Ezekiel 16:29

16:29 Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia, ¹  but you were not satisfied there either.

Ezekiel 17:4

17:4 He plucked off its topmost shoot;

he brought it to a land of merchants

and planted it in a city of traders.

Ezekiel 19:4

19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.

They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ² 

Ezekiel 19:7

19:7 He broke down ³  their strongholds ⁴  and devastated their cities.

The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

Ezekiel 27:33

27:33 When your products went out from the seas,

you satisfied many peoples;

with the abundance of your wealth and merchandise

you enriched the kings of the earth.

Ezekiel 30:5

30:5 Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners, ⁵  Libya, and the people ⁶  of the covenant land ⁷  will die by the sword along with them.

Ezekiel 32:6

32:6 I will drench the land with the flow

of your blood up to the mountains,

and the ravines will be full of your blood. ⁸ 

[16:29]  ¹ tn Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.

[19:4]  ² sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).

[19:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.”

[30:5]  ⁴ tn The same expression appears in Exod 12:38; Jer 25:20; 50:37; Neh 13:3. It may refer to foreign mercenaries serving in the armies of the nations listed here.

[30:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:5]  ⁶ tn The expression “sons of the covenant land” possibly refers to Jews living in Egypt (Jer 44).

[32:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “from you.”