Ezekiel 6:13

13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols.

Ezekiel 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 6:13

Then shall ye know that I [am] the Lord
Whom they had denied, by serving other gods; but now by those punishments their eyes would be opened to see, and be obliged to acknowledge, that there was no God but the Lord: when their slain [men] shall be among their idols round about their
altars;
as is threatened, ( Ezekiel 6:5 ) ; by which it will appear that the idols whom they worshipped could not save them; since they should fall just by them, round about the altars on which they sacrificed unto them; which idols were placed, and altars for their worship built, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains:
mountains and high hills were usual places of idolatry among the Heathens, in which the Jews imitated them, and particularly Herodotus F5 says of the Persians, that, going up to the highest parts of mountains, they offered sacrifice to Jupiter; so they called the whole circle of the heavens: and under every green tree, and under every thick oak;
see ( 1 Kings 14:23 ) ( 2 Kings 16:4 ) ( Jeremiah 2:20 ) ( 3:6 ) ; here their slain were to fall, where they committed their idolatry: even in the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols;
or dunghill gods; yet, though they were such, sweet savour or incense was offered to them; wherefore, in righteous judgment, here their carcasses should fill and lie, and rot and stink.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 Clio, sive l. 1. c. 131.

Ezekiel 6:13 In-Context

11 Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands and stamp your foot, and say, Alas for all the vile abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
12 Those far off shall die of pestilence; those nearby shall fall by the sword; and any who are left and are spared shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them.
13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols.
14 I will stretch out my hand against them, and make the land desolate and waste, throughout all their settlements, from the wilderness to Riblah. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.