John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 20

Ver. 1. And it came to pass in the seventh year Of Zedekiah's Ezekiel 20:2

Then came the word of the Lord unto me While the elders were sitting before him, by an impulse upon his mind, dictating things unto him: saying : as follows:

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion ,
&c.] Which Aben Ezra interprets of God himself, who is compared to a lion; who not only by his voice terrifies, but in his wrath tears the wicked in pieces, and destroys them, and so is a continuation of the preceding account; and others, as R. Moses and R. Jonah, whom he mentions, take this to be a continuation of the means and methods by which God destroys wicked men sometimes, namely, by beasts of prey; this being one of his sore judgments he threatens men with, and inflicts upon men, see (Leviticus 26:22) (Ezekiel 14:21) ; and in this they are followed by some Christian interpreters, who render the words "at" or "by the roaring of the lion, and by the voice of the fierce lion, by the teeth of the young lions" ^F3 , they the wicked "are broken", ground to pieces, and utterly destroyed;

but it is better, with Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and others, to understand it of kings and princes, of the mighty ones of the earth, tyrannical and oppressive rulers and governors; comparable to lions of different ages; because of their grandeur and greatness, their power and might, their cruelty and oppression in each of their different capacities; signifying, that these do not escape the righteous judgments of God: the Targum interprets the roaring of the lion of Esau, and the voice of the fierce lion of Edom; and another Jewish writer ^F4 of Nimrod, the first tyrant and oppressor, the mighty hunter before the Lord; but these are too particular; wicked men in power and authority in general are here, and in the following clauses, intended, see (Jeremiah 4:7) (50:17) (Nahum 2:11–13) (2 Timothy 4:17) ; and the sense is, that such ploughers and sowers of iniquity as are like to fierce and roaring lions are easily and quickly destroyed by the Lord:

and the teeth of the young lions are broken :
the power of such mighty ones to do mischief is taken away from them, and they and their families are brought to ruin; the teeth of lions are very strong in both jaws; they have fourteen teeth, four incisors or cutters, four canine or dog teeth, six molars or grinders.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: "Rugitu leonis et voce ferocis leonis" Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so some in R. Someon Bar Tzemach.

Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them , &c.] Give them this for an answer from me: thus says the Lord God, are you come to inquire of me ? no; not seriously, heartily, and in good earnest, determining to abide by the advice and counsel that might be given; or how can you have the face to inquire of me, when guilty of such abominations? [as] I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you ; knowing their wickedness and hypocrisy, which were detestable to him, and therefore would not hear what they had to say, nor give them any answer, or direct them what they should do. Sad is the case of persons when the Lord will not be inquired of by them! it is plain he has no favours to bestow upon them; for, when he has, he will put them upon inquiring of him for them, to do them unto them, (Ezekiel 36:37) ; this was the case of Saul, whom God, when he inquired of him, would not answer in any of his usual ways, (1 Samuel 28:6) .

Will you judge them, son of man ? &c.] Excuse them, patronise them, defend their cause, and plead for them? surely you will not; or rather, will you not reprove and correct them, judge and condemn them, for their sins and wickedness? this you ought to do:

will you judge [them] ? this is repeated, to show the vehemency of the speaker, and the duty of the prophet:

cause them to know the abominations of their fathers : the sins they committed, which were abominable in themselves, and rendered them abominable unto God, and what came upon them for them; by which they would be led to see the abominable evils which they also had been guilty of, in which they had imitated their fathers, and what they had reason to expect in consequence of them.

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God Here begins the account of their fathers; of God's unmerited goodness to them, and of their sins and transgressions against him, and how it fared with them:

in the day when I chose Israel; to be his peculiar people, above all people on the face of the earth; when he declared his choice of them, and made it appear that he had chosen them, and distinguished them, by special blessings and favours bestowed on them:

and lifted up mine hand to the seed of the house of Jacob; the posterity of Jacob or Israel, to whom the Lord swore that he would do such and such things for them; of which the lifting up the hand was a token; it is a gesture used in swearing, (Daniel 12:7); and so the Targum, ``and I swore unto them by my word:''

and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt: by his name Jehovah; by the prophets he sent unto them, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and by the miracles he wrought among them:

when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I [am] the Lord your God: making promise of it, declaring it unto them, confirming it with an oath; see (Hebrews 6:17Hebrews 6:18).