Ezekiel 6:7

6:7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹ 

Ezekiel 7:27

7:27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice ²  I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”

Ezekiel 23:49

23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. ³  Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 25:11

25:11 I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Exodus 14:18

14:18 And the Egyptians will know ⁴  that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor ⁵  because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ⁶  (Higgaion. ⁷  Selah)

Psalms 83:17-18

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ⁸ 

May they die in shame! ⁹ 

83:18 Then they will know ¹⁰  that you alone are the Lord, ¹¹ 

the sovereign king ¹²  over all the earth.

¹ sn The phrase you will know that I am the Lord concludes over sixty oracles in the book of Ezekiel and indicates the ultimate goal of God’s action. The phrase is often used in the book of Exodus as well (Exod 7:5; 14:4, 18). By Ezekiel’s day the people had forgotten that the Lord (Yahweh) was their covenant God and had turned to other gods. They had to be reminded that Yahweh alone deserved to be worshiped because only he possessed the power to meet their needs. Through judgment and eventually deliverance, Israel would be reminded that Yahweh alone held their destiny in his hands.

² tn Heb “and by their judgments.”

³ tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.

⁴ tn The construction is unusual in that it says, “And Egypt will know.” The verb is plural, and so “Egypt” must mean “the Egyptians.” The verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, showing that this recognition or acknowledgment by Egypt will be the result or purpose of the defeat of them by God.

⁵ tn The form is בְּהִכָּבְדִי (bÿhikkavÿdi), the Niphal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. For the suffix on a Niphal, see GKC 162-63 §61.c. The word forms a temporal clause in the line.

⁶ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

⁷ tn This is probably a technical musical term.

⁸ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

⁹ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

¹⁰ tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.

¹¹ tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the Lord, you alone.”

¹² tn Traditionally “the Most High.”