28 and you do not warn 29 the wicked about his behavior, 30 the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 31
1 sn Two similes are used to portray the aggravation in sending a lazy person to accomplish a task. Vinegar to the teeth is an unpleasant, irritating experience; and smoke to the eyes is an unpleasant experience that hinders progress.
2 tn The participle is plural, and so probably should be taken in a distributive sense: “to each one who sends him.”
3 sn Sending a messenger on a mission is like having another pair of feet. But if the messenger is a fool, this proverb says, not only does the sender not have an extra pair of feet – he cuts off the pair he has. It would not be simply that the message did not get through; it would get through incorrectly and be a setback! The other simile uses “violence,” a term for violent social wrongs and injustice. The metaphorical idea of “drinking” violence means suffering violence – it is one’s portion. So sending a fool on a mission will have injurious consequences.
4 tn The participle could be taken as the subject of the sentence: “the one who sends…cuts off…and drinks.”
5 sn The consequence is given in the first line and the cause in the second. It would be better not to send a message at all than to use a fool as messenger.
6 tn The words “The
7 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
8 tn According to BDB 1074 s.v. תִּפְלָּה this word means “unseemly, unsavory.” The related adjective is used in Job 6:6 of the tastelessness of something that is unseasoned.
9 tn Heb “by Baal.”
10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn Or “they commit adultery and deal falsely.” The word “shocking” only occurs here and in 5:30 where it is found in the context of prophesying lies. This almost assures that the reference to “walking in lies” (Heb “in the lie”) is referring to false prophesy. Moreover the references to the prophets in 5:13 and in 14:13-15 are all in the context of false prophesy as are the following references in this chapter in 23:24, 26, 32 and in 28:15. This appears to be the theme of this section. This also makes it likely that the reference to adultery is not literal adultery, though two of the false prophets in Babylon were guilty of this (29:23). The reference to “encouraging those who do evil” that follows also makes more sense if they were preaching messages of comfort rather than messages of doom. The verbs here are infinitive absolutes in place of the finite verb, probably used to place greater emphasis on the action (cf. Hos 4:2 in a comparable judgment speech.)
12 tn Heb “So they strengthen the hands of those doing evil so that they do not turn back from their evil.” For the use of the figure “strengthen the hands” meaning “encourage” see Judg 9:24; Ezek 13:22 (and cf. BDB 304 s.v. חָזַק Piel.2). The vav consecutive on the front of the form gives the logical consequence equivalent to “so” in the translation.
13 tn Heb “All of them are to me like Sodom and its [Jerusalem’s] inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
14 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
15 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the
16 tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” For these same words of judgment on another group see 9:15 (9:14 HT). “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.
17 tn The compound preposition מֵאֵת (me’et) expresses source or origin (see BDB 86 s.v. אֵת 4.c). Context shows that the origin is in their false prophesying which encourages people in their evil behavior.
18 sn A word that derives from this same Hebrew word is used in v. 11 at the beginning of the
19 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
20 tn The words “to the people of Jerusalem” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to reflect the masculine plural form of the imperative and the second masculine plural form of the pronoun. These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Heb “They tell of a vision of their own heart [= mind] not from the mouth of the
22 tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).
23 tn Heb “Oracle of the
24 sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.
25 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
26 tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).
27 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
28 tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.
29 tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”
30 tn Heb “way.”
31 tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”
32 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
33 tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.
34 tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.
35 tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”