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Ezekiel 20:18

in Ezekiel 20

In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

KJV

But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

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This verse in Ezekiel 20

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

I said unto their children--being unwilling to speak any more to the fathers as being incorrigible. Walk ye not in . . . statutes of . . . fathers--The traditions of the fathers are to be carefully weighed, not indiscriminately followed. He forbids the imitation of not only their gross sins, but even their plausible statutes [CALVIN].

This site's exposition

said unto their children in the wilderness

on Ezekiel 20:18-20

The charge is renewed to the next generation, walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, a direct command to break the family pattern. Gill reads the repetition as proof that each generation stands on its own footing before the Lord, judged for its own choice.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 18 onwards) But I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the commands (or laws) of your fathers, nor keep their judgments, nor be defiled by their idols (or thoughts). I am the Lord your God. Walk in my commands, and keep my judgments, and do them, and sanctify my Sabbaths, that it may be a sign between me and you, and that it may be known (or that you may know) that I am the Lord your God.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Defile not yourselves with their idols, for you see how odious they rendered themselves to God by them. But keep my judgments and hallow my sabbaths, "

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

But I said unto their children in the wilderness,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

But I said unto their children - These I chose in their fathers’ stead; and to them I purposed to give the inheritance which their fathers by disobedience lost.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וָאֹמַ֤רand I said

    vaomarH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בְּנֵיהֶם֙children their

    beneihemH1121 →4930 times

  • בַּמִּדְבָּ֔רin the wilderness

    bamidbarH4057 →270 times

  • בְּחוּקֵּ֤יin [the] statutes of

    bechukeiH2706 →127 times

  • אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ancestors your

    ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תֵּלֵ֔כוּyou walk

    telekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶ֖םjudgments their

    mishpeteihemH4941 →422 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּyou keep

    tishmoruH8104 →468 times

  • וּבְגִלּוּלֵיהֶ֖םand by idols their

    uvegiluleihemH1544 →48 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּטַּמָּֽאוּ׃you make yourselves unclean

    titamauH2930 →162 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 1:1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.32 works1 Peter 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,6 worksPsalms 106:39They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.6 worksPsalms 78:8Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.6 worksJoshua 24:14Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.4 worksZechariah 1:2–4“The LORD was very angry with your fathers.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 20:7And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’3 worksDeuteronomy 4:3–6Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.3 worksActs 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.3 worksPsalms 78:6–8that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children3 worksAmos 2:4This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.3 worksNumbers 14:32–33As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.2 worksNumbers 32:13–15The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.2 worksLuke 11:47–48Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them.2 worksJeremiah 3:9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.2 worksJeremiah 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.2 worksEzekiel 18:17He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.2 worksJeremiah 32:23They came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law. They failed to perform all that You commanded them to do, and so You have brought upon them all this disaster.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 7:51

    You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 10:16

      Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

    • Ephesians 4:30

      And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

    • Isaiah 63:10

      But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

    • Jeremiah 4:4

      Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…

    • Leviticus 26:41

      and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,

  • Through

    Ezekiel 20:7

    And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 18:3

      You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.…

    • Ezekiel 20:8

      But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…

    • Ezekiel 18:31

      Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.

Read on in Ezekiel 20 →