Ezekiel 7

1–2

(Chapter 7, Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God of the land of Israel: The end has come, the end has come upon the four corners of the earth. These corners of the world we have interpreted as the East and the West, the South and the North. Concerning these corners, Isaiah also speaks: Lord, from the corners or ends of the earth, we have heard wonders (Isaiah 24:16), which were accomplished throughout the whole world by the apostles. And it is written of the saints: 'If you sleep among the clergy of the silver dove's wings, and their backs are pale with gold' (Psalm 67:14). Therefore, when the Lord approached and saw Jerusalem, he wept and said, 'How often have I desired to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing?' (Matthew 23:37). This is the one who, in the song of Deuteronomy, spread his wings and received them, and carried them on his shoulders (Deuteronomy 32). Certain spiritual wings of the earth, by which we fly upward to the heavenly, He places into four types of believers: the house of Aaron, and the house of Levi, and the house of Israel, and those who fear the Lord. Concerning them, the Psalmist also sings: House of Israel, bless the Lord: house of Aaron, bless the Lord: house of Levi, bless the Lord; you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord (Psalm 134:19-21). In Aaron, the priesthood; in Levi, the priests and ministers; in Israel, the whole people; in those who fear the Lord, the understanding of proselytes. But we think that it needs to be simply explained, that after the commination of the mountains of Israel, the prophetic discourse is directed to all the land of Israel, whether ten or twelve tribes: and that the prophet does not predict future events, but sees the impending captivity. For in the fifth year of Sedecias, Ezechiel began to prophesy to the captives in Babylon; and in the ninth year, Nabuchodonosor came and besieged Jerusalem: and he captured it in the eleventh year of Sedecias. From which it is evident that the end has come and drawn near, not over mountains and hills and rocks and valleys, but over the four corners of the earth from every part of Israel: not all the earth: if he had said that, it could be believed of the whole world; but the earth simply, which signifies Israelites. For thus he had begun: Thus says the Lord God of the land of Israel: The end, the end has come upon the four corners of the earth.

Commentary on Ezekiel

3–4

(Verse 3, 4.) Now the end is upon you, and I will unleash my fury upon you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring all your abominations against you. And my eye will not spare you, and I will have no pity, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst, and you will know that I am the Lord. In this chapter, according to the Septuagint Interpreters, the order has been changed and confused, so that the first become last, and the last become first or middle, and even the middle is now transferred to the extremes and vice versa. From this point, following the Hebrew and other interpreters, we have set forth the order of truth. Therefore, the speech is directed to the land of Israel, because the end and consummation will come upon it, and the Lord will send forth His anger upon it, not unjustly, but only coming from indignation; but it will be full of equity and reason, so that He may judge it according to His ways, and show it all its abominations. He will remember His works and understand what evil it has done. But as he says: My eye will not spare you, and I will not have pity, like a most merciful physician who wants to cut away putrid flesh and burn festering wounds with a cauterizing iron, he does not spare in order to spare; he does not have pity in order to have more pity; so that nothing putrid and corrupting remains in the body to infect the living flesh nearby. The Lord strikes those whom he loves, and he chastises every son whom he receives (Heb. 12:6). Of this understanding, it is said: I will strike and I will heal (Deut. 32:39). For every medicine has bitterness in the beginning, but afterwards the fruits of pain are revealed, and health is shown. This is what God speaks through Amos: 'Because I have known you from all the tribes of the earth, therefore I will avenge upon all your sins.' For the Lord knows those who belong to Him. And He says in Second Timothy: 'I will set forth his ways, and all the steps of his life, his abominations and stains, that the previous sins may be placed before the eyes of the sinner who is punished for the sake of health.' And when the Lord has done this, those who were oppressed will know that He is the Lord. This itself signifies and that testimony: I will punish Jacob according to his ways, and repay him according to his deeds. (Hosea 12:2).

Commentary on Ezekiel

5–6

(Verse 5, 6) This is what the Lord God says: A single affliction, behold, is coming: the end is coming, the end is coming. He has awakened against you, behold, he is coming. Constriction is coming upon you, you who dwell in the land. These are not found in the Septuagint, but they have been added in their edition of Theodotion's translation under asterisks. However, we will follow the Hebrew. Instead of affliction, which according to Symmachus, who interpreted it as κάκωσιν, we have put for the sake of clarity: and in Hebrew and in Greek it is written κακία, or πονηρία: that is, wickedness. It is said (Al. Dicit) that the final time of the sins of the land of Israel has come: so that it may no longer escape the judgement of God, which it has deserved for a long time. And because it had not yet completed its sins, punishment was therefore delayed; according to what is written: For the sins of the Amorites are not yet complete (Genesis XV, 16). Therefore, the Lord also said to the Jews: And you, He says, fill up the measure of your fathers (Matthew XXIII, 32). Therefore, misery comes to you; affliction comes, and captivity comes. And lest you think that I threaten future things again, I show with my finger and demonstrate. Behold, it comes, the end comes, the end comes. He who seemed to you until now to be sleeping and resting, has suddenly awakened against you and risen up. Constriction comes, which is called Sephphira in Hebrew, and which Aquila interpreted as προσκόπησιν, that is, contemplation and foresight, which you always fear will come to you with trepidation; and which Theodotio interpreted as πλοκὴν, that is, the order and intertwining of all evils. Furthermore, what is said about you who dwell on earth, according to the Book of Revelation of John, we must understand: Woe to all who dwell on the earth. (Rev. 8:13). For the holy person is not an inhabitant of the earth, but a stranger and a pilgrim; and he says: I am a stranger and a sojourner, like all my fathers. (Psalm 38:13). Therefore, even Abraham the Hebrew, that is, a wanderer and a stranger passing through, is remembered; hastening to pass from the present world to the future. We can interpret this passage spiritually against the Jewish people, upon whom came the end and completion from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom they killed between the temple and the altar (Matt. XXIII). For as long as they did not lay hands on the Son of God, the judgment of the Lord slept and was delayed. But when they killed the heir, so that the inheritance would perish, then He arose against them and all the order of miseries and confusion awakened. Because they did not seek the heavenly things, but desired to cling to earthly things.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Ver. 7.) The time has come, the day of slaughter is near, and not the glory of the mountains. The Hebrew word Adarim, which we have divided into two words, first Ad, second Arim, according to Theodotion, we have translated as the glory of the mountains. Symmachus translates it as the restoration, and he said: And the time is near: the day of hastening, not of restoration. Moreover, the LXX translates it as: The time has come, the day is approaching, not with disturbance, nor with pains. Theodotio: The time has come, the day of hunger is near, and not the day of glory for the mountains. It is also a time of slaughter, and even now it is evident among the Jewish people, who have no prophets or the word of God to nourish the souls of believers. But understand, O mountains, you who have knowledge of the Scriptures. As it is said elsewhere: 'You shine forth wondrously from the eternal mountains' (Psalm 75:5). Furthermore, the Seventy who said 'not with disturbance, and not with pains' signify that they have such great ignorance of God and blindness of soul, that they are not troubled by their sins, and are not tormented by the pains of repentance.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 8) Now I will pour out my anger upon you and vent my fury against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring upon you all your abominations. If we calculate from the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin to the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, when Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, it will be three years in total. Therefore, it is rightly said: Now I will pour out my anger upon you. I will by no means foretell to you what is to come, nor will I threaten you with things that are far off in the future: now I will unleash my fury upon you. This fury and anger is by no means without judgment: but it is to return your ways upon your own head, and to make you feel all your abominations. Moreover, we can also speak of the ultimate captivity, that after the killing of Christ, when their end came and sin awoke against them, that was fulfilled which was written: Now the wrath of God has come upon them to the end (1 Thess. 1:16). When Titus and Vespasian surrounded Jerusalem, and its desolation arrived, and it was fulfilled: Behold, your house will be left abandoned to you (Matthew 23:38). Then they were judged according to their ways and the blasphemies with which they denied the Lord; and they felt the fury of God, and all His indignation was poured out upon them, and they received their crimes, so that the destruction of the temple might endure until the end.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 9.) And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have compassion: but I will lay (or give) upon you your ways, and your abominations shall be in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes. He subjects the causes of severity and sternness, or, as heretics think, the cruelty of God that his eye does not spare nor have compassion, saying: I will give you your ways, and your abominations shall be in your midst; so that you may feel what you have done, and seeing your abominations either before you or placed in the midst of all, you may correct your error with repentance, and turning away from your former works, when you hate what you have done, then you shall feel that he himself is the Lord (Heb. XII). He who strikes in order to correct and chastise every son whom he receives.

Commentary on Ezekiel

10–11

(Vers. 10, 11.) Behold the day, behold it comes, the contraction has gone forth: the rod has blossomed, pride has sprouted. Iniquity has risen in the rod of wickedness, not from them, and not from the people, nor from their noise: and there will be no rest for them. LXX: Behold the day brings forth, behold the end comes, the complex has gone forth, and the rod has blossomed, pride has sprouted, injury has been awakened, and it will crush the strength of the wicked, and not with disturbance nor with haste, and they are not from them, nor is there beauty in them. The day has been contracted, says [someone], and shortened. And approaching is a neighboring captivity. The rod that threatened you for a long time has blossomed, and from the flower of its bloom it has given birth to the fruit of punishments. Your pride has sprouted what you deserved, so that the injustice, which is not from a pitiable people, nor from those who are led like dumb animals by their masters, nor from the shouting and noise with which they vociferated in vain, deceived by the priests and pharisees, may rise up with a united voice and say: 'Crucify, crucify such a one.' (John 19:6) Where there will be no rest for them, but eternal captivity. Furthermore, the Seventy interpreted it in the sense in which it is written: 'For you do not know what the coming day may bring' (Prov. 27:1), saying: 'Behold, the day brings forth what was conceived long before: and the end has come, and the fulfillment has gone forth, which embraces all your evils and holds them, or as Symmachus interpreted, inspection, so that God may see all that you have done and consider your works, and render to each one what he deserves.' And in that which they have likewise transferred, the rod flourished, as we can use that testimony: Do not take the rod away from your son (Prov. XIII, 13). And the Apostle: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and the spirit of gentleness (I Cor. IV, 21)? But even God speaks through the mouth of the Psalmist: I will punish their iniquities with the rod, and their sins with scourges: but I will not take away my mercy from them (Psalm LXXXVIII, 33, 34). Therefore the Lord visits and strikes, so that every pride which was long hidden and enclosed may arise and be revealed; and injury is aroused against the arising and budding pride, and the strength of the wicked is crushed, not with disturbance or haste. For the end of a flourishing rod is health and correction, which comes not by merit to those who are reproved, nor by beauty which they do not possess in themselves, but by the mercy of the Lord. A difficult passage, and one that differs greatly between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, to which many additions have been made from Theodotion's edition, in order to make it seem to have some consistency.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 12.) The time has come, the day is approaching. It is not only said of Jerusalem that the time of its captivity has come and the day has approached when it will be besieged by the Babylonian army, but also to the one who was rejoicing in his built and expanded storehouses, the Lord speaks: Fool, tonight your soul will be taken from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be (Luke 12:20)? From where the Apostle also says: The time, he says, has been shortened (1 Corinthians 7:29). And in another place: For the form of this world passes away (Ibid., 31). It is to be noted that he did not say it will be postponed to the future, but he spoke of the present, it passes away, and the form of the world slips away daily. For it never remains in the same state; but the form of things that are growing and decaying flies by and changes. Hence the Lord also said: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matth. XXIV, 35). But if these things, in which all things that are in the world are contained, pass and go through, what can be perpetual in human affairs?

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 13). The one who buys should not rejoice, and the one who sells should not mourn. It is natural to rejoice in the purchase of possessions and mourn in their sale. However, when slavery and captivity are imminent, both joy and sorrow are in vain. Hence, the Apostle says: Time is shortened. Henceforth, those who have wives should live as if they did not have them, those who weep as if they did not weep, those who rejoice as if they did not rejoice, those who buy as if they did not possess, and those who use this world as if they did not make full use of it (I Cor. VII, 29 seqq.). For just as the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24)

Because his anger is upon all his people. This is found in the Septuagint. For the word 'people' can also be understood as 'multitude' and 'crowd' according to the Hebrew, for it signifies 'Amona.' And the reason is clear: that the one who buys should not rejoice, and the one who sells should cease mourning, because the anger of God will soon come upon all the multitude of the land of Judah, or Jerusalem. For it is understood from the preceding text, in which it is written: Thus says the Lord God of the land of Israel, etc.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 13.) Because the one who sells will not return to that which he sold. He speaks according to the Hebrew custom. For every sale was returned to the seller in the fiftieth year of remission, which among them is called the Jubilee. Therefore, before the year of remission comes, when possessions return to their previous owners, captivity will come upon them, which will take away all the city's customs. Moreover, what the Seventy translated as: Because the buyer will not return to the seller, although it does not completely agree with the historical account, according to allegory, it can have this meaning: that we can say that the one who was deceived by a heretical error, when he understands the deceit of the teacher, will by no means return to the seller, that is, to the teacher; but will despise and reject him.

And yet in the lives of those still living, because the vision will not return to the entire multitude. Just as possession does not return to the previous owner with the imminent destruction of a city, so the prophetic vision and warning, which is directed to the entire multitude of the city, will by no means return and will become invalid; but it will be fulfilled in the remaining days, to those to whom the prophetic message is directed. However, he says this in order to show the impending captivity, lest they should say according to custom: This vision will be for a long time, and will be fulfilled after many years. We can say this, that after the prophetic vision has departed from the Jews, the Law and the Prophets do not return to them, nor do they deserve to have prophets anymore after the killing of the Savior. And significantly, he says that the vision will not return to any multitude. Therefore, it will return to those who believed in the Lord, namely the apostles and the remnant of the Jewish people who have been saved from Israel. But these two verses are not found in the Septuagint edition.

And a man in the wickedness of his life will not be strengthened. LXX: And a man in the eyes of his life will not obtain. And the meaning according to the Hebrew: His wickedness will not benefit a man, nor will it provide him with any strength. According to the Septuagint: And a man, who desired what he thought to be precious in the world, will not obtain it; but with freedom perishing, everything that is beautiful will be lost. However, the ambiguity of the Hebrew letters Yod and Vav, which are distinguished only by their size, caused some to interpret it as wickedness and others as eyes.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 14.) Blow the trumpet, let all be prepared. LXX: Blow the trumpet, and judge all things. We read in many places about the sound and noise of trumpets, as in Isaiah: 'Lift up your voice like a trumpet' (Isa. LVIII, 1); and elsewhere: 'Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the appointed time, on our solemn feast day' (Ps. LXXX, 3); and in the Apostle: 'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God' (I Thess. IV, 5). And in the Gospel: Do not sound the trumpet before you (Matthew 6:2). And the story of the trumpets, both golden and silver, is told in the book of Numbers (Numbers 10 and 31), which is compared to prophetic discourse and Apostolic doctrine. And now it is commanded that everyone be prepared for battle at the sound of the trumpet and the blowing of the trumpet. Moreover, what the Seventy said, "Judge all things," there is no doubt that it agrees with the authority of the apostles. After the trumpet of the angels has sounded, they will judge on twelve thrones the twelve tribes of Israel. Of whom Paul spoke: We will judge angels (I Cor. VI, 3); and elsewhere: The world will be judged in you (Ibid., 2). But according to the present sense, those who are entrusted with this office are commanded ironically to blow the trumpet, so that all may be prepared against the army of Babylon.

And there is no one who goes to battle. For my anger is over his whole multitude. And these are not found in the Septuagint. God had commanded (Num. X) that the trumpet should sound to prepare the army, which could resist the strength of the Babylonians; but it was of no use to command, since there is no one in the people who dares to proceed to war. Therefore, the people are weak and lacking in fighting strength, because all of God's anger is over his whole multitude, understood as the city of Jerusalem or the land of Judea. But both in our land and in Jerusalem, when either public persecution or the many enticements of vices try to overcome us, the teachers sing in vain, and hurry to prepare us for battles, even though there is no strength in the people, which has been taken away because the sins deserve the present anger of God.

Commentary on Ezekiel

15–16

(Verse 15, 16.) The sword is outside, and pestilence and famine are within. Those who are in the field will die by the sword; and those who are in the city will be consumed by pestilence and famine. And those who escape will be saved; they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, trembling. Each one in their own wickedness. The seventy, the doves of the valleys, or as Theodotus translated, the meditators, remained completely silent. And what we have interpreted, trembling: each one in their own wickedness, Theodotus translated it as: all muttering, each one in their own wickedness; so that under the metaphor of meditating doves, it signifies each person in the nation lamenting their own sin, and understanding and feeling why they are suffering these things. But we have already mentioned three classes of people who will die in the city: those who perish from plague and famine; those who are killed by the sword outside; and those who escape captivity. Of these, those who are saved will go to the mountains and, like murmuring doves, will anxiously bewail their sins. In a tropological sense, it should be understood that those in the fields and countryside, outside the borders of the Lord's city, which is called the Church, will be struck by the sword of their adversaries, but those who live negligently in the city and have not prepared food for themselves, of which it is written in Proverbs: 'He who works his land will have his fill of food,' (Prov. XII, 11,) will die from famine and plague. But few, who have avoided the sword of heretics or the hunger of their own sloth, and death, will be saved except in the mountains, and unless they have assumed the wings of a dove, and flown away, and found rest. For as long as doves are in the valleys, they tremble and fear everything: of whom we are commanded to imitate their innocence, and about whom it is written in the psalm: 'If you sleep among the midst of the flock, the wings of the dove that is silvered, and its back parts in the whiteness of gold' (Ps. 67:14): in whose form the Holy Spirit descended, and remained upon the Lord and Savior. Beautifully we will call the dove meditating according to Theodotion (Matthew 3), he who meditates day and night in the law of the Lord, and concerning whom it is written: The mouth of the just will meditate wisdom (Psalm 36:30).

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 17.) All hands will be dissolved, and all knees will flow with water. And they will gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror will cover them. For knees flowing with water, Seventy have moved, thighs are polluted with moisture. But when all are trembling, and fleeing to the mountains, all hands will be dissolved, and no one will be able to resist the enemies, and with the magnitude of fear, urine will pollute the knees: and the bladder will not be able to contain the flowing waters. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and trembling will possess all things. This happened among that people, not only under the Babylonians, but also under the Romans, when the wrath of God came upon them to the very end. Moreover, it happened in our own Judea, where the confession of the Lord is, when iniquities have multiplied and the love of many has grown cold, all the hands of good works will be dissolved, and all knees, or thighs, will flow with the waters of those who have sought unlawful unions, and who, in the law, are called eunuchs, that is, those sustaining a flow of semen and are called unclean by Scripture. Whereas those who are such, should gird themselves with the hairshirts of repentance, and fear the impending judgement. And whoever does this, will merit to hear Isaiah saying: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees (Isaiah 35:3).

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 18.) In every face there is confusion, and in every head there is baldness. The reddening of the face is a sign of shame, and the conscience of sins shines forth on the face. The hope of salvation is when shame follows sin. Therefore it was said to her who gloried in her sins with a hard heart: Your face has become like that of a prostitute, you do not know how to blush (Jer. 3:3). Baldness of the head is also a sign of sorrow, when we lose the beauty of our hair and the comeliness of our youth. And it is said about Jerusalem: For the adornment of your head, you will have baldness, because of your works (Isaiah 3:17). And another prophet says: All heads, he says, will be shaved in every place, and every beard will be cut off (Jeremiah 48:37). Also, Micah to the same Jerusalem: Shave, he says, and shear over the sons of your delights, spread your baldness like an eagle (Micah 1:16). And it is commanded to make baldness over the dead. But the holy ones, that is, the Nazarites, and those who deserved to obtain priesthood of the Lord, do not shave their heads (Num. VI). For they do not perform deeds of death, nor are they unclean, because they are Nazarites, that is, holy ones of the Lord. But if someone dies near them, all the previous days will not be considered as their sanctification. Samuel, the holy one of God, possessed the eternal ornament of the head: and he heard this from the Song of Songs: Your hair is black like a raven (Cant. V, 11). Furthermore, Samson, because he lost his hair, lost his strength (Judg. XVI): and as his hair gradually grew back, his former strength returned, so that he killed many more in his death than in his life. However, although Elisha had a bald head, because he was a servant of the Lord, he enjoyed the locks of his head. Hence, little children, because they were little and had not yet reached manhood, mocked his baldness and said, 'Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!' (2 Kings II, 23), and they were torn by the bites of wild beasts, whose leaps and woods are their dwelling place.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 19.) Their silver will be thrown away in the streets, and their gold will be like garbage. Septuagint: Their silver will be thrown away in the streets, and their gold will be despised. In the midst of flight and captivity, they will throw away their riches and the weight of gold and silver on the streets, only seeking to save their own lives, so that they are not burdened by what was once luxury. Otherwise, according to the anagoge, all the silver of the captives and fugitives from Jerusalem will be thrown away in the streets, on the wide and spacious road that leads to death, because they have abandoned the narrow path of salvation. But all gold will be considered worthless, even esteemed as dung and filth. For one cannot have purity who is outside the Church of the Lord.

Their silver and gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. And this is not found in the Septuagint. Without a doubt, during times of siege and famine, it does not free those hungry for gold and silver, and their teeth are blunted like the hardest stone. Finally, it follows:

They will not satisfy their souls, and their bellies will not be filled. In the presence of evil, we have learned that many rich people, depleted by poverty, have had the end of beggars, among silk, gems, and weights of gold and silver. But the silver and gold of those who are outside the Church cannot free the souls of the possessors on the day of the Lord's wrath; instead, it shows that they will have eternal hunger and be tormented with an empty stomach. This testimony confirms it, saying: The redemption of a man's soul is his own wealth (Prov. XIII, 8). Our true riches are those which Christ's truth has taught us (Luke 16), who commanded us to make for ourselves friends with unrighteous wealth, who will receive us into eternal dwellings.

Because a scandal of iniquity has occurred among them. Therefore, he says, the possessors of gold and silver will not be satisfied, nor will their stomachs be filled, because this very gold and silver has become a scandal of their crimes. But it signifies idols, which are made of gold and silver, condemn their own creators. For this reason, the Seventy translated it: because the torments of their iniquities were such that they would be tormented in their own iniquity and understand that they have turned the gifts of God into blasphemy.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 20) And they put the ornament of their necklaces upon their pride, and they made images of their abominations and idols from it. LXX: The chosen ones of the world have put it upon their pride, and they have made images of their abominations and stumbling blocks from it. Which I, he says, had given as an ornament to those who possessed and to the wealthy, they have turned into pride, so that they could use them to free their own souls through alms and good works, and from them they had material for arrogance. Finally, they made idols out of gold and silver, and turned my gifts into images of demons. Moreover, what the Seventy said is applicable to their pride in bringing gold and silver: nothing is considered more precious in the world. And what follows, we know is found in Theodotion. The meaning is easily understood according to the allegory, that heretics have used gold and silver, the senses and the words of Scripture that have been chosen as the world's treasures, and which have been given to us as ornaments, as fuel and material for pride, and they have made images of various doctrines and abominations and stumbling blocks from them, so that by means of these they could worship and adore God, but instead they offend God.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 21) Therefore I gave them over to uncleanness: and I will give them into the hands of foreigners to plunder them, and to the wicked of the earth as prey, and they will defile it. LXX: Therefore I gave them over to uncleanness: and I will give them into the hands of foreigners to plunder them, and to the pestilential ones of the earth as prey, and they will pollute it. Because they made for themselves images of their abominations and idols from the gold and silver and ornaments of their necklaces, which I had given them, therefore I gave them into uncleanness and into excrement. For which Symmachus interpreted, expressing disgust, wanting to cleanse the filth of the idols. And he said, 'I will deliver these into the hands of the enemy, so that they may plunder everything, and not only defile them, but also demonstrate that they, which previously seemed most sacred, are contaminated.' We too are delivered into the hands of our enemies and strangers to God when we make our ornaments into images of demons, and all our glory is possessed by the impious or the plagues of the earth, so that they may subject us to their power.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 22) And I will turn my face away from them: and they will violate my sanctuary: and emissaries will enter it (as the Septuagint rashly translated, or as Symmachus and Theodotio, bursting in, and pestilential), and they will defile it. For, he says, because of the previous abominations of the people, I will turn my face away from them and I will not judge them worthy in my eyes: then they will violate my sanctuary, which signifies the Holy of Holies, for which the Septuagint translated visitation (to demonstrate the presence of God in holy places) and the impious and pestilent ones of the earth will burst in: which, except for the priests and the high priest alone, no one else dared to enter. What we know, both from the Babylonians, and from King Antiochus and Gnaeus Pompeius, and finally from what happened under Vespasian and Titus, when the temple was captured and destroyed, and all the things that the following prophet's speech encompasses. God also turns His face away from our evil deeds: and because His face is turned away, the secret of God is violated, so that the pestilential may enter for the priests and saints of God, and contaminate everything: so that the place that should have been holy becomes a place of uncleanness, according to the Gospel saying: 'My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves' (Matthew 21:13).

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 23.) Make a conclusion, for the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of wickedness. LXX: And I will bring disturbance, for the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of iniquities. The Hebrew word Arethich () is interpreted by Aquila as conclusion, and by Symmachus and Theodotion as καθήλωσιν, meaning crucifixion. For this reason, the Septuagint uses φυρμὸν, which we translate as disturbance. Therefore, O prophet, conclude my wrath upon the land of Judah and upon the city of Jerusalem in a brief speech, so that just as the land is full of bloodshed, for all are judged in bloodshed, shedding innocent blood: which the Scripture also records that the Jews did in the person of Naboth: thus their own blood is shed, and the city full of wickedness is demonstrated. For the city of Jerusalem, from gate to gate, is filled with the blood of the prophets, even under Manasseh (1 Kings 21). And there will come for them a conclusion, and disturbance and affliction, so that none of those who are facing imminent miseries can escape.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 24) And I will bring the wicked from the nations, and they will possess their houses. And these are not found in the Septuagint. For the priests and prophets, I will bring the wicked Babylonians from all nations, that they may possess your houses and subject you to servitude. But even our houses, that is, our souls (for we are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us - 1 Corinthians VI), the wicked demons will possess, if our land is filled with bloodshed and our habitation is full of iniquity.

And I will make the haughtiness of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries shall be possessed. I will turn away their roaring, and their holy places shall be defiled. All pride offends God. Therefore, the worst of the nations shall possess the houses of the mighty and the proud, and they shall occupy their sanctuaries, for a profane place of holiness enters, and its uncleanness contaminates it. But significantly, because the sanctuaries of God were polluted and his secret violated, he did not say, 'They shall possess my sanctuaries,' but 'their sanctuaries,' for they have departed from me after their contamination.

Distress is imminent. LXX: Propitiation will come. According to the higher order, they have been correctly interpreted as Eagle and Theodotius, the distress is imminent; and Symmachus, mourning. But the seventy, in the midst of all sorrows, have set down the word of joy: so that the soul of the grieving may be sustained, and may hope for better things amidst adversity, and a propitious Lord; of whom it is written: The Lord raises up those who are crushed (Ps. 145:8). But we, according to the earlier opinion of Symmachus, have combined it with the later, that we may say:

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 25.) With impending distress, they will seek peace, and it will not be. This cannot possibly be reconciled with the Septuagint. For if propitiation comes, how will they seek peace and not find it? But he who has heard from the apostles will seek peace and not find it, for he has not kept it in his mind, nor has he made it rest, but driven away by wicked deeds, he cannot find it. Indeed, peace is that which surpasses all understanding, and which the victorious Savior, ascending to the Father, left to the apostles.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 26.) Disturbance will come upon disturbance, and hearing upon hearing. LXX: Woe upon woe will be, and message upon message. Just as it is said to the saints: Rejoice, again I say rejoice (Philippians IV, 2); and concerning them it is written: They will go from strength to strength (Psalm LXXXIII, 8), so that present good things may abound with future good things: likewise, for those upon whom distress comes, and who sought peace but did not find it, disturbance will come upon disturbance, or woe upon woe, as it is also written in the Apocalypse: woe has gone away, and woe will come quickly (Apocalypse IX, 12). And news will come upon news, and message upon message; according to the blessed Job: While one was still speaking, another messenger came (Job 1:16), increasing evils with evils, and describing the noise and tumult of approaching Babylonians.

And they will seek a vision from the Prophet: and the law will perish from the Priest, and counsel from the elders. Specifically, each individual seeks specific things. The prophet seeks the prophecy of the future. The interpretation of the law is the duty of the priest. The prudent counsel is sought by those of mature age; according to what is written: In the counsel of the saints (or the just) and the assembly, are the great works of the Lord (Ps. CX, 1, 2). However, these things were not only sought by the prophets, priests, and elders when the Babylonian army came against Jerusalem, but they are sought daily in the churches. But if they have lost sight, law, and counsel, in vain do they boast of having prophets, priests, and elders.

Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 27) The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed in sorrow, or, according to the Septuagint, in death: those who desired something, what we have expressed in the Hebrew language, the king will mourn, they have completely remained silent about it. However, the Holy Scripture commemorates that Zedekiah mourned, and all the princes of the people of Judah were consumed with sorrow. But, although this may seem blasphemous at first glance, we can say that the king mourning for our vices and sins is Christ, who speaks in the Psalms: What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption? (Ps. 29:10) And when he approached Jerusalem, he wept over it saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matthew 23:37)! Even the leaders can be apostles, whether they mourn sinners in a good way or, on the contrary, those to whom it is said: Hear the word of the Lord, leaders of Sodom (Isaiah 1:11). And he will be clothed, according to the Septuagint, in destruction, who does not have the armor of God, nor is he clothed in Christ. For all who have been baptized in Christ, have clothed themselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27).

And the hands of the people of the earth will be troubled, or, according to the Septuagint, dissolved. When there is no vision in the prophet, and knowledge of the Law in the priest, and counsel in the elders. And the king will mourn, and the prince will be in grief, or in destruction, consequently the hands of the people will be troubled, losing their order, or dissolved, not having ancient strength. And it is said beautifully that the people of God is not mentioned, whose hands are troubled, and who does not have a place in heaven; but the people of the earth, about whom it is written: Those who turn away from you will be written upon the earth. (Jeremiah 17:13).

According to their way, I will deal with them, and according to their judgments, I will judge them, or as the Septuagint translated, I will avenge them. God repays sinners according to their ways, so that He may keep the truth of judgment. However, in the saints, the extent of mercy exceeds the limits. For the sufferings of this temporary time are not worthy of the future glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. VIII, 18). For the wages of sin is death (Ibid. VI, 23), which the sinner receives according to their ways and works. Moreover, the virtue of the righteous enjoys the generosity of the Lord, of which Paul speaks: The gift of God is eternal life. And he added: and according to their judgments I will judge them, that Gospel saying: with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged (Matthew 7:1). And the Apostle: For in the judgment you pronounce you condemn yourself as you do the same things (Romans 2:1).

And they shall know that I am the Lord. This verse is often placed in this prophet, that it may be known that the knowledge of God is followed by sufferings and tortures, so that those who did not understand through blessings may understand through torments.

Commentary on Ezekiel