Ezekiel 7:18

Eze 7:18 They shall also gird [themselves] with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame [shall be] upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

Ver. 18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth.] They shall be a miserable mourning people for a long while.

Horror shall cover them.] Such heartquake as is in earthquakes - horripilatio.

Shame shall be upon all faces.] Pudor a rebus putidis, {a} - Ashamed they shall be of their doings, ashamed of their disappointments.

And baldness upon all their heads.] A sign of sorrow among the Jews. The Romans (contrariwise), in times of sorrow, suffered their hair to grow, saith Plutarch; so did Mephibosheth in David’s days.

{a} Scal.

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.

cover them--as a garment.

baldness--a sign of mourning (Isa 3:24; Jer 48:37; Mic 1:16).

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

He continues the same sentiment. He says, such was the slaughter of the people that they should all gird themselves with sackcloth. But it seems little in accordance with this, that those who should be astonished should gird themselves with sackcloth, so as not to bewail the dead. But the prophets so vary their discourse because they cannot otherwise affect obstinate minds. Although therefore these things do not seem at first sight to agree, that they should bind themselves in sackcloth, and upon all their heads should be baldness: then that all should perish without grief or sorrow: yet these things suit well enough, because the Prophet does not express what they should do, but what the event should be. Since, therefore, slaughter shall occur on every side, at length God shall consume some by pestilence, others by famine: therefore he adds, there should be material for grief, although in consequence of the multitude of evils they should be lifeless, and torpid, and omit all signs of sorrow. Therefore they shall gird themselves with sackcloth We know that this was a remarkable symbol of penitence, but it is often transferred to common sorrow, and even profane men clothe themselves in sackcloth, although they do not acknowledge God the author of evils. Hence when the Prophet says, all should take sackcloth in which to clothe themselves, he does not mean that they should feel punishments divinely inflicted that they should repent; but he only expresses the common ceremony of grief in distress which is also common to the wicked and to despisers of God, Now he adds, fear shall cover them, and disgrace, or shame, shall be on all faces: then upon all heads shall be baldness This was forbidden by the law, (Deuteronomy 14:1;) since we know that God restrained too much intemperance in sorrow, when he forbids the people to fall upon their face, or to make themselves bald; for that was preposterous affectation. And we know that men are ambitious in grief. Hence that God may impose restraint upon sorrow, he forbids his people to cut the skin, or to produce baldness. Hence we see that the Prophet does not speak of the true sign of repentance, but only marks, as I have said, that God’s vengeance should be so horrible, that dread should cover them, and then that shame and confusion of face should come upon them: then, that they should cut the skin like the Gentiles, and put on sackcloth like men abandoned to destruction,

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.

18. horror shall cover them] Or, trembling, terror, Job_21:6. It shall take such hold of them that it shall be all over them, like a garment covering them. Cf. Isa_59:17, he was clad with zeal as a cloke; Psa_55:6.

baldness] A sign of mourning: Isa_15:2, On all heads shall be baldness; Mic: Mic_1:16, Enlarge thy baldness like the vulture. This tonsure in token of mourning, common among many nations of antiquity, was confined among the Hebrews to shaving the front part of the head (Deu_14:1), and was forbidden by the Law in the case of priests (Lev_21:5, cf. Eze_44:20), and of the whole people (Deu_14:1), cf. Amo_8:10; Jer_16:6; Lev_19:27.

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.

They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed,.... As being of no use unto them to preserve them from famine and pestilence, and as being an hinderance to them in their flight from the enemy. Kimchi observes that this may be interpreted of their idols of gold and silver, which shall now be had in contempt by them, and cast away, when they shall find they cannot save them from ruin; see Isa 2:20;

their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; these can neither deliver from temporal judgments nor from wrath to come; see Pro 10:2; nor idols made of them:

they shall not satisfy their souls, nor fill their bowels; gold and silver cannot be eaten; these will not satisfy the craving appetite, nor fill the hungry belly: the words show that the famine would be so great, that bread could not be got for any money; and therefore gold and silver would be of no avail; since they could not be fed upon, or give any satisfaction to a famishing soul; nor could idols of gold and silver neither:

because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity; what was the occasion of their iniquity, covetousness, and idolatry, at which they stumbled, and fell into sin, and so into punishment for it.

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

Various signs of mourning common in eastern countries. Baldness was forbidden to the Israelites Deu 14:1. They seem, however, in later times to have adopted the custom of foreign nations in this matter, not without permission. Compare Isa 22:12.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Heads. They cut their hair in times of penance and of mourning.

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).

It is a very general usage in the Eastern parts in deepest sorrows and distresses to put sackcloth on, and to gird it close to their bodies.

Horror; either dreadful apprehensions of growing evils, or continued shakings from impressions of what formerly they felt, according to Lev 26:16,36.

Cover them; be on every side, no side safety, or quiet, and confidence. Shame of disappointment, which breeds consternation; and shame of conscious guilt and unbecoming deportment, which fills the countenance as much with blushing as it fills the conscience with guilt and sin.

Baldness; either by pulling off the hair amidst their sorrows, or cutting off their hair in token of greatest mourning, Isa 15:2; Jer 7:29; 48:37; Amo 8:10.

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

18. In funeral garb, covered with “trembling,” with shamed faces and dishonored heads (Eze_44:20; Isa_15:2; Deu_14:1; Amo_8:10), the rich men flee from the city and seek to escape the universal doom. (See notes Eze_27:30-31.)

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

They shall also gird, etc. The words become more general, and include those who should remain in the city as well as the fugitives. For both there should be the inward feelings of horror and shame, and their outward symbols of sackcloth (Gen_37:34; 2Sa_3:31, 2Sa_3:32; 2Ki_6:30; Isa_15:3; Jer_4:8, et al. ) and baldness. (Isa_3:24 Isa_15:2 Isa_22:12; Amo_8:10)

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

Baldness - Either by pulling off the hair amidst their sorrows, or cutting it off in token of mourning.

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