Ezekiel 20:39

39 And ye, the house of Israel, the Lord God saith these things, Go ye each man after your idols, and serve ye those. That and if ye hear not me in this, and defoul more mine holy name in your gifts, and in your idols, (And ye, O house of Israel, the Lord God saith these things, Go ye each person after your idols, and serve ye them. But if ye do not listen to me, or obey me, in this, and more defile my holy name with your gifts, and with your idols,)

Ezekiel 20:39 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:39

As for you, O house of Israel
The then present house of Israel, and the elders of it, who were upon the spot with the prophet: go ye, serve ye everyone his idols;
or dunghill gods; since they liked not to serve the true God: this is not giving them leave to serve idols, or approving their idolatrous practices; but is said "ironically", as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, who compare it with ( Ecclesiastes 11:9 ) : and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me;
not only serve them now, but for the future; seeing ye choose not to hearken to my voice, to obey my laws, and to worship me, and me only; for it suggests, that it was better to attend to the service of the one, or of the other, and not halt between two opinions; but either, if the God of Israel was the true God, then serve him, and him only; but if Baal, or any other Heathen deity, was so, then serve them, and keep serving them: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts and with your
idols;
to worship him along with them, and them along with him; to pretend they worshipped him in them, and offered their gifts and sacrifices to him through them; and so made use of his name as a cover to their idolatrous practices: this was a polluting his name, and was abominable to him.

Ezekiel 20:39 In-Context

37 and I shall make you subject to my sceptre, and I shall bring in you in the bonds of peace. (and I shall make you subject to my rod, or to my rule, and I shall bring you within, or make you obey, the covenant.)
38 And I shall choose of you trespassers, and wicked men (And I shall purge you of trespassers, and those who be wicked); and I shall lead them out of the land of their dwelling, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know, that I am the Lord.
39 And ye, the house of Israel, the Lord God saith these things, Go ye each man after your idols, and serve ye those. That and if ye hear not me in this, and defoul more mine holy name in your gifts, and in your idols, (And ye, O house of Israel, the Lord God saith these things, Go ye each person after your idols, and serve ye them. But if ye do not listen to me, or obey me, in this, and more defile my holy name with your gifts, and with your idols,)
40 in mine holy hill, in the high hill of Israel, saith the Lord God, ye shall be punished grievouslier. There all the house of Israel shall serve me, soothly all men in the land (truly all those in the land), in which they shall please me; and there I shall seek your first fruits, and the beginning of your tithes in all your hallowings.
41 I shall receive you into odour of sweetness (I shall receive your offerings of sweet aroma), when I shall lead you out of (the) peoples, and shall gather you from (the) lands, in which ye were scattered; and I shall be hallowed in you before the eyes of the nations.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.