Ezekiel 14:22

Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Ye shall be comforted concerning the evil.—In this and the following verse it is promised that a remnant shall be brought from Jerusalem; and it is clearly implied that they shall come to Babylonia. There the present exiles shall see them, and thus be comforted. But in what sense comforted? The connection absolutely decides this: “when ye see their ways and their doings, ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it.” That is, when you see the wickedness, of this remnant, you will cease to mourn over the judgment, for you cannot but perceive that it was a righteous act of God. The expression “sons and daughters” is used in Ezekiel 14:22 with reference to the same phrase in Ezekiel 14:16; Ezekiel 14:18; Ezekiel 14:20; and the form “they shall comfort you” in Ezekiel 14:23 is explained by what is said in Ezekiel 14:22, not as meaning “they shall administer comfort,” but “they shall be a cause of comfort” by showing you their exceeding wickedness.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 14:22-23. Yet, behold, therein — In Jerusalem itself, though marked for utter ruin; in Judea, though condemned to suffer unexampled desolations; shall be left a remnant — That shall not be cut off by any of those sore judgments before mentioned, but shall escape and be brought forth into Chaldea, to be your companions in captivity; both sons and daughters — That shall be the seed of a new generation. And ye shall see their ways and their doings — “Ye shall be made sensible of their guilt and reformation.” Their sufferings shall be made instrumental in bringing them to a due sense of the greatness and aggravations of their former iniquities, and you shall hear them make a free and ingenuous confession of them, and an humble profession of repentance for them, with promises of amendment, and you shall see instances of this amendment, and be witnesses of the good their affliction has done them, and how prudently and patiently they carry themselves under it. And ye shall be comforted — “By their confession of their idolatries, by a conviction of my justice, and by the spirit of allegiance to me, which they shall propagate.” — Bishop Newcome. Concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem — Ye shall the less grieve when you are made sensible they were not punished beyond what their sins deserved, and that their sufferings have had a salutary influence on their spirit and conduct. This consideration will compose your minds, and make you give glory to God, and acknowledge his judgments to be righteous, though they touch you very nearly in the destruction of your friends and country. And they shall comfort you when ye see their ways, &c. — When you see them repenting of their sins and reforming their lives, humbling themselves before God, justifying his conduct toward them, and quietly accepting the punishment of their iniquity. And ye shall know that I have not done without cause — Not without a just provocation, and yet not without a gracious design; all that I have done in it — In Jerusalem and among its inhabitants. When afflictions have done their work, and have accomplished that for which they were sent, then will appear the wisdom and goodness of God in sending them, and God will not only be justified, but glorified in them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:12-23 National sins bring national judgments. Though sinners escape one judgment, another is waiting for them. When God's professing people rebel against him, they may justly expect all his judgments. The faith, obedience, and prayers of Noah prevailed to the saving of his house, but not of the old world. Job's sacrifice and prayer in behalf of his friends were accepted, and Daniel had prevailed for the saving his companions and the wise men of Babylon. But a people that had filled the measure of their sins, was not to expect to escape for the sake of any righteous men living among them; not even of the most eminent saints, who could be accepted in their own case only through the sufferings and righteousness of Christ. Yet even when God makes the greatest desolations by his judgments, he saves some to be monuments of his mercy. In firm belief that we shall approve the whole of God's dealings with ourselves, and with all mankind, let us silence all rebellious murmurs and objections.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye shall be comforted ... - By a truer estimate of the dispensations of the Almighty. This visitation will be recognized as inevitable and just.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Yet … a remnant—not of righteous persons, but some of the guilty who should "come forth" from the destruction of Jerusalem to Babylon, to lead a life of hopeless exile there. The reference here is to judgment, not mercy, as Eze 14:23 shows.

ye shall see their … doings; and … be comforted—Ye, the exiles at the Chebar, who now murmur at God's judgment about to be inflicted on Jerusalem as harsh, when ye shall see the wicked "ways" and character of the escaped remnant, shall acknowledge that both Jerusalem and its inhabitants deserved their fate; his recognition of the righteousness of the judgment will reconcile you to it, and so ye shall be "comforted" under it [Calvin]. Then would follow mercy to the elect remnant, though that is not referred to here, but in Eze 20:43.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Therein; in Jerusalem itself, and in the land.

A remnant; some that escape, for though none could prevail with God to prevent the emptying the city and the land, and cutting off the most, yet this was not to extend to the utter cutting off and destruction of all.

Brought forth; by the proud, cruel, and barbarous conqueror bringing them in nakedness, chains, and in contempt more grievous than death itself.

Unto you; those naked, hunger-starved, derided captives, through heats and colds, through sands and tedious travels, shall come, though with great regret to you, to Babylon, whose condition they will either envy, or wish it their own.

Ye shall see; see them, and consider and know their way; what it hath brought them, how sinfully evil it was against God in their own land, and how miserably evil it is and must be with them in the enemies’ land.

Ye shall be comforted; not rejoice in your brethren’s misery, but comforted in remembrance of the good hour you resolved to obey God, in yielding up to the Chaldeans; comforted in the sense of your state much better then theirs, and in the vindication of you from the black aspersions the false prophets and their followers cast on you; and finally, comforted, in that your return, at set time promised, shall in its time be as surely made good as you see the threats are made good. God will be as true in his mercies as he hath been in his judgments; this is matter of great affliction and grief, that of comfort and hope.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant,.... That is, in Jerusalem, on which God's four sore judgments should be sent: though in a sinful land, as before described, where only one judgment was sent, there was no escape, not so much as a son or a daughter were delivered; yet here, where four sore judgments came together, there is a remnant that are saved; and which being wonderful, and beyond all expectation, is introduced with a "behold", not only as a note of attention, but of admiration:

that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; that is, which should be brought forth out of Jerusalem when taken, and should not be destroyed either by famine, or by noisome beasts, or by the sword, or by the pestilence; and these, many of them, both sons and daughters; some of each sex, that should be the means of propagating a posterity, that should return again, and repeople the land, and continue for many ages, as they have done: this is said with respect to Ezekiel 14:16;

behold, they shall come forth unto you; come out of Jerusalem, and their own land, into Babylon, to the captives already there; with whom Ezekiel now was, and to whom he is speaking:

and ye shall see their way and their doings; their wicked course of life and evil actions; which now being convinced of, and humbled for, they shall ingenuously acknowledge and confess to their brethren in captivity: though some think this is to be understood of wicked and reprobate men, that should be not at all reformed by the judgments of God, but continue in their wicked course; which the godly captives seeing, would conclude from thence their manner of life before, and so the righteous judgment of God upon them; and their being a remnant preserved is thought not to be in a way of mercy, but judgment; who though they escaped each of the four sore judgments, yet had a worse inflicted on them, even captivity:

and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it; that is, they should be satisfied with the justice of God, and be reconciled to the providence of God, in bringing destruction upon Jerusalem; which perhaps before they murmured at, or had hard thoughts of God concerning it; but now hearing the confessions of those that were brought from thence to them, or seeing their wicked lives and conversations, they would now be fully satisfied that God was righteous in all that he had done; and that, instead of being rigorous and severe, he had been kind and merciful.

Geneva Study Bible

Yet, behold, in it shall be left a {l} remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

(l) Read Geneva Eze 5:3

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. behold, therein shall be left] Rather: and behold, should there be left therein a remnant. After “behold” the verb is hypothetical, as often, e.g. ch. Ezekiel 13:12, Ezekiel 15:4. If some of the wicked in Jerusalem escape it is with a special design, viz. that those spared should reveal their great wickedness to the earlier exiles among whom they shall come, and thus shew how inevitable the destruction of the city was.

that shall be brought forth] The ancient versions read the active (hiph.) participle here: that shall bring forth sons and daughters. In Ezekiel 14:18; Ezekiel 14:20 it is said that the three great saints named should gave neither sons nor daughters; and here some would be spoken of who brought out sons and daughters. It is very doubtful if this pointed antithesis was in the mind of the prophet. His point is that if some in Jerusalem, men and women, escape, notwithstanding the principle that the righteous shall not save the wicked, it is for a special purpose, viz. to shew to the earlier exiles the great wickedness of Jerusalem, and thus comfort them over its fall. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel regard the exiles carried away under Jehoiachin as the flower of the nation (Jeremiah 24), and those left behind as the dregs of the people. Of course it was the persons of rank and influence that were carried captive, while those left behind were the meanest, least educated and probably most idolatrous (Jeremiah 24:8-10; Jeremiah 29:16-20).

their way and their doings] Their evil “way” of life, and their gross idolatries.

comforted concerning the evil] The exiles of the days of Jehoiachin and those of earlier times, whose thoughts were keenly occupied with Jerusalem and its fate (ch. Ezekiel 24:25), shall be comforted for its destruction when they see the way and doings of the new exiles. So corrupt and gross in their iniquities shall these appear to them that they will feel that no other fate than that which has befallen it was possible for Jerusalem; and that “not without cause” has Jehovah overthrown it (Ezekiel 14:22). Cf. on “comforted” ch. Ezekiel 32:31.

In the passage Ezekiel 14:12-23 questions are not raised what “land” it is that Jehovah will bring his plagues of famine, sword and the like upon, nor when he will bring them. The cases supposed are merely illustrations of the principle that the righteous shall not save the wicked. And the application to Jerusalem is what the prophet has in view. See on ch. 18.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - The words end with a gleam of hope shining through the judgments. For Ezekiel, as for Isaiah, there is the thought of a "remnant that shall return" (Isaiah 10:20-22). It has been questioned whether "the ways and the doings" which are to bring comfort to men's minds are those of the evil past or of the subsequent repentance. I incline to the view that they include both. Men should see at once the severity and the goodness of Jehovah. His punishments had not been arbitrary nor excessive. They had also been as a discipline leading men to repentance. In each of those facts there was a ground of comfort for men who asked the question, which Abraham asked of old, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). In either aspect men will recognize that God has not done without cause all that he has done. In this way the prophet seeks, as others have done since, to justify the ways of God to man. Ezekiel's word for "remnant" is, it may be noted, not the same as Isaiah's, its primary significance being "these that escape." Ezekiel does not quote the earlier prophet, though his thoughts are in harmony with him.



Ezekiel 14:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The rule expounded in Ezekiel 14:13-20 is here applied to Jerusalem. - Ezekiel 14:21. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, How much more when I send my four evil judgments, sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and pestilence, against Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast? Ezekiel 14:22. And, behold, there remain escaped ones in her who will be brought out, sons and daughters; behold, they will go out to you, that ye may see their walk and their works; and console yourselves concerning the evil which I have brought upon Jerusalem. Ezekiel 14:23. And they will console you, when ye see their walk and their works: and ye will see that I have not done without cause all that I have done to her, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - By כּי in Ezekiel 14:21 the application of the general rule to Jerusalem is made in the form of a reason. The meaning, however, is not, that the reason why Jehovah was obliged to act in this unsparing manner was to be found in the corrupt condition of the nation, as Hvernick supposes, - a thought quite foreign to the context; but כּי indicates that the judgments upon Jerusalem will furnish a practical proof of the general truth expressed in Ezekiel 14:13-20, and so confirm it. This כּי is no more an emphatic yea than the following "אף is a forcible introduction to the antithesis formed by the coming fact, to the merely imaginary cases mentioned above" (Hitzig). אף has undoubtedly the force of a climax, but not of an asseveration, "verily" (Hv.); a meaning which this particle never has. It is used here, as in Job 4:19, in the sense of אף כּי; and the כּי which follows אף swollof hcihw in this case is a conditional particle of time, "when." Consequently כי ought properly to be written twice; but it is only used once, as in Ezekiel 15:5; Job 9:14, etc. The thought is this: how much more will this be the case, namely, that even a Noah, Daniel, and Job will not deliver either sons or daughters when I send my judgments upon Jerusalem. The perfect שׁלּחתּי is used, and not the imperfect, as in Ezekiel 14:13, because God has actually resolved upon sending it, and does not merely mention it as a possible case. The number four is significant, symbolizing the universality of the judgment, or the thought that it will fall on all sides, or upon the whole of Jerusalem; whereby it must also be borne in mind that Jerusalem as the capital represents the kingdom of Judah, or the whole of Israel, so far as it was still in Canaan. At the same time, by the fact that the Lord allows sons and daughters to escape death, and to be led away to Babylon, He forces the acknowledgment of the necessity and righteousness of His judgments among those who are in exile. This is in general terms the thought contained in Ezekiel 14:22 and Ezekiel 14:23, to which very different meanings have been assigned by the latest expositors. Hvernick, for example, imagines that, in addition to the four ordinary judgments laid down in the law, Ezekiel 14:22 announces a new and extraordinary one; whereas Hitzig and Kliefoth have found in these two verses the consolatory assurance, that in the time of the judgments a few of the younger generation will be rescued and taken to those already in exile in Babylon, there to excite pity as well as to express it, and to give a visible proof of the magnitude of the judgment which has fallen upon Israel. They differ so far from each other, however, that Hitzig regards those of the younger generation who are saved as צדּיקים, who have saved themselves through their innocence, but not their guilty parents, and who will excite the commiseration of those already in exile through their blameless conduct; whilst Kliefoth imagines that those who are rescued are simply less criminal than the rest, and when they come to Babylon will be pitied by those who have been longer in exile, and will pity them in return.

Neither of these views does justice to the words themselves or to the context. The meaning of. Ezekiel 14:22 is clear enough; and in the main there has been no difference of opinion concerning it. When man and beast are cut off out of Jerusalem by the four judgments, all will not perish; but פּליטה, i.e., persons who have escaped destruction, will be left, and will be led out of the city. These are called sons and daughters, with an allusion to Ezekiel 14:16, Ezekiel 14:18, and Ezekiel 14:20; and consequently we must not take these words as referring to the younger generation in contrast to the older. They will be led out of Jerusalem, not to remain in the land, but to come to "you," i.e., those already in exile, that is to say, to go into exile to Babylon. This does not imply either a modification or a sharpening of the punishment; for the cutting off of man and beast from a town may be effected not only by slaying, but by leading away. The design of God in leaving some to escape, and carrying them to Babylon, is explained in the clauses which follow from וּראיתם onwards, the meaning of which depends partly upon the more precise definition of דּרכּם and עלילותם, and partly upon the explanation to be given of נחמתּם and ונחמוּ אתכם. The ways and works are not to be taken without reserve as good and righteous works, as Kliefoth has correctly shown in his reply to Hitzig. Still less can ways and works denote their experience or fate, which is the explanation given by Kliefoth of the words, when expounding the meaning and connection of Ezekiel 14:21-23. The context certainly points to wicked ways and evil works. And it is only the sight of such works that could lead to the conviction that it was not חנּם, in vain, i.e., without cause, that God had inflicted such severe judgments upon Jerusalem. And in addition to this effect, which is mentioned in Ezekiel 14:23 as produced upon those who were already in exile, by the sight of the conduct of the פּליטה that came to Babylon, the immediate design of God is described in Ezekiel 14:22 as 'ונחמתּם על־הרעה וגו. The verb נחם with על cannot be used here in the sense of to repent of, or be sorry for, a judgment which God has inflicted upon him, but only of evil which he himself has done; and נחם does not mean to pity a person, either when construed in the Piel with an accusative of the person, or in the Niphal c. על, rei. נחמתּם is Niphal, and signifies here to console oneself, as in Genesis 38:12 with על, concerning anything, as in 2 Samuel 13:39; Jeremiah 31:15, etc.; and נחמוּ (Ezekiel 14:23), with the accusative of the person, to comfort any one, as in Genesis 51:21; Job 2:11, etc. But the works and doings of those who came to Babylon could only produce this effect upon those who were already there, from the fact that they were of such a character as to demonstrate the necessity for the judgments which had fallen upon Jerusalem. A conviction of the necessity for the divine judgments would cause them to comfort themselves with regard to the evil inflicted by God; inasmuch as they would see, not only that the punishment endured was a chastisement well deserved, but that God in His righteousness would stay the punishment when it had fulfilled His purpose, and restore the penitent sinner to favour once more. But the consolation which those who were in exile would derive from a sight of the works of the sons and daughters who had escaped from death and come to Babylon, is attributed in Ezekiel 14:23 (נחמוּ אתכם) to the persons themselves. It is in this sense that it is stated that "they will comfort you;" not by expressions of pity, but by the sight of their conduct. This is directly affirmed in the words, "when ye shall see their conduct and their works." Consequently Ezekiel 14:23 does not contain a new thought, but simply the thought already expressed in Ezekiel 14:22, which is repeated in a new form to make it the more emphatic. And the expression את כּל־אשׁר , in Ezekiel 14:22, serves to increase the force; whilst את, in the sense of quoad, serves to place the thought to be repeated in subordination to the whole clause (cf. Ewald, 277a, p. 683).