Ezekiel 20:37
in Ezekiel 20I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
KJV
And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseI will cause you to pass under the rod - This alludes to the custom of tithing the sheep. I take it from the rabbins. The sheep were all penned; and the shepherd stood at the door of the fold, where only one sheep could come out at once.
This site's exposition
We will be as the heathen
on Ezekiel 20:32-38
The people's own plan to become like the heathen and serve wood and stone is refused outright, and the Lord answers with a mighty hand, a stretched out arm, fury poured out, the same triad Exodus uses for the deliverance from Egypt now aimed at a second, harsher gathering. The wilderness of the people repeats the pattern of the first exodus, a plea face to face followed by a purge, causing them to pass under the rod, the shepherd's count naming each sheep as it passes, and bringing them into the bond of the covenant. Rebels who transgress are purged out before entry, so the regathering the Lord promises is a second wilderness with its own sifting, not an automatic amnesty.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Or it may refer to those among them that repented and reformed; he will cause them to pass under the rod of affliction, and, having done them good by it, he will bring them again into the bond of the covenant, will be to them a God in covenant, and use them again as heirs of promise.
I will cause - I will bring you out by number, so that you shall either own my scepter, or by a conquered subjection, yield to my sword and power. Under the rod - Referring to the manner of shepherds in that country, who did tell their sheep in, and out of the fold. Bring you - The voluntary and obedient into covenant with myself.
And I will cause you to pass under the rod,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
THIS striking utterance was given forth by that renowned Seer, Ezekiel, at the time when the Israelites, scattered in every country, had begun to forget their nationality. They judged it prudent and wise, as much as possible, to disguise their distinctive character and melt their race into the Babylonian or Chaldean—and become like the heathen.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Whether you will or not, ye shall be counted as Mine, and so shall be subjected to My chastening discipline (Mic 7:14), with a view to My ultimate saving of the chosen remnant (compare Joh 10:27-29). bond of . . . covenant--I will constrain you by sore chastisements to submit yourselves to the covenant to which ye are lastingly bound, though now you have cast away God's bond from you.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
THIS striking utterance was given forth by that renowned Seer, Ezekiel, at the time when the Israelites, scattered in every country, had begun to forget their nationality. They judged it prudent and wise, as much as possible, to disguise their distinctive character and melt their race into the Babylonian or Chaldean—and become like the heathen. But God, who chose His people of old, would not have it so, and He interposed with this striking passage—"And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, that you say, we will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone." The Lord tells them that He had them for a people and He meant to hold them for a people. Whether they delighted in it or not, He would not let them go! He pronounced a solemn oath concerning them—"As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you." They shall no more become Babylonians than of old He would suffer them to become Egyptians. This passage, which I have taken for a text, may very truthfully be regarded as a threat of terrible judgment upon erring Israel—as much as if the Lord had said, "You of the house of Israel, whom I have made to be the type of My spiritual people, you shall be Mine. And if you wander from Me, I will distinguish you by special punishments. Therefore I now threaten you with special judgments. If you will attempt to mix yourselves up with the Gentiles, I will deal with you with a startling severity, such as I have never shown unto the heathen. Your sins are greater, your privileges greater and so shall your chastisements be greater.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַעֲבַרְתִּ֥י | vehaavarti | and I will make pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּׁ֑בֶט | hashavet | the rod | H7626 → | 190 times |
| וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י | veheveti | and I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּמָסֹ֥רֶת | bemasoret | in [the] bond of | H4562 → | |
| הַבְּרִֽית׃ | haberit | the covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
וְהַעֲבַרְתִּ֥יand I will make pass
vehaavartiH5674 →556 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּׁ֑בֶטthe rod
hashavetH7626 →190 times
וְהֵבֵאתִ֥יand I will bring
vehevetiH935 →2568 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בְּמָסֹ֥רֶתin [the] bond of
bemasoretH4562 →
הַבְּרִֽית׃the covenant
haberitH1285 →284 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Leviticus 27:32Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 33:13
In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under…
- Micah 7:14
Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
- Jeremiah 33:13
Through
Jeremiah 33:13In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under…
it leads to
- Leviticus 27:32
Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:26
And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills, the hill country, and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices,…
- Luke 15:4
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds…
- John 10:3–4
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
- Leviticus 27:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1840: “The Bond of the Covenant” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.