| Barnes' Notes on the Bible Whiles ... unto thee - A parenthesis. The Ammonites had their false diviners who deluded with vain hopes. To bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain - To cast thee (Ammon) upon the heap of slaughtered men. Shall have an end - Shall have its final doom. Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleWhiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee,.... The Ammonites had their seers, soothsayers, diviners, and false prophets, which they are bid to be aware of, and are cautioned against hearkening to, Jeremiah 27:3, these told them they were in the utmost safety, and that the king of Babylon would not come against them; or, if he did, would not succeed, when his sword was drawn and furbished for the destruction of them: to bring thee upon the necks of the slain, of the wicked; that is, of the Jews who were slain by the sword of the Chaldeans for their wickedness; and these diviners by their vain divination and lies would bring the Ammonites into the same condition, to be slain as they were; and as it were to fall upon their necks, as one slain person upon another; and so the Targum, "to deliver thy neck as the necks of the slain, of the wicked:'' it may be rendered, "to put thee to the necks of the slain" (w); or, as Kimchi, "with the necks of the slain"; though some understand it, as if the diviners by their lies, promising peace and prosperity, encouraged the Ammonites to insult the Jews, and as it were to trample upon the necks of the dead: whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end; along with Zedekiah their king; a description of the Jews; See Gill on Ezekiel 21:27. (w) "ut ponant te cum cervicibus interfectorum", Munster, Tigurine version; "applicando te ad cervices confossorum", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. Geneva Study BibleWhile they see {z} vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. (z) Though the Jews and Ammonites would not believe that you, that is the sword, would come upon them, and said that the prophets who threatened spoke lies, yet you will as surely come as though you were already on their necks. Wesley's Notes 21:29 While - While thy astrologers, and soothsayers, deceive thee with fair, but false divinations. To bring thee - To bring thee under the sword of the Chaldeans, and destroy thee as the Jews; to make thee stumble and fall on their necks, as men that fall among a multitude of slain. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary29. see vanity . divine a lie-Ammon, too, had false diviners who flattered them with assurances of safety; the only result of which will be to "bring Ammon upon the necks," &c., that is, to add the Ammonites to the headless trunks of the slain of Judah, whose bad example Ammon followed, and "whose day" of visitation for their guilt "is come." when their iniquity shall have an end-See on [1056]Eze 21:25. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary21:28-32 The diviners of the Ammonites made false prophecies of victory. They would never recover their power, but in time would be wholly forgotten. Let us be thankful to be employed as instruments of mercy; let us use our understandings in doing good; and let us stand aloof from men who are only skilful to destroy. |