Ezekiel 20:29

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Ezekiel 20:29 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
Ezekiel 20:29 — American Standard Version

Context — Ezekiel 20

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
29Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Then I said unto them, &c.] By his prophets that he sent unto them: what is the high place where, unto you go? what is the name of it? what is the use of it? to what end do you go there? is there not an altar built by my order and command to sacrifice upon is this high place better than that? does it answer a better end and purpose? and the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day; or a high place. The Septuagint also leaves the word untranslated, and calls it Abama; and the Arabic version Abbana; so they called their altars after the Gentiles, by whom they are called bwmoi; nor were they ashamed of it, but persisted in so calling them, from the first use of them to the present time. These…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“What is the high place whereunto ye go?--What is the meaning of this name? For My altar is not so called. What excellence do ye see in it, that ye go there, rather than to My temple, the only lawful place of sacrificing? The very name, "high place," convicts you of sinning, not from ignorance but perverse rebellion. is called . . . unto this day--whereas this name ought to have been long since laid aside, along with the custom of sacrificing on high places which it represents, being borrowed from the heathen, who so called their places of sacrifice (the Greeks, for instance, called them by a cognate term, Bomoi), whereas I call mine Mizbeaach, "altar." The very name implies the place is not…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The probation in the land of Canaan from their entry to the day of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 20:27 Yet in this - It was an aggravation of their guilt that they defiled with idolatry the land given them for their glory. Ezekiel 20:29 Bamah - The Hebrew word for “high place.” Another instance of the perversion of God’s laws. When the Israelites first entered Canaan they were to set up the “tabernacle” on a “high place,” and upon this and upon no other they were to worship Yahweh (1 Samuel 9:12 ff; 1 Kings 3:4). But the Israelites followed the custom of the country, and set up idol-worship on every high hill, and the word “high place” (“Bannah,” plural “Bamoth”) became a by-word (compare “Bamoth-Baal,”…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“What - What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave God's altar, where he requires your attendance, to frequent such places as he has forbidden you to worship in? Bamah - That is, the high place. Ezekiel 20:31”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I said: etc. or, I told them what the high place was, or, Bamah. And the. Eze 16:24, Eze 16:25, Eze 16:31 Ezekiel 20:30”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification