Ezekiel 20:29
in Ezekiel 20So I asked them: ‘What is this high place to which you go?’ (And to this day it is called Bamah.)
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
KJV
Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWhat is the high place - מה הבמה mah habbamah, “what is the high place?” What is it good for? Its being a high place shows it to be a place of idolatry. I called it במה bamah, to mark it with infamy; but ye continue to frequent it, even while it is called במה bamah, to the present day!
This site's exposition
your fathers have blasphemed me
on Ezekiel 20:27-29
Once in the land, the fathers blasphemed the Lord by committing a trespass at every high hill and thick tree, offering sacrifices, sweet savour, and drink offerings that belonged to him alone. The Lord's own question exposes the absurdity by name, what is the high place whereunto ye go, and the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day, a title that is simply the Hebrew word for high place worn as a badge. Gill reads the naming as mockery turned into monument, the site's very name preserving the sin it committed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They are wedded to their high places; even in the best reigns those were not taken away; you could not prevail to take away the name of Bamah--the high place, out of their mouths, but still they would have that in the place of their worship. The sin and the sinner are with difficulty parted.
What - What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave God's altar, where he requires your attendance, to frequent such places as he has forbidden you to worship in? Bamah - That is, the high place.
Then I said unto them,.... By his prophets that he sent unto them: what is the high place where, unto you go? what is the name of it? what is the use of it? to what end do you go there? is there not an altar built by my order and command to sacrifice upon is this high place better than that? does it answer a better end and purpose? and the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day; or a high place.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
David and others, it is true, sacrificed to God on high places, but it was under exceptional circumstances, and before the altar was set up on Mount Moriah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Yet in this--Not content with past rebellions, and not moved with gratitude for God's goodness, "yet in this," still further they rebelled. blasphemed--"have insulted me" [CALVIN]. Even those who did not sacrifice to heathen gods have offered "their sacrifices" (Eze 20:28) in forbidden places.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֣ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מָ֣ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הַבָּמָ֔ה | habamah | [is] the high place | H1116 → | 102 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתֶּ֥ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הַבָּאִ֖ים | habaim | [are] the [ones who] go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שָׁ֑ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| וַיִּקָּרֵ֤א | vaiyikare' | and it has been called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| שְׁמָהּ֙ | shemah | name its | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בָּמָ֔ה | bamah | Bamah | H1117 → | |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֥וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וָאֹמַ֣רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
מָ֣הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
הַבָּמָ֔ה[is] the high place
habamahH1116 →102 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אַתֶּ֥םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
הַבָּאִ֖ים[are] the [ones who] go
habaimH935 →2568 times
שָׁ֑םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
וַיִּקָּרֵ֤אand it has been called
vaiyikare'H7121 →733 times
שְׁמָהּ֙name its
shemahH8034 →864 times
בָּמָ֔הBamah
bamahH1117 →
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֥וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 16:31But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 16:33–34
Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.
- Isaiah 52:3
For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”
- Ezekiel 16:39
Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and…
- Hosea 12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
- Ezekiel 16:24–25
you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.
- Ezekiel 16:33–34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.