Ezekiel 20:1
 Ezekiel 20:1 
New International Version (©2011)
In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down in front of me.

New Living Translation (©2007)
On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply.

English Standard Version (©2001)
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, some of Israel's elders came to consult the LORD, and they sat down in front of me.

International Standard Version (©2012)
On the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, men came from the elders of Israel to seek the LORD. They sat down in front of me.

NET Bible (©2006)
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to seek the LORD, and they sat down in front of me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
On the tenth day of the fifth month in the seventh year, some of the leaders of Israel came to ask for the LORD's help. They sat in front of me.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

American King James Version
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month , the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month: there came men of the ancients of Israel to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me.

Darby Bible Translation
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and they sat before me.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

World English Bible
It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], the tenth [day] of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, in the seventh year, in the fifth month, in the tenth of the month, come in have certain of the elders of Israel to seek Jehovah, and they sit before me;

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:1-9. Those hearts are wretchedly hardened which ask God leave to go on in sin, and that even when suffering for it; see ver.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass in the seventh year,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and of the captivity of Jeconiah; from whence the dates of Ezekiel's visions and prophecies are taken, Ezekiel 1:2; two years, one month, and five days, after Ezekiel began to prophesy, and eleven months and five days after the preceding prophecy:

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Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The date given in Ezekiel 20:1 applies not only to Ezekiel 20, but also to Ezekiel 20-23 (compare Ezekiel 24:1); the prophetic utterances in these four chapters being bound together into a group of connected words of God, both by their contents and by the threefold repetition of the expression, "wilt thou judge?" (vid., Ezekiel 20:4; Ezekiel 22:2, and Ezekiel 23:36). The formula התשׁפּוט, which is only omitted from the threat of punishment contained in Ezekiel 21, indicates at the same time both the nature and design of these words of God. The prophet is to judge, i.e., to hold up before the people once more their sinful abominations, and to predict the consequent punishment. The circumstance which occasioned this is narrated in Ezekiel 20:1-3. Men of the elders of Israel came to the prophet to inquire of the Lord. The occasion is therefore a similar one to that described in the previous group; for we have already been informed, in Ezekiel 14:1, that elders had come to the prophet to hear God's word from him; but they had not gone so far as to inquire. Here, however (Ezekiel 20), they evidently address a question to the prophet, and through him to the Lord; though the nature of their inquiry is not given, and can only be gathered from the answer, which was given to them by the Lord through the prophet. The ground for the following words of God is therefore essentially the same as for those contained in Ezekiel 14-19; and this serves to explain the relation in which the two groups stand to each other, namely, that Ezekiel 20-24 simply contain a further expansion of the reproachful and threatening addresses of Ezekiel 14-19.

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Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The elders of Israel - These were as in Ezekiel 14:1, some of Ezekiel's fellow-exiles, designated in general terms by the name of Israel, though more properly belonging to the kingdom of Judah.


Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

In the seventh year - Of the captivity of Jeconiah, (see Ezekiel 8:1), and the seventh of the reign of Zedekiah.

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Geneva Study Bible

And it came to pass in the {a} seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

(a) Of the captivity of Jeconiah.


Wesley's Notes

20:1 The seventh year - Of Zedekiah's reign, two years and five months before Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Came - Yet resolved before - hand what they would do.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 20

Eze 20:1-49. Rejection of the Elders' Application to the Prophet: Exposure of Israel's Protracted Rebellions, notwithstanding God's Long-suffering Goodness: Yet Will God Restore His People at Last.

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Ezekiel 20:1 Parallel Commentaries
Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Rebellion in Egypt
1And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2Then came the word of the LORD to me, saying, 3Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD; Are you come to inquire of me? As I live, said the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. …

2 Kings 6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?"
Jeremiah 21:2 "Inquire now of the LORD for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the LORD will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us."
Ezekiel 1:2 On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--
Ezekiel 8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign LORD came on me there.
Ezekiel 8:11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
Ezekiel 14:1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.
Ezekiel 20:2 Then the word of the LORD came to me: