Ezekiel 14:7 - Exposition

The stranger that sojourneth among you. It is noticeable that Ezekiel uses here and elsewhere ( Ezekiel 47:22 , Ezekiel 47:23 ) the familiar phrase of the books which most influenced his teaching (Leviticus 16-25.; Numbers 9:1-23 ; Numbers 15:1-41 ; Deuteronomy passim ). It is probable that some such proselytes were found among the exiles of Tel Abib. I the Lord will answer him by myself, etc. This, as has been seen, was probably the right reading in verse 4. What it means is that, instead of a spoken answer by the mouth of the prophet, there should be an answer in the discipline of life, in the immediate utterance through the conscience, which was the voice of God. The inquirer who came with unconfessed and unrepented hankerings after the worship of other gods deserved and would receive no other answer.