Ezekiel 20:1-7

Israel’s Rebellion

20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, ¹  some of the elders ²  of Israel came to seek ³  the Lord, and they sat down in front of me. 20:2 The word of the Lord came to me: 20:3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, ⁴  declares the sovereign Lord.’ 20:4 “Are you willing to pronounce judgment? ⁵  Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers, 20:5 and say to them:

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore ⁶  to the descendants ⁷  of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore ⁸  to them, “I am the Lord your God.” 20:6 On that day I swore ⁹  to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out ¹⁰  for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, ¹¹  the most beautiful of all lands. 20:7 I said to them, “Each of you must get rid of the detestable idols you keep before you, ¹²  and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”

[20:1]  ¹ sn The date would be August 14th, 591 b.c. The seventh year is the seventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile.

[20:1]  ² tn Heb “men from the elders.”

[20:1]  ³ tn See the note at 14:3.

[20:3]  ⁴ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”

[20:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment.

[20:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[20:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “seed.”

[20:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[20:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand to them.”

[20:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “searched out.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the activity of the spies in “spying out” the land of Canaan (Num 13-14); cf. KJV “I had espied for them.”

[20:6]  ¹¹ sn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a figure of speech describing the land’s abundant fertility, occurs in v. 15 as well as Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Josh 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:23 (see also Deut 1:25; 8:7-9).

[20:7]  ¹² tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of his eyes, throw away.” The Pentateuch does not refer to the Israelites worshiping idols in Egypt, but Josh 24:14 appears to suggest that they did so.