Ezekiel 7:26 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 7:26
Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
mischief
הֹוָה֙ho.Vah
H1943
ruin · noun, common feminine singular absolute
rumour
וּשְׁמֻעָ֥הu.she.mu.'Ah
H8052
something heard · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
rumour
שְׁמוּעָ֖הshe.mu.'Ah
H8052
something heard · noun, common feminine singular absolute
seek
וּבִקְשׁ֤וּu.vik.Shu
H1245
to search out (by any method · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
vision
חָזוֹן֙cha.zOn
H2377
a sight (mentally) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
prophet
מִנָּבִ֔יאmi.na.Vi'
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
law
וְתוֹרָה֙ve.to.Rah
H8451
a precept or statute · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
perish
תֹּאבַ֣דto.Vad
H6
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
priest
מִכֹּהֵ֔ןmi.ko.Hen
H3548
literally one officiating · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
counsel
וְעֵצָ֖הve.'e.Tzah
H6098
advice · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
ancients
מִזְּקֵנִֽיםmi.ze.ke.Nim
H2205
old · preposition + adjective, masculine plural absolute
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
Jeremiah 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
Psalms 74:9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
Ezekiel 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Micah 3:6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun sha…
Jeremiah 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, n…
Jeremiah 21:2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us…
Jeremiah 37:17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And…
Lamentations 2:9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no mo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 7:23–end
Here is, I. The prisoner arraigned: Make a chain, in which to drag the criminal to the bar, and set him before the tribunal of divine justice; let him stand in fetters (as a notorious malefactor), stand pinioned to receive his doom. Note, Those that break the bands of God's law asunder, and cast away those cords from them, will find themselves bound and held by the chains of his judgments, which they cannot break nor cast from them. The chain signified the siege of Jerusalem, or the slavery of those that were carried into captivity, or that they were all bound over to the righteous judgment of God, reserved in chains.
II. The indictment drawn up against the prisoner: The land is full of bloo…
Mischief . . . upon . . . mischief-- (Deu 32:23; Jer 4:20). This is said because the Jews were apt to fancy, at every abatement of suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will accumulate woe on woe.
rumour--of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty (Mat 24:6).
seek a vision--to find some way of escape from their difficulties (Isa 26:9). So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah (Jer 37:17; Jer 38:14).
law shall perish--fulfilled (Eze 20:1, Eze 20:3; Psa 74:9; Lam 2:9; compare Amo 8:11); God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from the priest" (Jer 18:18).
ancients--the ecclesiastical rulers of the people.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 7:26
Then shall they seek a vision - Vision shall perish from the prophet, the law from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. Previously to great national judgments, God restrains the influences of his Spirit. His word is not accompanied with the usual unction; and the wise men of the land, the senators and celebrated statesmen, devise foolish schemes; and thus, in endeavoring to avert it, they hasten on the national ruin. How true is the saying, Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. "Those whom God designs to destroy, he first infatuates."
John Gill on Ezekiel 7:26
Mischief shall come upon mischief,.... One misfortune or calamity after another; first one unhappy event, and then another, as was Job's case. The Targum is,
"breach upon breach shall come (o):''
and rumour shall be upon rumour; that the Chaldean army is in such a place; and then that it is in another place still nearer; and then that it is but a few miles off, and, will be here immediately: rumours of wars, as well as wars, themselves, are very distressing; see Matthew 24:6;
then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; apply to him for a prophecy, to know the event of things, whether and when they might expect a deliverance:
but the law shall perish from the priest; whose lips should k…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 26.) Disturbance will come upon disturbance, and hearing upon hearing. LXX: Woe upon woe will be, and message upon message. Just as it is said to the saints: Rejoice, again I say rejoice (Philippians IV, 2); and concerning them it is written: They will go from strength to strength (Psalm LXXXIII, 8), so that present good things may abound with future good things: likewise, for those upon whom distress comes, and who sought peace but did not find it, disturbance will come upon disturbance, or woe upon woe, as it is also written in the Apocalypse: woe has gone away, and woe will come quickly (Apocalypse IX, 12). And news will come upon news, and message upon message; according to the blessed Job: While one was still speaking, another messenger came (Job 1:16), increasing evils with evils, and describing the noise and tumult of approaching Babylonians. And they will seek a vision from the Prophet: and the law will perish from the Priest, and counsel from the elders. Specifically, each individual seeks specific things. The prophet seeks the prophecy of the future. The interpretation of the law is the duty of the priest. The prudent counsel is sought by those of mature age; according to what is written: In the counsel of the saints (or the just) and the assembly, are the great works of the Lord (Ps. CX, 1, 2). However, these things were not only sought by the prophets, priests, and elders when the Babylonian army came against Jerusalem, but they are sought daily in the churches. But if they have lost sight, law, and counsel, in vain do they boast of having prophets, priests, and elders.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Chains · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Conviction · OF SIN — OF SIN
Prophets · Frequently left without divine communication on account of sins of the people — Frequently left without divine communication on account of sins of the people
Remorse · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 7:26
26. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
26. Calamitas super calamitatem veniet, et rumor super rumorem erit: et qu?rent visionem a propheta, [169] et lex transibit [170] sacerdote, et concilium a senibus.
The Prophet here explains more at length the nature of that slaughter of which he was a herald. And again he deprives the Jews of all ground for hope, and shows that they should look around on all sides in vain, because God would deprive them of all help. This is the meaning of the passage. Hence he says, calamities shall come…
Fourth Strophe
Still worse is coming, namely, the captivity of the people, and overthrow of the kingdom. - Eze 7:23. Make the chain, for the land is full of capital crime, and the city full of outrage. Eze 7:24. I shall bring evil ones of the nations, that they may take possession of their houses; and I shall put an end to the pride of the strong, that their sanctuaries may be defiled. Eze 7:25. Ruin has come; they seek salvation, but there is none. Eze 7:26. Destruction upon destruction cometh, and report upon report ariseth; they seek visions from prophets, but the law will vanish away from the priest, and counsel from the elders. Eze 7:27. The king will mourn, and the prince will clothe h…
Neither religious authorities (prophets and priests) nor civil leaders (king or prince) could bring the peace the people were looking for. High-born and low-born alike would be helpless in facing their judgment. In the complete absence of guidance and direction, no hope would be left for the people.
Rashi on Ezekiel 7:26
Happening upon happening Heb. הוָֹה עַל-הוָֹה, happening upon happening, being after being. Menachem (p. 70) associated it to a term for a breach.
and instruction will be lost from a priest who usually gave instruction, as is said (Mal. 2:7): “and teaching should be sought from his mouth.”
