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 Living Translation (NLT)I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the Lord.

Context of Ezekiel 20:26

24because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols. 25“Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live; 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.” ’ 27“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me. 28When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And I pollutedטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• them in their own giftsמַתָּנָהmattânâh · giftH4979
• in that they caused to pass throughעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• all that openethפֶּ֫טֶרpeţer piţrâh · firstbornH6363
• the wombרַחַםracham · wombH7356
• that I might make them desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• to the end that they might knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Ezekiel 20:26

• Ezekiel 20:31For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.
• Isaiah 63:17O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.
• Romans 11:7What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
• Ezekiel 16:20“Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter,
• Leviticus 18:21And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
• 2 Kings 17:17And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
• 2 Kings 21:6Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
• 2 Chronicles 28:3He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 33:6Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
• Jeremiah 32:35And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’
• Exodus 13:12that you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s.
• Luke 2:23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
• Ezekiel 6:7The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall 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