Ezekiel 14:6

Eze 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn [yourselves] from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Ver. 6. Repent, and turn yourselves.] Or, Turn others; for true converts will be converting their brethren. They like not to go to heaven alone.

And turn away your faces.] Alii dicunt uxores vestras, saith Lavater here; your wives, which are according to your hearts, like as in water face answereth to face. Wean them from their idols, and win them over to the true God.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 14:6-8. Therefore say, Repent — Be truly sorry for your past sins, and give proof of your sorrow by forsaking them, &c.; and turn from your idols — Separate yourselves from them, that they may not finally and eternally separate you from God. And turn away your faces — Your heart and ways; from all your abominations — Not only from all your idolatries, but from all sinful practices. Turn your faces from them, abhor the very sight of them; not only forsake them, but do it with loathing and detestation. For every one of the house of Israel — Every Jew of the seed of Abraham, whom this warning first and principally concerns; or of the stranger that sojourneth, &c. — Every proselyte: or the expression may include the foreigners who lived in Judea, termed, in the fourth commandment, the stranger within their gates. For these, although they were neither circumcised nor subject to the ceremonial laws, yet were under an obligation to refrain from idolatry, or from worshipping any God but Jehovah. Which separateth himself from me — Who leaves me to worship idols. God considered them as separating themselves from him, not only if they wholly left off to worship him, but also if they worshipped as gods any other beings, real or imaginary, along with him. For he, being the only true God, could not, of course, admit of any other to be worshipped together with him, as no other being whatsoever had the least pretence to be worshipped as God. I the Lord will answer him by myself — I who am Jehovah, the only Creator, Preserver, and Lord of all things, will answer him according to my own inherent power, not by words, but by executing my judgments upon him. And he shall find by the answer, that it was not the prophet, but God that answered, so dreadful, searching, and astonishing shall my answer be. And I will set my face against that man —

I will make him a mark for my indignation; and will make him a sign and a proverb — A signal and remarkable instance of my vengeance; and will cut him off, &c. — By sudden death, attended with extraordinary circumstances.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

STATEMENT OF THE DIVINE LAW WHICH CONTROLS EVEN FALSE PROPHECY, Eze_14:6-11.

6. Repent — The Lord will give to these idolaters no view of the future until they pluck their idols out of their hearts and turn away from sin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:6-7 When asking for God’s advice, rebels should only expect the response to be, Repent.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Though God so threatened the people for their idolatry (Eze 14:5), yet He would rather they should avert the calamity by "repentance."

turn yourselves--CALVIN translates, "turn others" (namely, the stranger proselytes in the land). As ye have been the advisers of others (see Eze 14:7, "the stranger that sojourneth in Israel") to idolatry, so bestow at least as much pains in turning them to the truth; the surest proof of repentance. But the parallelism to Eze 14:3-4 favors English Version. Their sin was twofold: (1) "In their heart" or inner man; (2) "Put before their face," that is, exhibited outwardly. So their repentance is generally expressed by "repent," and is then divided into: (1) "Turn yourselves (inwardly) from your idols"; (2) "Turn away your faces (outwardly) from all your abominations." It is not likely that an exhortation to convert others should come between the two affecting themselves.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now God shows why he had threatened the false prophets and the whole people so severely, namely, that they should repent; for the object of God’s rigor is, that, when terrified by his judgments, we should return into the way. Now, therefore, he exhorts them to repentance. Hence we gather the useful lesson, that whenever God inspires us with fear, he has no other intention than to humble us, and thus to provide for our salvation, when he reproves and threatens us so strongly by his prophets, and in truth is verbally angry with us, that he may really spare us. But the exhortation is short, that they may be converted and turned away from their idols, and may turn their faces from all their abominations. When he uses the word השיבו, heshibev, in the second clause, some understand “wives;” but this is frigid: others think the verb transitive, but yet impersonal, thus make yourselves return: this also is harsh. I have no doubt that the Prophet here exhorts the Israelites that each should desire to reconcile himself to God, and at the same time bring others with him. As many were mutually the authors of evils to each other, he now orders them to do their utmost to bring back others with them: and surely this is a true proof of our repentance, when we are not only converted to God one by one, but, when we stretch forth our hand to our brethren, and recall them from error; especially if they have wandered away through our fault, we must take care to make up for the injury by at least equal diligence. The sense therefore of the Prophet is, first, that, the Israelites should repent; next, that one should assist another to repentance, or that they should mutually unite in the pursuit of piety, just as each was previously corrupted by his companion and brother. This seems to be the full meaning. Besides, this series must be remarked: because many show zeal in seizing others, and stretching out the hand to free them from error; but they themselves never think of repenting. But the Holy Spirit here shows us the true method of proceeding, when he commands us to repent, and then extends our desires to our brethren who have need of our exhortations. At length he adds, withdraw your faces, or turn away from all your abominations. A part is here put by the Prophet for the whole, since turning away the face means the same as withdrawing all the senses. Since, therefore, they had been almost affixed to their own abominations to which they had cast their eyes, and were completely intent upon them, he orders them to turn away their faces, so as to bid them farewell. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) Repent and turn.—The announcements of the previous verses form the basis for the earnest call to a true repentance. There can be no hope for Israel in any merely outward reformation; they have to do with the Searcher of hearts, and the only repentance acceptable to Him is that which has its seat in the affections of the heart.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. The prophet is not permitted to give an answer to any inquiries of such men. Jehovah will answer them through himself (Eze_14:7); the message which the prophet has to deliver is, repentance or destruction!

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel,.... Deliver out the following exhortation to repentance unto them; for God's end, in all his threatenings and judgments, is to bring men to repentance:

thus saith the Lord God, repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; or, "turn, and cause to be turned from your idols" (w); turn yourselves from the worship of idols, as the Targum, and do all that in you lies to turn others from the same; particularly your wives and young men, as Kimchi: and the rather they were obliged to do this, since in all probability they had been the means of drawing them into idolatry:

and turn away your faces from all your abominations; their idols, detestable to God, and ought to have been so to them; these he would have them turn their faces from, not so much as look at them, much less worship them, that they might not be ensnared by them; this is said, in opposition to their setting of them before their face, Eze 14:3.

(w) "convertimini, et facite converti", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Turn. Such people must first be admonished to relinquish idols, heresy, &c., that they may come to God. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Unto the house of Israel; to these men the elders, whoever they are, give charge that they repent, and by them send word to the residue of the house of Jacob that they do so too.

Repent; be sorry and testify your sorrow for such sins.

And turn yourselves; renounce them for future, cease to be idolaters, let your visible carriage in reforming all be seen too. Amend heart and ways, let not your heart be towards idols in point of religion, nor your practice in point of outward deportment be vicious and immoral.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Turn yourselves, etc.; literally, turn them. But there is no sufficient ground for the margin, "Turn others," the objective suffix being the "faces" of the following clause. in Eze_18:30, 32 the verb is used by itself. The prophet"s call is to a direct personal repentance, not to the work of preaching that repentance to others.

Repentance.

I THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS SALVATION IS REPENTANCE. It is true that God has moved towards us before we have thought of turning to him. It is his goodness that leads us to repentance. (Rom_2:4) "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". (Rom_5:8) But all this precedes our action. When we begin to see salvation, the first step must lead us to the wicket gate of repentance, and until that has been passed through there is no hope fur us. John the Baptist prepares the way for Christ. "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We may try the short cut of pride, and think to begin the happy Christian life without owning our sins and turning from them. It is impossible. The result will only be a miserable hypocrisy.

II REPENTANCE CONSISTS IN TURNING FROM THE EVIL WAY. "Repent, and turn yourselves," etc. It is an action, not merely a feeling. It cannot be without deep grief of soul, yet it does not consist in the grief; that is but an accompaniment, though undoubtedly an inevitable accompaniment. We cannot measure our repentance by the number of tears shed, but by the thoroughness of our revolt against our past. Neither is there any value in the amount of time spent in abject contrition. We are not in this way to consider whether we have repented sufficiently. The sole question is as to the reality and thoroughness of the change by which we turn from the old way and seek a better way.

III REPENTANCE IS CONFIRMED BY THE ABANDONMENT OF THE EVIL ONCE LOVED. The penitents are to turn from their "idols." Insincere repentance weeps for the sins it still clings to. The action of repentance is inward. But its consequences are seen in outward conduct. Savonarola, when called to the dying bed of Lorenzo di Medici, refused to offer any hope of pardon to the great Florentine, because, though he professed great concern for his soul, and deep grief for his sins, he refused to give back their liberties to the citizens. He would not act according to the profession of repentance, and therefore the stern reformer justly judged that the penitence could not be true and thorough.

IV REPENTANCE IS MET BY THE SAVING GRACE OF GOD. He calls upon us to repent, hut he des not require us to create new hearts in ourselves. He expects a sincere desire fur a better way. We must show our loathing for our old past by doing all in our power to relinquish it. Then God gives that redeeming grace which is the new birth, and whence springs the power for better living. Still, after receiving the grace, we need to preserve the lowliness of the penitent, although all tears are wiped away by the pardon of God. For we are always in danger of being dragged back into out old selves. "Illusion is briefs" says Schiller, "but repentance is long.

Repent!

This was the admonition of every herald of God, whether under the old covenant or the new. It was the burden of Isaiah and Ezekiel, and it was also the burden of John the forerunner and of Jesus the Messiah. From this it may be inferred that human nature and life, on the one hand, and the character and government of God on the other hand, are such that repentance is an indispensable condition of the establishment of right relations between God and man.

I THE NEED OF REPENTANCE. If we are upon Divine authority summoned to change, this must be because there is something wrong and reprehensible and dangerous in man"s heart and condition; if called upon to turn, we must be going the wrong way. The admonition of the text follows upon a picture of Israel"s idolatry and rebellion against a righteous God. The form of the sin may vary, but the principle of sin is ever the same. Whether in ancient or in modern times, in barbarous or in civilized states of society, men are universally prone to sin and guilty of sin. Where there is no sin, repentance is needless. It is in the departure of the heart"s affection and the life"s loyalty from the righteous God that man"s error lies. Israel"s idolatry symbolizes human iniquity.

II THE NATURE or REPENTANCE. As more fully explained in New Testament Scripture, this is a change of heart, of disposition, leading to a change of character and of life. Mere sorrow for sin is not repentance, inasmuch as emotion of every kind is to some extent matter of temperament, and sorrow does not always lead to reformation. True repentance goes much deeper, and prepares the way forevery spiritual blessing. He who repents looks at things otherwise than before, tutus his thoughts into another channel, his steps into another path.

III THE CALL TO REPENTANCE.

1. It is a gracious call. The justly offended sovereign may leave the rebel to the consequences of his acts. It is not thus that God deals with us. It is not his wish that any should perish. He sends his messengers to the offending race, with a summons to submission, with proffers of mercy.

2. It is an authoritative call. He commandeth men everywhere to repent. It is true that our Creator and Judge does not interfere with our liberty. Yet he publishes his will as binding upon every moral agent. He has a right to our repentance. It is our place to obey his summons, to offer the repentance which he demands and requires at our hands.

IV THE DIFFICULTY OF REPENTANCE. This lies in the very character itself of the change. If verbal submission or outward conformity only were required, this would be comparatively easy. But God, who searcheth the heart, will not be satisfied save with the heart"s subjection and conversion. Old habits of unspirituality, worldliness, and selfishness are not readily abandoned. Especially in advanced life a radical and inward change is effected, for the most part, only with effort and difficulty. It needs a supernatural motive and a supernatural power to cause old things to pass away and all things to become new, to exchange darkness for light, and the service of Satan for God. Such a supernatural motive we have in the gospel; such a supernatural power and agency in the Holy Spirit.

V THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE.

1. These are exactly opposed in character to the fruits of self-indulgence.Other seed in other soil yields other harvest.

2. Reconciliation with God replaces enmity towards God. The conditionsof salvation, as laid down in the New Testament, are "repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Repentance works a change in a man"s own character; the principles andmotives and ends of life are all new.

4. Through the power of repentance a man"s relations to his fellow men arechanged justice takes the place of wrong, and love that of hatred and uncharitabieness. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the house of Israel

The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house, in this case the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob over many years. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 3:1. AT: "the Israelite people group" (See: Metonymy)

Repent and turn away from your idols! Turn back your faces from all your abominations

Both of these phrases are ways to tell the people of Israel to stop worshiping idols. (See: Parallelism)

Repent and turn away

The words "repent" and "turn way" mean basically the same thing. Together they strengthen the command to stop worshiping idols. (See: Doublet)

Turn back your faces

Here the word "faces" represents the people. AT: "Turn back" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Lord Yahweh

repent

turn

face

abomination

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Repent of your ways.

and move away Heb. וְהָשִּׁיבוּ, [remove] your hearts [as well].

from your idols which you brought up to your heart.

remove your faces opposite which you set the stumbling block of your iniquities.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.