Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 20:27-31

"Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. For when I had brought them into the land, which I sware to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink-offerings. Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Do ye pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play ye the harlot after their abominations? and when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, do ye pollute yourselves with all your idols unto this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you;" — Ezekiel 20:27-31 (ASV)

The probation in the land of Canaan, from their entry to the day of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:27).

Yet in this—it was an aggravation of their guilt that they defiled with idolatry the land given them for their glory (Ezekiel 20:29).

Bamah—the Hebrew word for “high place”—is another instance of the perversion of God’s laws. When the Israelites first entered Canaan, they were to set up the “tabernacle” on a “high place,” and on this alone were they to worship Yahweh (1 Samuel 9:12 and following; 1 Kings 3:4). But the Israelites followed the custom of the country and set up idol-worship on every high hill, and the word “high place” (“Bannah,” plural “Bamoth”) became a by-word (compare “Bamoth-Baal,”Joshua 13:17). “Bamoth” occurs on the Moabitic stone, which records the erection of high places in honor of Chemosh. The name “Bamah” was thus a brand of divine displeasure and a memorial of the people’s guilt.

Regarding the present state of the people (Ezekiel 20:30, 31): those who came to inquire were the representatives of the whole people, although they were among the exiles.