Verse 2. Take. Before (Calmet. 3:17.) God made the choice, ( Calmet.) as he does here, verse 7. He confirms the authority of those who are appointed to govern.—Meanest. Lit. “last,” ( Bible.) which seems to denote such as are chosen without regard to their dignity or obscurity in life. Genesis 47:2 and 3 Kennicott. 12:31. Calmet.—Pastors are not excused from admonishing the people for fear of danger or despair of reclaiming them, as each one is bound to do his duty. Saint Jerome Worthington.
Ezekiel
Verse 6. Iniquity, not regarding the admonitions of his pastor; (Calmet. 3:18. Calmet.) or rather of conscience, when the guide proves faithless and silent, as in this instance. Bible.—The people were persuaded that none suffered except for some fault. verse 10. Jeremiah 31:30. Daniel 13:52. Genesis 44:16. The author of the Book of Job takes great pains to remove this mistake. God sometimes sends crosses for a trial, ( Calmet.) and to increase the merit of his servants; though it be very true, ( Bible.) “no one is miserable except he deserve it.” Saint Augustine
Ezekiel
Verse 8. Surely die a temporal, (Theod.) or rather an eternal death. Saint Jerome
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Verse 10. Live? They suppose their case to be desperate, as their fathers had sinned. Calmet. 18. The prophet shews that none are punished except for their own faults, ( Calmet.) and that “each one has free-will to be saved or to be lost.” Saint Jerome
Ezekiel
Verse 11. Desire. The sinner’s damnation is not an object of God’s pleasure. Calmet. 18:23. Calmet.—He has an antecedent will to save all. He knocks at the door of our heart, (Revelation 3:20) and if man do what depends on him, nothing will be wanting on the part of God. Saint Thomas Aquinas i. 2. q. 109. and 112. Worthington.
Ezekiel
Verse 12. Hurt him. God effaces all past crimes: yet a relapse makes them as it were revive, and is pardoned with more difficulty. Matthew 18:35. Some read, “In what day the converted sinner groans, he shall be saved,” as if they had taken in part of Isaiah 30:15.
Ezekiel
Verse 17. Equitable; as we are much more inclined to vice than to virtue. This argumentation is inconclusive, as God owes nothing to man; and what good the latter does, is an effect of His grace. The propensity to evil is no excuse, as man is still free. He is judged according to the dispositions in which he is found at the hour of death; yet we must not infer, that those who have spent their lives in sinning will be no worse treated than the person who dies guilty of a single crime.
Ezekiel
Verse 21. Twelfth. Rom. Septuagint “tenth.” Syr. “eleventh year, … in the twelfth month;” which Theodoret thinks more probable, as the city was taken in the ninth of the fourth month of that year. Yet even so, it is strange that the news should not arrive before. Some think ( Calmet.) that the messenger came also to announce what happened after the death of Godolias. Sanct.—Captivity. Here it is evident that the prophet dates from that event. Calmet. 1. and so forth Bible.—As he prophesied on the very day when the city was besieged, (Calmet. 24:2) so (verse 26) he foretold that one should come three years after to inform him of the capture. Worthington.—Then the people would believe him, (ib. verse 27. Calmet.) and he would open his mouth boldly. verse 22. Bible.
Ezekiel
Verse 24. Places. He has answered those who despaired. verse 10. Now he turns to the presumptuous, who expected to be treated like Abraham, though they did not imitate his virtues. Calmet.—They perhaps entertained these sentiments before the death of Godolias, thinking to establish themselves in the land. Afterwards the prophet Jeremias could not prevail on them to remain, though God promised them security.
Ezekiel
Verse 25. To them. Grabe marks to verse 27. Thus saith, and so forth as wanting in the Septuagint though not in the Alex. copy. S. Jerom reckons eight verses or lines omitted. Bible.—The Comp. and Theodoret read them with some variations.—The blood. It must be carefully extracted. Genesis 9:4. Leviticus 7:26.—Uncleannesses; idols, in which you trust.
Ezekiel
Verse 26. Swords, thinking to live thereby, (Genesis 27:40) and to be secure. But I will disarm you. The pestilence shall find out those in the rocks. verse 27.
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Verse 30. Walls, the resort of idle people. Calmet.
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Verse 31. In to a religious meeting. Chal. Perhaps they came on the sabbath to his house. Yet they made a just and song of his instructions. Calmet.—They heard them with pleasure, but did not reform their lives. Bible.
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Verse 33. Coming. The desolation of Jerusalem, ( Bible.) and what I have foretold, hath already taken place; or, the news will presently arrive: as it did the following morning. verse 21. Calmet.