24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning 1 I acted just as I was commanded.
24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take 6 from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, 7 as well as their sons and daughters: 8
5:19 a loving doe, 9 a graceful deer;
may her breasts satisfy you at all times,
may you be captivated 10 by her love always.
The Beloved about Her Lover:
7:10 I am my beloved’s,
and he desires me! 11
1 tn This may refer to the following morning. For a discussion of various interpretive options in understanding the chronology reflected in verse 18, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:790.
2 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
3 sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.
4 tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”
5 tn Heb “fall.”
6 tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”
7 tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.
8 tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.
9 tn The construct expression “a doe of loves” is an attributive genitive, describing the doe with the word “loves.” The plural noun may be an abstract plural of intensification (but this noun only occurs in the plural). The same construction follows with a “deer of grace” – a graceful deer.
10 sn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah) means “to swerve; to meander; to reel” as in drunkenness; it signifies a staggering gait expressing the ecstatic joy of a captivated lover. It may also mean “to be always intoxicated with her love” (cf. NRSV).
11 tn Heb “his desire is for me” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).