the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Bible Commentaries
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Vision of God's Glory and Cherubim.Chapter 2
Prophet's Call and Commission.Chapter 3
Ezekiel's Role as a Watchman and Prophet.Chapter 4
Symbolic Acts Illustrating Jerusalem's Siege.Chapter 5
Prophecy of Jerusalem's Judgment; Symbolic Acts.Chapter 6
Prophecy Against the Mountains of Israel.Chapter 7
The End Has Come; Disaster Foretold.Chapter 8
Vision of Idolatry in Jerusalem.Chapter 9
The Mark on the Righteous; Destruction of the Wicked.Chapter 10
Vision of God's Glory Departing from the Temple.Chapter 11
Prophecy of Judgment and Promise of Restoration.Chapter 12
Symbolic Acts of Exile and Judgment.Chapter 13
Prophecy Against False Prophets and Their Deceit.Chapter 14
Idolatry Condemned; Promise of Deliverance.Chapter 15
The Parable of the Useless Vine.Chapter 16
Jerusalem's Unfaithfulness Depicted as Adultery.Chapter 17
Parable of the Two Eagles and the Vine.Chapter 18
Personal Responsibility for Sin and Righteousness.Chapter 19
Lament for the Princes of Israel.Chapter 20
Rebellion of Israel; God's Past and Future Acts.Chapter 21
The Sword of the Lord Against Jerusalem.Chapter 22
Jerusalem's Corruption and the Coming Judgment.Chapter 23
The Allegory of Two Unfaithful Sisters.Chapter 24
The Parable of the Boiling Pot; Jerusalem's Destruction.Chapter 25
Prophecies Against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia.Chapter 26
Prophecy Against Tyre; Its Destruction Foretold.Chapter 27
Lament Over Tyre's Fall; Its Former Glory.Chapter 28
Prophecy Against Tyre's Prince and King; Lucifer's Fall.Chapter 29
Prophecy Against Egypt; Promise of Restoration.Chapter 30
Prophecies Against Egypt and Its Allies.Chapter 31
The Fall of Assyria Compared to Lebanon's Cedars.Chapter 32
Lament for Pharaoh and Egypt's Fall.Chapter 33
The Watchman's Duty; Renewal of Israel's Hope.Chapter 34
The Shepherds of Israel and the Coming Shepherd.Chapter 35
Prophecy Against Edom's Bitterness.Chapter 36
Restoration of Israel and the Renewal of the Land.Chapter 37
The Vision of Dry Bones and the Two Sticks.Chapter 38
Prophecy Against Gog of Magog and Future Invasion.Chapter 39
The Defeat of Gog; Restoration of Israel.Chapter 40
Vision of the Restored Temple and Its Measurements.Chapter 41
Details of the Temple's Interior.Chapter 42
Measurements of the Temple's Precincts.Chapter 43
God's Glory Returns to the Temple.Chapter 44
Regulations for the Temple and the Priests.Chapter 45
Land Divisions and Temple Offerings.Chapter 46
Regulations for Worship and Sacrifices.Chapter 47
The River of Life Flowing from the Temple.Chapter 48
Division of the Land Among the Tribes of Israel.
- Ezekiel
by Editor - R.A. Torrey
The character of Ezekiel, as a Writer and Poet, is thus admirably drawn by the masterly hand of Bishop Lowth: “Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in elegance; in sublimity he is not even excelled by Isaiah; but his sublimity is of a totally different kind. He is deep, vehement, tragical; his sentiments are elevated, animated, full of fire and indignation; his imagery is crowded, magnificent, terrific; his language is grand, solemn, austere, rough, and at times unpolished; he abounds in repetitions, not for the sake of grace or elegance, but from vehemence and indignation. Whatever subject he treats of, that he sedulously puruses; from that he rarely departs, but cleaves, as it were, to it; whence the connexion is in general evident and well preserved. In other respects he may perhaps be exceeded by the other prophets; but, for that species of composition to which he seems adapted by natural gifts, the forcible, impetuous, grave, and grand, not one of the sacred writers is superior to him. His diction is sufficiently perspicuous; all his obscurity arises from the nature of his subjects. Visions (as for instance, among others, those of Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah), are necessarily dark and confused. The greater part of Ezekiel, particularly towards the middle of the book, is poetical, whether we regard the matter of the language.” Abp. Newcombe judiciously observes, The Prophet is not to be considered merely as a poet, or as a framer of those august and astonishing visions, and of those admirable poetical representations, which he committed to writing; but as an instrument in the hands of God, who vouchsafed to reveal himself, through a long succession of ages, not only in divers parts constituting a magnificant and uniform whole, but also in different manners, as by voice, by dreams, by inspiration, and by plain or enigmatical vision. “Ezekiel is a great poet, full of originality; and, in my opinion, whoever censures him as if he were only an imitator of the old prophets, can never have felt his power. He must not, in general, be compared with Isaiah, and the rest of the old prophets. Those are great, Ezekiel is also great; those in their manner of poetry, Ezekiel in his.” To justify this character the learned prelate descends to particulars, and gives apposite examples, not only of the clear, flowing, and nervous, but also of the sublime; and concludes his observations on his style, by stating it to be his deliberate opinion, that if his “style is the old age of Hebrew language and composition (as has been alleged), it is a firm and vigorous one, and should induce us to trace its youth and manhood with the most assiduous attention.” As a Prophet, Ezekiel must ever be allowed to occupy a very high rank; and few of the prophets have left a more valuable treasure to the church of God than he has. It is true, he is in several places obscure; but this resulted either from the nature of his subjects, or the events predicted being still unfulfilled; and, when time has rolled away the mist of futurity, successive generations will then perceive with what heavenly wisdom this much neglected prophet has spoken. There is, however, a great proportion of his work which is free from every obscurity, and highly edifying. He has so accurately and minutely foretold the fate and condition of various nations and cities, that nothing can be more interesting than to trace the exact accomplishment of these prophecies in the accounts furnished by historians and travellers; while, under the elegant type of a new temple to be erected, a new worship to be introduced, and a new Jerusalem to be built, with new land to be allotted to the twelve tribes, may be discovered the vast extent and glory of the New Testament Church.