The Meaning of Ezekiel 14:6 Explained

Ezekiel 14:6

KJV: Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

YLT: 'Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, yea, turn ye back from your idols, and from all your abominations turn back your faces,

Darby: Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

ASV: Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore say  unto the house  of Israel,  Thus saith  the Lord  GOD;  Repent,  and turn  [yourselves] from your idols;  and turn away  your faces  from all your abominations. 

What does Ezekiel 14:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord called His people to change their minds (repent, Heb. shub), turn away from the idols in their hearts, and abandon them.

Context Summary

Ezekiel 14:1-6 - 12-23, Reaping As We Sow
It is useless to approach God with prayers and inquiries for guidance, as long as our hearts are filled with secret sins and cherished idols. If we regard iniquity in our hearts God cannot hear us. It often happens when men purpose a certain evil course, that everything seems to favor them. For a striking example of this, see 1 Kings 22:6; 1 Kings 22:15. The second paragraph describes the inveteracy of their sin. Jeremiah had affirmed that Judah's guilt was too great to be pardoned upon the intercession of Moses or of Samuel, Jeremiah 14:2; Jeremiah 15:1. Ezekiel adds three other revered names. In the four hypothetical cases of famine, noisome beasts, the sword, and pestilence, such men would succeed only in saving their own lives; but even in such cases there would be an elect remnant, who would be comforted as they recognized the evidences of the divine rectitude. Yes, as we look back on the history of our race we shall be comforted; we shall feel that God could have done no other; we shall reap the blessing which has been evolved out of events and movements that we had misunderstood or feared. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ezekiel 14

1  God answers idolaters according to their own heart
6  They are exhorted to repent, for fear of judgments, by means of seduced prophets
12  God's irrevocable sentence of famine
15  of wild beasts
17  of the sword
19  and of pestilence
22  A remnant shall be reserved for example of others

What do the individual words in Ezekiel 14:6 mean?

Therefore say to the house of Israel thus says the Lord GOD Repent and turn away from your idols and from all your abominations turn away your faces
לָכֵ֞ן אֱמֹ֣ר ׀ אֶל־ בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה שׁ֣וּבוּ וְהָשִׁ֔יבוּ מֵעַ֖ל גִּלּֽוּלֵיכֶ֑ם וּמֵעַ֥ל כָּל־ תּוֹעֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם הָשִׁ֥יבוּ פְנֵיכֶֽם

אֱמֹ֣ר ׀  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
בֵּ֣ית  the  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
כֹּ֤ה  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֹּה  
Sense: thus, here, in this manner.
אָמַר֙  says 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲדֹנָ֣י  the  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִ֔ה  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
שׁ֣וּבוּ  Repent 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
וְהָשִׁ֔יבוּ  and  turn  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
גִּלּֽוּלֵיכֶ֑ם  your  idols 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: גִּלּוּלִים  
Sense: idols.
וּמֵעַ֥ל  and  from 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
תּוֹעֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם  your  abominations 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: תֹּועֵבָה  
Sense: a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable.
הָשִׁ֥יבוּ  turn  away 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
פְנֵיכֶֽם  your  faces 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.