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

24because they had not complied with My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers. 25I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they made all their firstborn pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the Lord.”’ 27“Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Again, in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by being disloyal to Me. 28When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every tree thick with branches, and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they 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 pronouncedטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• because of their giftsמַתָּנָהmattânâh · giftH4979
• made allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• their firstbornבְּכוֹרbekôr · firstbornH1060
• their firstbornרֶ֫חֶםrechem · wombH7358
• passעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• throughעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• soמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• I might makeשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• them desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• that I am the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Ezekiel 20:26

• Ezekiel 20:31And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I certainly will not be inquired of by you.
• Isaiah 63:17Why, Lord, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
• Romans 11:7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
• Ezekiel 16:20“Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter?
• Leviticus 18:21You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
• 2 Kings 17:17Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they practiced divination and interpreting omens, and gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.
• 2 Kings 21:6And he made his son pass through the fire, interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
• 2 Chronicles 28:3Furthermore, he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 33:6He also made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
• Jeremiah 32:35They built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.
• Exodus 13:12you shall devote to the Lord every firstborn of a womb, and every firstborn offspring of an animal that you own; the males belong to the Lord.
• Luke 2:23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy 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