Ezekiel 22:18-22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 22:17-22

The same melancholy string is still harped upon, and various turns are given it, to make it affecting, that it may be influencing. The prophet must here show, or at least it is here shown him, that the whole house of Israel has become as dross and that as dross they shall be consumed. What David has said concerning the wicked ones of the world is here said concerning the wicked ones of the church, now that it is corrupt and degenerate (Ps. 119:119): Thou puttest away all the wicked of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 22:18

Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross ,.... Vile, despicable, useless, and unprofitable; to which the wicked of the earth are compared, Psalm 119:119 and here the Lord's professing people, they differing nothing from them, being sadly degenerated; formerly they were as silver, and so they might be reckoned among themselves; but to God, who is omniscient, the searcher of the hearts and reins, who saw all their actions, and knew the spring of them, in his sight they were as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 22:19

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, because ye are all become dross ,.... King, princes, nobles, prophets, priests, as well as the common people; the apostasy was general, in city and country; scarcely any exceptions to be made: therefore will I gather you into the midst of Jerusalem ; from the several parts of the country, thinking they should be safe there, when the design of God by this providence was the destruction of them in it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 22:20

As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace ,.... As refiners of metal do; though not together, as here, but each metal apart. Silver is here mentioned, to denote that those who were truly good should suffer in this calamity, and be tried and purified by it: to blow the fire upon it, and to melt it ; the metal being covered with fuel, this is kindled and blown upon, to cause the greater heat, in order to melt it down; expressive of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 22:21

Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath ,.... Not only gather them in wrath, as before; but blow upon them in wrath, which is often compared to fire in Scripture; and besides, the city and temple of Jerusalem were to be burnt, and were burnt with material fire, in consequence of God's displeasure against his people: and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof ; of the city of Jerusalem; be destroyed by one judgment or another in it; or perish in the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 22:22

As silver is melted in the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof ,.... This is repeated for the greater confirmation of it; and the people might assure themselves that it would verily be, as was threatened: and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you ; feel it upon them; be sensible of it, and acknowledge it; and that it is the Lord's doings, and righteously done; these are they who are meant by the silver, who, though cast into the furnace, were not... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 22:18

The house of Israel is to me become dross - They are all like base metal - brass, tin, iron, and lead alloyed together with silver. Ye must be put in the furnace, and subjected to the most intense fire, till your impurities are consumed away. No ordinary means will avail any thing; the most violent must be resorted to. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 22:19

I will gather you - Jerusalem is represented here as the fining pot; all the people are to be gathered together in it, and the Chaldean fire is to knelt the whole. And God will increase thy sufferings: as the refiner blows the fire with his bellows, so God will blow upon you with the fire of his wrath, Ezekiel 22:21 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 22:13-22

The dross in the furnace. God's mercy and kindness scarcely anywhere appear more manifest than in his method of dealing with his erring people, whom he subjects to chastening and discipline with the view of purging away their faults. The figure employed by Ezekiel in this passage occurs in other of the prophetic writings. There is some obscurity in his expression; for it seems as if, to convey the fullness of his meaning, he represents the people first as dross, and then as the metal from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 22:17-22

The smelting furnace. For every material thing there is a test. We may know metals by their action under chemical agents, or by the furnace-flame. We can test gases by their power to sustain life or to sustain flame. We can test dynamical forces by electricity or by their power to create motion. So for human character there is a crucial test. I. ADULTERATED METAL . The seed of Israel had sadly degenerated. They had been, compared with other people, as silver and gold. Now they... read more

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