Ezekiel 20:31
in Ezekiel 20When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, do ye pollute yourselves with all your idols unto this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you;
KJV
For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseYe pollute yourselves - This shows the sense in which God says, Eze 20:26, “I polluted them in their own gifts.” They chose to pollute themselves, and I permitted them to do so. See on Eze 20:25 (note), Eze 20:26 (note).
This site's exposition
polluted after the manner of your fathers
on Ezekiel 20:30-31
The present generation is charged with the same whoredom after their fathers' abominations. The child sacrifice named at pollute yourselves with all your idols is a practice some among them still kept unto this day. The refusal from verse three returns unchanged, I will not be enquired of by you.
This site's exposition
sacrificing your sons in the fire
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the fire named here as a real burning of children before the idol. Clarke reads the verse as the key to verse 26, where the pollution was the people's choice and God permitted it. Jeremiah 7:31 names the place, Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 30, 31.) Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: You are defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers and indulging in their abominations; you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. Shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.'
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For when ye offer your gifts,.... And sacrifices to idols.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire" in Eze 20:26 is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed through the fire" for purification, whereas here they are actually burnt to death before the idol; and therefore "the fire" is specified in the latter, not in the former case (compare 2Ki 3:27).
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבִשְׂאֵ֣ת | uviset | and when lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| מַתְּנֹֽתֵיכֶ֡ם | matenoteikhem | gifts your | H4979 → | 17 times |
| בְּֽהַעֲבִיר֩ | behaavir | when make pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּנֵיכֶ֨ם | beneikhem | children your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בָּאֵ֜שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| אַתֶּם֩ | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נִטְמְאִ֤֨ים | nitmeim | [are] making yourselves unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גִּלּֽוּלֵיכֶם֙ | giluleikhem | idols your | H1544 → | 48 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֔וֹם | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וַאֲנִ֛י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אִדָּרֵ֥שׁ | ʾidaresh | will I let myself be consulted? | H1875 → | 164 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | by you | ||
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | O house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| חַי־ | chai- | [by] [the] life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| אָ֗נִי | ʾani | of me | H589 → | 874 times |
| נְאֻם֙ | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אִדָּרֵ֖שׁ | ʾidaresh | I will let myself be consulted | H1875 → | 164 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | by you |
וּבִשְׂאֵ֣תand when lift up
uvisetH5375 →656 times
מַתְּנֹֽתֵיכֶ֡םgifts your
matenoteikhemH4979 →17 times
בְּֽהַעֲבִיר֩when make pass
behaavirH5674 →556 times
בְּנֵיכֶ֨םchildren your
beneikhemH1121 →4930 times
בָּאֵ֜שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
אַתֶּם֩you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
נִטְמְאִ֤֨ים[are] making yourselves unclean
nitmeimH2930 →162 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
גִּלּֽוּלֵיכֶם֙idols your
giluleikhemH1544 →48 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֔וֹםthis day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
וַאֲנִ֛יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
אִדָּרֵ֥שׁwill I let myself be consulted?
ʾidareshH1875 →164 times
לָכֶ֖םby you
lakhem
בֵּ֣יתO house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
חַי־[by] [the] life
chai-H2416 →498 times
אָ֗נִיof me
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נְאֻם֙[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אִדָּרֵ֖שׁI will let myself be consulted
ʾidareshH1875 →164 times
לָכֶֽם׃by you
lakhem
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
Jeremiah 7:31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 23:10
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
- Jeremiah 32:35
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered…
- Leviticus 20:1–5
Then the LORD said to Moses,
- 2 Kings 17:17
Through
Ezekiel 20:26And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 6:7
The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
- Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Ezekiel 16:20–21
You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
- Ezekiel 6:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
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 (1748-1763) and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.