Ezekiel 20:5

5 and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the LORD your God.”

Ezekiel 20:5 in Other Translations

5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;

5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God.

5 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD : When I chose Israel—when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt—I took a solemn oath that I, the LORD, would be their God.

5 Tell them that God, the Master, says:

5 Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob's house and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying: I am the Lord your God.

Ezekiel 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:5

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God
Here begins the account of their fathers; of God's unmerited goodness to them, and of their sins and transgressions against him, and how it fared with them: in the day when I chose Israel;
to be his peculiar people, above all people on the face of the earth; when he declared his choice of them, and made it appear that he had chosen them, and distinguished them, by special blessings and favours bestowed on them: and lifted up mine hand to the seed of the house of Jacob;
the posterity of Jacob or Israel, to whom the Lord swore that he would do such and such things for them; of which the lifting up the hand was a token; it is a gesture used in swearing, ( Daniel 12:7 ) ; and so the Targum,

``and I swore unto them by my word:''

and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt:
by his name Jehovah; by the prophets he sent unto them, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and by the miracles he wrought among them: when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I [am] the Lord your God:
making promise of it, declaring it unto them, confirming it with an oath; see ( Hebrews 6:17 Hebrews 6:18 ) .

Ezekiel 20:5 In-Context

3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign LORD.’

4 “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors

5 and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the LORD your God.”

6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

7 And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

Cross References

• 1. S Deuteronomy 7:6
• 2. S Genesis 14:22; S Numbers 14:30
• 3. S Leviticus 11:44; Exodus 6:7