Ezekiel 6:13

13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols.

Ezekiel 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.

Ezekiel 6:13 In-Context

11 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Clap your hands, and stamp your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
12 He that is far off shall die of pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them.
13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols.
14 And I will stretch out my hand against them, and make the land desolate and waste, throughout all their habitations, from the wilderness to Riblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.