Ezekiel 14:5

5 ut capiatur domus Israhel in corde suo quo recesserunt a me in cunctis idolis suis

Ezekiel 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:5

That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart
By which they are ensnared, and drawn aside to their ruin; being given up to strong delusions, to believe a lie, and worship idols; God threatening to answer them by righteous judgments, and thereby take the wickedness, the hypocrisy, and idolatry, that were in their hearts, and expose and make it manifest unto others; or, by punishing them, to draw out the corruption and sin that were in them, that it might be seen what a wicked people they were. The Targum interprets the text in another way,

``that I may bring near the house of Israel, and put repentance into their hearts;''

because they are all estranged from me through their idols;
they grew shy of God and his worship, when they fell into idolatry. Alienation from God, from the life of God, from the law of God, from the worship of God, and of the affections from him, is owing to some idol or another set up in the heart, or before the eye; whatever is worshipped besides God, or gains the ascendant in the heart, alienates from him; and God will not admit of a rival, he cannot and will not bear it; and for this reason he inflicts punishment, or answers in a terrible way.

Ezekiel 14:5 In-Context

3 fili hominis viri isti posuerunt inmunditias suas in cordibus suis et scandalum iniquitatis suae statuerunt contra faciem suam numquid interrogatus respondebo eis

4 propter hoc loquere eis et dices ad eos haec dicit Dominus Deus homo homo de domo Israhel qui posuerit inmunditias suas in corde suo et scandalum iniquitatis suae statuerit contra faciem suam et venerit ad prophetam interrogans per eum me ego Dominus respondebo ei in multitudine inmunditiarum suarum

5 ut capiatur domus Israhel in corde suo quo recesserunt a me in cunctis idolis suis

6 propterea dic ad domum Israhel haec dicit Dominus Deus convertimini et recedite ab idolis vestris et ab universis contaminationibus vestris avertite facies vestras

7 quia homo homo de domo Israhel et de proselytis quicumque advena fuerit in Israhel si alienatus fuerit a me et posuerit idola sua in corde suo et scandalum iniquitatis suae statuerit contra faciem suam et venerit ad prophetam ut interroget per eum me ego Dominus respondebo ei per me