Ezekiel 18:6

18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains 1  or pray to the idols 2  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a 3  woman during her period,

Ezekiel 20:26

20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices 4  – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire 5  – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ 6 

1 tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

2 tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

3 tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).

4 tn Or “gifts.”

5 sn This act is prohibited in Deut 12:29-31 and Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. See also 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:10. This custom indicates that the laws the Israelites were following were the disastrous laws of pagan nations (see Ezek 16:20-21).

6 sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.