Ezekiel 14:5
in Ezekiel 14so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
KJV
That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
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This verse in Ezekiel 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThat I may take the house of Israel in their own heart,.... By which they are ensnared, and drawn aside to their ruin; being given up to strong delusions, to believe a lie, and worship idols; God threatening to answer them by righteous judgments, and thereby take the wickedness, the hypocrisy, and idolatry, that were in their hearts, and expose and make it manifest unto others; or, by punishing them, to draw out the corruption and sin that were in them, that it might be seen what a wicked people they were.
This site's exposition
I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry
on Ezekiel 14:4-5
The Lord will answer such a man himself, “according to his great idolatry,” a judgment given as an answer rather than a refusal. Verse 5 states, “so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel,” catching them where the idols were hidden.
This site's exposition
take hold of the hearts
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the verse as exposure of the hypocrisy in the heart or as punishment by an answer shaped to that heart. Wesley adds that an idol always stands behind a heart estranged from God. Some creature holds God's place.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 14, Verse 1 onwards) And the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I be consulted by them?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
According - According to his desert, I will give answer, but in just judgment. Take - That I may lay open what is in their heart, and discover their hypocrisy, and impiety. Through their idols - It is always through some idol or other, that the hearts of men are estranged from God: some creature has gained that place in the heart, which belongs to none but God.
They are ordered to repent, or not to pretend to inquire of God, ver. 6-11. Tho' Noah, Daniel and Job were to pray for the people, yet they would not prevail, ver. 12-21.
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Note, The sin and shame, and pain and ruin, of sinners, are all from themselves, and their own hearts are the snares in which they are taken; they seduce them, they betray them; their own consciences witness against them, condemn them, and are a terror to them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
That I may take--that is, unveil and overtake with punishment the dissimulation and impiety of Israel hid in their own heart. Or, rather, "That I may punish them by answering them after their own hearts"; corresponding to "according to the multitude of his idols" (see on Eze 14:4); an instance is given in Eze 14:9;
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That I may take ... - i. e., that I may take them, as in a snare, deceived by their own heart.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְמַ֛עַן | lemaan | so as | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תְּפֹ֥שׂ | tefos | to capture | H8610 → | 65 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בְּלִבָּ֑ם | belibam | by heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָזֹ֙רוּ֙ | nazoru | they have become estranged | H2114 → | 77 times |
| מֵֽעָלַ֔י | mealai | from with <the> me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּגִלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֖ם | begiluleihem | by idols their | H1544 → | 48 times |
| כֻּלָּֽם׃ ס | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
לְמַ֛עַןso as
lemaanH4616 →272 times
תְּפֹ֥שׂto capture
tefosH8610 →65 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּֽית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בְּלִבָּ֑םby heart their
belibamH3820 →595 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָזֹ֙רוּ֙they have become estranged
nazoruH2114 →77 times
מֵֽעָלַ֔יfrom with <the> me
mealaiH5921 →5755 times
בְּגִלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֖םby idols their
begiluleihemH1544 →48 times
כֻּלָּֽם׃ סall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Colossians 1:21Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:12
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Titus 3:3–7
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Ephesians 2:1–3
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Romans 5:9–10
Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!
- Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- Ephesians 2:12
Through
Isaiah 1:4Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on…
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
- Jeremiah 2:17
Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Isaiah 5:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.