Ezekiel 20:37 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-44

The design which was now on foot among the elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that the design should not take effect, Ezek. 20:32. Now, in these verses, he shows particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the mingling of the families of Israel with the families of the countries; but it will prove in the issue that the wicked... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 20:37

And I will cause you to pass under the rod ,.... That is, such whom God will not take vengeance on, and shall not die in the wilderness of the people; but whom he will have mercy on, and show favour to, and bring at length into their own land; these he indeed will bring under the rod of correction and chastisement, by which they shall be brought to a sense of sin, a confession of it, humiliation for it, and to seek to Christ for salvation from it; or under the rod of his word, the rod of his... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:37

I will cause you to pass under the rod - This alludes to the custom of tithing the sheep. I take it from the rabbins. The sheep were all penned; and the shepherd stood at the door of the fold, where only one sheep could come out at once. He had in his hand a rod dipped in vermillion; and as they came out, he counted one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine; and as the tenth came out, he marked it with the rod, and said, "This is the tenth;" and that was set apart for the Lord. ... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:37

Verse 37 He follows up the same kind of instruction, that the people were not permitted to perish because they belonged to him, as if he had said that they should be always his, whether they liked it or not. And yet he seems to promise here what was very agreeable, that he would always esteem them as his flock. This is the meaning of to pass under the rod; for שבט, shebet, does not mean a scepter here, nor a staff by which a delinquent is struck, but it means a shepherd’s crook. It is, then, a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:32-38

The purpose of Israel's election. The prophecy at this point turns from the story of the past to the prediction and prospect of the future. I. GOD 'S PURPOSES CANNOT BE FULFILLED BY THE ABSORPTION OF ISRAEL AMONG THE HEATHEN . Exile and dispersion were appointed as chastisement and discipline. And there were those among the Hebrews who thought that, as a nation, they might amalgamate with the heathen, and might "serve wood and stone." To human apprehension,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-38

The sovereignty of God in the punishment of sin. "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm," etc. The connection of this paragraph with what has gone before, and especially with Ezekiel 20:32 , is of the closest character; it is, in fact, essential. Three leading points require attention. I. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OVER MEN , NOTWITHSTANDING THEIR SINS , ASSERTED . ( Ezekiel 20:33 .) The Israelites had resolved to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-44

Judicial discrimination. As among men, when matters of serious importance have to be determined, there is the employment of a religious oath, in other words, a solemn appeal that God should witness the truthfulness of the parties; so, when God discloses his intentions respecting the destiny of men, he speaks with a view to produce the deepest impression. He stakes his own existence upon the certainty of the event. I. GOD 'S RULE IS DIRECTED SOLELY FOR MAN 'S PURITY .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:37

I will cause you to pass under the rod. The "rod" (same word as in Psalms 23:4 ) is primarily that of chastisement, but it is also that of the shepherd who gathers in his flock ( Ezekiel 34:11 ; Le Ezekiel 27:32 ; Micah 7:14 ). Into the bond of the covenant. The word for "bond" (only found here in the Old Testament) is probably cognate with that for "fetter" or "bond" ( Isaiah 52:2 ; Jeremiah 5:5 ; Jeremiah 27:2 ). The chastisement was, for those who accepted it, to do its... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 20:32-44

God’s future dealings with His people:(1) in judgment Ezekiel 20:32-38;(2) in mercy Ezekiel 20:39-44.Ezekiel 20:32The inquirers had thought that if Jerusalem were taken, and the whole people became sojourners in a foreign land, they would cease to be a separate nation. In their love for idolatry some may have even desired this. But more probably they thought that this very consequence precluded the possibility of such a catastrophe. God answers that He will not allow them to become as the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 20:37-38

Ezekiel 20:37-38. I will cause you to pass under the rod Of punishment. I will bring you under the chastisement due to you for breaking my covenant. Or there may be an allusion to the custom of numbering flocks and herds, by striking them with a rod: and so the sense will be, “I will take an exact account of you, as a shepherd does of his flock, and will sever between the good and the bad, between the sheep and the goats.” And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant By these... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-44

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 20:37

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:37

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:37

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:32-38

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-38

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:33-44

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:37

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 20:32-44

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 20:37-38

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