Ezekiel 5:11

11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations—therefore I will cut you down; my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.

Ezekiel 5:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 5:11

Wherefore, [as] I live, saith the Lord God
This is a form of an oath, and shows that what is after said should certainly be done; God would not repent of it, nor revoke it: surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary, with all thy detestable
things, and with all thine abominations:
that is, with their idols and idolatrous worship, which were detestable and abominable to the Lord; so Manasseh not only built altars for Baal in the house of the Lord, but set up in it a graven image of the grove, ( 2 Kings 21:3 2 Kings 21:4 2 Kings 21:7 ) ; therefore will I also diminish [thee];
as they lessened his glory by such abominable actions, so he threatens that he would lessen their privileges and blessings; as they took away from him the worship and honour that were due to him, so he would take away from them their civil and church state, his sanctuary, word, and ordinances, and deprive them of everything that was valuable and excellent. The Targum paraphrases it,

``I will cut off the strength of thine arm;''
weaken her power: neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity;
when in the greatest misery and distress. The Targum is,
``my Word shall not spare''

Ezekiel 5:11 In-Context

9 And because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
10 Surely, parents shall eat their children in your midst, and children shall eat their parents; I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to every wind.
11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations—therefore I will cut you down; my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.
12 One third of you shall die of pestilence or be consumed by famine among you; one third shall fall by the sword around you; and one third I will scatter to every wind and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 My anger shall spend itself, and I will vent my fury on them and satisfy myself; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy, when I spend my fury on them.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Another reading is [I will withdraw]
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.