What Does Ezekiel 20:7 Mean in the King James?
Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Because the Hebrew word for “eye” also names a spring, the verse makes the gaze sound like a source, and commands what pollutes it to be cast away.
THE MEANING
What remains in your sight can become more than something you notice; it can draw your allegiance and stain the self. The verse names a clean break, cast it away, and grounds that demand in the present claim, “I am the LORD your God.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an object stays harmless because it is only something you look at. The verse links the gaze with defilement and allegiance.
THE ROOT
הַשְׁלִיכוּ
hashlikhu
GROWS FROM
שָׁלַךְ
shalakh
To throw, cast, or hurl.
“Cast ye away” in this verse is hashlikhu. The same verb describes casting the detestable things away here and casting a burden upon the LORD in Psalm 55:22. Its force is directional: what pollutes the sight is thrown away.
ALSO GROWS
hashlekh: Cast
הַשְׁלֵךְ
Psalm 55:22 uses this form to cast a burden upon the LORD, showing how the verb’s force depends on where the thing is cast.
vayyashlekh: And he cast down
וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ
This form keeps the root’s physical force visible: the command is to throw something away.
עֵינָיו
ʿênāyw
GROWS FROM
עַיִן
ʿayin
The noun means “eye” and is also used for a “spring” or “fountain.”
The same Hebrew noun names both an eye and a spring. In “the abominations of his eyes,” that overlap gives the gaze a source-like resonance: what a person keeps in view can feed the inner life, while the phrase still directly refers to what each person sees.
ALSO GROWS
ʿênāyw: His eyes
עֵינָיו
This is the passage’s form: the command addresses the group, while the gaze belongs to each person.
ʿên: Spring, fountain
עֵין
Genesis 16:7 uses this noun for a fountain, opening the echo between the eye and a source.
THE PATTERN
What the eyes hold before a person can shape the allegiance and condition of the whole self.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.THE THREAD
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.Psalm 55:22 uses the same root, שׁלך (shalakh, “cast”): there, a burden is cast upon the LORD; here, the detestable thing is cast away. Together, the verses make casting a choice of direction: a burden goes to the LORD, while what defiles is thrown out of the gaze.
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