12. every man in . . . chambers of . . . imagery--The elders
("ancients") are here the representatives of the people, rather than to
be regarded literally. Mostly, the leaders of heathen superstitions
laughed at them secretly, while publicly professing them in order to
keep the people in subjection. Here what is meant is that the people generally addicted themselves to secret idolatry, led on by their
elders; there is no doubt, also, allusion to the mysteries, as in
the worship of Isis in Egypt, the Eleusinian in Greece, &c., to which
the initiated alone were admitted. "The chambers of imagery" are their
own perverse imaginations, answering to the priests' chambers in
the vision, whereon the pictures were portrayed
(Eze 8:10).
Lord . . . forsaken . . . earth--They infer this because God has left
them to their miseries, without succoring them, so that they seek help
from other gods. Instead of repenting, as they ought, they bite the curb
[CALVIN].
JFB.
Picture Study Bible