Yechezkel 6:13

13 Then shall ye know that I am Hashem, when their slain shall be among their gillulim all around their mizbechot, upon every givah ramah (high hill), in all the tops of the harim, and under every spreading tree, and under every leafy elah (oak tree), the makom (place) where they did offer rei’ach nicho’ach to all their gillulim.

Yechezkel 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.

Yechezkel 6:13 In-Context

11 Thus saith Adonoi Hashem; strike with thine hand, and stamp with thy regel, and say, Alas for kol to’avot ra’ot Bais Yisroel! For they shall fall by cherev (sword), by ra’av (famine), and by dever (plague).
12 He that is far off shall die by dever; and he that is near shall fall by cherev; and he that surviveth and is besieged shall die by ra’av (famine); thus will I accomplish My chemah (fury) upon them.
13 Then shall ye know that I am Hashem, when their slain shall be among their gillulim all around their mizbechot, upon every givah ramah (high hill), in all the tops of the harim, and under every spreading tree, and under every leafy elah (oak tree), the makom (place) where they did offer rei’ach nicho’ach to all their gillulim.
14 So will I stretch out My yad upon them, and make HaAretz desolate, yes, more desolate than the midbar toward Divlah, in all their moshevot (dwellings); then they shall know that I am Hashem.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.