Ezekiel 11:21 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 11:14-21

Prophecy was designed to exalt every valley as well as to bring low every mountain and hill (Isa. 40:4), and prophets were to speak not only conviction to the presumptuous and secure, but comfort to the despised and desponding that trembled at God's word. The prophet Ezekiel, having in the former part of this chapter received instructions for the awakening of those that were at ease in Zion, is in these verses furnished with comfortable words for those that mourned in Babylon and by the rivers... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 11:21

But as for them ,.... Who remained in Jerusalem, and were not carried captive, but continued in their, own land, and worshipped idols, the same as in Ezekiel 11:15 ; whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations ; not images of gold and silver, which cannot be said to have a heart; but devils and evil spirits worshipped in them, who are well pleased and delighted with the worship given them; so that the hearts of the devils worshipped, and the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 11:21

But as for them whose heart walketh - Them whose affections are attached to idolatry, they shall have such reward as their idols can give them, and such a recompense as Divine justice shall award them. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 11:21

Verse 21 The phrase which the Prophet uses is indeed harsh: he says, their heart goes after heart, so that some interpret this of imitation: namely, since God promises that he will be an avenger if any of the people conduct themselves after bad examples and unite in alliance with the wicked, just as if they glued together their hearts and affections, but that is harsh. The repetition is therefore superfluous, and the Prophet means nothing else than that God will be avenged if the Israelites... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 11:21

But as for them , etc. We note the peculiar phraseology. The heart of the people walks not simply after their detestable things , but after the heart of those things. There is, as it were, a central unity in the evil to which they unite themselves, just as the heart of man turns to the heart of God when the two are in their ideal relation to each other. For those who did this, whether in Jerusalem or among the exiles, there was the prospect of a righteous retribution. The words close... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 11:19-21

Compare Revelation 21:0. The identity of thought and language in Ezekiel, predicting the new kingdom of Israel, and in John, foretelling the kingdom of heaven, forces upon us the conclusion that the prophecy of Ezekiel has an ultimate reference to that climax which John plainly indicates.Ezekiel 11:19One heart - So long as the Israelites were distracted by the service of many gods, such unity was impossible; but now, when they shall have taken away the “abominations” from the land, they shall... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 11:21

Ezekiel 11:21 . But as for them Whoever they be, and some there will be in the best times, who will refuse to own God for their God, and truly to love and obey him. Whose heart walketh after their detestable things Whose judgment and choice, or whose will and affections, go after their idols and iniquities, their lusts and vices. I will recompense their way upon their own heads Their state shall differ as much as their practice does, from that of the people of God: I will treat them... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 11:14-25

Hope for the future (11:14-25)Those left in Jerusalem thought they were God’s favoured people. They thought their security was guaranteed because they lived in the city where his temple was situated. They looked upon the exiles as having been cast off by God, forsaken and unclean in a foreign land (14-15). To the contrary, Ezekiel points out that the exiles are God’s favoured people, the remnant whom he has preserved. When they repent of their idolatry and rebellion, he will bring them back to... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ezekiel 11:21

Ezekiel 11:21. But as for them, &c.— But whoever turn their hearts to idols and detestable things, I, &c. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 11:21

21. whose heart . . . after . . . heart of . . . detestable things—The repetition of "heart" is emphatic, signifying that the heart of those who so obstinately clung to idols, impelled itself to fresh superstitions in one continuous tenor [CALVIN]. Perhaps it is implied that they and their idols are much alike in character (Psalms 115:8). The heart walks astray first, the feet follow. recompense . . . way upon . . . heads—They have abandoned Me, so will I abandon them; they profaned My temple,... read more