Eze 14:3-4, 7 | JFB | STEP | 3. heart . . . face —The heart is first corrupted, and then the outward manifestation of idol-worship follows; they set their idols before their eyes. With all their pretense of consulting God now, they have not even put away their idols outwardly; implying gross contempt of God. "Set up," literally, "aloft"; implying that their idols had gained the supreme ascendancy over them. stumbling-block of . . . iniquity —See , "Let not them (God's laws) depart from thine eyes, then . . . thy foot shall not stumble. " Instead of God's law, which (by being kept before their eyes) would have saved them from stumbling, they set up their idols before their eyes, which proved a stumbling-block, causing them to stumble ( ). inquired of at all —literally, "should I with inquiry be inquired of" by such hypocrites as they are? ( ).

Ezekiel 14:3-4

3. heart . . . face—The heart is first corrupted, and then the outward manifestation of idol-worship follows; they set their idols before their eyes. With all their pretense of consulting God now, they have not even put away their idols outwardly; implying gross contempt of God. "Set up," literally, "aloft"; implying that their idols had gained the supreme ascendancy over them.

stumbling-block of . . . iniquity—See Pr 3:21, 23, "Let not them (God's laws) depart from thine eyes, then . . . thy foot shall not stumble." Instead of God's law, which (by being kept before their eyes) would have saved them from stumbling, they set up their idols before their eyes, which proved a stumbling-block, causing them to stumble (Eze 7:19).

inquired of at all—literally, "should I with inquiry be inquired of" by such hypocrites as they are? (Ps 66:18; Pr 15:29; 28:9).

4. and cometh—and yet cometh, reigning himself to be a true worshipper of Jehovah.

him that cometh—so the Hebrew Margin reads. But the Hebrew text reading is, "according to it, according to the multitude of his idols"; the anticipative clause with the pronoun not being pleonastic, but increasing the emphasis of the following clause with the noun. "I will answer," literally, reflexively, "I will Myself (or for Myself) answer him."

according to . . . idols—thus, "answering a fool according to his folly"; making the sinner's sin his punishment; retributive justice (Pr 1:31; 26:5).

Ezekiel 14:7

7. stranger—the proselyte, tolerated in Israel only on condition of worshipping no God but Jehovah (Le 17:8, 9).

inquire of him concerning me—that is, concerning My will.

by myself—not by word, but by deed, that is, by judgments, marking My hand and direct agency; instead of answering him through the prophet he consults. FAIRBAIRN translates, as it is the same Hebrew as in the previous clause, "concerning Me," it is natural that God should use the same expression in His reply as was used in the consultation of Him. But the sense, I think, is the same. The hypocrite inquires of the prophet concerning God; and God, instead of replying through the prophet, replies for Himself concerning Himself.