Ezekiel 20:7

7 And I said to them, Each man cast away the offences of his eyes, and do not ye be defouled in the idols of Egypt; I am your Lord God. (And I said to them, Each person throw away the abominations before his eyes, and do not ye be defiled with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.)

Ezekiel 20:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:7

Then I said unto them
Having promised and swore to do such great and good things for them; which must lay them under an obligation to regard what he should command them: promises and blessings of goodness are great incentives to duty, and lay under great obligation to it: cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes;
which should be so, meaning idols; but which his eyes were taken with, and were lifted up unto, as his gods; though they ought to have been rejected with the utmost abhorrence, as abominable: and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt;
their "dunghill gods", as the word ^F6 signifies; which to worship, as it was an abomination to God, was defiling to themselves; yet these they were fond of, and prone to worship them; their eyes and their hearts were after them; and they needed such cautions and instructions as these, backed with the following strong reason against such idolatry: I [am] the Lord your God;
their Creator and Benefactor, their covenant God; the only Lord God, and whom only they ought to serve and worship; to whom they were under ten thousand obligations; and who was infinitely above all the idols of Egypt.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (ylwlgb) "stercoreis diis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "stercoribus", Piscator, Cocceius.

Ezekiel 20:7 In-Context

5 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, In the day in which I chose Israel, and raised mine hand for the generation of the house of Jacob, and I appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and I raised mine hand for them, and I said, I am your Lord God, (And thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, On the day on which I chose Israel, and raised up my hand for the descendants of the house of Jacob, and I appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and I raised up my hand for them, and I said, I am the Lord your God,)

6 in that day I raised mine hand for them, that I should lead them out of the land of Egypt (on that day that I raised up my hand for them, that I would lead them out of the land of Egypt), into the land which I had purveyed for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is noble among all lands.

7 And I said to them, Each man cast away the offences of his eyes, and do not ye be defouled in the idols of Egypt; I am your Lord God. (And I said to them, Each person throw away the abominations before his eyes, and do not ye be defiled with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.)

8 And they stirred me to wrath, and would not hear me; each man casted not away the abominations of his eyes, neither they forsook the idols of Egypt. And I said, that I would shed out mine indignation on them, and [ful]fill my wrath in them, in the midst of the land of Egypt. (And they stirred me to anger, and would not listen to me; each person did not throw away the abominations before their eyes, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. And I said, that I would pour out my indignation upon them, and fulfill my anger against them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.)

9 And I did for my name, that it should not be defouled before heathen men, in the midst of whom they were, and among whom I appeared to them, that I should lead them out of the land of Egypt. (And I did it for the sake of my name, so that it would not be defiled before the heathen, in the midst of whom they were, and among whom I appeared to them, so that I could lead them out of the land of Egypt.)