Ezekiel 20:35
in Ezekiel 20And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
KJV
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd I will bring you into the wilderness of the people,.... Into Babylon, and into captivity there, which they thought to avoid by fleeing to other countries.
This site's exposition
We will be as the heathen
on Ezekiel 20:32-38
The people's own plan to become like the heathen and serve wood and stone is refused outright. The Lord answers with a mighty hand, a stretched out arm, fury poured out, the same triad Exodus uses for the deliverance from Egypt. Rebels who transgress are purged out before entry.
This site's exposition
the wilderness of the nations
Gill reads the wilderness of the nations as Babylon and the captivity there. Clarke reads it as the ruined land of Judah after the return. Deuteronomy 5:4 has the LORD speaking face to face at Sinai.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He must tell them likewise what mercy God had in store for them, when he would bring a remnant of them to repentance, re-establish them in their own land, and set up his sanctuary among them again,
), either into Babylon, which is called a wilderness ( ch. xix. 13 ), and the desert of the sea ( Isa. xxi. 1 ), or into some place which, though full of people, shall be to them as the wilderness was to Israel after they came out of Egypt, a place where God will plead with them face to face, as he pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will bring you into the wilderness of the people - I will bring you out of your captivity, and bring you into your own land which you will find to be a wilderness, the consequence of your crimes. There will I plead with you - There I will be your king, and rule you with a sovereign rule; and the dispensations of my justice and mercy shall either end you or mend you.
THIS striking utterance was given forth by that renowned Seer, Ezekiel, at the time when the Israelites, scattered in every country, had begun to forget their nationality. They judged it prudent and wise, as much as possible, to disguise their distinctive character and melt their race into the Babylonian or Chaldean—and become like the heathen.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But the full and final fulfilment is future; the wilderness state will comprise not only the transition period of their restoration, but the beginning of their occupancy of Palestine, a time in which they shall endure the sorest of all their chastisements, to "purge out the rebels" (Eze 20:38;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
THIS striking utterance was given forth by that renowned Seer, Ezekiel, at the time when the Israelites, scattered in every country, had begun to forget their nationality. They judged it prudent and wise, as much as possible, to disguise their distinctive character and melt their race into the Babylonian or Chaldean—and become like the heathen. But God, who chose His people of old, would not have it so, and He interposed with this striking passage—"And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, that you say, we will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone." The Lord tells them that He had them for a people and He meant to hold them for a people. Whether they delighted in it or not, He would not let them go! He pronounced a solemn oath concerning them—"As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you." They shall no more become Babylonians than of old He would suffer them to become Egyptians. This passage, which I have taken for a text, may very truthfully be regarded as a threat of terrible judgment upon erring Israel—as much as if the Lord had said, "You of the house of Israel, whom I have made to be the type of My spiritual people, you shall be Mine. And if you wander from Me, I will distinguish you by special punishments. Therefore I now threaten you with special judgments. If you will attempt to mix yourselves up with the Gentiles, I will deal with you with a startling severity, such as I have never shown unto the heathen. Your sins are greater, your privileges greater and so shall your chastisements be greater.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵבֵאתִ֣י | veheveti | and I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִדְבַּ֖ר | midbar | [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֑ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּ֤י | venishpati | and I will enter into judgment | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אִתְּכֶם֙ | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| שָׁ֔ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| פָּנִ֖ים | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פָּנִֽים׃ | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וְהֵבֵאתִ֣יand I will bring
vehevetiH935 →2568 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מִדְבַּ֖ר[the] wilderness of
midbarH4057 →270 times
הָֽעַמִּ֑יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּ֤יand I will enter into judgment
venishpatiH8199 →202 times
אִתְּכֶם֙with you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
שָׁ֔םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
פָּנִ֖יםface
panimH6440 →2123 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פָּנִֽים׃face
panimH6440 →2123 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
Revelation 12:14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times,…
it leads to
- Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 19:4
‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
- Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
- Daniel 12:7
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever,…
- Daniel 7:25
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Revelation 12:6
Through
Hosea 2:14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:35–36
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:1–2
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
- Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
- Ezekiel 20:35–36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1840: “The Bond of the Covenant” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.