Ezekiel 6:3-6

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 6:6

Verse 6 In other words, the Prophet signifies that God would take vengeance on the superstitions of the ten tribes in all places; whence it is clear, that no corner was free from corruption. For, while he names all habitations, he means that they had defiled every habitable place. Wheresoever they dwelt they had erected their altars and strange worship, as another Prophet reproves them; according to the number of your cities were your Gods. (Jeremiah 2:28; Jeremiah 11:13.) He addresses the Jews... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:1-3

The doom of the mountains. After leaving the low flat shores of Egypt, the traveller is struck by a great contrast of scenery as he approaches the Holy Land, and sees the purple mountains rising one behind another from the sandhills of Jaffa in the foreground to the distant uplands of Judah far away in the interior of the country. On landing he finds that travelling in Palestine is a rough experience in mountaineering, for the territory of Israel is a mountain country. Though Ezekiel... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:1-6

The idolatry of the land avenged. Turning from the city of Jerusalem to the land generally, the Prophet Ezekiel addresses himself to Israel, the nation whom God had chosen, and who had rejected God. By a striking figure of speech, he delivers his message to the mountains and hills, the water courses and ravines of Palestine. How dear all these features of the land of his fathers must have been to the prophet, we can easily imagine; national and religious associations must, in the course of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:1-7

The land involved in man's punishment. We have here a dramatic appeal to the stony hills of Palestine. Canaan is emphatically a mountainous country; and Ezekiel, speaking as the mouthpiece of God, addresses himself to the high places of Canaan, as the scenes of flagrant idolatry. From his residence by the banks of Chebar he could not see with his bodily eye these renowned, but now desecrated, hills; yet he sees them with the clear eye of imagination. His fervid appeal to these loved hills... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:1-7

The impotence of idols. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy thee toward the mountains of Israel," etc. The former prophecies related chiefly to the city of Jerusalem and the laud of Judah. But this one relates to the whole of the land of Israel. Hence the Lord God, through his prophet, addresses "the mountains and the hills," etc. ( Ezekiel 6:3 ). The burden of this chapter is a proclamation of Divine judgment because of the idolatry of the people. This,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:2-3

Set thy face toward the mountains, etc. The formula is eminently characteristic of Ezekiel. We have had it with a different verb in the Hebrew, in Ezekiel 4:3 . It will meet us again in Ezekiel 20:46 ; Ezekiel 21:2 ; Ezekiel 25:2 ; Ezekiel 28:21 ; Ezekiel 29:2 ; Ezekiel 35:2 ; Ezekiel 38:2 . In this case it probably implied an outward act, like that of Daniel, when he, with a very different purpose, looked towards Jerusalem ( Daniel 6:10 ). In contrast with the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:4

Your images, etc. The "sun images" of the Revised Version shows why these are mentioned as distinct from the "idols." The chammanim were pillars or obelisks identified with the worship of Baal as the sun god, standing on his altars ( 2 Chronicles 34:4 ), coupled with the "groves," or Asherim ( Isaiah 17:8 ; Isaiah 27:9 ), and with the "high places" in 2 Chronicles 14:5 . I will cast down your slain men before your idols. As in the prophecy against Bethel ( 1 Kings 13:2 ), and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 6:6

A ruined civilization. Palestine is now a land of ruins, and the prophecy before us predicted that condition. But there is more behind. Houses broken down, altars overthrown, streets grass grown, inhabited places made desolate,—these are the outward and visible signs of a decayed and broken civilization. The destruction of the civilization is the real disaster. This happened in Israel when wild beasts came out from the forests and prowled over the once safe and populous country; and it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 6:3

Rivers - Or, “ravines,” which were, like the mountains, favorite seats of idol-rites 2 Kings 23:10. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 6:4

Images - See the margin and margin reference, and the Ezekiel 8:16 note.Idols - The Phoenicians were in the habit of setting up “heaps” or “pillars” of stone in honor of their gods, which renders the use of the word more appropriate. read more

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