Ezekiel 6:4

Ezekiel 6:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
• New International Version (NIV)Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.

Context of Ezekiel 6:4

2“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, 3and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places [of idolatrous worship], and your altars will become deserted and your pillars for sun-worship will be smashed in pieces; and I will throw down your slain in front of your idols [that cannot bring them back to life]. 5I will also lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel in front of their [Canaanite] idols; and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. 6Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.

Ezekiel 6:4 word by word

וְנָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙ מִזְבְּח֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם וְנִשְׁבְּר֖וּ חַמָּֽנֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִפַּלְתִּי֙ חַלְלֵיכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י גִּלּוּלֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And your altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• shall be desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• and your imagesחַמָּןchammân · pillarH2553
• shall be brokenשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• and I will cast downנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• your slainחָלָלchâlâl · slain: killedH2491
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• your idolsגִּלּוּלgillûl gillûl · idolH1544

Cross-references for Ezekiel 6:4

• Ezekiel 6:6Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.
• 2 Chronicles 14:5Asa also removed the [idolatrous] high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom was at rest and undisturbed under his reign.
• 2 Chronicles 34:4They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were high above them; he also smashed the Asherim and the carved images and the cast images to pieces, and ground them to dust and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
• Jeremiah 43:13Nebuchadnezzar will also break the images and shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis in the land of Egypt; and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.” ’ ”
• Ezekiel 6:5I will also lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel in front of their [Canaanite] idols; and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.
• Leviticus 26:30I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies upon the [crushed] bodies of your idols, and My soul will detest you [with deep and unutterable loathing].
• 1 Kings 13:2The man cried out against the [idolatrous] altar by the word of the Lord, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice [the bodies of] the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’ ”
• 2 Kings 23:14He broke in pieces the sacred pillars (cultic memorial stones, images) and cut down the Asherim and replaced them with human bones [to desecrate the places forever].
• 2 Chronicles 34:5Then Josiah burned the bones of the [pagan] priests on their altars and purged and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 8:1“At that time,” says the Lord, “they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 6:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Your images shall be broken - Literally, your sun images; representations of the sun, which they worshipped. See the margin.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Images - See the margin and margin reference, and the Ezekiel 8:16 note. Idols - The Phoenicians were in the habit of setting up “heaps” or “pillars” of stone in honor of their gods, which renders the use of the word more appropriate.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-7The corpses and bones of dead worshipers around an altar would make the altar ceremonially unclean and unfit for use. idols: The Hebrew word translated idols literally means “round things.” It may also sound like a word for dung (human or animal waste). When the prophets used this word, they were mocking the idols. It was a strong expression of disgust and rejection.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. images--called so from a Hebrew root, "to wax hot," implying the mad ardor of Israel after idolatry [Calvin]. Others translate it, "sun images"; and so in Eze 6:6 (see 2Ki 23:11; 2Ch 34:4; Is 17:8, Margin). cast your slain men before your idols--The foolish objects of their trust in the day of evil should witness their ruin.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 6:4

• Sun

In the dictionaries

• Appointment
• Living creatures
• Images
• Sun-Worship
• Zedekiah (2)

Commentaries on Ezekiel 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings