Smite with thine hand, etc. The outward gestures were to give a dramatic emphasis to the mingled indignation and sorrow with which the prophet was to utter his woe. A like action meets us in Ezekiel 21:12 . Instances of its use for other feelings meet us in Ezekiel 22:13 ; Numbers 24:10 (anger); Jeremiah 31:19 (shame). read more
The sorrow of the servant of God on account of the sins of his people. "Thus saith the Lord God; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot," etc. Almost everything contained in the paragraph of which this verse forms a part ( Ezekiel 6:11-14 ) has already come under our notice in preceding portions of this book. But our text presents matter for profitable meditation. It teaches— I. THAT THE TRUE SERVANT OF GOD REGARDS THE CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF SINNERS... read more
Ministerial earnestness. Earnestness is simply a fitting sense of duty. Earnestness is the outcome of reality. If a man has real conviction of his duty, and real compassion for others, he must be in earnest. Genuine earnestness is not equivalent to noise, display, hysterical excitement. It is wise and appropriate expression of feeling, and suitable to the occasion. I. EARNESTNESS IS MANIFEST IN GESTURE AND ACT , AS WELL AS IN SPEECH . The man who has a due sense... read more
He that is far off, etc. The three forms of judgment named in Ezekiel 6:11 have each their special victims. Pestilence comes chiefly on those who are outside the city, exposed to the weather changes and the taint of unburied corpses ( Ezekiel 6:5 ); the sword of the Chaldeans on those who venture on a sally, or try to escape from the city; famine presses heaviest on those who are besieged within it. None can escape the judgment. The word besieged is the same as in Isaiah 1:8 ;... read more
The thought is the same as in Ezekiel 6:6 , but the localities are given in greater detail. The "hills" and "mountains" were naturally the scenes of the worship of the "high places," and these were commonly associated with groves of trees, as in Jeremiah 2:20 ; Jeremiah 3:6 ; Isaiah 57:5 . In Hosea 4:13 , oaks (or terebinths), poplars, and elms are specifically named (comp. Deuteronomy 12:2 ; 2 Kings 16:4 ). Where they did offer sweet savour, etc. The phrase is eminently... read more
More desolate than the wilderness towards Diblath ; better, with the Authorized Version, from the wilderness. The name does not appear elsewhere, and has not been identified. Assuming the Authorized Version rendering, we must think of Ezekiel as naming, as Dante haines the Valdichiana ('Inf.,' 29.47), some specially horrible and desolate region. For such a region the name of Diblah (a cake of figs) does not seem appropriate. Taking the Revised Version translation ("from the wilderness... read more
The outstretched hand. We usually picture to ourselves God's hand stretched out to help and heal. Here, however, we see a prediction of the same exertion of Divine energy for a contrary purpose—to smite and make desolate. The prediction suggests certain features of Divine chastisement. I. IT IS OCCASIONAL . "I will stretch out my hand." This refers to one definite act, not to a perpetual treatment. "He will not always chide." "The mercy of the Lord endureth forever. " But... read more
The gleam of hope is but transitory. Darkness again gathers round, for as yet the prophet is predicting judgment.Ezekiel 6:11Smite ... stamp - Well-known modes of expressing grief.Ezekiel 6:13Sweet savor - Compare Genesis 8:21. Words, applied to the smell of sacrifices accepted by God, applied here to idol-sacrifices in irony.Ezekiel 6:14Toward Diblath - Or, “Diblathaim,” the “Diblathan” of the Moabite stone, one of the double cities of Moab (see Ezekiel 25:9) to the east of which lay the great... read more
Ezekiel 6:11-14. Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot Join to thy words the gestures which are proper to express grief and concern at the wickedness of thy people, and for their calamities that will ensue. For they shall fall by the sword, &c. See note on Ezekiel 5:12. He that is far off And thinks himself out of danger, because he is out of the reach of the enemy; shall die of the pestilence The arrow that I will shoot at him. And he that is near Who stays in his own... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 6:14
Verse 14 Ezekiel pursues the same sentiment, but it is necessary to persist with more words in confirmation of his prophecy, because it was somewhat difficult of belief, especially among men so secure, and who had been hardened against God by long habit. This is the reason, then, why he uses so many words about a thing in itself by no means obscure. Now he speaks concerning the extension of God’s hand, which is a Scriptural form of speech sufficiently familiar; for it is said that God extends... read more