Ezekiel 20:26

Ezekiel 20:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.’
• English Standard Version (ESV)and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the Lord.” ’

Context of Ezekiel 20:26

24For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers. 25I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD. 27Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me. 28When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.

Ezekiel 20:26 word by word

וָאֲטַמֵּ֤א אוֹתָם֙ בְּמַתְּנוֹתָ֔ם בְּהַעֲבִ֖יר כָּל־פֶּ֣טֶר רָ֑חַם לְמַ֣עַן אֲשִׁמֵּ֔ם לְמַ֙עַן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֵֽדְע֔וּ אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

• And I pronounced them uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• through their giftsמַתָּנָהmattânâh · giftH4979
• the sacrificeעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• of everyכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• firstborn in the fireפֶּ֫טֶרpeţer piţrâh · firstbornH6363
• firstborn in the fireרַחַםracham · wombH7356
• so thatמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• I might devastate themשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• thatאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• they would knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• Iאֲנִי'ănîy · IH589
• am the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Ezekiel 20:26

• Ezekiel 20:31When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!
• Isaiah 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
• Romans 11:7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
• Ezekiel 16:20You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
• Leviticus 18:21You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
• 2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
• 2 Kings 21:6He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
• 2 Chronicles 28:3Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
• 2 Chronicles 33:6He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
• Jeremiah 32:35They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.
• Exodus 13:12you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
• Luke 2:23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),
• Ezekiel 6:7The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 20:26

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26I polluted them in their own gifts - I permitted them to pollute themselves by the offerings which they made to their idols. Causing their children to pass through the fire was one of those pollutions; but, did God ever give them a statute or judgment of this kind? No. He ever inveighs against such things, and they incur his heaviest displeasure and curse. See on Ezekiel 20:31; (note).Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10-26Verses 10-26 The probation in the wilderness. The promise was forfeited by those to whom it was first conditionally made, but was renewed to their children. Ezekiel 20:11 The “statutes” were given on Mount Sinai, and repeated by Moses before his death (Exodus 20:1 ff; Deuteronomy 4:8). In them - Or, through them: and in Ezekiel 20:13. Ezekiel 20:12 See Exodus 31:13. The Sabbath was a sign of a special people, commemorative of the work of creation, and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-26Verses 10-26 . The history of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in the new Testament as well as in the Old, for warning. God did great things for them. He gave them the law, and revived the ancient keeping of the sabbath day. Sabbaths are privileges; they are signs of our being his people. If we do the duty of the day, we shall find, to our comfort, it is the Lord that makes us holy, that is, truly happy, here; and prepares us to be happy, that is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26The Israelites even offered their firstborn children as sacrifices to the god Molech. This was a terrible sin. This action reversed what God had done in the exodus. At that time, the Lord called Israel his “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). He rescued them from slavery so they could worship him in purity in the promised land. Instead of honoring the Lord, they gave their children to a false god. Their actions showed how far they had turned away from him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. I polluted them--not directly; "but I judicially gave them up to pollute themselves." A just retribution for their "polluting My sabbaths" (Eze 20:24). This Eze 20:26 is explanatory of Eze 20:25. Their own sin I made their punishment. caused to pass through the fire--Fairbairn translates, "In their presenting (literally, 'the causing to pass over') all their first-born," namely, to the Lord; referring to the command (Ex 13:12, Margin, where the very…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 20:26

• Firstborn
• Idolatry
• Molech
• Offerings

In the dictionaries

• Defile
• Purge
• Fire
• Gift
• God
• Grace
• Leviticus
• Molech; Moloch
• Primogeniture
• Salvation

Commentaries on Ezekiel 20

• 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