Book of Ezekiel 30:13–18 in an English manuscript from the early 13th century, MS. Bodl. Or. 62, fol. 59a. A Latin translation appears in the margins with further interlineations above the Hebrew.
A group of elders approached Ezekiel (cf. Ezekiel 8:1 and 20:1) to 'enquire' of YHWH, which is a traditional practice of using the prophet as mediator to convey specific questions to YHWH (cf. Judges 18:5). YHWH told Ezekiel that he refuses to hear in the enquiry 'because of the seriousness of the elders' idolatry' (cf. 20:3–4) and 'the elders are not condemned simply for idolatry, but for 'lifting up' their idols 'into their hearts' (cf. the Jerusalem elders in 8:9–12, who maintained secret 'picture rooms' inside the temple itself).[5] YHWH only responded by warning the elders 'to turn back from idolatry or suffer death at his hands' (verses 6–8), and if a prophet should deliver a response to the idolater's enquiry, YHWH would then destroy the prophet as well as the enquirer.[5]
"Son of man" (Hebrew: בן־אדם ḇen-’ā-ḏām): this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel.[7]
"Idols" (Hebrew: גִּלּוּלִ gillul; plural: גִּלּוּלִים gillulim): found 39 times in the Book of Ezekiel and in Leviticus 26:30. Originally means "trunks, logs, blocks," that can be "rolled", it could denote "the primitive stone menhir or construct.[8][9][10]
"Set up their idols in their heart": Rashi interprets this as "Their heart is toward their idols to worship [them]."[11]
In this section YHWH addresses the question of individual responsibility for sin, which was mentioned in chapter 9 when the righteous people in Jerusalem were 'marked so as to escape the city's destruction' (Ezekiel 9:4; cf. 18:1–30), and whether a few righteous individuals might suffice to save an entire city (cf. Abraham in Genesis 18:22—33) or at least members of their own family (cf. Abraham for Lot in Genesis 19:29).[5] The number of citizens to be spared was apparently quite small, as Ezekiel protests that YHWH is destroying the last remnant of Israel (9:8). YHWH posits that should the three 'legendary paragons of virtue': Noah, Dan'el, and Job, inhabit this land, even 'they would be helpless to save their own children from YHWH's punishment of famine, wild beasts, sword, and plague', which recalls the scenario in chapter 5 and 7 that YHWH is about to bring 'four levitically prescribed punishments against Jerusalem and Israel'.[14] The conclusion of this chapter is clear: Jerusalem ('which is patently not inhabited by Noah, Dan'el, or Job') will not be spared, even 'for the sake of some few righteous citizens, or by the righteousness of those exiles whose children will now share in the city's doom' (verse 21).[14] YHWH adds an ironic note that there will be survivors of the city's destruction who will be brought into exile to show the exiles of 'their obvious wickedness', so people will know that 'YHWH did not destroy the city without reason' (verses 22–23).[14]
"Three men": These three men are selected as they had pled in different "worlds", according to Rashi, that is Noah witnesses the world destroyed and rebuilt, Daniel the temple destroyed and rebuilt, Job the prosperity/"greatness" destroyed and rebuilt.[16] These three Israel's righteous spiritual heroes "could not have prevailed with God in prayer to save the people" from the coming disasters.[17]
Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God,
they shall deliver neither son nor daughter;
they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.[18]
"They shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness": The city of Sodom could be saved with a minimum number of righteous people (Genesis 18:22–23), but the righteous people can only save one's own soul in the case of determined judgment on Jerusalem.[19]
Brown, Francis; Briggs, Charles A.; Driver, S. R. (1994). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (reprint ed.). Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN978-1565632066.
Gesenius, H. W. F. (1979). Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures: Numerically Coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, with an English Index. Translated by Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux (7th ed.). Baker Book House.
