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Ezekiel 20:2

in Ezekiel 20

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

KJV

Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,

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This verse in Ezekiel 20

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord

on Ezekiel 20:1-4

The answer refuses the request outright, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. Gill notes that the refusal is not silence but a summons to a longer accounting, the historical rehearsal that fills the rest of the chapter.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came to me

Jerome counts eleven months and five days from the vision of 8:1 to this word. The date of verse 1 falls in the seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin. The reply to the elders follows.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 2, 3.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, I will not answer you, says the Lord God. To the righteous and worthy who ask, a promise is given. As you continue to speak, I will say: Here I am. But to the sinners, like the elders of Israel, whose crimes are described by the prophets that follow, there is no answer; only rebuke for their sins.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then came the word of the Lord unto me,.... While the elders were sitting before him, by an impulse upon his mind, dictating things unto him: saying: as follows:

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

to inquire of the Lord concerning their needs, and if He does not listen to us, neither will we be punished for the sins in our hands, for He has already sold us, and He has nothing on us.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 20:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

5 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.

  • וַיְהִ֥יand it came

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • דְבַר־[the] word of

    devar-H1697 →1440 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֵלַ֥יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

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

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 Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezekiel 20 →