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The First Part of the Accusation
v. 1. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, Jehovah here both raising the accusation and pronouncing the sentence of punishment; for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, just cause for complaint, a matter which ought to be decided in a court of justice and the punishment dictated, because there is no truth, which makes intercourse between human beings dependable, nor mercy, neighborly compassion, nor knowledge of God in the land, these three virtues being mentioned together in many other passages of the Bible.
v. 2. (By) swearing, a forbidden use of the name of God, and lying, against the Eighth Commandment, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, these vices being general, these transgressions common, they break out, bursting through the restraint of the Law of God, eager to be engaged in crimes of the worst kind, and blood toucheth blood, one act of bloodshed following another.
v. 3. Therefore shall the land mourn, the moral corruption of its inhabitants resulting in the physical destruction of the land and its products, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, as though wilting in a universal drought, with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, all of whom would be affected by the punishment descending upon the land; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away, so that they would disappear and perish. In spite of the approaching punishment, however, the people persisted in their wickedness.
v. 4. Yet let no man strive nor reprove another, that is, conditions being as they are, all attempts to change the corruption would be vain; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest, that is, they are rebellious against the decisions which the priests were authorized to make in minor controversies, Deu_17:12, they no longer regarded the authority established by God.
v. 5. Therefore shalt thou, Israel, fall in the day, stumbling and falling in broad daylight, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, for neither day nor night would be free from some form of slaughter, and I will destroy thy mother, the entire nation being cut off on account of its transgressions.
v. 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because they refused to acknowledge Jehovah. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, so freely offered in the preaching of the prophets of God, I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no priest to Me, no longer a priestly people, as set forth Exo_19:6; seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, His holy will, as revealed so abundantly, I will also forget thy children, the entire congregation of Israel.
v. 7. As they were increased, namely, in population, wealth, and power, so they sinned against Me, their transgression increasing in the same proportion; therefore will I change their glory into shame, so that their greatness and prosperity would become a mockery in the eyes of the heathen.
v. 8. They eat up the sin of My people, namely, when the priests consumed the sin-offering, as a part of an act of worship intended to remove the guilt of the worshipers, Lev_6:19; Lev_10:17, and they set their heart on their iniquity, lusting after the transgressions of the people, instead of doing all in their power to suppress them. Since the priests lived upon the sins of the people, they wished for nothing more earnestly than that the people would keep on sinning more and more, namely, in idolatry.
v. 9. And there shall be, in consequence of this situation, like people, like priest, the people following their spiritual leaders in their hypocrisy and therefore both of them together sharing the punishment of the Lord following upon such wickedness; and I will punish them. for their ways and reward them their doings, for the position and wealth of the priests would not prevent their being compelled to share the same fate with the rest of the nation.
v. 10. For they shall eat, in unsatiable greediness, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, the entire nation being involved in immoral practices, and shall not increase, namely, in number, by growth in population, because they have left off to take heed to the Lord, they no longer pay any attention to His holy will. They who forsake the Lord must sooner or later pay the penalty of their sin.