Ezekiel 20:25

20:25 I also gave ¹  them decrees ²  which were not good and regulations by which they could not live.

Ezekiel 20:2

20:2 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 12:11-12

12:11 Say, ‘I am an object lesson for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile and captivity.’

12:12 “The prince ³  who is among them will raise his belongings ⁴  onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He ⁵  will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

Ezekiel 12:1

Previewing the Exile

12:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 22:20-23

22:20 As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there ⁶  and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it. 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.’”

22:23 The word of the Lord came to me:

Job 12:16

12:16 With him are strength and prudence; ⁷ 

both the one who goes astray ⁸ 

and the one who misleads are his.

Psalms 81:11-12

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ⁹ 

Israel did not submit to me. ¹⁰ 

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ¹¹ 

they did what seemed right to them. ¹² 

Isaiah 63:16

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ¹³ 

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ¹⁴  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ¹⁵ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Jeremiah 4:10

4:10 In response to all this ¹⁶  I said, “Ah, Lord God, ¹⁷  you have surely allowed ¹⁸  the people of Judah and Jerusalem ¹⁹  to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ ²⁰  But in fact a sword is already at our throats.” ²¹ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ²² 

If you do, ²³  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 2:9-12

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

2:9 “So, once more I will state my case ²⁵  against you,” says the Lord.

“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ²⁶ 

2:10 Go west ²⁷  across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus ²⁸  and see.

Send someone east to Kedar ²⁹  and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods

(even though they are not really gods at all)?

But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, ³⁰ 

for a god that cannot help them at all! ³¹ 

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! ³² 

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

[20:25]  ¹ tn Or “permitted.”

[20:25]  ² tn The Hebrew term חֻקּוֹת (khuqot; translated “statutes” elsewhere in this chapter) is normally feminine. Here Ezekiel changes the form to masculine: חֻקִּים (khuqim). Further, they are not called “my decrees” as vv. 11 and 13 refer to “my statutes.” The change is a signal that Ezekiel is not talking about the same statutes in vv. 11 and 13, which lead to life.

[12:12]  ³ sn The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.

[12:12]  ⁴ tn The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

[12:12]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “they”; the LXX and Syriac read “he.”

[22:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.

[12:16]  ⁷ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is here rendered “prudence.” Some object that God’s power is intended here, and so a word for power and not wisdom should be included. But v. 13 mentioned wisdom. The point is that it is God’s efficient wisdom that leads to success. One could interpret this as a metonymy of cause, the intended meaning being victory or success.

[12:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses a wordplay here: שֹׁגֵג (shogeg) is “the one going astray,” i.e., the one who is unable to guard and guide his life. The second word is מַשְׁגֶּה (mashgeh), from a different but historically related root שָׁגָה (shagah), which here in the Hiphil means “the one who misleads, causes to go astray.” These two words are designed to include everybody – all are under the wisdom of God.

[81:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[81:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ¹² tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[63:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”

[66:4]  ¹⁴ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn The words “In response to all this” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the connection.

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.

[4:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “You have deceived.” The Hiphil of נָשָׁא (nasha’, “to deceive”) is understood in a tolerative sense here: “to allow [someone] to be deceived.” IBHS 446 §27.5c notes that this function of the hiphil describes caused activity that is welcome to the undersubject, but unacceptable or disagreeable to a third party. Jerusalem and Judah welcomed the assurances of false prophets who deceived them. Although this was detestable to God, he allowed it.

[4:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’”; or “You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace.’” The words “you will be safe” are, of course, those of the false prophets (cf., Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:16-17). It is difficult to tell whether the charge here is meant literally as the emotional outburst of the prophet (compare for example, Jer 15:18) or whether it is to be understood as a figure of speech in which a verb of direct causation is to be understood as permissive or tolerative, i.e., God did not command the prophets to say this but allowed them to do so. While it is not beyond God to use false prophets to accomplish his will (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19-23), he elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah directly denies having sent the false prophets to say such things as this (cf., e.g., Jer 14:14-15; 23:21, 32). For examples of the use of this figure of speech, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 571, 823 and compare Ezek 20:25. The translation given attempts to resolve the issue.

[4:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “touches the throat/soul.” For this use of the word usually translated “soul” or “life” cf. HALOT 672 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1, 2 and compare the use in Ps 105:18.

[4:2]  ²² tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

[4:2]  ²³ tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Or “bring charges against you.”

[2:9]  ²⁶ tn The words “your children and” are supplied in the translation to bring out the idea of corporate solidarity implicit in the passage.

[2:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “For go west.”

[2:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.

[2:10]  ²⁹ sn Kedar is the home of the Bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.

[2:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the Lord, the God of Israel.

[2:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.

[2:12]  ³² sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).