Discovery BoxEzekiel 16:16
Context16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. 1
Ezekiel 16:1
Context16:1 The word of the Lord came to me:
Ezekiel 8:1-18
Context8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, 2 as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand 3 of the sovereign Lord seized me. 4 8:2 As I watched, I noticed 5 a form that appeared to be a man. 6 From his waist downward was something like fire, 7 and from his waist upward something like a brightness, 8 like an amber glow. 9 8:3 He stretched out the form 10 of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind 11 lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem 12 by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue 13 which provokes to jealousy was located. 8:4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.
8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 14 the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people 15 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.
8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure 16 of creeping thing and beast – detestable images 17 – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 18 8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel 19 (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant 20 vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.
8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? 21 For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”
8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed 22 women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 23 8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 24 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 25 were about twenty-five 26 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 27 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 28 toward the east!
8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! 29 8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare 30 them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
Ezekiel 19:1-14
Context19:1 “And you, sing 31 a lament for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!
She lay among young lions; 32 she reared her cubs.
19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 33
19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.
They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 34
19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs 35 and made him a young lion.
19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.
19:7 He broke down 36 their strongholds 37 and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
19:8 The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.
They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.
19:9 They put him in a collar with hooks; 38
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison 39
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, 40 planted by water.
It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
19:11 Its boughs were strong, fit 41 for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches. 42
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 43 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land. 44
19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. 45
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
Ezekiel 21:1-32
Context21:1 (21:6) 46 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:2 “Son of man, turn toward 47 Jerusalem 48 and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 21:3 and say to them, 49 ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, 50 I am against you. 51 I will draw my sword 52 from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 53 21:4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone 54 from the south 55 to the north. 21:5 Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath – it will not be sheathed again!’
21:6 “And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart 56 and bitterness; groan before their eyes. 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 57 will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ 58 Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”
21:8 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,
and also polished.
21:10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
it is polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! 59
21:11 “‘He gave it to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand –
the sword is sharpened, it is polished –
giving it into the hand of the executioner.
21:12 Cry out and moan, son of man,
for it is wielded against my people;
against all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.
Therefore, strike your thigh. 60
21:13 “‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? 61 declares the sovereign Lord.’
21:14 “And you, son of man, prophesy,
and clap your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice, even three times!
It is a sword for slaughter,
a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
21:15 So hearts melt with fear and many stumble.
At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter.
Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!
21:16 Cut sharply on the right!
Swing to 62 the left,
wherever your edge 63 is appointed to strike.
21:17 I too will clap my hands together,
I will exhaust my rage;
I the Lord have spoken.”
21:18 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city. 21:20 Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” 64 21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork 65 in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: 66 He shakes arrows, he consults idols, 67 he examines 68 animal livers. 69 21:22 Into his right hand 70 comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal 71 for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, 72 to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall. 21:23 But those in Jerusalem 73 will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, 74 but the king of Babylon 75 will accuse them of violations 76 in order to seize them. 77
21:24 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up 78 your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force. 79
21:25 “‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, 80
whose day has come, the time of final punishment,
21:26 this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Tear off the turban, 81
take off the crown!
Things must change! 82
Exalt the lowly,
bring down the proud! 83
21:27 A total ruin I will make it! 84
It will come to an end
when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’ 85
21:28 “As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; 86 say:
“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, 87 to flash like lightning –
21:29 while seeing false visions for you
and reading lying omens for you 88 –
to place that sword 89 on the necks of the profane wicked, 90
whose day has come,
the time of final punishment.
21:30 Return it to its sheath! 91
In the place where you were created, 92
in your native land, I will judge you.
21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
21:32 You will become fuel for the fire –
your blood will stain the middle of the land; 93
you will no longer be remembered,
for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
[16:16] 1 tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.
[8:1] 2 tc The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth of the month.”
[8:1] 4 tn Heb “fell upon me there,” that is, God’s influence came over him.
[8:2] 3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
[8:2] 4 tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.
[8:2] 5 tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.
[8:2] 6 tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”
[8:3] 4 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
[8:3] 5 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[8:3] 6 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:5] 5 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
[8:10] 8 tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.
[8:10] 9 sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).
[8:11] 8 sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).
[8:11] 9 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[8:12] 9 tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:14] 10 tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”
[8:14] 11 sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.
[8:16] 11 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
[8:16] 12 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
[8:16] 13 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
[8:16] 14 sn The temple faced east.
[8:16] 15 tn Or “the sun god.”
[8:17] 12 tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”
[8:18] 13 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[19:2] 15 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.
[19:4] 17 sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).
[19:5] 18 sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.
[19:7] 19 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
[19:7] 20 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
[19:9] 20 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[19:9] 21 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12 where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
[19:10] 21 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
[19:11] 22 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
[19:11] 23 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
[19:12] 23 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
[19:13] 24 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
[19:14] 25 tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.
[21:1] 26 sn Ezek 21:1 in the English Bible is 21:6 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 20:45.
[21:2] 27 tn Heb “set your face toward.”
[21:2] 28 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:3] 28 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
[21:3] 29 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
[21:3] 30 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
[21:3] 31 sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
[21:3] 32 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.
[21:4] 29 tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).
[21:4] 30 tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.
[21:6] 30 tn Heb “breaking loins.”
[21:7] 31 tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”
[21:7] 32 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.
[21:10] 32 tn Heb “Or shall we rejoice, scepter of my son, it despises every tree.” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned just before this. Alternatively, the line may be understood as “let us not rejoice, O tribe of my son; it despises every tree.” The same word in Hebrew may be either “rod,” “scepter,” or “tribe.” The word sometimes translated as “or” or taken as an interrogative particle may be a negative particle. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:672, n. 79.
[21:12] 33 sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.
[21:13] 34 tn Heb “For testing (will come) and what if also a scepter, it despises, will not be?” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned in the previous verses. The text is very difficult and any rendering is uncertain.
[21:20] 36 tc The MT reads “Judah in fortified Jerusalem,” a geographic impossibility. The translation follows the LXX, which assumes בְּתוֹכָהּ (bÿtokhah, “in it”) for בְּצוּרָה (bÿtsurah, “fortified”).
[21:21] 38 sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.
[21:21] 39 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
[21:21] 41 tn Heb “the liver.”
[21:22] 38 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
[21:22] 39 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
[21:22] 40 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
[21:23] 39 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:23] 40 sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).
[21:23] 41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:23] 43 tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt for the purpose of being captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18).
[21:24] 40 tn Heb “caused to be remembered.”
[21:24] 41 tn Heb “Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt when your transgressions are uncovered so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds – because you are remembered, by the hand you will be seized.”
[21:25] 41 tn This probably refers to King Zedekiah.
[21:26] 42 tn Elsewhere in the Bible the turban is worn by priests (Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev 8:9; 16:4), but here a royal crown is in view.
[21:26] 43 tn Heb “This not this.”
[21:26] 44 tn Heb “the high one.”
[21:27] 43 tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.
[21:27] 44 tn Heb “Also this, he was not, until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it.” The Hebrew text, as it stands, is grammatically difficult. The pronoun “this” is feminine, while the following negated verb (“was not”) is masculine. Some emend the verb to a feminine form (see BHS). In this case the statement refers to the destiny of the king’s turban/crown (symbolizing his reign). See the previous note. The preposition translated “when” normally means “until,” but here it seems to refer to the period during which the preceding situation is realized, rather than its termination point. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:19, 21. The second part of the statement, though awkward, probably refers to the arrival of the Babylonian king, to whom the Lord had assigned the task of judgment (see 23:24). Or the verse may read “A total ruin I will make, even this. It will not be until the one comes to whom is (the task of) judgment and I have assigned it.”
[21:28] 44 tn Heb “their reproach.”
[21:28] 45 tn Heb “to contain, endure.” Since the Hebrew text as it stands makes little, if any, sense, most emend the text to read either “to consume” or “for destruction.” For discussion of options see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:693.
[21:29] 45 tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.
[21:29] 46 tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:29] 47 sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.
[21:30] 46 sn Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands it to halt and announces that Babylon itself will also experience his judgment. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:28.
[21:30] 47 tn In the Hebrew text of vv. 30-32 the second person verbal and pronominal forms are feminine singular. This may indicate that the personified Babylonian sword is being addressed. The Hebrew word for “sword” (see v. 28) is feminine. However, it may refer to the Ammonites.
[21:32] 47 tn Heb “your blood will be in the middle of the land.”
