Yehezkiel 14:18

14:18 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.

Yehezkiel 16:20

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ¹  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,

Yehezkiel 20:26

20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices ²  – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire ³  – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ ⁴ 

Yehezkiel 23:10

23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ⁵  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

Yehezkiel 23:37

23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, ⁶  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ⁷ 

Yehezkiel 23:47

23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 24:25

24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take ⁹  from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, ¹⁰  as well as their sons and daughters: ¹¹ 

[16:20]  ¹ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[20:26]  ² tn Or “gifts.”

[20:26]  ³ 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).

[20:26]  ⁴ 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.

[23:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “name.”

[23:37]  ⁶ sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.

[23:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.

[23:47]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[24:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”

[24:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.

[24:25]  ¹¹ tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.