Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing [is] this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?
Ver. 17. Then contended I with the nobles] Heb. With the white ones; that had white clothes, but black souls. The snow drift covers many a muck hill. See Nehemiah 13:11 .
What evil thing is this that ye do] Or suffer others to do, at least, and are, therefore, worthily disgraced; as Moses also was for like cause, Exodus 16:28 .
And profane the sabbath day?] As if it were a common day, and not God's enclosure, holy and honourable. Should men thus rob God of his right, unmound his several, make false entry upon his freehold? Hath he not singled out this day for his own, as he did Israel out of all nations, the tree of knowledge out of all the trees of the garden, and out of all the world (which is his) the tenth? This is the day which the Lord hath made, &c., it is a day like that night, Exodus 12:42, to be kept holy unto the Lord; that day of the Lord which all his people must keep throughout their generations. To profane it or wound it is here called an evil thing with an accent, a wickedness with a witness.