Ezekiel 20:31

Eze 20:31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

Ver. 31. And shall I be inquired of by you?] Is it ever likely to do well, think you? Of witches’ good prayers, as some call them, one saith well: Si magicae, Deus non vult tales: si piae, non per tales. See Jer 7:9-10. {See Trapp on "Jer 7:9"} {See Trapp on "Jer 7:10"}

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.

He showeth that the ingratitude of the people deserveth that God should cut them off, and that they should not have the comfort of his word.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

through the fire--As "the fire" is omitted in Eze 20:26, FAIRBAIRN represents the generation here referred to (namely, that of Ezekiel's day) as attaining the climax of guilt (see on Eze 20:26), in making their children pass through the fire, which that former generation did not. The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire" in Eze 20:26 is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed through the fire" for purification, whereas here they are actually burnt to death before the idol; and therefore "the fire" is specified in the latter, not in the former case (compare Kg2 3:27).

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

Verse 31. Ye pollute yourselves] This shows the sense in which God says, Eze 20:26, "I polluted them in their own gifts." They chose to pollute themselves, and I permitted them to do so. See on Eze 20:25-26.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He follows up the same sentiment, that it was a monstrous sin that they so perniciously remained fixed in the perverse imitation of their fathers: for they had been drawn off from their lusts by God’s numerous chastisements, and then they pretended to be afterwards disposed to obedience: God therefore here says, why, then, by offering your gifts, do you make your sons pass through the fire, and pollute yourselves with all your idols even to this day? For this question concerns what is quite incredible and worthy of the greatest surprise, since there was no way of reconciling the sufferings of the Israelites in exile with their remaining obstinate in their wickedness. But the Prophet here again deprives them of that vain pretense with which they covered themselves in offering their gifts: he concedes to them what was true, yet, at the same time, he objects, that they passed their sons through the fire, and were polluted in all their idols. He adds, at length, shall I be inquired of by you? I have elsewhere explained that clause, which is now for the third time repeated. Many take it in a different sense, that God will not deign to answer them any more: but, in my opinion, he simply reproaches their perfidy, because, when they approached the Prophet, they wished to blind his eyes. Shall I, says he, be inquired of you? For דרש, deresh, means to seek, and to attain the end of our search, when the person asked answers, and the person sought presents himself. But here God simply shows that they do not come in a right mind, and that nothing else was imposed on them except seeking him. But because that was almost incredible, hence he swears that they were merely hypocritical in pretending to true piety in suppliantly applying to the Prophet for an answer in God’s name, and then wantonly deriding it, and impiously and wickedly using his name, and thus profaning it.

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.

(31) I will not be enquired of by you.—This takes up the refrain of Eze_20:3, and with the following verse fitly closes this portion of the prophecy which was introduced by the coming of the elders to enquire.

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

31. For when … ye pollute] Interrogatively: and when … do ye pollute yourselves unto this day?

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.

For when ye offer your gifts,.... And sacrifices to idols. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it,

the firstfruits of your gifts; it may design their firstborn; see Eze 20:26 as the following clause seems to explain it:

when ye make your sons to pass through the fire; or between two fires to Moloch, as their fathers had done before them;

ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day; by worshipping idols, or dunghill gods, as the word signifies, as often observed; they defiled themselves with those filthy things, which they continued to do to that very day, and so became more and more polluted; and were as their fathers had been, and therefore must expect to be used in like manner:

and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? can you think that I will suffer you to come and inquire of me or to make your requests to me? or can you hope to have an answer from me; at least a favourable one, such as you could wish for?

as I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you; so confirming again with an oath what he had before declared, Eze 20:3, wherefore they might assure themselves that they would not be acceptable to him, neither their persons nor petitions, or be regarded by him.

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

Your gifts: see Eze 20:26.

All your idols; it seems they took a compendious way to increase sin and wrath; they worshipped many idols at once; and this they did still to Ezekiel’s time, to that very day. Are you fit to come and ask counsel of me, whom you have so shamelessly, so obstinately forsaken and reproached? Can you expect I should answer you? My prophet knew you not to be hypocrites, but his God, who knows you, and all your abominations, hath put the answer into his mouth, which you must be content with. I will answer you as little as you regard me. So God refuseth them.

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

THE SONS HAVE FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLES OF THEIR FATHERS; YET JEHOVAH STILL RULES, AND THE FUTURE, AS THE PAST, SHALL DISPLAY HIS POWER AND GOODNESS AND HIS NAME SHALL BE GLORIFIED, Eze_20:30-44.

31. Shall I be inquired of by you — These who have so polluted themselves (Eze_20:30) have no claim upon Jehovah’s wisdom. He will not reveal to them what they wish to know of the future, but he will rehearse to them their national iniquities in the past and show that the same principles of divine government which sentenced the nation to chastisement then explains their present calamity.

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

Shall I be inquired of - Are you fit to ask counsel of me, whom you have so obstinately forsaken and reproached?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And when you take your gifts And with the taking of your gifts that you should have given Me, and you take them from Me to cause your firstborn to pass to idols.

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.