Ezekiel 20:25
in Ezekiel 20I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances wherein they should not live;
KJV
Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
15 notes on this verseFor a paedagogus, as the word is rendered in the Latin, is the teacher of a boy; and he cannot apply perfect precepts to an imperfect age, because it cannot bear them. Again, the God of the Law says by the Prophet, I gave them also statutes that were not good, that is, not perfect. But the same God has preserved more perfect things for the Gospel, as He says, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil the Law.
This site's exposition
statutes that were not good
on Ezekiel 20:25-26
Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good is the chapter's hardest line. One reading takes it as judicial abandonment, God giving Israel over to the corrupt customs of the nations, including child sacrifice. A second reading takes the statutes as Israel's own corruptions, permitted rather than commanded.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
But, why should I not say that the requirements of ancient ceremonies are not good because people are not justified by them; they are figures that foreshadow the grace, by which we are justified.… They are not bad, because they were precepts of divine origin, adapted to times and people, although in this estimate I am supported by the prophetic statement in which God said that he had given to that people "statutes that were not good." It happens that he did not say that they were bad but only that they were not good: that is, such that with them, people become good; without them, they do not. I would like your kind sincerity to inform me whether any oriental saint who comes to Rome and fasts on Saturday—except the eve of Easter—is acting deceitfully. If we say that is wrong, we shall condemn the Roman church and also many places near it and others somewhat further away, where the same custom continues to be observed.
Having forgotten the benefits and marvels performed by God, they set up the head of a calf. For this reason, therefore, precepts are given to them by which they are tested. Hence it is that through the prophet Ezekiel the Lord says to them, "I gave you precepts and ordinances that were not good, by which you will not live." For when they were tested in the precepts of the Lord, they were not found faithful.
We hold, then, that the law has a twofold sense—the one literal, the other spiritual—as has been shown by some before us. Of the first or literal sense it is said, not by us but by God, speaking in one of the prophets, that "the statutes are not good, and the judgments not good"; whereas, taken in a spiritual sense, the same prophet makes God say that "his statutes are good, and his judgments are good."
[Israel] received statutes that were not good and commandments that were altogether evil whereby it should not live but should be punished through them.
Whoever lives under the light of the grace of the gospel and overcomes evil not by resisting it but by bearing it and who does not hesitate of his own free will to give his other cheek to one who strikes his right cheek, who gives his cloak also to one who wants to raise a lawsuit against him for his coat, and who loves his enemies and prays for those who slander him, this man has broken the yoke of sin and burst its chains. For he is not living under the law, which does not destroy the seeds of sin.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
They, it is well known, when they led not a life of toil but indulged in relaxation, not being able to bear prosperity, fell away into ungodliness. What then did God upon this? He laid upon them a multitude of laws with a view to restrain their licence. And to convince you that these laws contribute not to any virtue, but were given to them as a sort of curb, providing them with an occasion of perpetual labor; hear what saith the prophet concerning them; "I gave them statutes which were not good." What means, "not good?" Such as did not much contribute towards virtue. Wherefore he adds also, "and ordinances whereby they shall not live."
The Medieval Church1 voice
God finds fault with the commandments of the Old Testament, for he says, "I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life," because of their hardness of heart.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Wherefore - Because they rejected my good laws and judgments. I gave them - Not by enjoining, but by permitting them to make such for themselves. Not good - That were pernicious to the users.
The judgments of God upon them for their rebellion. They would not regard the statutes and judgments by which God prescribed them their duty, but despised them, and therefore God gave them statutes and judgments which were not good, and by which they should not live,
Spiritual judgments are the most dreadful; and these God punished them with. The statutes and judgments which the heathen observed in the worship of their idols were not good, and in practising them they could not live; and God gave them up to those. He made their sin to be their punishment, gave them up to a reprobate mind, as he did the Gentile idolaters ( Rom. i.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I gave them also statutes that were not good - What a foolish noise has been made about this verse by critics, believers and infidels! How is it that God can be said “to give a people statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they could not live?” I answer, in their sense of the words, God never gave any such, at any time, to any people. Let any man produce an example of this kind if he can; or show even the fragment of such a law, sanctioned by the Most High!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I gave them . . . statutes . . . not good--Since they would not follow My statutes that were good, "I gave them" their own (Eze 20:18) and their fathers' "which were not good"; statutes spiritually corrupting, and, finally, as the consequence, destroying them. Righteous retribution (Ps 81:12;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נָתַ֣תִּי | natati | I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| חֻקִּ֖ים | chukim | statutes | H2706 → | 127 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| טוֹבִ֑ים | tovim | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וּמִ֨שְׁפָּטִ֔ים | umishpatim | and judgments | H4941 → | 422 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִֽחְי֖וּ | yichyu | they will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| בָּהֶֽם׃ | bahem | by them |
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנִי֙I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נָתַ֣תִּיI gave
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לָהֶ֔םto <the> them
lahem
חֻקִּ֖יםstatutes
chukimH2706 →127 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
טוֹבִ֑יםgood
tovimH2896 →538 times
וּמִ֨שְׁפָּטִ֔יםand judgments
umishpatimH4941 →422 times
לֹ֥א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִֽחְי֖וּthey will live
yichyuH2421 →282 times
בָּהֶֽם׃by them
bahem
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
Psalms 81:12So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- Isaiah 30:1
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
- Acts 7:42
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and…
- Romans 1:26–27
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- Jeremiah 7:24
Through
Isaiah 66:4So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:12
I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil…
- Proverbs 10:24
What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
- 2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Isaiah 65:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 74.2; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 82; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 79.10; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 21:33; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 1 CORINTHIANS 7:9; John Damascene, ON DIVINE IMAGES 2:15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 7:2 and Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 7:20.