Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 6:11-14

"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath upon them. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Jehovah." — Ezekiel 6:11-14 (ASV)

The gleam of hope is fleeting. Darkness gathers around again, for the prophet is still predicting judgment.

Ezekiel 6:11: Smite ... stamp—These are well-known modes of expressing grief.

Ezekiel 6:13: Sweet savor—Compare Genesis 8:21. These words, typically applied to the smell of sacrifices accepted by God, are used here for idol-sacrifices in irony.

Ezekiel 6:14: Toward Diblath—Or, “Diblathaim,” the “Diblathan” of the Moabite stone, one of the double cities of Moab , east of which lay the great desert of Arabia. Some read “unto Riblah” (Jeremiah 52:9) and adopt the marginal rendering.