Ezekiel 14:12-14 - Exposition

A new section begins, implying as before an interval of silence. What follows presents a striking parallelism to Jeremiah 15:1 , Jeremiah 15:2 . There also we have the "four sore judgments," the declaration that not even the presence of Moses and Samuel would avail to save the people. They were obviously selected by Jeremiah as examples of the power of intercession ( Exodus 32:11 , Exodus 32:12 ; 1 Samuel 7:9 ; 1 Samuel 12:23 ). Ezekiel's selection of names proceeds on a different footing. He chooses exceptional instances of saintliness that had been powerless to save the generation in which they lived; perhaps, also, such as were well known, not only in the records of Israel, but among other nations. Noah had not saved the evil race before the Flood; Job had not saved his sons ( Job 1:18 ); Daniel, though high in the king's favour, had not been able to influence Nebuchadnezzar to spare the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The mention of this last name is significant, as showing the reputation which even then Daniel had acquired. There is no shadow of evidence for the view of some commentators that an older Daniel is referred to. Had there been such a person, eminent enough to be grouped with Noah and Job, there would surely have been some mention of him in the Old Testament. In verse 13, for the land , read " a land." For staff of bread , see Ezekiel 4:16 . The phrase comes from Le 26:26.