C
catholicanne
Guest
Today at Mass we read Ezekiel 12:1-12 and Matthew 18:21-19:1. I understood that Matthew was about forgiveness but is Ezekiel about forgiveness as well?
- Status
J
JaKael02
Guest
Here is today’s commentary on Ezekiel:
You can get the Navaree Bible Commentary via Google groups for the Daily Mass Readings via e-mail each morning! I highly recommend it!
Commentary:
12:1-14:23. Up to this point, the warnings to Jerusalem have been given by way
of symbolic actions (chaps. 4-5) and chilling prophecies (chaps. 6-7), and the vi-
sion of the outrages committed in the temple (chaps. 8-11). However, neither the
people living in Jerusalem nor the exiles seem to accept that a catastrophe is
about to happen. In this section of the book Ezekiel speaks out against the peo-
ple and their refusal to believe by announcing that King Zedekiah is to be depor-
ted forthwith (chap. 12) and then by condemning the false prophets who deceive
the people by giving them false hopes (chap. 13); he also criticizes pagan beliefs
(chap. 14). These oracles are designed to move the listeners’ hearts and to get
them to put all their trust in the Lord: he can help them in their exile. That is the
import of the phrase that recurs in this passage: “You will know that I am the
Lord.”
12:1-28. The date of the last deportation, which happened in 587 BC (cf. 2 Kings
25:8-21), is announced by five oracles or symbolic gestures, each beginning with
the wording, “The word of the Lord came to me” (vv. 1, 8, 17, 21, 26). The first
two centre on the detention and deportation of King Zedekiah (vv. 1-16), the next
one on the poor circumstances of the exiles (vv. 17-20), and the last two focus
on how soon these two events will be brought about (vv. 21-28). The symbolic ac-
tions of the prophet are well designed to prove to his listeners the truth of what
he says.
12:1-16. The first symbolic action (leaving with an exile’s baggage) is calculated
to provoke feelings of depression; the deportation that they fear will indeed take
place. “Exile” is mentioned six times in five verses; “in their sight”, five times;
and “rebellious house” twice. The preparations are made in daylight; but the ac-
tual leaving is shameful: it takes place at night, the face veiled, without looking
back at the city.
Ezekiel’s symbolic action stands for what will happen to King Zedekiah (v. 10: cf.
2 Kings 25:2-7), who is not mentioned here by either name or title of king. He is
called "the prince in Jerusalem, not “prince of Judah”, to indicate that catastro-
phe will befall the city and its inhabitants.
"I will spread my net over him, and he shall be in my snare’ ('v. 13): the net meta-
phor indicates that deportation is a kind of enslavement. And the use of the first
person underlines once again the fact that it is the Lord himself who is the cause
of the deportation. Insistence on this helps to strike a very positive note: if God is
the cause of the punishment (exile), he too will deliver his people when their im-
prisonment comes to an end.
The importance of a remnant escaping (v.16) lies in the fact that they will bear
witness to their sins and punishment before pagan nations – so that the latter
too may acknowledge the Lord. This positive interpretation of the exile is a fea-
ture of the book of Ezekiel.
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
You can get the Navaree Bible Commentary via Google groups for the Daily Mass Readings via e-mail each morning! I highly recommend it!
Commentary:
12:1-14:23. Up to this point, the warnings to Jerusalem have been given by way
of symbolic actions (chaps. 4-5) and chilling prophecies (chaps. 6-7), and the vi-
sion of the outrages committed in the temple (chaps. 8-11). However, neither the
people living in Jerusalem nor the exiles seem to accept that a catastrophe is
about to happen. In this section of the book Ezekiel speaks out against the peo-
ple and their refusal to believe by announcing that King Zedekiah is to be depor-
ted forthwith (chap. 12) and then by condemning the false prophets who deceive
the people by giving them false hopes (chap. 13); he also criticizes pagan beliefs
(chap. 14). These oracles are designed to move the listeners’ hearts and to get
them to put all their trust in the Lord: he can help them in their exile. That is the
import of the phrase that recurs in this passage: “You will know that I am the
Lord.”
12:1-28. The date of the last deportation, which happened in 587 BC (cf. 2 Kings
25:8-21), is announced by five oracles or symbolic gestures, each beginning with
the wording, “The word of the Lord came to me” (vv. 1, 8, 17, 21, 26). The first
two centre on the detention and deportation of King Zedekiah (vv. 1-16), the next
one on the poor circumstances of the exiles (vv. 17-20), and the last two focus
on how soon these two events will be brought about (vv. 21-28). The symbolic ac-
tions of the prophet are well designed to prove to his listeners the truth of what
he says.
12:1-16. The first symbolic action (leaving with an exile’s baggage) is calculated
to provoke feelings of depression; the deportation that they fear will indeed take
place. “Exile” is mentioned six times in five verses; “in their sight”, five times;
and “rebellious house” twice. The preparations are made in daylight; but the ac-
tual leaving is shameful: it takes place at night, the face veiled, without looking
back at the city.
Ezekiel’s symbolic action stands for what will happen to King Zedekiah (v. 10: cf.
2 Kings 25:2-7), who is not mentioned here by either name or title of king. He is
called "the prince in Jerusalem, not “prince of Judah”, to indicate that catastro-
phe will befall the city and its inhabitants.
"I will spread my net over him, and he shall be in my snare’ ('v. 13): the net meta-
phor indicates that deportation is a kind of enslavement. And the use of the first
person underlines once again the fact that it is the Lord himself who is the cause
of the deportation. Insistence on this helps to strike a very positive note: if God is
the cause of the punishment (exile), he too will deliver his people when their im-
prisonment comes to an end.
The importance of a remnant escaping (v.16) lies in the fact that they will bear
witness to their sins and punishment before pagan nations – so that the latter
too may acknowledge the Lord. This positive interpretation of the exile is a fea-
ture of the book of Ezekiel.
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
T
TimothyH
Guest
Ezekiel 1:1-12 is about the prophet Ezekiel being told to prophecy about the upcoming exile of Israel to Babylon. Ezekiel was to act out the behavior of one going into exile so that the people would see that this was what was in store for them if they did not repent.
***Say, I am a sign for you: just as I have done, so it shall be done to them; into exile, as captives they shall go. *(Ezekiel 12:11)
It is about forgiveness in that Isreal was charged under the Mosaic law to forgive debts, let slaves go free and to treat strangers and sojourners with kindness and hospitatlity. The covenant with God stated that if they did not do these things, God would withdraw from them and allow them to be conquered by other nations.
-Tim-
***Say, I am a sign for you: just as I have done, so it shall be done to them; into exile, as captives they shall go. *(Ezekiel 12:11)
It is about forgiveness in that Isreal was charged under the Mosaic law to forgive debts, let slaves go free and to treat strangers and sojourners with kindness and hospitatlity. The covenant with God stated that if they did not do these things, God would withdraw from them and allow them to be conquered by other nations.
-Tim-
C
catholicanne
Guest
Ok, I get it now. 
Thank you!
Thank you!- Status