Ezekiel 11:2

11:2 The Lord ¹  said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city.

Ezekiel 14:3

14:3 “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ²  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ³  me?

Ezekiel 14:14

14:14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, ⁴  and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 14:18

14:18 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.

Ezekiel 9:4

9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem ⁵  and put a mark ⁶  on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”

Ezekiel 14:16

14:16 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.

³ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).

³ sn Traditionally this has been understood as a reference to the biblical Daniel, though he was still quite young when Ezekiel prophesied. One wonders if he had developed a reputation as an intercessor by this point. For this reason some prefer to see a reference to a ruler named Danel, known in Canaanite legend for his justice and wisdom. In this case all three of the individuals named would be non-Israelites, however the Ugaritic Danel is not known to have qualities of faith in the Lord that would place him in the company of the other men. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:447-50.

⁴ tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”

⁵ tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.