Ezekiel 12:9

12:9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

Ezekiel 19:2

19:2 and say:

“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!

She lay among young lions; ¹  she reared her cubs.

Ezekiel 24:19

24:19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”

Ezekiel 37:18

37:18 When your people ²  say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’

Ezekiel 12:22

12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’?

Ezekiel 15:2

15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? ³ 

Ezekiel 16:30

16:30 “‘How sick is your heart, declares the sovereign Lord, when you perform all of these acts, the deeds of a bold prostitute.

Ezekiel 18:2

18:2 “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,

“‘The fathers eat sour grapes

And the children’s teeth become numb?’ ⁴ 

Ezekiel 20:29

20:29 So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’” (So it is called “High Place” ⁵  to this day.)

Ezekiel 8:6

8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people ⁶  of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”

Ezekiel 17:12

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ⁷  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ⁸  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ⁹  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

Ezekiel 33:30

33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people ¹⁰  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ¹¹  ‘Come hear the word that comes ¹²  from the Lord.’

Ezekiel 21:7

21:7 When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone ¹³  will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ ¹⁴  Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”

¹ sn Lions probably refer to Judahite royalty and/or nobility. The lioness appears to symbolize the Davidic dynasty, though some see the referent as Hamutal, the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Gen 49:9 seems to be the background for Judah being compared to lions.

¹ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

¹ tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.

¹ tn This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Jer 31:29-30 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word, see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.

¹ tn The Hebrew word (“Bamah”) means “high place.”

¹ tn Heb “house.”

¹ tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

² sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

² tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”

³ tn Heb “comes out.”

¹ tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”

² sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.