Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel is the prophet of the exile, called to speak God's word to the captives in Babylon through dramatic visions and signs. His book moves from searching judgment to the promise of a restored people, a new heart, and the valley of dry bones raised to life. This commentary walks through it verse by verse.
About This Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel records the ministry of Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest carried to Babylon before Jerusalem's fall, who prophesied to the exiles roughly 593 to 571 BC. His book is marked by extraordinary visions, the glory of God by the Chebar, the wheels within wheels, the departure and return of God's glory, and vivid sign-acts. It moves from judgment on Judah and the nations to the great promises of restoration: a new heart and a new spirit, the valley of dry bones raised to life, and a river flowing from the temple.
This commentary covers Ezekiel verse by verse, with the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, verified background, and an Apostolic reading. Ezekiel's promise that God will give 'a new heart... and a new spirit' (36:26) is fulfilled in the new birth of water and Spirit, and his vision of glory in the form of a Man points to Christ. References are given at the foot of each chapter.
All 48 chapters of Ezekiel are complete, from the opening vision of the glory by the river Chebar to the closing city named 'The LORD is there.'
Author
Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest exiled to Babylon.
Setting
Among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, ~593 to 571 BC.
Key Themes
God's glory, the watchman, judgment, and restoration.
Famous Visions
The wheels (1), dry bones (37), and the temple river (47).
Translation
King James Version (KJV) throughout.
The Chapters
Ezekiel Commentary
The chapters below are available now. The rest are being written and will open here as they are finished and verified.
Ezekiel 1:1-28
The Glory by the River
In exile by the River Chebar the heavens open, and Ezekiel sees the living creatures, the wheels within wheels, and the glory of the LORD on the throne, declaring that God is not confined to Jerusalem.
Read Chapter 1 →Ezekiel 2:1-10
Son of Man, Stand Upon Thy Feet
God commissions Ezekiel: the Spirit sets him on his feet, sends him to a rebellious house 'whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,' charges him to fear neither their words nor their looks, and gives him a scroll to eat, written with 'lamentations, and mourning, and woe.'
Read Chapter 2 →Ezekiel 3:1-27
I Have Made Thee a Watchman
Ezekiel eats the scroll and finds it 'as honey for sweetness'; God makes him hard 'as an adamant' for a hard people, sets him among the exiles where he 'sat where they sat,' and lays on him the watchman's charge, warn, or the blood is required at his hand.
Read Chapter 3 →Ezekiel 4:1-17
The Sign of the Siege
The silenced prophet preaches by action: he portrays Jerusalem on a clay tile and lays siege to it, lies bound on his side to 'bear the iniquity' of Israel and Judah, and eats rationed, defiled bread to act out the famine, for God will 'break the staff of bread in Jerusalem.'
Read Chapter 4 →Ezekiel 5:1-17
This Is Jerusalem
The sign of the razor and divided hair: 'This is Jerusalem,' the city set among the nations that rebelled worse than the pagans and defiled God's sanctuary, so the LORD declares, 'I, even I, am against thee,' sending pestilence, sword, and scattering, yet binding a few as a remnant.
Read Chapter 5 →Ezekiel 6:1-14
Ye Shall Know That I Am the LORD
Prophecy against the mountains of Israel: the high places, altars, and idols smashed, the worshippers slain before their helpless gods, yet a remnant preserved who will 'remember me,' 'lothe themselves' for their sin, and know the LORD, whose heart is 'broken with their whorish heart.'
Read Chapter 6 →Ezekiel 7:1-27
An End, the End Is Come
A hammering poem of doom: the long-warned judgment has arrived, sin has ripened, 'the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded,' and nothing can deliver, silver and gold 'shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD,' and they 'shall seek peace, and there shall be none.'
Read Chapter 7 →Ezekiel 8:1-18
Greater Abominations Than These
The Spirit carries Ezekiel to the temple to see its hidden idolatry: the 'image of jealousy,' elders worshipping idols in the dark saying 'the LORD seeth us not,' women weeping for Tammuz, and men with their backs to the temple worshipping the sun, why the glory must depart.
Read Chapter 8 →Ezekiel 9:1-11
Set a Mark Upon the Foreheads
Before judgment falls, the man clothed in linen sets a mark on the foreheads of all 'that sigh and that cry for all the abominations,' sparing them; judgment 'begins at my sanctuary,' and Ezekiel falls on his face to intercede for the remnant.
Read Chapter 9 →Ezekiel 10:1-22
The Glory Departed From the Threshold
The saddest of visions: the cherubim and wheels return, the man in linen takes coals of fire to scatter over the city, and the glory of the LORD begins to leave the temple, moving from the cherub to the threshold to the east gate. God will not dwell in a house filled with idols.
Read Chapter 10 →Ezekiel 11:1-25
A New Heart, and a New Spirit
Judgment on the smug counsellors who called the city a caldron, then a shining promise to the despised exiles, 'I will be to them as a little sanctuary,' and 'I will give them one heart, and... a new spirit,' a 'heart of flesh' for the 'stony heart,' before the glory departs to the mountain east of the city.
Read Chapter 11 →Ezekiel 12:1-28
The Word Shall Be No More Prolonged
The sign of the exile's baggage and the prince taken in the LORD's snare, blind to a Babylon he never sees; bread eaten 'with quaking'; and God's answer to the scoffers who say 'every vision faileth,' 'There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done.'
Read Chapter 12 →Ezekiel 13:1-23
Peace, When There Was No Peace
Woe against the false prophets who 'prophesy out of their own hearts,' who cry 'Peace; and there was no peace,' and daub a crumbling wall with 'untempered morter' that the storm will bring down, and the women who 'hunt souls' with lies; God will tear down their walls and deliver His people.
Read Chapter 13 →Ezekiel 14:1-23
Idols in the Heart
The elders inquire of God while cherishing 'idols in their heart'; He calls them to 'repent, and turn,' and warns that even Noah, Daniel, and Job could 'deliver but their own souls by their righteousness,' magnifying the need for the righteousness of Christ.
Read Chapter 14 →Ezekiel 15:1-8
The Wood of the Vine
The parable of the useless vine, good for nothing but fruit and fit only for the fire when barren: so is fruitless Jerusalem. It points to Christ, 'the true vine,' apart from whom we 'can do nothing,' and in whom alone barren branches bear fruit.
Read Chapter 15 →Ezekiel 16:1-63
I Sware Unto Thee, and Thou Becamest Mine
The allegory of covenant love: an abandoned newborn to whom God said 'Live,' raised, washed, clothed, and made His bride, who then 'trusted in thine own beauty' and turned His gifts into idols. Judgment came in 'fury and jealousy,' yet the chapter turns on one word, 'Nevertheless I will remember my covenant... and establish an everlasting covenant.'
Read Chapter 16 →Ezekiel 17:1-24
A Tender Twig Upon a High Mountain
The riddle of two eagles and a vine, Zedekiah's fatal covenant-breaking with Babylon, punished because he 'despised' the oath sworn in God's name; then a messianic promise, God Himself plants 'a tender one' that becomes 'a goodly cedar' sheltering 'all fowl,' the kingdom of Christ.
Read Chapter 17 →Ezekiel 18:1-32
Turn Yourselves, and Live
God ends the sour-grapes proverb: 'all souls are mine... the soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Each answers for himself, 'the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.' The wicked who turns lives, his sins remembered no more, and God bares His heart, 'I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth... turn yourselves, and live.'
Read Chapter 18 →Ezekiel 19:1-14
A Lamentation for the Princes
A funeral song over Judah's fallen kings: the lioness whose whelps were trapped and dragged to Egypt and Babylon, and the fruitful vine 'plucked up in fury' and left 'in a dry and thirsty ground,' with 'no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule,' pointing beyond the broken throne to the Lion of Judah.
Read Chapter 19 →Ezekiel 20:1-49
I Wrought for My Name's Sake
God reviews Israel's long rebellion, in Egypt, the wilderness, and the land, met again and again by mercy 'for my name's sake.' He warns of a refining judgment that purges the rebels, and promises to gather His people, be 'sanctified in them,' and make them 'lothe themselves' for their sins.
Read Chapter 20 →Ezekiel 21:1-32
Until He Come Whose Right It Is
The sword of the LORD drawn against Jerusalem, the song of the sharpened sword, Babylon's king casting lots at the crossroads, and the crown removed from Judah's last king with a threefold sentence, 'I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it... until he come whose right it is,' the true King, Jesus Christ.
Read Chapter 21 →Ezekiel 22:1-31
I Sought for a Man
The bloody city and her catalogue of sins, all rooted in 'thou hast forgotten me'; Israel become 'dross' melted in the furnace; every class corrupt, and God's sorrowful word, 'I sought for a man... to stand in the gap before me for the land... but I found none,' the Man later found in Christ.
Read Chapter 22 →Ezekiel 23:1-49
Thou Hast Cast Me Behind Thy Back
The allegory of two unfaithful sisters, Aholah (Samaria) and Aholibah (Jerusalem), whose idolatry and faithless alliances with Assyria and Babylon are pictured as spiritual adultery; Jerusalem must drink 'her sister's cup,' for she has 'forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back.'
Read Chapter 23 →Ezekiel 24:1-27
The Desire of Thine Eyes
On the day the siege begins, the parable of the boiling pot whose 'scum' will not come out, and the costliest sign of all, the death of Ezekiel's wife, 'the desire of thine eyes,' which he must not mourn, a sign that God will take the temple, the desire of the people's eyes.
Read Chapter 24 →Ezekiel 25:1-17
They Shall Know That I Am the LORD
The oracles against Judah's gloating neighbours, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia, who said 'Aha' against the sanctuary, mocked that 'Judah is like the heathen,' and took vengeance 'for the old hatred.' God defends His people and repays those who despise them, that they too may know the LORD.
Read Chapter 25 →Ezekiel 26:1-21
Like the Top of a Rock
The doom of Tyre, the proud merchant city that gloated over Jerusalem's fall for profit: God brings nations against her 'as the sea causeth his waves,' Nebuchadnezzar besieges her, and she is scraped bare 'like the top of a rock,' a place for nets, and 'built no more,' precisely fulfilled in history.
Read Chapter 26 →Ezekiel 27:1-36
Broken in the Midst of the Seas
The lament over Tyre as a magnificent merchant ship, built of the finest materials and trading with all the nations, boasting 'I am of perfect beauty,' then wrecked by the east wind and sunk with all her riches, mourned by the kings of the earth, a picture of the shipwreck of worldly pride.
Read Chapter 27 →Ezekiel 28:1-26
Thine Heart Is Lifted Up
The prince of Tyre who said 'I am a God' answered with 'yet thou art a man'; the lament over the king of Tyre in soaring language, 'thou art the anointed cherub... till iniquity was found in thee,' widely read as the fall of Satan through pride; then judgment on Sidon and Israel gathered to 'dwell safely.'
Read Chapter 28 →Ezekiel 29:1-21
My River Is Mine Own
Pharaoh the great dragon of the Nile who boasted 'My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself,' Egypt the broken 'staff of reed' that pierces those who lean on it, the forty years of desolation, and the budding of 'the horn of the house of Israel,' fulfilled in Christ.
Read Chapter 29 →Ezekiel 30:1-26
The Day of the LORD Is Near
The day of the LORD against Egypt, a 'cloudy day' of the sword on her and her allies, the shattering of her idols and cities, and the breaking of Pharaoh's arms while God strengthens the arm of Babylon, for no arm of flesh can stand against the LORD.
Read Chapter 30 →Ezekiel 31:1-18
A Cedar in Lebanon
Egypt warned by the fall of Assyria, the towering cedar higher than all the trees of Eden, sheltering all nations, yet cut down because 'his heart is lifted up in his height,' and brought to the pit, a warning that no proud power escapes: 'This is Pharaoh and all his multitude.'
Read Chapter 31 →Ezekiel 32:1-32
Down to the Land of the Dead
The final lament over Pharaoh, caught like a sea-monster in God's net, the heavens darkened over Egypt, and the descent to the pit where Egypt joins the once-terrible fallen nations, Assyria, Elam, Edom, who 'caused their terror in the land of the living' and now 'bear their shame.'
Read Chapter 32 →Ezekiel 33:1-33
The Watchman and the City That Fell
The hinge of the book: Ezekiel is set again as a watchman, God swears 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked... turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die,' a fugitive brings word that 'the city is smitten,' and God warns of hearers who love the message like 'a very lovely song' but will not do it.
Read Chapter 33 →Ezekiel 34:1-31
I, Even I, Will Seek My Sheep
Woe to the shepherds of Israel who 'do feed themselves' while the flock is scattered; then God takes up the staff Himself, 'I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out,' and sets up 'one shepherd... my servant David', fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the LORD come in flesh who said 'I am the good shepherd.'
Read Chapter 34 →Ezekiel 35:1-15
The Oracle Against Mount Seir
Judgment on Edom for her 'perpetual hatred' of Israel, her gloating over Jerusalem's fall, and her plot to seize the emptied land, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine' - forgetting the one decisive fact, 'whereas the LORD was there.' God hears every word spoken against His people and answers measure for measure.
Read Chapter 35 →Ezekiel 36:1-38
A New Heart, and a New Spirit
The mountains of Israel comforted, 'Behold, I am for you'; God acts 'for mine holy name's sake,' not for merit; and the greatest promise in the book, the new birth foretold: 'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you... And I will put my spirit within you,' fulfilled in John 3:5 and Acts 2:38.
Read Chapter 36 →Ezekiel 37:1-28
The Valley of Dry Bones
'Can these bones live?' A valley of dry bones raised to 'an exceeding great army' by the preached word and the breath of God, 'I... shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live'; then two sticks joined into one, one nation under 'one king' and 'one shepherd,' David His servant, with 'My tabernacle also shall be with them' for ever.
Read Chapter 37 →Ezekiel 38:1-23
Gog of the Land of Magog
Gog and a vast northern confederacy come 'in the latter days' against God's regathered people who 'dwell safely' in unwalled villages, but God Himself draws the enemy out, 'I will... put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth,' and destroys him with shaking, sword, and fire, to be magnified and sanctified before the nations.
Read Chapter 38 →Ezekiel 39:1-29
I Have Poured Out My Spirit
Gog disarmed and destroyed on the mountains of Israel, the weapons burned seven years, the horde buried in 'The valley of Hamongog,' the birds called to 'the supper of the great God'; then the summit of the book, 'Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,' fulfilled at Pentecost.
Read Chapter 39 →Ezekiel 40:1-49
The Man With the Measuring Reed
The temple vision opens: God carries Ezekiel to a high mountain and shows him 'a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax... and a measuring reed,' who measures the wall, gates, courts, tables of sacrifice, and the chambers of the faithful priests 'which come near to the LORD to minister unto him.' God measures His holy dwelling.
Read Chapter 40 →Ezekiel 41:1-26
This Is the Most Holy Place
The guide measures the sanctuary, the holy place and the innermost 'most holy place,' the graded side chambers, and the walls and doors carved throughout with 'cherubims and palm trees,' guardian holiness and Edenic life, with the wooden altar he calls 'the table that is before the LORD.'
Read Chapter 41 →Ezekiel 42:1-20
The Holy and the Common Divided
The 'holy chambers' where the priests 'that approach unto the LORD' eat the most holy things and lay their holy garments, and the measuring of the whole precinct, five hundred reeds foursquare with a wall 'to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.' The whole design is a sermon on God's holiness.
Read Chapter 42 →Ezekiel 43:1-27
The Glory Returned to the House
The turning point: the glory of the God of Israel returns 'from the way of the east' and 'filled the house,' and God declares 'the place of my throne... where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever'; the vision is shown that they 'may be ashamed,' and the altar is cleansed by blood until 'upon the eighth day... I will accept you.'
Read Chapter 43 →Ezekiel 44:1-31
I Am Their Inheritance
The east gate sealed shut 'because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it'; the rebuke of 'uncircumcised in heart' worship; the faithless Levites bearing their shame while the faithful sons of Zadok 'come near to my table'; and the priestly ordinances, teaching 'the difference between the holy and profane,' with the great word, 'I am their inheritance.'
Read Chapter 44 →Ezekiel 45:1-25
Just Balances and the Passover
A holy portion of the land set apart first for the LORD with the sanctuary at its center; the call to rulers to 'execute judgment and justice' and to the people to keep 'just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath'; and the offerings and feasts, the passover and tabernacles, that 'make reconciliation,' all fulfilled in Christ our Passover.
Read Chapter 45 →Ezekiel 46:1-24
None Returns the Way He Came
The gate opened for sabbath and new-moon worship, the prince worshipping humbly 'in the midst of' the people, the rule that 'he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in,' a lamb offered 'every morning' as 'a continual burnt offering,' and the prince forbidden to 'take of the people's inheritance by oppression.'
Read Chapter 46 →Ezekiel 47:1-23
The River of Life From the Sanctuary
The river of life flows from under the temple threshold, deepening from ankles to knees to loins to 'waters to swim in,' healing the Dead Sea and giving life 'whither the river cometh,' with trees whose 'leaf shall not fade,' fruit for food and 'the leaf thereof for medicine', the Spirit of God (John 7:38-39; Revelation 22); and the land inherited even by the stranger.
Read Chapter 47 →Ezekiel 48:1-35
The LORD Is There
The last chapter: the land divided among the twelve tribes with 'the sanctuary of the LORD... in the midst,' the city with twelve gates named for the tribes (the New Jerusalem), and the crowning name of the whole book, 'the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there', Jehovah-Shammah, God dwelling with His people for ever.
Read Chapter 48 →