Ezekiel 20:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 20:1
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
a year (as a revolution of time) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fifth
בַּֽחֲמִשִׁי֙ba.cha.mi.Shi
H2549
fifth · preposition with the article + ordinal number, masculine singular absolute
tenth
בֶּעָשׂ֣וֹרbe.'a.Sor
H6218
ten · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
month
לַחֹ֔דֶשׁla.Cho.desh
H2320
the new moon · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
certain
אֲנָשִׁ֛ים'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
elders
מִזִּקְנֵ֥יmi.zik.Nei
H2205
old · preposition + adjective, masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
came
בָּ֧אוּBa.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
enquire
לִדְרֹ֣שׁlid.Rosh
H1875
properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
sat
וַיֵּשְׁב֖וּvai.ye.she.Vu
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
before
לְפָנָֽיle.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 8:1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sa…
Ezekiel 24:1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 29:17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, s…
Ezekiel 30:20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, sayin…
Ezekiel 31:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 32:1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 20:1-4
Here is, 1. The occasion of the message which we have in this chapter. That sermon which we had ch. 18 was occasioned by their presumptuous reflections upon God; this was occasioned by their hypocritical enquiries after him. Each shall have his own. This prophecy is exactly dated, in the seventh year of the captivity, about two years after Ezekiel began to prophesy. God would have them to keep account how long their captivity lasted, that they might see how the years went on towards their deliverance, though very slowly. Certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, not statedly (as those Eze 8:1), but, as it should seem, occasionally, and upon a particular emergency. Whether…
In the seventh year - Of the captivity of Jeconiah, (see Eze 8:1), and the seventh of the reign of Zedekiah.
The fifth month, the tenth day - That is, according to Abp. Usher, Monday, August 27, A.M. 3411.
Certain of the elders of Israel - What these came to inquire about is not known. They were doubtless hypocrites and deceivers, from the manner in which God commands the prophet to treat them. It seems to have been such a deputation of elders as those mentioned Eze 8:1; Eze 14:1.
John Gill on Ezekiel 20:1
And it came to pass in the seventh year,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and of the captivity of Jeconiah; from whence the dates of Ezekiel's visions and prophecies are taken, Ezekiel 1:2; two years, one month, and five days, after Ezekiel began to prophesy, and eleven months and five days after the preceding prophecy:
in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month; the month Ab, which answers to our July and August; on this day afterwards Jerusalem was twice destroyed, first by the Chaldeans, and then by the Romans:
that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord; by the prophet; these were either some of the elders that were carried captive, who came to inquire how long they sh…
(Chapter 20, Verse 1) And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth, in the tenth month, men came from the elders of Israel to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me. After eleven months and five days of the previous vision, again the word of the Lord came to the prophet, after men came from the elders of the house of Israel to inquire of the Lord and sat before him. However, many examples testify that it was the custom of the people of Israel to seek whatever they desired to know from the Lord through the prophets. Saul, looking for donkeys, goes to Samuel and receives advice from a young boy to offer a quarter shekel to the prophet. When Jeroboam's son is sick, he is sent to Shiloh to the prophet Achiam (also known as Abiam), bringing gifts of bread, cakes, grapes, and a jar of honey, to learn about the illness of his son. David also consults the prophet Nathan, asking whether he should build a temple for the Lord. And Ahab inquires whether he should go up to Ramoth Gilead or not (3 Kings 22). In Isaiah (Isa. 37) and in the book of Kings (4 Kings 19), it is announced what will happen with Sennacherib. It is not surprising that in the Old Testament the prophets announce everything that is going to happen, since we have read that Agabus prophesied to Paul what was going to happen (Acts 21). It is written in Deuteronomy: The nations that the Lord is going to destroy before you, they will listen to dreams and divinations, but the Lord your God has not given you this (Deut. 18:14). For it is the practice of the Gentiles to consult the Chaldeans, augurs, diviners, soothsayers, and oracles of demons, by which their error is mocked. Therefore, even now the elders of Israel approach a prophet to inquire of the Lord through him, and yet they are silent about their inquiry, with the one who was to be questioned knowing what they were asking, so that a miracle occurred in him, knowing why they had come and answering the unspoken thoughts in their minds.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
on Ezekiel 20:1
Ezekiel 20:1
1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
1. Et fuit anno septimo, quinto mense, decimo mensis venerunt viri e senioribus Israel ad consulendum Jehovam: et sederunt coram facie mea. [256]
Here he does not narrate a vision but an event which really happened. It is a simple historical narrative, that some of the elders of Israel were chosen to interrogate him. We know this to be customary, and when God separates His people from the profane nations, he opposes his prophets to the soothsayers and magi, augurs and astrologers. For he says that the…
The date given in Eze 20:1 applies not only to Ezekiel 20, but also to Ezekiel 20-23 (compare Eze 24:1); the prophetic utterances in these four chapters being bound together into a group of connected words of God, both by their contents and by the threefold repetition of the expression, "wilt thou judge?" (vid., Eze 20:4; Eze 22:2, and Eze 23:36). The formula התשׁפּוט, which is only omitted from the threat of punishment contained in Ezekiel 21, indicates at the same time both the nature and design of these words of God. The prophet is to judge, i.e., to hold up before the people once more their sinful abominations, and to predict the consequent punishment. The circumstance which occasioned t…
the seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity: Five more years would pass before the destruction of Jerusalem. • The leaders (literally elders) of Israel—the leaders of the community in exile—came to Ezekiel once again, looking for a word from the Lord (cp. 8:1; 14:1). Normally, seeking a message from the Lord is a good thing. But these leaders had already been condemned for their mixed motives (see ch 14), and the Lord would not receive their request. The question they asked Ezekiel is not recorded—perhaps they never had the opportunity to ask it.
Rashi on Ezekiel 20:1
to inquire of the Lord concerning their needs, and if He does not listen to us, neither will we be punished for the sins in our hands, for He has already sold us, and He has nothing on us. If a master has sold his slave, or a husband has divorced his wife, does one have anything on the other? And from the conclusion of the matter you learn [this], from the reply that he gave them (verse 32): “What enters your thoughts, etc.”
